Category: Web3
The rise of Web3 and blockchain in all its forms — across NFTs, social tokens, and DAOs — has ushered a new wave of experimentation in the music industry, rethinking traditional approaches to music monetization and fan engagement. As a research community, we are especially interested in analyzing music NFT sales activity, designing tokenized community strategies for independent artists, and examining hybrid Web2/Web3 legal frameworks for music rights.

The HitPiece debacle crystallizes several key issues that crop up time and time again within the music NFT ecosystem.


Mudd DAO is a self-described “decentralized, community-run record label at the forefront of collaborative creation and generative music.” The long-term vision of the DAO is to help more collaborators make more music together than ever thought possible through generative creative techniques, and to give that music a platform via decentralized distribution infrastructure.

Sone is a music DAO spun off from the longstanding indie record label Topshelf Records. The ultimate vision for Sone is not necessarily to build a “Web3 label,” but rather to produce public goods for music.


This breakdown is part of an ongoing, members-only interview series focused on artist and label DAOs, as part of Season 1.5 of our ongoing collaborative research on music and Web3.


Despite headlines about big sales and big possibilities for artists’ futures in Web3, a close examination of fan onboarding tactics suggest there will be numerous hurdles before this possibility becomes a reality.

The shape of music/Web3 tooling is more exciting and diverse than ever before. New platforms are launching weekly to help artists leverage NFTs, social tokens and DAO infrastructure to create new economic models around creativity and fan engagement.

Music NFT headlines this year have focused on astronomical sales… but what is actually being sold?


2021 has seen a flurry of new generative music NFT project launches, but they have yet to see the same consumer demand or financial upside as their immensely popular visual counterparts.