Steve Aoki has a lot to say about NFTs.
Aoki is an artist who has been involved in NFT for several years. He wants to see the unique assets transform the music business.
Aoki is also a big fan of Gala Games, and its latest offshoot Gala Music. On February 10, Aoki gave the opening speech at a Gala Music private event at the Forum Inglewood, California. The event began with Q&As.
Gala Games’ COO Sarah Buxton spoke on gaming and music. BT, an electronic artist, then discussed the Orbs NFTs that he released Monday. Because of their high price (-11.1ETH per Orb, or about $32,000), the Orbs caused controversy in the NFT industry over the weekend. However, that price will slowly drop until all Orbs are sold.
After the one-on-1 chats, live performances were given by H.E.R. and BT as well as 3lau and Aoki.
Aoki, in his Q&A opening, said that he considers himself a “futurist” and believes NFTs will transform the music business, which currently provides artists a low income through royalties. Aoki stated that 95% of his music revenue comes from his DJ gigs.
NFTs can be unique tokens that are stored on a blockchain such as Ethereum, Solana. They can identify ownership over images, music or physical assets. NFTs have become a multi-billion dollar industry in the past year.
He said, drawing laughter from the crowd, “If I didn’t have DJ-ing… I would need to get a job.”
Aoki believes that royalties are not worth considering under the current economic model. However, advances can help artists in a small way.
“But if it were to really fall apart, OK, in the ten years I’ve made music… six albums and you [combine] all these advances, what I did last year in one drop in NFTs, was more money. Aoki also said that I was more unhinged when it came to music.
He stated that NFTs are exciting because they are dependent upon the communities who support them. Aoki believes that this is a good thing, as many musicians have large, passionate followings.
He used TTS to illustrate, but didn’t mention the backlash that Korean pop stars received from their fans after they announced their NFTs.
Aoki stated that music NFTs will become more integral to how we support and integrate artists. Labels will need to do more than add songs to a playlist.
Aoki is both a creator and a collector. Aoki is a creator as well as a collector. He also owns a few Bored Adept Yacht Club (BAYC NFTs) and has worked on a Solana-based FFT marketplace. He’s now launching Aokiverse, a membership club that uses NFTs to “coexist with real life.”
Web3 is ownership for Aoki. That includes data ownership. Aoki stated that the days of Instagram and Facebook hoarding user data would be gone in the future and that the internet will become empowering.
He said, “There will be another version where we’ll display what we have,” and that it would be part of who we were.
