NFT.NYC: beyond the hype
It’s been a little over a month and a half since I had the great pleasure (or "honor," one could say…) of participating in NFT.NYC, the largest and most relevant conference on NFTs globally. With over 1,000 speakers and nearly 6,000 participants, there was an abundance of information that makes it quite complex to understand everything that happened. I’ll do my best to express my feelings and thoughts about what happened during those days...
Utility vs. Speculation
If one thing became clear, it's that several worlds are happening simultaneously within the Web3 ecosystem... First and foremost, NFTs as a container are starting to be used in as many situations as the mind can imagine: healthcare, sports, tourism, and more industries are taking their first steps, experimenting with a technology that seemed to be exclusively reserved for culture and art.
Within this new diversity, there are two elements that, although certainly intertwined, continue to generate quite different conversations and debates:
Speculation, where the NFT is an asset we aspire to, hoping and wishing for its value to increase, often making this the most notable factor when buying an NFT.
Utility, linked to how to make this technology solve, enhance, and create new possibilities in music, culture, art, and the aforementioned industries.
In particular, the utility of an NFT is what I find most interesting and relevant when acquiring one, and that is what I will expand upon. In addition to, obviously, the emotional value it can generate.
For a while now, at Enigma, we’ve been focusing and emphasizing on utility, thinking and brainstorming about content that is truly attractive and meaningful to those who acquire an NFT, far from considering it as something that should only increase its economic value to make it useful. There are cases where it can indeed become a digital keepsake (such as a Smart Ticket, for example) or cases where, linked to the actions generated by certain artists or festivals, it can modify its utility or even increase its resale potential... But when thinking about an NFT, the focus should be on what it has to offer tangibly (utility) other than what it may become (speculation).
Many music projects, communities, and more, currently seek to make the value of an NFT easy to understand, which generally translates into the possibilities of taking advantage of its utilities in the short and/or medium term. In this sense, NFT.NYC made one thing clear to me: at Enigma, we are heading in the right direction.
Building Community
Sharing opinions, debates, and conversations with Latin American colleagues is another highlight of the event. The communion among Spanish-speaking colleagues allows us to understand a global vision of Web3 and give a framework for translating how we think about the use of NFTs, blockchain, or even the incorporation of DAO tools in our territories.
I had the fortune and pleasure of having many conversations with Walter Gammarota, Orsai’s CTO, one of the most interesting independent publishers and communities in Argentina, who shared his future vision of the ecosystem with me:
"Blockchain technology has the potential to be a catalyst for significant changes in the way cultural projects are created and distributed, by allowing for more active participation from communities and eliminating intermediaries. Although we are still in an early stage, I believe there is a vast field to explore at the intersection of culture, art, and technology. It's exciting to think about the possibilities that could arise in the future as new solutions are developed and the true potential of blockchain technology is leveraged".
As a result of the conversations and meetings I had at NFT.NYC, and the exchanges and conversations with colleagues, I reached some conclusions that I believe are fundamental, mainly applicable to the music industry but also very relevant to creators and artists in general.
There is a lack of intersection between web2 and web3 to learn from the good and the bad.
We participated in spaces generated by Catalog, Songcamp, Metalabel, Coop Records, HiFi-Labs, and more, and this was one of the clearest conclusions: although there is increasing clarity around the construction and evolution that has been generated with music, there is still a cloud of uncertainty about what the future holds for music. At times, it feels like there is little interaction between what happens in web2 (or in traditional ecosystems) and what happens in web3. It is crucial to enhance this intersection. We must not ignore the main consumption dynamics that exist today, and above all, we must learn from the mistakes that web2 has brought. Avoiding the transformation of music NFTs into commodities for technology development, undervaluing and undermining the artists and creators who bring these works to life, is another key point to continue developing.
Artists like DYL, who take advantage of the benefits of web2 but build community in web3, become great references in this context.
Utility around NFTs is crucial.
The utilities of NFT’s become even more relevant in the music field, given the context in which both the web3 ecosystem and the music industry are operating. Nowadays, the market for NFTs linked to songs and music is still developing and improving every day. This, coupled with the fact that for at least two decades a large part of the population has not directly paid for music, allows us to understand that restoring commercial value to music is a structural change that will take considerable time and effort. However, when certain possibilities beyond the standards are added to music (Meet & Greet, exclusive material, or other unique experiences), the format becomes particularly attractive to a follower or fan. The case of Hotel Miranda's NFTs that we launched at Enigma is a very clear example of how successful these types of releases can be for an artist and how valuable these experiences are for their followers.
In Enigma, we also have MIXER as the main method of music commercialization, an innovative and exclusive tool that allows users to directly interact with a song, discovering sounds and reinterpreting the work to their own liking.
There are also cases of NFTs that include utilities and can be stored as memorabilia. For example, the tickets for two nights of Songcamp and Catalog (two of the events I attended) were created in collaboration with Metalabel and are, precisely, an NFT.
Publishing rights and their possible circulation need a framework.
There are still significant discussions and open debates related to how both the information around NFTs (metadata) and the rights of music generation and distribution within the ecosystem should be regulated. The new possibilities and tools (such as Fractional) related to the sale of royalties or future rights pose even greater challenges in the regulatory field.
"It is important for the music ecosystem to shape, research, and update itself in technology. There are free tools to benefit musicians and platforms in the sale of digital assets, but there must be regulation and interoperability".
Communities need IRL gatherings.
There is much talk about digital communities and their exponential growth (in recent years, mainly), but if something became clear to me when meeting, chatting, and exchanging opinions with my Latin American colleagues during these days in NYC, it is the following: communities and bonds are greatly strengthened through physical and face-to-face meetings. NFTs are an incredible access key that can enable infinite possibilities in the digital realm, but physical gatherings are fundamental for confirming those connections.
In that sense, NFT.NYC brings together thousands of communities that range from more politically and socially oriented approaches and pursuits (gender equity or the fight against racism) to PFP (Profile Picture) and DAO (Decentralized Autonomous Organization) communities that unite based on themes, avatars, sharing the same type of pet, or simply by an artist or genre that brings them together.
One tool that I found super interesting and was used in NYC to bring communities together was Magic Map, which centralizes all events related to music NFTs. It's fascinating to mix technology with a physical reality context.
Long story short…
NFT.NYC was an epic experience that allowed me to see the diversity and magnitude of the NFT ecosystem. Here’s my two cents on the whole experience:
Although there is a lot of hype and speculation, there is also a genuine search for utility and the construction of solid communities.
Communication around projects that utilize the technology becomes fundamental, and the biggest challenge is to make it simple, straightforward, and direct so that more people can access these new formats and experiences.
The intersection between web2 and web3 is essential to generate more dialogue and avoid repeating the mistakes that have been made. Finding this balance becomes extremely important in the immediate future.
IRL (in real life) meetings are crucial for established communities: they allow for another layer of depth in dialogues and generate new opportunities among their members.
And possibly the most important of all: Latin America has the potential to occupy a central place in many aspects of the ecosystem. It's exciting to be part of this movement and contribute to the construction of the future of web3 in our region.
Nicolás Madoery for Enigma.art