Before I started iridescent wave, I almost started my own personal web3 music blog instead. I wanted to document my journey in learning, successes + fails, ups + downs, etc. Ultimately, I decided I could have a bigger, brighter impact by spending time writing about others & their work, and writing about the web3 music space as a whole instead of focusing so narrowly on my own perspective or experience.
All this to say: I am very careful not to make i-wave a self-promotional tool for all things Celia, but when I have something relevant to share, I will do it in hopes that others can learn & gain from it.
Today’s topic: experiments in web3 — a look behind the curtain on my own first NFT drop for all who are interested!
Why drop an NFT now and not a while back?
Long story short, I’ve taken my time dropping any NFTs. It’s definitely been a less popular path to take, and I’ve even missed out on opportunities because I didn’t have an NFT to show as my proof of participation in web3 or something, but I’ve always been pretty clear on my goals & choices around how I show up (via this blog, for example), and that hasn’t changed.
In my one+ year of following and participating in the the web3 music space, I’ve seen a LOT, mate! But I’ve simply never seen anything that aligned with my vision like this: a Spotify pre-save campaign that rewarded pre-savers with a free NFT. Via Showtime, users can pre-save an upcoming release — which helps artists lots in the Spotify algorithm game — and receive a free NFT from the artist in exchange.
My overall take: this is my first ever drop, and I want to make it accessible to anyone interested in my music. Then, a relationship between me & collectors can be fostered and hopefully, people who have been with me since the beginning will be keen to support down the line when my drops are less free.
In my position, I have nothing to lose and a lot more pre-saves on my music than usual to gain (43 and counting)! This moment & platform presented a well-timed opportunity for me to test some waters, reach new listeners, and make a cool but casual (and free) NFT debut.
Web2 meets web3 in harmony
One of my biggest hangups in dropping music NFTs with special perks was the likely possibility that I would leave my day ones who are NOT in web3 at all — and won’t be getting involved any time soon (which I respect) — behind to instead cater to a privileged web3 crowd of mostly faceless “collectors” (read: not necessarily fans of my work).
Then, I saw Daniel Allan casually tweet about his Showtime drop, took a quick look + spin, asked Showtime a few questions, and was IN! Get me on Showtime, baby — this is the kind of web 2.5 I kept hearing about but not truly seeing in action.
Here was an opportunity to engage the majority of Celia listeners all together in one release, which is really key to me — to keep my story coherent across the board while still experimenting in web3.
Why it works
The people behind Showtime are not web3 purists; they have created an incredibly effective tool for us artists whom are experimenting in web3 yet still operating in a very web2 world where, yes, Necessary Evil Spotify remains quite powerful in determining our music’s reach.
Pair the Showtime practical vision (artists need pre-saves; people like free NFTs) with an aesthetically pleasing website look and feel, A+ customer service for artists looking to get on the platform, and shit that works, and you got yourself a web3 music platform worth checking out!
To be fair, I’ve never been a fan of the Spotify pre-save process in general. Users have to literally give DistroKid or Showtime or whomever permission to access their Spotify account, go in, and Like songs on their behalf. It’s weird, and I totally understand why people opposed to doing that would pass on this Showtime NFT drop, but the way I see it: if you’re going to go through those steps to pre-save a song anyway, you might as well get something special from the artist in return.
What I’m learning
I’ve seen it said before, but now I have some real data to say: there is a huge divide between web2 and web3 listeners, and that’s okay. Here is a super clean platform user experience and I’ve found that people not in web3 still mostly aren’t biting.
Not for nothing, lots of people in web3 aren’t biting either. It’s people I’m not as close to who are happy to support via pre-save & collect; Showtime users with generosity of spirit (and generosity of pre-save, lol); fellow artists experimenting with the same platform. This is all useful information for me, and it’s already informing my next move(s) in web3.
What the future holds
Will I use Showtime again? I most likely will. Beyond pre-saves, artists can even drop already released songs on there and trade free NFTs for “Likes” on Spotify, and I hear there is more in the works for the Showtime platform. If they continue to deliver real results and original drop ideas for artists, they may have a bright future.
As for my own future Celia drops, I’m excited for the next experiment! In the meantime, I’m focusing on improving my craft, my collabs, and my related projects (all things i-wave!) so that collecting my future drops will be a no-brainer for everyone!
xo C