In recent years, the music industry has undergone tremendous changes. We have seen the advent of the Internet leave its mark on music, and most notably, 1999 heralded the arrival of Napster. This revolutionary peer-to-peer online streaming service at the time defined an entire generation and enabled musicians to share their creations with the world.

Through Apple, Amazon, Tencent Music and the obvious category winners-Spotify, streaming media has become the main form of music today. The goal of distribution services and platforms such as Spotify is to allow artists to create more works without worrying about anything other than honing their skills.

However, this is just a matter of fact-does reality reflect this utopian ideal? Not that much.

Of course, the “transformation” of music in the past few decades is obvious to all, but it seems that some people have fallen behind. The saddest thing is that those who are left behind are the artists who make us all get goose bumps, move our feet, and put the brightest smiles on our faces.

The economics of streaming media are tough. Platforms like Spotify operate under a business model, and platform operators get a share of each stream.As Spotify, it makes sense supply Allocation is better than nothing, but there is still a huge problem. In the end, about 70% of the works ended up in the hands of music copyright holders, and discovery features often put lesser-known artists at a disadvantage compared to household-name artists. The result is a top-heavy distribution funnel that benefits already successful musicians.

For most artists who try to win bread by creating and doing the above-mentioned things, music is still a rather humid and dark place, which is not yesterday’s news. The industry is still plagued by intermediaries that try to weaken the most important income. If you are not like Taylor Swifts, Billie Eilishes and Justin Biebers in the world, you are probably trying to make ends meet. Even if you are like them, you may not get the rewards you deserve.

The bright side is…change is coming.No, start from scratch-change here.

Create a new era of music

Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and underlying technologies are introducing a new kind of ball game and a level playing field, which will provide support and power to artists. What NFT does is to release value by making digital scarcity a reality and capitalizing.At the same time, they allow musicians, designers and everyone in between to exercise control Their work effectively makes them the masters of distribution.

related: NFT is a game changer for independent artists and musicians

Do you remember the first NFT you bought? And do you remember how you felt after buying? It feels great, doesn’t it? This is another thing about digital collectibles-owning them, stacking them, is simply intoxicating.

Now, imagine if you can support your favorite artists and get their latest hits directly from them with Also get “NFT kick” from it. Suppose you want to participate in a music festival with all your favorite DJs-isn’t it an absolute pleasure to be able to get tickets directly from the source? And how wonderful would it be to get a unique, customized and unique proof of attendance with your own name? Now we are talking.

Well, all of this is cool and will soon become ubiquitous, but what does it have to do with streaming platforms such as Spotify? Very good question. It must be good (at least we hope so) and has moved in the right direction. However, in a world full of arbitrary numbers and standardized screens, this is not enough.

Re-introduce scarcity and make music unique again

Digital scarcity is necessary to create a unique user experience and allow fans to form a more lasting and deeper connection with their favorite artists.

For now, there is nothing really unique about the music on Spotify—there is no limited edition of tracks, music connoisseurs cannot get rare album releases, and Spotify lacks a scarce system. Think about it-if you are a big fan of Canadian DJ and producer Deadmau5, you might want to own the first version of a certain song or album. Or the #10 release, or the #50 release—something with higher intrinsic value, showing your love for a particular artist. Why doesn’t it exist?

This “layered” music distribution system is undoubtedly beneficial to artists, because limited editions and early editions mean higher value. At the same time, it also allows fans and artists to grow together. Take the #1 release of the Deadmau5 track you own as an example. When the track enters the top 10 every week, others will see your name next to it-so that fans can get a piece of the “fame” pie.

At some point, for whatever reason, it might make sense for fans to sell the #1 version of the NFT. Guess who will get a share of this sale? Correct-the artist.

related: Celebrities are embracing NFT

Direct one-on-one interactions, influence on fans, increased sense of belonging and deeper connections-this is one reason why NFT is causing a considerable part of the tremor, or more precisely, three reasons for the Spotify shareholder meeting. another? Enabling and empowering artists, let them return to the driver’s seat.

A new era of creator economy

You see, music streaming platforms deprive musicians of their value by standardizing everything. The digital value of the past few decades has largely created an environment that restricts artists’ control over distribution. With NFT, this kind of control is now available again-you can program and track anything, do whatever you want with your music, if it was originally released to the world using NFT technology.

Oh, and now you can also share a slice of the pie for your fans by introducing other creative twists (such as revenue sharing). The more popular the artist, the happier the fans-everyone wins. Combine this with the ideas outlined above and we have the secret of success. Who would have thought it was possible?

related: In a bull market or a bear market, creators are diving into cryptocurrency

We are entering a new era of creator economy, and NFT is the next logical step to further empower and empower artists. It’s time to reintroduce scarcity in an industry based on uniqueness and free up the driver’s seat for those who are best suited to the road ahead.

Put Spotify aside; NFT is coming.

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The views, thoughts and opinions expressed here are only those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect or represent the views and opinions of Cointelegraph.