Cryptocurrency industry has experienced a rapid growth with the COVID-19 pandemic as many of the products started going digital. Meanwhile, cryptocurrency was embraced by major institutions and industries as a payment mechanism replacing fiat currency. With the latest initiative of Legacy Records to allow its artists to be paid in crypto, they have taken the whole music industry to the crypto sphere.
Legacy Records which is a popular music label under Sony Music Entertainment with renown artists like Beyonce, Billy Joel, A$AP Rocky, and many more have issued a press release early this week to publicize their initiative. Where, Legacy Records CEO Keishia McLeod mentioned in an interview, that it came down to “either get involved or get left behind”.
Legacy Records have obtained the privilege of becoming the first ever record label in the music industry to pay its artists in Bitcoin (BTC). Without stopping from there they have taken the next step to allow its musicians to release songs and albums as NFTs.
There is a rise in popularity of NFTs specifically with regard to music industry, where several artists in past months were making Millions out of NFT sales of their albums. Legacy would revolutionize the industry with its plans around NFTs. According to which fans of the musicians under Legacy will be able to participate in auctions for unique content.
In the press release about the NFT initiative Legacy stated that they will, “release NFTs tied to extra perks for investors, amongst other things yet to release. Utilizing NFTs will change the power structure and profitability of the music industry. Long story short, Legacy plans to evolve the industry as we know it.”
Expressing her optimism about NFTs future in Legacy’s CEO McLeod stated, “I mean, it’s no secret NFT’s alone have earned millions for artists already: but as for cryptocurrency and it’s potential as a whole, we knew this day would come and we’ve been preparing to take it a step further. I don’t think any business can afford to remain complacent in regards to the future. It’s a really exciting time for us [the world] right now. This is the future, not a trend.”
In conjunction with the announcement by Legacy on making making payments to artists in Bitcoin, to-be-named major music distributor has also agreed to make payments for Legacy Records artists in Bitcoin. Further, Legacy also merged with New Jersey entertainment lawyer Navarro Gray’s ‘The Gray Firm’, to provide legal guidance with its entrance to crypto sphere.
According to Gray, this initiative by Legacy is a historical moment for the music industry, where he said, “Legacy Records is the first label in history that offers their artists the opportunity to receive their advance and royalty payments in cryptocurrency. There has not been such a change in the music industry like this since digital distribution and streaming.”
With these approaches Legacy will have the potential to partner with music artists who are enthusiastic about crypto and NFTs, not to mention, there are growing number of such artists in the field. Recently, the renown musician Eminem has partnered with Nifty Gateway which is a platform for buying and selling of NFTs, to release original instrumental beats.
Therefore, it is evident that the trend of embracing crypto and NFTs is booming at a rapid phase, where Legacy made its entrance to crypto field at the proper time and they will be able to experience immense opportunities for growth. McLeod comparing the influence of Netflix on film industry with that of their’s on music industry states, “we haven’t seen that yet in this industry, but it’s coming. We’re going to be a large part of making that happen”.
(P.S.: To learn more about NFTs please refer ‘All About NFT Token‘ article)
