A set of nine artist- and fan-centric design principles for building the next generation of musical metaverse experiences.

How we created a music Web3 learning experience with and for our members — going from ideation to execution in just three months.

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.

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.

Introducing our new, collaborative editorial vertical about the future of work in the music business. On a biweekly basis, our research team highlights the most interesting jobs emerging in music — “interesting” defined as involving new technologies, skill sets, strategic priorities, and cross-industry synergies like in gaming, fitness, and podcasts — as a vector for charting potential futures for the music industry as a whole.

Artificial intelligence and machine learning are ushering in a whole new paradigm for music-making, where automated processes and tools are aiming to augment or even replace fundamental compositional and engineering skills.

As a follow-up to our myriad studies of fan sentiment around music/Web3 projects in Season 1, we embarked on a survey analysis of how artists and music-industry professionals were feeling about Web3 across its numerous forms, including NFTs, DAOs and social tokens.

A recap of how we designed the latest iteration of the W&M Academy, and the main themes that our speakers shared with our community.

A recap of how we designed the latest iteration of the W&M Academy, and the main themes that our speakers shared with our community.

There is a new generation of alternative streaming and curation services being built on top of music NFTs, providing a crucial contextual and social layer on top of the wider music/Web3 ecosystem as it scales.

A self-directed guide for artists and their teams to explore the diverse set of entry points into musical metaverse experiences.

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

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

A set of nine artist- and fan-centric design principles for building the next generation of musical metaverse experiences.

Now that we’re easing our way into 2022, we thought now would be a good time to check in on how we’re feeling about the future of the music industry. Has the hype and excitement around tech trends in 2021 burned off — or has it morphed into something solid and sustainable?

Introducing our new, collaborative editorial vertical about the future of work in the music business. On a biweekly basis, our research team highlights the most interesting jobs emerging in music — “interesting” defined as involving new technologies, skill sets, strategic priorities, and cross-industry synergies like in gaming, fitness, and podcasts — as a vector for charting potential futures for the music industry as a whole.

Introducing our new, collaborative editorial vertical about the future of work in the music business. On a biweekly basis, our research team highlights the most interesting jobs emerging in music — “interesting” defined as involving new technologies, skill sets, strategic priorities, and cross-industry synergies like in gaming, fitness, and podcasts — as a vector for charting potential futures for the music industry as a whole.

A set of nine artist- and fan-centric design principles for building the next generation of musical metaverse experiences.

Riot Games, the studio behind League of Legends, has collaborated with Lil Nas X on the 2022 League of Legends World Championship (Worlds) Tournament anthem, “Star Walkin.’”

Introducing our new, collaborative editorial vertical about the future of work in the music business. On a biweekly basis, our research team highlights the most interesting jobs emerging in music — “interesting” defined as involving new technologies, skill sets, strategic priorities, and cross-industry synergies like in gaming, fitness, and podcasts — as a vector for charting potential futures for the music industry as a whole.

Justin Bieber played his first-ever in-game concert in Garena Free Fire, a battle-royale game exclusive to mobile devices, on August 27, 2022. Did it generate the buzz and results that we expected!

Our latest community barometer survey identified several challenges currently affecting music-industry workers in a rapidly changing market, while providing context on whether workers feel equipped with the skills needed to enact change in their careers and in the wider music business. 

Introducing our new, collaborative editorial vertical about the future of work in the music business. On a biweekly basis, our research team highlights the most interesting jobs emerging in music — “interesting” defined as involving new technologies, skill sets, strategic priorities, and cross-industry synergies like in gaming, fitness, and podcasts — as a vector for charting potential futures for the music industry as a whole.

Introducing our new, collaborative editorial vertical about the future of work in the music business. On a biweekly basis, our research team highlights the most interesting jobs emerging in music — “interesting” defined as involving new technologies, skill sets, strategic priorities, and cross-industry synergies like in gaming, fitness, and podcasts — as a vector for charting potential futures for the music industry as a whole.

Introducing our new, collaborative editorial vertical about the future of work in the music business. On a biweekly basis, our research team highlights the most interesting jobs emerging in music — “interesting” defined as involving new technologies, skill sets, strategic priorities, and cross-industry synergies like in gaming, fitness, and podcasts — as a vector for charting potential futures for the music industry as a whole.

A self-directed guide for artists and their teams to explore the diverse set of entry points into musical metaverse experiences.

Cutting through the hype to present tangible, focused opportunities for growth and improvement around one of the most in-demand and fundamental use cases for musical metaverse experiences today: Having fun with friends.

