Pierce your ears with NFTs — token-gated music is here.
Spotify and Audius announce plans for NFT-gating playlists and token-gating exclusive artists.
joshyote ✌️👽
March 09, 2023
gm ✌️
Glad you're here!
This week's newsletter is for the audiophiles out there. Spotify and Audius have both recently announced plans to introduce NFT-gating/token-gating for exclusive artists and playlists.
Now, I know what you're thinking; people have been talking about music NFTs for a long time, and it doesn't seem like they're catching fire.
I say:
Buuuuut, you can't ignore Spotify jumping into the space. So let's take a look and see what's up with token-gated music.
But first, here's a quick tutorial on how to be an upstanding NFT Degen for the uninitiated, or the super forgetful:
Step 1 is always "gm" — degens have manners
Step 2 is to pull up icy.tools, the best resource in the universe for discovering, tracking, and analyzing NFTs.
For the builders out there
QuickNode is hosting their third QuickPitch Competition for anyone building on the blockchain.
Spend 5 minutes of your time filling out an application, and if you get selected, 5 minutes of your time pitching on Twitter Spaces. Nothing more.
Apply by March 22nd, 2023, to win $10,000 in cash for your Web3 project, $25K of free QuickNode credits, $25K of free AWS credits, $20K of ad space on Icy.Tools, a social blast on our Twitter account with 23K+ followers, and an email to 110K+ developers.
Selected applicants will present on the QuickNode-hosted Twitter Spaces on March 28th, 2023!
$80,000 in prizes ✨
10 minutes of your time 🚀
3rd QuickPitch Competition ✅
Presented by QuickNode, @AWSstartups, and @dust_labs (creators of @DeGodsNFT@y00tsNFT)
Apply now -
Twitter Spaces on March 28th, 2023
— QuickNode (@QuickNode)
Mar 8, 2023
Token-gated music — let's go
Spotify has already launched a token-gated playlist pilot that enables members of communities to connect their wallets holding specific NFTs and gain access to an exclusive playlist.
A few NFT projects, like Overlord and Kingship, have joined the pilot. Overlord’s genesis Creepz NFTs will enjoy exclusive access to the playlist.
Overlord x @Spotify 🎶
We’ve been selected as one of Spotify’s partners in a new pilot.
🦎 Exclusive pilot of their token-enabled playlists
🎧 Launching with a holder-curated playlistDetails below ⤵️
— Overlord (@Overlord_xyz)
Feb 22, 2023
Overlord co-founder Joe Carnell stated that members of his community downloaded Spotify for the first time or upgraded to a premium subscription to enjoy an uninterrupted version of the invasion playlist without ads.
And just today, web3 music platform Audius announced a similar initiative with token-gated music. Audius' plan is more focused on the artists' side, allowing them to gate music to specific token-holding community members.
So, why do we care?
If a company like Spotify is dipping its toes into NFT-related music experiences, we care.
Spotify is the largest music streaming service, responsible for about 1/3 of all music streaming worldwide. Talk about onboarding the next billion users, right?
It's only a pilot program right now, but the initial results are very positive!
Coinbase Introduces Wallet as a Service
A perfect breakdown from Chris Bair of QuickNode:
Coinbase Wallet as a Service = The Web3 Mullet 🤘
👔 Web2 in the front:
- Create a wallet within your favorite app
- Using your existing username and password
- Immediately collect and trade in-game, in-store, in-app tokens
🎉 Web3 in the back:
- Export your keys at any time to a non-custodial wallet
Coinbase announcement thread here 👇
1/ Today we introduce Wallet as a Service, making it easier for any company or brand to seamlessly onboard their users to web3 🛠️⛓️
...even if they have never used cryptocurrency before.
— Coinbase (@coinbase)
Mar 8, 2023
🧟♂️
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