Cryptocurrency fund to support local budding musicians

SINGAPORE: It's a concept still in its infancy and could take some time before it hits the right notes, but cryptocurrency is currently being explored as a source of funding to support budding talents in the local music scene.

A platform run by a collective of like-minded musicians and supporters, known as The Great Wave, uses cryptocurrency to create a stash of funds for artistes to draw on. 

They can use these funds to produce and release their original works.

“It's powered by a very unique vehicle and what we call a DAO (decentralised autonomous organisation). So think of it like a company that's run by a series of different smart contracts,” said Mr Clarence Chan, who is part of the founding team at The Great Wave. 

“So what that allows us to do is to promote trust amongst people who have no reason to trust each other. We can come together, we can fund artist work through this vehicle.”

HELPING MUSICIANS TO MAKE WAVES

There are virtual agreements between two parties, executed as transactions before being verified and grouped.

They are then added into the blockchain, so the contracts' terms and conditions cannot be altered.

To ensure the process is in order, users can view the contract using a verification website such as Etherscan.

By using the DAO, The Great Wave has increased its stable of artistes, including those from South Korea, to more than 10 in under a year. 

Independent music label founder Jon Chua believes The Great Wave could be a lifesaver, especially for smaller players in the industry. 

Mr Chua, chief executive of Zendyll Music, said: “If I sell an NFT (non-fungible token) today, I will see my money today. 

“It's immediate, essentially, whereas on the streaming platforms, you could get a million streams in January (but) you only see your money in February the next year. So I think this really helps a lot of indie musicians (and) indie labels.”

However, he also feels that artistes should first understand how blockchain technology works before hopping on the bandwagon. 

“I think that education and understanding is important. My advice would be you have to be able to dive into that space and figure it out first, before you want to use that for your work,” said Mr Chua. 

“You have to learn how to code before you ask for a job as a coder. So I think that for artistes, it's almost the same thing, and it might not work for everybody.”

CRYPTO WINTER

But some are also treading carefully because of the collapse of some crypto companies and currencies last year.

“I think it's quite inevitable that there's still going to be risk and volatility,” said local musician Tan Peng Sing of indie pop act M1LDL1FE. 

“But over the years, there might be more successful case studies … that get mainstream awareness, then this will help ease people's fears about the risk involved.”

“The crypto winter will still last for at least the next six to 12 months. So many crypto ventures, including DAOs, will face a challenging year in 2023,” said Blockchain Association Singapore board chairman Chia Hock Lai. 

“I think it's still early days for DAOs to reach mainstream adoption. I think 2023 will continue to be a year of experimentation for different kinds of DAO.”

Meanwhile, The Great Wave is stepping up education efforts so that interested artistes will find this new funding model less daunting.