Our latest community barometer survey identified several challenges currently affecting music-industry workers in a rapidly changing market, while providing context on whether workers feel equipped with the skills needed to enact change in their careers and in the wider music business. 

Now that we’re easing our way into 2022, we thought now would be a good time to check in on how we’re feeling about the future of the music industry. Has the hype and excitement around tech trends in 2021 burned off — or has it morphed into something solid and sustainable?

En el año 2021, los titulares acerca de los NFTs de música se han centrado en los números de sus ventas astronómicas… y la pregunta sigue latente: ¿qué es lo que realmente se vende?

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

A diverse set of ideas to monetize music IP and engage meaningfully with fans in the metaverse, across three main categories: Creating visually immersive content, licensing music IP directly to platforms’ content libraries, and making artist IP available for user identity and expression.

This project began as an effort to create a “simple” music NFT contract template, as a follow-up to our high-level research from Season 1 on issues facing the music/Web3 ecosystem. Our modular template guides the user through different paths based on their answers, and outputs a custom PDF file that they can then attach on- or off-chain to their NFT releases.

Where the production and physical space limitations for this type of augmented reality inhibits scaling this type of experience to mass audiences, we can see the metaverse – with its many platforms and worlds, and with varying levels of interactivity – being a place where we see more of these estates extend their reach using new technologies.

Where the production and physical space limitations for this type of augmented reality inhibits scaling this type of experience to mass audiences, we can see the metaverse – with its many platforms and worlds, and with varying levels of interactivity – being a place where we see more of these estates extend their reach using new technologies.

How we created a music Web3 learning experience with and for our members — going from ideation to execution in just three months.

Artificial intelligence and machine learning are ushering in a whole new paradigm for music-making, where automated processes and tools are aiming to augment or even replace fundamental compositional and engineering skills.

Only 5% of the U.S. general population has attended a virtual concert or livestreamed performance in the past year, and only 5% of the U.S. general population plans to attend a virtual concert or livestreamed performance in the upcoming year.

Artificial intelligence and machine learning are ushering in a whole new paradigm for music-making, where automated processes and tools are aiming to augment or even replace fundamental compositional and engineering skills.

The FN Meka debacle has more resonance from a branding/ethics perspective, than it does as a purely technological case study.

The FN Meka debacle has more resonance from a branding/ethics perspective, than it does as a purely technological case study.

Introducing our new, collaborative editorial vertical dedicated to tracking the music/Web3 landscape.

Introducing our new, collaborative editorial vertical dedicated to tracking the music/Web3 landscape.

Continuing Water & Music’s exploration of the legal maze around music and Web3, this article takes a closer look at nascent smart-contract developments around collaborative splits for Web3-native music releases.

The FN Meka debacle has more resonance from a branding/ethics perspective, than it does as a purely technological case study.

Riot Games, the studio behind League of Legends, has collaborated with Lil Nas X on the 2022 League of Legends World Championship (Worlds) Tournament anthem, “Star Walkin.’”

Introducing our new, collaborative editorial vertical about the future of work in the music business. On a biweekly basis, our research team highlights the most interesting jobs emerging in music — “interesting” defined as involving new technologies, skill sets, strategic priorities, and cross-industry synergies like in gaming, fitness, and podcasts — as a vector for charting potential futures for the music industry as a whole.

Justin Bieber played his first-ever in-game concert in Garena Free Fire, a battle-royale game exclusive to mobile devices, on August 27, 2022. Did it generate the buzz and results that we expected!

A set of nine artist- and fan-centric design principles for building the next generation of musical metaverse experiences.

Cutting through the hype to present tangible, focused opportunities for growth and improvement around one of the most in-demand and fundamental use cases for musical metaverse experiences today: Having fun with friends.

A set of nine artist- and fan-centric design principles for building the next generation of musical metaverse experiences.

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.

Riot Games, the studio behind League of Legends, has collaborated with Lil Nas X on the 2022 League of Legends World Championship (Worlds) Tournament anthem, “Star Walkin.’”

Any artist at any career stage can start thinking early on about how to increase the longevity of the art they create and distribute online.

Continuing Water & Music’s exploration of the legal maze around music and Web3, this article takes a closer look at nascent smart-contract developments around collaborative splits for Web3-native music releases.

A starting metrics framework for evaluating and comparing different music NFT drops over time, with a focus on tracking collector activity and gauging the overall community health of music NFT projects.

Riot Games, the studio behind League of Legends, has collaborated with Lil Nas X on the 2022 League of Legends World Championship (Worlds) Tournament anthem, “Star Walkin.’”

Introducing our new, collaborative editorial vertical about the future of work in the music business. On a biweekly basis, our research team highlights the most interesting jobs emerging in music — “interesting” defined as involving new technologies, skill sets, strategic priorities, and cross-industry synergies like in gaming, fitness, and podcasts — as a vector for charting potential futures for the music industry as a whole.

Justin Bieber played his first-ever in-game concert in Garena Free Fire, a battle-royale game exclusive to mobile devices, on August 27, 2022. Did it generate the buzz and results that we expected!

A recap of how we designed the latest iteration of the W&M Academy, and the main themes that our speakers shared with our community.

Over the last month, several contributors in the Water & Music community collaborated to analyze music NFT market dynamics, based on data from our members-only music NFT database. This report is the result — an in-depth analysis of 2021 music NFT sales by artist genre, platform/protocol, and label affiliation, covering over $86M worth of revenue, as well as a qualitative discussion of popular and emerging forms of utility that have emerged around the format in the last year.

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.

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua.

A set of nine artist- and fan-centric design principles for building the next generation of musical metaverse experiences.

This project began as an effort to create a “simple” music NFT contract template, as a follow-up to our high-level research from Season 1 on issues facing the music/Web3 ecosystem. Our modular template guides the user through different paths based on their answers, and outputs a custom PDF file that they can then attach on- or off-chain to their NFT releases.

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua.

A diverse set of ideas to monetize music IP and engage meaningfully with fans in the metaverse, across three main categories: Creating visually immersive content, licensing music IP directly to platforms’ content libraries, and making artist IP available for user identity and expression.

In response to growing demand and market activity, we’ve updated our music NFT contract builder to include off-chain, IRL benefits around merchandise and access, which comprise some of the fastest-growing forms of utility around music NFTs.

En el año 2021, los titulares acerca de los NFTs de música se han centrado en los números de sus ventas astronómicas… y la pregunta sigue latente: ¿qué es lo que realmente se vende?

The FN Meka debacle has more resonance from a branding/ethics perspective, than it does as a purely technological case study.

The FN Meka debacle has more resonance from a branding/ethics perspective, than it does as a purely technological case study.

Only 5% of the U.S. general population has attended a virtual concert or livestreamed performance in the past year, and only 5% of the U.S. general population plans to attend a virtual concert or livestreamed performance in the upcoming year.

Introducing our new, collaborative editorial vertical dedicated to tracking the music/Web3 landscape.

Introducing our new, collaborative editorial vertical about the future of work in the music business. On a biweekly basis, our research team highlights the most interesting jobs emerging in music — “interesting” defined as involving new technologies, skill sets, strategic priorities, and cross-industry synergies like in gaming, fitness, and podcasts — as a vector for charting potential futures for the music industry as a whole.

Introducing our new, collaborative editorial vertical about the future of work in the music business. On a biweekly basis, our research team highlights the most interesting jobs emerging in music — “interesting” defined as involving new technologies, skill sets, strategic priorities, and cross-industry synergies like in gaming, fitness, and podcasts — as a vector for charting potential futures for the music industry as a whole.

A self-directed guide for artists and their teams to explore the diverse set of entry points into musical metaverse experiences.

In response to growing demand and market activity, we’ve updated our music NFT contract builder to include off-chain, IRL benefits around merchandise and access, which comprise some of the fastest-growing forms of utility around music NFTs.

Introducing our new, collaborative editorial vertical about the future of work in the music business. On a biweekly basis, our research team highlights the most interesting jobs emerging in music — “interesting” defined as involving new technologies, skill sets, strategic priorities, and cross-industry synergies like in gaming, fitness, and podcasts — as a vector for charting potential futures for the music industry as a whole.

A self-directed guide for artists and their teams to explore the diverse set of entry points into musical metaverse experiences.

Cutting through the hype to present tangible, focused opportunities for growth and improvement around one of the most in-demand and fundamental use cases for musical metaverse experiences today: Having fun with friends.

Ampled is a digital cooperative building a paid membership platform that is 100% owned by its artists, workers and community. Founded in 2019 by a group of designers, software engineers and musicians, Ampled helps artists gain sustainable and predictable income in today’s streaming economy. The cooperative is currently incorporated as an LLC, and is evaluating a DAO structure as a means to give the organization more long-term financial sustainability.

