The world of finance and investing is shifting, and it's no longer for experts. One of the most intriguing changes we're seeing is how music and finance blend with digital money like . just cryptocurrencies This is making the often complex and intimidating sphere of investing more accessible and appealing to everyday people. By linking popular culture with financial tech, new opportunities are opening up that allow more people to get involved in investing. The result? A broader and more diverse group of people are getting the chance to invest. Plus, they're bringing fresh energy and different perspectives with them. This article will cover how the intersection of music and crypto can be the next “cultural community” but for investing. While communities like the Grateful Dead's or the modern-day aren’t always financially literate, we’re going to extrapolate how it can relate to decentralized finance (DeFi). Deadheads hip-hop scene The traditional music industry practices The global music industry , pulling in an impressive $26.2 billion in revenue in 2023. For decades, this industry has thrived on the talents of artists, composers, and producers. is vast Yet despite its size and influence, the music industry has been notoriously difficult for individual artists and creators to navigate. You can’t break through without some sort of middleman, be it a record label, distributor, or agency. They act as gatekeepers, taking of the profits. Major record labels keep nearly 90% of the profits, while mid-sized labels hold onto anywhere from 50% to 75%. a significant share An artist might create all of the content, such as writing and performing the song, but it’s the middlemen enjoying the lion’s share of the profits. And while this gripe is common across sectors like entertainment and digital app stores (Apple AppStore demands ), there isn’t much a budding artist can do to solve the problem. 30% from in-app purchases Until, of course, Web3 and cryptocurrency can challenge big labels for the throne. And as more people join the Web3 community, the scale will tip in the favor of the underdog. For instance, (a Canadian DJ with a background in computer science) has created a massive community around her music, with over 389K followers on Instagram. While she started in the traditional industry of CS and branched out into music, she understood the middleman wasn’t always fair. Blondish That’s what led her, and potentially many others like her, to challenge the industry giants. “You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete.” - R. Buckminster Fuller How cultural communities can disrupt the music industry Unfortunately, there isn’t a set amount of money that will guarantee a disruption to the traditional practices of the music industry. But in the finance world, we’ve watched David versus Goliath stories take place in real-time, and you know who wins that fight. The best part? It was a cultural community that took on hedge funds. The Reddit community, WallStreetBets, who were preying on stocks like GameStop and AMC. After watching the hedge funds short these stocks, Redditors decided to band together to make a change. took on major hedge funds The result was a cultural community that , resulting in nearly $5 billion lost. fought against big industry tycoons They demonstrated that a united community with a common goal can wield as much power as well-funded corporations, maybe even more. This opens up an exciting possibility: What if a similar, passionate community rallied together around the idea of disrupting the music industry? They could pool resources, both financial and intellectual, to back Web3-based music platforms. And to make it more organized, what if this community was unified and supported by a crypto hedge fund led by the same passionate vigor for change in music? For example, the hedge fund has a team (including Blondish) that is well-versed in crypto investing is passionate about creating cultural communities around music. Indigo and The CS degree gives Blondish the credibility needed to build a Web3 community, and her DJ experience could ignite the fire needed to take the challenge head-on. The result could be a similar situation to WallStreetBets, where David faces Goliath and wins. The beauty of this approach is that it can start small and grow exponentially. A cultural community offers a built-in audience ready to support the initiative from day one, as they’re early adopters and evangelists. And this would provide Web3 startups with the ammunition to challenge these massive corporations. So, while the middlemen in the music industry continue to take large portions of artists’ profits, there’s a growing movement for change. The goal is to form a creative industry that distributes profits more fairly, supporting artists directly.

This story contains new, firsthand information uncovered by the writer.

Between Two Computer Monitors: This story includes an interview between the writer and guest/interviewee. 

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How Cultural Leaders are Paving the Way for the Intersection of Music and Crypto

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James King

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How Cultural Leaders are Paving the Way for the Intersection of Music and Crypto

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James King

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Original Reporting

Interview

About Author

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