The revolution will not be televised — it will be minted. Earlier this year, we saw the meteoric rise (and fall) of nonfungible tokens, or NFTs, in mainstream media and popular culture. We all heard about them, but was the hype real? Top businessmen and media moguls, such as Mark Cuban and Gary Vee, still strongly advocate NFT use and the role smart contracts will play in the near future, while each week new NFT exchanges and drops continue to roll out. Jay-Z’s Twitter profile picture is an NFT CryptoPunk.
With or without the buzz, one of the most powerful and overlooked impacts of NFTs is on the music industry. NFTs have the power to change the game for independent artists by providing a new way to earn an income (while connecting with fans), and this kind of change has been long overdue.