Buying music as non-fungible tokens.

Many years ago, I would ride my bicycle to the neighborhood record store, lean it against the window (no need to padlock), spend an enjoyable hour flipping through LPS, pick one out, and buy it (cash, of course). I would then slip it into my backpack and ride home, put the needle in the groove, and enjoy the sound of my purchase. Oh, how times have changed. In particular, the cool kids are now buying music as non-fungible tokens (NFT).

Strictly speaking, music is a stream of ever-changing fluctuations in pressure that are literally airy. Some pieces of music could even be described as superlunary. Nevertheless, we have found ways to brutally commercialize it. For well over a hundred years, companies have churned out packaged music on a wide variety of discs and tapes containing waveforms, and more recently as media and files containing binary digits.

The newest iteration in music merchandising, and one that I have not quite wrapped my mind around, is music sold as NFTS. You probably already know what NFTS are, but I had to consult Wikipedia. An NFT is a unique and non-interchangeable unit of data stored on a digital ledger. The authenticity of an NFT is verified with a blockchain and it’s often purchased using cryptocurrency. NFTS might diversely present as an image, a document, a video, a baseball card, and, yes, as a music recording.

An ordinary digital audio file is just a bunch of bits and can be duplicated ad infinitum. Because of its ubiquity, it inherently lacks value. But an NFT music file is authenticated to be absolutely unique. This ability of the NFT to make a digital asset scarce is what potentially makes it so valuable. By selling a music file as an NFT, its uniqueness elevates it over any ordinary music file that can be indistinguishably copied.

NFTS can be sold or traded by both the creator and the customer. Like most assets, they can have value and the value depends, as you might expect, on the NFT’S cache and rarity. A Lebron James NFT NBA card sold for $208,000 because he is a sports legend and the card was unique. In contrast, if I issued a bunch of NFT videos of me singing “Happy Birthday,” they would be worth diddly. Or quite possibly, less than diddly.

Mr. James can make money by bottling and selling his sweat so of course his NFT would be valuable. But does the NFT market generally amount to any serious coin? Judge for yourself. According to Wikipedia, sales of NFTS exceeded $2 billion during the first quarter of 2021.

NFTS are a financial phenomenon, but they have their fair share of detractors. As with any new frontier, there are hucksters aplenty. Also, the validation of blockchain transactions requires a plethora of computers consuming a plethora of electricity. Thus, NFTS are sometimes criticized because of their carbon footprint— incidentally, something they share with physical music recordings.

Are NFTS the future of music merchandising? Maybe. In many ways, an NFT is an answer to musicians’ prayers. They can sell music NFTS directly to listeners with no record label middleman and net 100 percent of the proceeds. Moreover, musicians retain rights to their work, and can receive a royalty each time an NFT is sold to another buyer. Finally, as with any collectible, the value of the NFT could increase (or decrease) over time. A music NFT is thus a product that connects musicians with both listeners and investors.

Sites like Opensea, Rarible, and Nifty Gateway let you buy and sell NFTS. So far, they mainly offer works of art. Sites like Opulous and Songvest let fans purchase music NFTS that include rights to a portion of future music royalties. While that might seem overly generous on the part of the musician, it not only encourages you to buy the NFT, but also incentivizes you to promote the music (you social-media influencer, you) to drive up the royalty payments. In theory, you could profit from owning the NFT.

So far, music NFTS are an inconsequential part of music sales, pioneered mainly by small bands. But big names are dipping their toes in the water. For example, the super-popular South Korean K-pop band, BTS, plans to offer NFT trading cards that play music. Other big-name musicians are sure to follow.

My neighborhood record store is now a marijuana dispensary (but very possibly with the same owner). I religiously padlock my bike. The last time I paid cash for anything was in 2018. Bygone days. So, in the interest of furthering the future, I am ready to buy my first music NFT. I’ll let you know how it goes as soon as I figure out how to put the needle in the groove.

