We are thrilled to introduce you SongRise, a direct-to-fan platform that will help musicians connect with core fans, and create a sustainable source of income through Non Fungible Token (NFT) offers. Our mission is to fill the monetization gap that streaming platforms have been unable to address, and end the days where more time needs to be spent doing business than making music. By leveraging the union of direct-to-fan platforms and NFT technology, SongRise allows music artists to flourish and grow a livable income from as few as 100 true fans.
The State of Affairs Today
Despite the flourishing of Spotify to a $72 billion dollar valuation, the state of affairs for musicians remains grim. The average musician makes less than half of what the average American worker makes per year, payouts for valuable artwork remain at around 0.003 cents per stream, and 90% of streams go to only the top 1% of artists. Instead, musicians are left to work multiple jobs and spend their time on merch, marketing, and touring instead of producing music. While the streaming industry has been a blessing for millions of listeners, it’s clear that it has made the situation worse, not better, for artists.
A Glimpse into the Future
While streaming has not solved the monetization problem, a tsunami of change has been hitting industries all around music, with a brighter future for musicians as well. Two major trends are key:
First, the development of the Direct-to-Fan model. These platforms have created flourishing success for small creators across multiple industries without middlemen. For example, on Patreon, “Last Podcast On The Left”, a comedy podcast covering the morbid and macabre, is able to bring in $84,972 per month, or $1,019,664 per year, with just 15,100 fans. Bandcamp shares a similar story. Artist Hether Fortune writes, “This last Bandcamp day, I made $1,500, which is a shitload of money for me. Maybe I’ve roughly gotten that much over the last five years in total from Spotify. Maybe. But that’s being generous”. However, while these platforms are a huge step towards empowering creators, they still offer minimal incentives to fans besides altruism and charity. That’s where the magic of blockchain comes in.
Second, digital assets and the blockchain economy. By transforming digital content back into a collectible, scarce asset, just like a painting in a museum or a vinyl in a record collection, the blockchain injects the true value back into the pricing of this art. Now, instead of fans donating money that they know will never be seen again, fans can actually get rewarded and earn an income themselves when the work they support appreciates in value. This transforms fans into investors, and makes supporting artists mutually beneficial for both parties. OpenSea, a visual-art-centric marketplace that has reached $10.35 billion since its launch, makes it clear that a massive amount of uncaptured value is yet to be realized by this model.
Moreover, blockchain technology has evolved dramatically in ways that enable the creation of the Web 3 music economy. The introduction of new chains and layer 2 solutions have allowed for significantly lower gas fees that support lower price trading. Also, stability at high volumes has improved as has the ability to handle mainstream audiences.
Together, these two trends create the ultimate technology landscape to empower artists and solve the monetization problem once and for all. Our vision at SongRise is to combine the power of these trends to create a reality where artists can now receive transparent, instant payments; sustainable income even from smaller audiences of true fans; and a deeply engaging, interactive community between artists and their supporters.
The SongRise Solution
Andrae Alexander, Grammy Nominated musician and cofounder at SongRise, shares his vision for SongRise: “The music industry is in a state of transition where anyone with drive and creativity can win. I’ve seen an 11 year old musician, Aaron Hodek, from Slovakia become so successful that he’s on major records and touring the world. With our NFT platform and the coming wave of Web3 technology, an innovative musician can write their own check. SongRise gives indie musicians access to this technology and is a tool that is ripe for ambitious musicians and artists who are willing to take the wheel of their career, those who are looking to have control over their art and how they interact with their most loyal fans. “
In the SongRise community, participating in the NFT economy will be simple, fun, and meaningful. As we begin to roll out our features in the coming months, we will ensure that users and artists can:
Collect NFTs with ease
SongRise erases the friction of owning music NFTs. All NFTs on SongRise will be minted in an eco-friendly manner. Also, both crypto and fiat payment methods are supported.
Build a community
SongRise’s community tools help establish rewarding relationships between musicians and fans. Fans can use NFTs to access community features, live events and exclusive fan clubs to grow together with artists.
Recognize top fans
Fans’ early support status will be recognized and celebrated by artists and the community. Top fans can enjoy special perks and all users can record unique memories and journeys together with their favorite musicians on SongRise.
Remove all black boxes
All transactions on SongRise are transparent and instant. No black box algorithm will be applied. Artists don’t have to give up any ownership of their copyrights to publish on SongRise. Artists and fans make the decisions.
Be Part of the Future of Music
At SongRise, we believe in the value of music. Taylor Swift says it best: “Music is art, and art is important and rare. Important, rare things are valuable. Valuable things should be paid for.”
We are excited to invite you — artists, bands, songwriters, producers, instrumentalists, fans, collectors, NFT enthusiasts, innovators, and forward thinkers — to the SongRise community. We can’t wait to tell you more about the exciting plans ahead.
Join SongRise, it’s never too late!
· Artists: fill out this form
· Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/SongRiseio
· Telegram: https://t.me/songriseio
· Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/songrisenft
· Discord: https://discord.gg/songrise
