What Are NFTs? And Can You Make Money Selling Your Music as One? - YouTube

Hi, my name is Tony van Veen, CEO of Disc  Makers. All of a sudden, in the past month or so,  

NFTs have been all over the news. Record albums,  paintings, gifs of NBA players dunking are  

all selling for big bucks and the media just  can't get enough of it. So, what on earth is an  

NFT? And is there any money to be made for you by  selling your music as one? Well, let me explain.  

As I'm sure you've heard by now, NFT  stands for non-fungible token. In essence,  

it's a way to prove ownership of an original  digital file. You see, with physical art,  

the original was always clear. There is only one  original painting of Van Gogh's Starry Night.  

There is one original open-reel master of Bob  Marley's Catch a Fire album. The originals,  

therefore, will always be worth much more than  any copies that are made of them. But how does  

it work with a digital file? With digital art?  Once an artist has created a digital piece of art,  

an image, or a music recording, anyone who gets  their hands on a copy has a copy that is equal  

in quality and, therefore, equal in value to the  original. Up till now. An NFT allows its creator  

to add a bit of data to the electronic file  or, more accurately, add an electronic file  

to the non-fungible token that proves its original  provenance, where it came from, and who owns it.  

This instantly makes an original digital file  worth more than all otherwise identical digital  

copies. After all, it is the original and  you can prove it. That identifying data  

of an NFT sits on the Blockchain - basically  a digital way to track and register data in a  

universally accessible global database upon which  cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin are also based.  

And interestingly, because the data on the  blockchain allows people to track who owns an NFT,  

NFTs can be bought and sold multiple times and  their ownership trail will also be recorded and  

confirmed in that database. This allows owners  to resell NFTs and the digital artwork that they  

come with for a profit if they are inclined to do  so. Don't ask me to explain it more technically,  

I don't understand exactly how the digital  sausage is made, but it works somehow. In essence,  

what an NFT does it allows you to prove  your ownership and as a result, it allows  

the digital creations to become collectible. Any  kind of digital file can be attached to an NFT.  

You've probably heard that digital artist  Beeple recently sold an nft of 5,000 of his  

digital images for a whopping 69 million dollars  at Christie's Auction House. Artist Grimes sold  

several NFTs of her recordings for about five  million dollars. And Kings of Leon launched  

their most recent album as an NFT. Heck, just  about anything digital can be sold as an NFT.  

Jack Dorsey, the founder of Twitter, recently  sold the very first tweet ever as an NFT  

for 2.9 million dollars. So, are NFTs for  you? And is there any money to be made?  

Well, in short, if you're already rich and famous  as an artist, then maybe. If there already is  

demand for your music your digital creations have  value that can likely be monetized as an NFT.  

And if you're not famous yet, well then it's  too soon to think of NFTs as being a revenue  

opportunity for you. NFTs as a vehicle are  really still a bleeding-edge concept. It's  

no accident that many of those people buying NFTs  for big bucks today are people who made big bucks  

speculating on cryptocurrencies and they're paying  for the NFTs with those cryptocurrencies. Look,  

as independent artists, we have always been  followers of technology that was first established  

and mainstreamed by majors - the major artists  and the major labels. When CDs first came out,  

for example, a long time ago, they were developed  and pioneered by the majors and the first artists  

on those CDs were all on major labels. It was only  when CDs went mainstream that independent artists  

started adopting them and putting out their music  on CDs. NFTs are clearly not mainstream yet today.  

I mean, while many people today are  talking about NFTs because of the big  

valuations of some of these early sales, do  you actually know someone who owns an NFT?  

Yes, there are some interesting concepts being  tested that are starting to get acceptance among  

digitally-savvy consumers like the NBA Top  Shot digital trading cards, but it will take  

a while for NFTs to get broad acceptance among  your likely fanbase. I do believe, however,  

that NFTs will be around and become a fixture in  the creative digital landscape, but at this time,  

it's too early to start worrying about them for  your music. Once the format becomes mainstream  

and once consumers begin accepting and buying  them in large numbers, that is when you can start  

figuring out how to put out your next creation as  an NFT. Until then, just keep an eye on the news  

and see how NFTs develop as a creative format. And  when it's time to put out your music as an NFT,  

you'll be sure we'll let you know. Hope  you found this helpful. See you next time.