购买音乐作为不可替代的代币。

许多年前，我会骑着自行车去附近的唱片店，把它靠在窗户上（不需要挂锁），花一个愉快的小时翻阅LPS，挑选一个，然后买下（当然是现金）。然后我会把它塞进背包里，骑回家，把针放在凹槽里，享受我购买的声音。哦，时代变了。特别是，酷孩子现在正在购买音乐作为不可替代的代币（NFT）。

严格来说，音乐是压力不断变化的波动流，实际上是空的。有些音乐片段甚至可以被描述为超级月光。尽管如此，我们已经找到了将其残酷商业化的方法。一百多年来，公司已经在各种包含波形的光盘和磁带上大量生产包装音乐，最近作为包含二进制数字的媒体和文件。

音乐营销的最新迭代，也是我还没有完全理解的，是作为NFTS出售的音乐。你可能已经知道NFTS是什么，但我不得不咨询维基百科。NFT是存储在数字分类账上的唯一且不可互换的数据单元。NFT的真实性是通过区块链验证的，并且通常使用加密货币购买。NFTS可能以不同的方式呈现为图像，文档，视频，棒球卡，是的，作为音乐录音。

一个普通的数字音频文件只是一堆位，可以无限复制。由于其无处不在，它本身就缺乏价值。但是NFT音乐文件经过身份验证是绝对唯一的。NFT使数字资产稀缺的这种能力可能使其如此有价值。通过将音乐文件作为NFT出售，其独特性使其高于任何可以难以区分复制的普通音乐文件。

NFTS可以由创建者和客户出售或交易。像大多数资产一样，它们可以有价值，正如您可能期望的那样，价值取决于NFT的缓存和稀有性。勒布朗·詹姆斯NFT NBA卡以208，000美元的价格售出，因为他是体育传奇，而且这张卡是独一无二的。相比之下，如果我发布了一堆我唱"生日快乐"的NFT视频，它们将是值得的。或者很可能，比傻傻的要少。

詹姆斯先生可以通过装瓶和出售他的汗水来赚钱，所以他的NFT当然会很有价值。但是，NFT市场通常相当于任何严肃的硬币吗？自己判断。根据维基百科，NFTS的销售额在2021年第一季度超过20亿美元。

NFTS是一种金融现象，但它们有其公平的批评者。与任何新领域一样，有很多骗子。此外，区块链交易的验证需要大量的计算机消耗大量的电力。因此，NFTS有时会因其碳足迹而受到批评 - 顺便说一句，它们与物理音乐录音共享。

NFTS是音乐营销的未来吗？或。在许多方面，NFT是对音乐家祈祷的回应。他们可以直接向没有唱片公司中间商和100%收益的听众出售音乐NFTS。此外，音乐家保留对其作品的权利，并且每次将NFT出售给另一个买家时都可以获得版税。最后，与任何收藏品一样，NFT的价值可能会随着时间的推移而增加（或减少）。因此，音乐NFT是一种将音乐家与听众和投资者联系起来的产品。

像Opensea，Rarible和Nifty Gateway这样的网站可以让你买卖NFTS。到目前为止，他们主要提供艺术品。像Opulous和Songvest这样的网站允许粉丝购买音乐NFTS，其中包括未来音乐版税的一部分权利。虽然这对音乐家来说似乎过于慷慨，但它不仅鼓励你购买NFT，而且还激励你推广音乐（你社交媒体影响者，你）来推动版税支付。从理论上讲，您可以从拥有NFT中获利。

到目前为止，音乐NFTS是音乐销售中无关紧要的一部分，主要由小型乐队开创。但大牌们正在把脚趾浸入水中。例如，超受欢迎的韩国K-pop乐队BTS计划提供播放音乐的NFT交易卡。其他大牌音乐家肯定会效仿。

我家附近的唱片店现在是一家大麻药房（但很可能是同一个老板）。我虔诚地挂锁我的自行车。我上一次为任何事情支付现金是在2018年。过去的日子。因此，为了进一步发展未来，我准备购买我的第一个音乐NFT。一旦我弄清楚如何将针放入凹槽中，我会让你知道它是如何进行的。