[WP:09] Jadyn Violet's Violent Assault On The Charts
The Future Of Mainstream Music Redefined?
Photo credit by Geo Chierchia
For those of you that are unaware, a mind numbing number of performers, songwriters, producers and instrumentalists populate the underbellies of the internet. From TikTok, to YouTube, to Soundcloud, Instagram or Twitter. There is no shortage of talent.
But what does it really take to make it a cut above the rest? Who is suited to take on this daunting task of figuring out this balancing act of handling the business and innovative side of music. Jadyn Violet just might be one of the few brave pioneers to do so. And harnessing the tools blockchain provides and popular streaming services and of course, social media is how he plans to do so.
On Twitter, noise is very common, managing to find a way to leverage your platform is a challenge in itself, even more so if you’re a musician. Social media isn’t necessarily intuitive for someone used to expressing themselves only through an instrument. But rest assured pioneers of all kinds are taking on this challenge head on and the track release “The Stern Mystic” certainly proves this.
Here’s what the song which is a hip hop banger with cascading hi hats, rumbling 808s with some violins to undercut this pounding rhythm; in the artist’s own words is about.
This track was recorded in New York City in a night where I just felt like there was too much judgement in the world. Too many people telling me what type of music I am "supposed" to make. I wanted to create something that just brings the energy needed to ignore all the outside noise and have everyone turn up.
The music industry and the impact blockchain technology has on it is made evident. The song, available to be streamed on the Platform SoundXYZ has nearly 300 patrons as of the date of this publication.
But what do these patrons effectively do for the artist? And what benefits do they have in showing support this way? Recall that the iPhone, and the app store concept that revolutionized the music industry made the access to music easier than ever. And SoundXYZ delivers on this promise, music from artists you love at your fingertips. Now let’s tackle the sales model that we’ve been familiar with in the music industry so far. Spotify notoriously has the reputation of a platform that pays very little when all is said and done. Once the record label, marketing and publishing get their cut, literal pennies are left between the producer, songwriter and performer of the song to split amongst themselves. That is not sustainable. SoundXYZ once again delivers, the blockchain powered platform allows the patron to support Jadyn’s new song for just a little over 5 US dollars. Or the price of a soda and burger combo deal at most fast food establishments.
Jadyn is as versatile as he is social. He’s built bridges with a wide variety of communities and he regularly gets invited to be on a panel of speakers sharing their insights and experiences with music, tech, marketing and all these other aspects the average bedroom producer and musician does not get taught about. The S1CWORLD community has embraced him with open arms and as of recently hosted a live audio panel featuring the artist and many other emerging talent, and surely other communities will follow suit.
Pivoting for a bit, understand that patronage as a revenue stream has actually been implemented successfully in the past. Take Jack Conte, Co-Founder of Patreon, for example. As a college drop out turned musician on YouTube, Jack faced no shortage of problems building up his career sustainably on the platform. And his song Pedals, which features an elaborate futuristic set with a dancing spider robot and an animatronic head, cost him about 10 000 dollars. Making that revenue back in a timely manner, in his own words, while relying on the streaming model is nearly impossible.
And within months of launch in Summer 2018, Patreon caught traction very quickly with the creator community on YouTube. Jack Conte proved you could fund a project of a relatively smaller scale with the backing of online patrons who believed in him. How Patreon Became A $4 Billion Start-Up covers the meteoric rise of the platform into the mainstream in more details.
And that brings us back to SoundXYZ and its co-founder, David Greenstein. The challenge he’s taken on with the platform is to offer a suite of blockchain-native music and economic tools powering the next generation of artists and their communities. Patreon is a resounding success story that has a lot of parallels with SoundXYZ. The patronage model is at the very core of blockchain culture and musicians like Jadyn are harnessing its power.
Jadyn Violet is a visionary musician who understands the importance of utilizing blockchain technology, streaming services, and social media to gain a competitive edge in the music industry.
Blockchain technology offers a unique opportunity for musicians to take control of their own careers. By using blockchain-based platforms, musicians can track their royalties and earnings in real-time, ensuring that they are compensated fairly for their work. This is particularly important in an industry where musicians have historically been at the mercy of record labels and middlemen.
Streaming services like Spotify, Apple Music, and Tidal have also revolutionized the music industry. But these platforms are engaging in a 1V1 battle with emerging social media giants such as TikTok. It not only offers even more opportunities for musicians to connect with fans and promote their work, but its core feature leverages music in such a way that supercharges the virality of an artist through trends, stitches and remixes right on the platform. If SoundXYZ figures out a seamless way to integrate within TikTok’s ecosystem, they will be as undeniably impactful as Limewire once was during the internet’s baby steps and the Peer-To-Peer MP3 trading that flipped record label’s business model upside down.
But it takes more than just utilizing technology to succeed in the music industry. As a musician, it is essential to have a solid understanding of the creative and business sides of the industry. This is where Jadyn Violet excels. The patrons he’s earned for himself have all shown support through a Twitter space marathon of nearly 20 hours (a live social audio component to Twitter introduced in 2021) very akin to how a streamer on Twitch would.
He’s encouraged his peers to share music, live mixes, banter and insights to a listenership that totals to nearly 400. For context, most artists starting out don’t get to book shows that size, and that would be the 3rd strike SoundXYZ has got going for itself.
Enabling the artist to earn revenue through the patronage of a live of audience via social audio or even streaming is unprecedented. Jadyn Violet, just like Jack Conte is proving that community support translates to real capital, that in turns enables the artist to take on more ambitious challenges.
In conclusion, the music industry is rapidly evolving, and musicians who are able to harness the power of blockchain technology, streaming services, and social media will be the ones who succeed. Jadyn Violet is a shining example of a musician who is able to balance the creative and business sides of the industry, and his success serves as an inspiration to others in the industry.