When I was freefalling from 15,000 feet last month, I looked at the world as I nosedived into it and thought, “Well, it’s pretty hard to breathe right now”.” Nevertheless, I tucked in my hands and feet as directed and patiently waited to take another sip of oxygen. As my muscles were completely locked in, I could only drift through my thoughts one by one, as if I were meditating.
Ironically, the feeling of being thrown out of a helicopter from above the clouds gave me a similar sentiment to working in blockchain. Part of – but at a distance from – the rest of the society, waiting to take your next breath, and a feeling of pressure to land on both feet after being thrown into something new. Perhaps the most fortunate part is that I was not falling entirely alone; I was in tandem with someone much more experienced than me who had done this hundreds of times before me and would continue to do it hundreds of times more.
Freefalling into the latest technological advancements is quite the challenge to do entirely independently and without a supportive community. Fortunately for us, we don’t need to be certified or skydive hundreds of times like my instructor to be part of said community. Now, fans and artists can uplift each other in a Web3 environment and be incentivised by the network to do so.
I recently discovered the advancement of financially supporting independent artists through token staking. Artists that create independently can receive financial support through grants given to them by their fans. I can send support just by being a token holder and staking. All I need to do is be part of the network.
The simplest way to visualise this is that you’re a skydiving instructor and I’m the artist going with you. Staking your $RECORD tokens is like securing your parachute tightly to ensure a safe and smooth descent. Traditionally, staking means you lock up your tokens to help keep the blockchain network secure, and in return, you earn some rewards. But in this version of staking, you can choose a selection of artists to direct them to (like me in this scenario) who have shared their music on Public Pressure. That way, you can enjoy their music and exclusive additions on the platform – and provide them with grants, too.
So now, I’m the artist who has put my music on Music Protocol’s platform. I have been propelled and incentivised by my community to take the leap, and I can reward my fans for supporting me in tandem.
This approach democratises the music industry by providing financial opportunities for artists and allows them to explore a new fanbase of token holders and interact with them.It liberates and supports artists and is a unique way of entering the crypto market, or if you’re already in the market, easily engaging with the projects you’re investing in. This innovation creates a more equitable music industry by introducing emerging artists and music lovers to new technologies.
Next story
