Cardano NFT Column: NEWM – The Cryptonomist

This week’s guest on the Cardano NFT Column is a project that aims to use this technology to decentralize the music industry: NEWM.

Last week’s guest was a project building a new platform called AnimeSector, for anime fans with integrated NFT functionality.

This initiative is a point of reference for NFTs on Cardano and every week or two we will invite someone to answer some questions and give us an update directly from within the Cardano community.

Considering that many of our readers are new to the crypto space, we will have a mix of simple and technical questions.

Cardano NFT project: NEWM

Hey, glad to have you here. Please introduce your team, where are you from, what are your backgrounds?

Hi, Thanks for having us! We are NEWM, and we’re taking on the music industry. We started out as just four people in 2021 and have quickly grown to a dedicated team of 30 people today, working globally to achieve the NEWM vision. 

Our vision is simple: to create a fair music ecosystem where artists and music lovers directly connect in a mutually beneficial relationship through music co-ownership. 

That being said, execution is a little more complex in the sense that there is a lot of legal due diligence that goes into creating a product with services like ours. 

We have experts in Development, Legal, Product, Finance, Marketing, UX/UI, and Project Management, tackling every aspect of this huge project. We were extremely fortunate in attracting some amazing humans with notable experience, which has made it easier for us to coordinate such a scattered team that is working mostly part-time.

What is NEWM? What problems are you solving and why have you chosen the Cardano blockchain for your project?

There is a dark side to the music industry that the average listener doesn’t really know about or encounter and most of the problems have to do with artists’ contracts, middlemen and the lack of ownership/creative control with respect to Intellectual Property (IP) – i.e., music.

First and foremost, our goal is to shine a light on these problems and how we all play a role in this system. We are seeing a global shift to more conscious consumers, and this will be a driving force for adoption. With constant access to instant information, people are looking for projects that offer meaning, and we believe we fall into this category.    

The NEWM solution is two-fold:

1. A portal for musicians to generate actual revenue from their art in a peer-to-peer manner, freeing them from exploitative contracts and labels, including platforms that provide minimal payouts. NEWM will provide music distribution, the ability to fractionalize and sell streaming royalties via NFTs, royalty collection & distribution, music streaming and ticket sales; all in one easy-to-use, yet amazing interface (if we do say so ourselves). 
2. The opportunity for music lovers and collectors to directly interact with their beloved music/musicians, as well as financially benefit from a multibillion-dollar industry. 

Music used to be a fine art – the collector element we once had has all but disappeared with the digital landscape of streaming services. We’re bringing back the value by establishing music as a new asset class. Listeners can invest in music and become part of artists’ success and even create their own revenue stream. This benefits the artist as well; every person that invests in music is intrinsically motivated to spread the word and push the respective artists. It’s a win-win.

We strongly believe in the Cardano Community. There is a lot of creativity, collaboration and innovation that we feel adds exponentially to what we are building. Cardano’s academic approach to product development guarantees a solid foundation and predictable fees. Its PoS model offers security, sustainability and decentralization, which aligns with our values.

How are you utilizing NFTs within your ecosystem? What benefits does this technology bring to the music industry?

We turn songs into NFTs. Normally, the first thing you think of with NFTs is collectibles, but what we do is so much more. In our case, the NFT gets fractionalised, making it possible for users to sell, buy and trade these ‘fractions’ as tokens on the blockchain. Token owners receive royalty payouts depending on their ownership percentages. So, by purchasing a token(s) with NEWM, you now receive a portion of future streaming royalties. 

On the artist’s side, this means instant liquidity for new projects or merchandise, and the aforementioned benefit of long-term support for their art by creating a unique fanbase that has a monetary incentive to promote the musician. The value lies with people being in charge of what they own and not depending on third parties, as well as everything being clearly documented and transparent on the blockchain.

You also have your own stake pool and NEWM token, tell us more. What will the token be used for?

Yes, we have our stakepool that rewards ƝEWM tokens to our delegators. It’s our way of distributing the token to our loyal community. The token itself will bring a lot of utility, most importantly voting rights. As our vision includes a Decentralized Autonomous Organisation (DAO), we are preparing everything to make it as diverse and inclusive as possible. Our aim is that many and not only a few will define the direction of the NEWMiverse (i.e., our fair music ecosystem). Essentially, tapping into the collective wisdom of our community. In the end, the same applies here: what we’re developing is a tool for artists and music lovers alike, so they should decide what the future holds.

More utility will be added as our roadmap progresses. One thing for sure is that the ƝEWM token will be an integral part of our ecosystem, providing benefits to its holder in the app, in our marketplace and by staking it.

Thank you kindly for your time. Any final thoughts? Where can people learn more?

Thanks for your interest in NEWM! I would invite everyone to check our website and especially our whitepaper. It’s a more in-depth description of NEWM’s full vision. We are not only building a minting or streaming platform or a simple marketplace – we are building a full ecosystem where the long-term mission is to change things for everyone who cares about music.

To keep up with our latest news you can always follow us on Twitter, join our Discord and Telegram channels and subscribe to our newsletter!

Disclaimer: The opinions and views of the people interviewed are their own and do not necessarily reflect those of the Cardano Foundation or IOG. Moreover, this content is for educational purposes, it doesn’t constitute financial advice.