The platform streaming industry’s economics don’t work, said hip-hop star Snoop Dog. Can someone explain to me how you can get a billion streams and not get a million dollars? That s**t don’t make sense. Musicians, filmmakers, and other content creators are increasingly looking to Web3 solutions to bypass the giant, rent-seeking gatekeepers that have left them with the dregs.
Web3 technology, such as non-fungible tokens (NFTs), offers a way for creators to recreate the direct peer-to-peer ownership relationship that fans and performers used to have with physical media. Platforms like Aspen, Gala Games, and Toonstar are using NFTs to provide fans with exclusive access to content and to reward creators for their work.
For example, independent singer-songwriter Steinza used Aspen to offer concert-going fans who’d acquired his NFTs special privileges such as exclusive access to a virtual screening of his shows. Gala Film, a unit of Web3 gaming company Gala Games, is working with Emmy Award-winning filmmaker Steven Cantor to fund and produce the documentary Four Down and give fans exclusive access to behind-the-scenes footage and hands-on experiences. Animation studio Toonstar is allowing its NFT community to vote on aspects of its projects, including naming and choose-your-own-adventure plot outcomes.
These projects are about connecting creators with their audience, adding value, fostering a sense of shared interest and ownership, and providing a new path for artists that gives space for smaller projects and the many, many creators working on them.