I’ve been involved in the music industry for decades. Despite my success as a Grammy-winning producer, songwriter, and artist – the music industry is broken. Artists wait for ages to get paid by labels (if they get paid at all) and royalty checks are usually for pennies (of a penny) on the dollar. Music NFTs are a disruptive, no-brainer solution to these issues among many others.

When I started in 2021, I realized how early I was to web3’s music scene and was eager to become one of the first people paving the way for its future. I started as a creative – executive producing the music behind Snoop Dogg’s Sandbox collection, ATEM Car Club with Timbaland, a few other sounds in the FLUF World collection, and topped the OpenSea charts (four times) with Hume Collective.

Last year, I co-founded Blocktones with Mike Mauro. Blocktones is an interactive generative music project in which holders own the music’s full IP rights. Our genesis collection features full-length, radio-ready beats executive produced by 7x Grammy winner Fede Vindver with special guests Timbaland, Illmind, and Trap Money.

Blocktones also act as an incubator. We help empower people by giving them access to different industry opportunities they otherwise couldn’t imagine.

Once collectors realize the value of music IP and artists begin to view NFTs as an extension of their rollout, a vehicle for distribution, and a way to connect with fans, the NFT music scene will come alive.

I believe it is the job of the artists to find a dope way to engage with fans and activate them because simply dropping music as NFTs isn’t going to cut it. Music NFTs are gamifying music: the challenge for artists is figuring out how to create this 3-dimensional experience around their rollout or even themselves as artists. There will be a breakthrough event – there always is – and then we’ll see a mass onboarding from all angles.

The NFT space allows music artists to restructure deals and how the music industry operates. It is an opportunity for artists to build something fair, equitable, and lucrative – without middlemen. Labels and DSPs must adapt to make it worthwhile for somebody to sign to a label. NFTs put the power back in the hands of the creatives and the people who cherish their work.

This space is so great because everybody has the same common goal. So long as we can cling to that exuberance and work together to build dope shit the right way, we’ll make something extraordinary.