Music, Defi, and NFTs
For decades, the music industry has held leverage over artists in terms of funding. Despite music royalties being a legit asset class, traditional banks don’t typically accept them as collateral. Record label executives understand the lucrative value that royalties hold, so they invest in artists in exchange for recording copyrights. As a result, record labels profit immensely from their artists, paying them less than 10% in royalty fees.
Opulous, a blockchain-based peer-to-peer music platform, has created a system for artists to receive funding and release their music as independents. Projects are created as NFTs and sold on a decentralized marketplace, holders of these NFTs receive fractional shares of future royalty earnings. Fans have the opportunity to support upcoming artists and share in their success as their career progresses. The platform is separated into multiple components, all of which are not yet available. We’ll uncover what the protocol has to offer and will soon bring it to the public.
Defi Loans
Future royalty earnings are accepted as collateral to receive funding for albums and merchandise. Artists are granted loans equivalent to earnings they have made over 12 months, so musicians must have prior experience before applying. With risk-free financial assistance and full custody over recording rights, record labels lose their leverage over their music industry.
NFT Launchpad
Opulous consists of three components, each built on separate blockchains. Before an artist can list their NFT for sale, they must first create or “mint” the project on the platform’s NFT launchpad (built on the Ethereum blockchain). NFTs accumulate royalty revenue monthly and automatically increase in value as an artist’s career begins to take off. Holders of these assets can earn exclusive rewards for sharing on social media such as backstage passes, merchandise, tickets, and more.
NFT Exchange
Opulous has created its own marketplace for buying and selling music fungible tokens (MFTs) as well as exclusive art pieces. MFTs are backed by music copyrights and increase in value over time as an artist’s brand continues to grow. Fans are incentivized more than ever to support their favorite musicians and get paid as a shareholder. The NFT exchange is expected to launch later this year.
$OPUL Token
All transactions made on the platform are facilitated through Opulous’ native token (OPUL), which can be purchased using ETH, stablecoins, and fiat currencies. Token holders can not only stake their crypto, but they are also given exclusive access to NFT drops and special discounts. Loans on the Opulous platform are facilitated through the protocol’s lending pools. Investors stake tokens in these lending pools for passive returns. In the event a loan can’t be repaid, investors receive fractions of an artist’s copyrights as collateral.
Opulous’ Defi platform (built on Algorand’s blockchain) is expected to release later this quarter; with 10% of OPUL tokens currently in circulation, demand is bound to increase as the protocol slowly comes to market.
Bottom Line
The blockchain space is the perfect ecosystem for the next generation of freelancers and content creators. Middlemen and third parties are being cut out of the equation and creators are getting paid what they deserve.