Categories
Cryptocurrency

What does Kanye West think about NFT? What does NFT do in Music Industry?

Kanye West has asserted his commitment to physical art forms, declaring on social media that he will not be joining the trend of artists releasing non-fungible tokens (or NFT).

Kanye West: “Do not ask me to do a fucking NFT”

“My focus is on building real products in the real world,” the rapper – who is legally known as Ye – wrote in a handwritten letter posted to his Instagram page today (February 1). He cites “real food”, “real clothes” and “real shelter” as three of his current focal points, before making a very clear demand of his fanbase: “Do not ask me to do a fucking NFT.”

West isn’t barring the possibility of exploring the option later, though, with his letter ending, “Ask me later.”

Though he’s adamant on keeping off the blockchain for now, West has utilised digital formats in the past. In 2013, for example, he declared his that ‘Yeezus’ album would mark the end of the physical CD – and while its follow-up, 2016’s ‘The Life Of Pablo’, has indeed remained exclusive to digital formats, all three of West’s subsequent albums have been released on CD and vinyl.

He Believes NFTs Are Not Real

For now, at least, crypto collectors hoping to “own” an official ‘Donda 2’ NFT will be out of luck. In the caption shared with his letter, West said: “STOP ASKING ME TO DO NFT’s I’M NOT FINNA CO-SIGN … FOR NOW I’M NOT ON THAT WAVE I MAKE MUSIC AND PRODUCTS IN THE REAL WORLD.”

Meanwhile, today came with the news that Marilyn Manson, who featured on the ‘Donda’ track ‘Jail Pt 2’ and appeared at one of West’s album listening parties in Chicago last year, is reportedly working heavily with West on ‘Donda 2’.

According to ‘Donda’ producer and West collaborator Digital Nas, Manson has been spotted in the studio with west multiple times. “[West] doesn’t want Marilyn to play rap beats,” the producer told Rolling Stone. “He wants Marilyn to play what he makes, and then Ye will take parts of that and sample parts of that and use parts of that, like he did [generally when making] ‘Yeezus’.

Last week, West announced that ‘Donda 2’ is set for release on February 22, and confirmed that the album is executive produced by Future. He has ambitious plans for the sequel album, saying yesterday (January 31) that he envisions it being played at momentous occasions, including births and funerals.

Celebrities Are Torn On The NFT Market

NFTs are tokens that offer digital ownership of select copyright pieces of artist works. Among the people who have bought into the craze is Eminem who bought a $462,000 ape NFT that resembles the rapper himself. The Ape series has seen people like Travis Scott and Justin Bieber dropping big bags on the NFTs. Bieber spent a cool $1.29 million on his Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT.

Many musicians and celebrities, including rapper Snoop Dogg, Def Jam Recordings founder Russell Simmons, Paris Hilton, Eminem and Jake Paul, and NFL player Tom Brady, have bought NFTs or expressed interest in the NFT market.

In 2021, Model Emily Ratajkowski, who sold an NFT portrait of herself titled “Buying Myself Back: A Model for Redistribution” via Christie’s. A growing number of celebrities have also gotten on the digital token bandwagon, including Grimes, Ja Rule, and Lindsay Lohan.

ETH/USD recovers from last week fall. Source: TradingView
Kayne West joins the growing number of NFT critics, which includes celebrities like Keanu Reeves. In an interview promoting the Matrix Resurrections, movie actor Reeves joked that NFTs are “easily reproduced.”

According to CoinDesk, those in the crypto space believe that 2022 will be the year of music NFTs, with the technology “inevitably change everything about music distribution and rewire the foundation of the music industry.”

What are music NFTs?

2021 was arguably the year of non-fungible tokens, with multiple use cases popping up beyond crypto art and collectibles. Music NFTs is one of them.

An NFT is a unique cryptographic token recorded on a blockchain that represents a digital or physical asset. Once an NFT is created, it cannot be changed or duplicated. What’s more, NFTs can be coded in a way that allows for royalty payments to the creator, which makes them a highly interesting technology for musicians.

Music NFTs are music tracks recorded on a blockchain in the form of unique non-fungible tokens that belong exclusively to the owner of the NFT. However, unlike mp3s you download onto your smartphone, music NFTs can also be sold on and allow musicians to earn royalties for every secondary market sale.

How do music NFTs work?

When it comes to the music industry, there are various forms in which music NFTs can appear. It can be a song represented by an audio file or video, an album cover, a concert ticket, and signed merchandise, among others.

In the production or sale of a music NFT, the principle remains the same as in other NFTs. A musician or band will decide what they want to sell to their fans, be it an audio file, concert tickets, or merchandise. They will then identify on which blockchain they will mint their NFT, or which Music NFT platform to utilize. Some of the currently available Music NFT platforms are NFT TONE, Opulous, OpenSea, and more.

After identifying their platform of choice, they will inform their fans of the release of their NFT drop, and put them up for sale at whatever value they would like to sell their works.

Since music NFTs (and all other NFTs) cannot be replicated, they might decide to either have a one-off sale on an audio file, where the highest bidder owns the original audio file (but not the copyright). Alternatively, they might decide to create a limited number of NFTs of the same audio file, let’s say 10,000, and then put them up for sale on a music NFT marketplace.

Every fan who buys the music NFT becomes an owner of their favorite musician’s work. They are then able to store the music NFTs in their crypto wallets, and if they are interested, may sell off the NFT to a higher bidder in the future. Despite being the owner of the unique NFT and being able to sell it, the musician who created the NFT can earn from the re-sales of their work, which is one of the most powerful ways music NFTs can empower musicians.

Several musicians and bands have already benefited from Music NFTs. For example, Dj 3LAU had an NFT drop called the Ultraviolet Collection, which had a world record sale of over USD 11.6m. This was from a single auction of 33 unique tokens. Additionally, Canadian musician Grimes sold digital artworks in a collection called WarNymph, which made around USD 6m in early 2021.

Was Kanye West born rich?

No, Kanye West was not born rich, but he was the perfect example of a middle-class child. … Before Kanye West was even born, Donda West was working as a schoolteacher. When Kanye West was only 10 years old, his mother decided to go teach English in China and brought young West with her.

How did Kanye West get famous?

Abetted by his flamboyant personality, West quickly rose to stardom. His second album, Late Registration (2005), repeated the commercial success of his first—with a number of hit singles, including “Diamonds from Sierra Leone” and “Gold Digger”—and earned West three more Grammy Awards.

What is the NFT market?

NFTs, or non-fungible tokens, are a kind of digital collectible whose ownership is recorded in a decentralized public ledger. They skyrocketed in popularity in 2021, with one NFT from the artist Beeple selling for as much as $69 million.

Can you make money with NFT?

Yes, you can. This is the second option to making money with NFT. Selling NFTs isn’t just for creators. Some entrepreneurs and investors utilize NFTs like stocks and profit by buying and selling them.

Also read: