Bringing together a new generation of experiences powered by Web3, and the rising talent of Jay Em, a duo of South African brothers whose first track, ‘Bust Your Windows’ went viral on the sharing platform Datafilehost, this groundbreaking project was launched Wednesday (November 30) on both real life and the metaverse.
A total of 1 000 unique audio NFTs were created and launched on the night. This included an EP containing five music tracks to enjoy and own, each accompanied by a unique digital artwork. The EP includes ‘If I Had You’, featuring Micasa’s lead singer J’ Something (who was a star attraction at the 2022 Galaxy 947 Move music fest), as well as other singles with South Africa’s own Lee Cole, Aussie singer Thandi Phoenix, Ziyon (SA), Fifi Rong (UK) and Italian saxophonist Milo Lombardi, aka Nifty Sax.
During the launch, Loop’s metaverse space in Decentraland – along with the label’s ability to transition artists seamlessly between the physical and virtual worlds – were showcased by the technicians who worked on the album and the featured musicians themselves, including special performances by J’Something, Ziyon and Kee Cole.
“How we access and consume music is evolving rapidly,” says Andreas Kyriacou, Chief Technical officer of Feel My Flo, “and the Loop x Jay Em NFT Project is going to change how we do that dramatically.”
The project brings together two of the most exciting technological developments to emerge in recent years, the decentralised power of Web 3.0 (also known as Web3) and NFTs (non-fungible tokens). Used together, they are set to change the way music lovers experience and engage with the artists and tracks they love the best.
While Web 2.0 brought the ability to engage online, and swept in the phenomenon of social media for artist to connect with fans on other platforms, Web3 brings a array of capabilities that has the potential to shift the power dynamic of the internet away from giant tech entities and put it back into the hands of individual users and creators.
This enables them to build their own platforms, and retain ownership of their art, within their own communities. In its current form, Web3 rewards users with NFTs, which can be used in a number of different ways, including as tradeable artworks or as votes to influence the future of technology.
So, how does the Loop x Jay Em NFT Project works?
“NFTs are unique tokens of secure digital content that can be traded in some way or another,” says Kyriacou. “They come either as digital artworks that are traded as collectables or as tokens that provide access to online community spaces in the metaverse, such as those in Decentraland, a decentralised virtual reality platform powered by blockchain technology.
“In the latter form, they’re essentially the gateway to modern-day fans clubs, where new work can be launched directly and exclusively to members or where they can access purchasable items such as concert tickets, branded merchandise and more.”
For more on how the project stand to benefit the musicians, read our exclusive interview with Mi Csa lead vocalist. J’Something here.
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