Independent artist Jonathan Mann built SongADAO as an ownership and decision-making layer on top of his daily songwriting project Song A Day, which has been running for over 13 years.

Phlote is on a mission to create the most exciting music company on the internet, with a focus on using tokenomics and DAO infrastructure to redesign music curation, discovery and distribution.

Continuing Water & Music’s exploration of the legal maze around music and Web3, this article takes a closer look at nascent smart-contract developments around collaborative splits for Web3-native music releases.

Continuing Water & Music’s exploration of the legal maze around music and Web3, this article takes a closer look at nascent smart-contract developments around collaborative splits for Web3-native music releases.

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

Now that we’re easing our way into 2022, we thought now would be a good time to check in on how we’re feeling about the future of the music industry. Has the hype and excitement around tech trends in 2021 burned off — or has it morphed into something solid and sustainable?

Any artist at any career stage can start thinking early on about how to increase the longevity of the art they create and distribute online.

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua.

Introducing our new, collaborative editorial vertical dedicated to tracking the music/Web3 landscape.

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.

Introducing our new, collaborative editorial vertical dedicated to tracking the music/Web3 landscape.

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

Cutting through the hype to present tangible, focused opportunities for growth and improvement around one of the most in-demand and fundamental use cases for musical metaverse experiences today: Having fun with friends.

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua.

There is a new generation of alternative streaming and curation services being built on top of music NFTs, providing a crucial contextual and social layer on top of the wider music/Web3 ecosystem as it scales.

A self-directed guide for artists and their teams to explore the diverse set of entry points into musical metaverse experiences.

Cutting through the hype to present tangible, focused opportunities for growth and improvement around one of the most in-demand and fundamental use cases for musical metaverse experiences today: Having fun with friends.

Riot Games, the studio behind League of Legends, has collaborated with Lil Nas X on the 2022 League of Legends World Championship (Worlds) Tournament anthem, “Star Walkin.’”

Our latest community barometer survey identified several challenges currently affecting music-industry workers in a rapidly changing market, while providing context on whether workers feel equipped with the skills needed to enact change in their careers and in the wider music business. 

Introducing our new, collaborative editorial vertical about the future of work in the music business. On a biweekly basis, our research team highlights the most interesting jobs emerging in music — “interesting” defined as involving new technologies, skill sets, strategic priorities, and cross-industry synergies like in gaming, fitness, and podcasts — as a vector for charting potential futures for the music industry as a whole.

Continuing Water & Music’s exploration of the legal maze around music and Web3, this article takes a closer look at nascent smart-contract developments around collaborative splits for Web3-native music releases.

There is a new generation of alternative streaming and curation services being built on top of music NFTs, providing a crucial contextual and social layer on top of the wider music/Web3 ecosystem as it scales.

A set of nine artist- and fan-centric design principles for building the next generation of musical metaverse experiences.

Riot Games, the studio behind League of Legends, has collaborated with Lil Nas X on the 2022 League of Legends World Championship (Worlds) Tournament anthem, “Star Walkin.’”

Justin Bieber played his first-ever in-game concert in Garena Free Fire, a battle-royale game exclusive to mobile devices, on August 27, 2022. Did it generate the buzz and results that we expected!

Introducing our new, collaborative editorial vertical exploring the intersection of music and video games.

Introducing our new, collaborative editorial vertical about the future of work in the music business. On a biweekly basis, our research team highlights the most interesting jobs emerging in music — “interesting” defined as involving new technologies, skill sets, strategic priorities, and cross-industry synergies like in gaming, fitness, and podcasts — as a vector for charting potential futures for the music industry as a whole.

Introducing our new, collaborative editorial vertical about the future of work in the music business. On a biweekly basis, our research team highlights the most interesting jobs emerging in music — “interesting” defined as involving new technologies, skill sets, strategic priorities, and cross-industry synergies like in gaming, fitness, and podcasts — as a vector for charting potential futures for the music industry as a whole.

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

A diverse set of ideas to monetize music IP and engage meaningfully with fans in the metaverse, across three main categories: Creating visually immersive content, licensing music IP directly to platforms’ content libraries, and making artist IP available for user identity and expression.

Introducing our new, collaborative editorial vertical dedicated to tracking the music/Web3 landscape.

Continuing Water & Music’s exploration of the legal maze around music and Web3, this article takes a closer look at nascent smart-contract developments around collaborative splits for Web3-native music releases.

The FN Meka debacle has more resonance from a branding/ethics perspective, than it does as a purely technological case study.