** One thing that happens not only in the music industry but almost everywhere is that companies lose track of what they originally set out to do. And it has to do with company culture.** I have always been fascinated by how company culture is implemented, how it shapes the company as a whole and how it affects people’s happiness. I come from a family business background and always looked with a weary eye at what was going on there. My granddad built an indoor furniture and decoration busines...

** One thing that happens not only in the music industry but almost everywhere is that companies lose track of what they originally set out to do. And it has to do with company culture.** I have always been fascinated by how company culture is implemented, how it shapes the company as a whole and how it affects people’s happiness. I come from a family business background and always looked with a weary eye at what was going on there. My granddad built an indoor furniture and decoration busines...

Recently, my interest in DAOs got sparked and thought to share with you what I found and how I think this can revolutionise collaboration structures A DAO in its simplest form is a business or co-op structure to run a community with a common goal[1]. Instead of having a very hierarchical structure, DAOs allow all members to vote on decisions on how to reach that goal based on the tokens they own of that DAO. Are you new to the community and don’t own many tokens? Then you have less voting pow...

Recently, my interest in DAOs got sparked and thought to share with you what I found and how I think this can revolutionise collaboration structures A DAO in its simplest form is a business or co-op structure to run a community with a common goal[1]. Instead of having a very hierarchical structure, DAOs allow all members to vote on decisions on how to reach that goal based on the tokens they own of that DAO. Are you new to the community and don’t own many tokens? Then you have less voting pow...

About a year ago, I ran into web3 & music and fell in love with the change that would bring to the industry. Now, I am working as the PR lead for SmartLabel. A Dutch company building a streaming service and music distribution platform based on web3 technology and I couldn’t be happier about it. Switching industries can be a daunting task and it hasn’t been easy. Getting to know an industry as wild as this one is interesting. Thankfully, I got help from Jonathan Knegtel, a veteran in the space...

About a year ago, I ran into web3 & music and fell in love with the change that would bring to the industry. Now, I am working as the PR lead for SmartLabel. A Dutch company building a streaming service and music distribution platform based on web3 technology and I couldn’t be happier about it. Switching industries can be a daunting task and it hasn’t been easy. Getting to know an industry as wild as this one is interesting. Thankfully, I got help from Jonathan Knegtel, a veteran in the space...

Last year something amazing happened. I connected to a group of super-talented musicians through a project I did with my friend Jackson and Gennaro at the Groove House near Lisbon. We got together to figure out how we could make the music scene in Lisbon better and so we embarked on a journey together. We spent a couple of very intense afternoons together debating the music industry (always interesting) and afterwards, we jammed to integrate everything that had been said during the day. The t...

Last year something amazing happened. I connected to a group of super-talented musicians through a project I did with my friend Jackson and Gennaro at the Groove House near Lisbon. We got together to figure out how we could make the music scene in Lisbon better and so we embarked on a journey together. We spent a couple of very intense afternoons together debating the music industry (always interesting) and afterwards, we jammed to integrate everything that had been said during the day. The t...

Have you ever considered how streaming impacts the planet compared to legacy media like CDs and vinyl? Me neither. Until someone asked about it and I had no idea. So I did some digging[1]. Music formats came and went over the years from the phonographic cylinder in the early 20th century to the shellac disc, followed by the vinyl disc, to cassettes and CDs which had their peak around the year 2000. They all consumed plastic in some form and so weren’t too great for the environment by modern s...

Have you ever considered how streaming impacts the planet compared to legacy media like CDs and vinyl? Me neither. Until someone asked about it and I had no idea. So I did some digging[1]. Music formats came and went over the years from the phonographic cylinder in the early 20th century to the shellac disc, followed by the vinyl disc, to cassettes and CDs which had their peak around the year 2000. They all consumed plastic in some form and so weren’t too great for the environment by modern s...

I started this series out with how Spotify could be better. That first post brought me a lot but most of all it brought me in contact with Jonathan Oudekerk, the founder of SmartLabel, and now I very see clearly how my first blog sparked his interest. Bashing Spotify is, admittedly, not the most progressive topic to start talking about when starting a blog about music and Web3 because, if you dig a little, it very very easy. And talking to people like Francesco Robustelli and many others abou...

I started this series out with how Spotify could be better. That first post brought me a lot but most of all it brought me in contact with Jonathan Oudekerk, the founder of SmartLabel, and now I very see clearly how my first blog sparked his interest. Bashing Spotify is, admittedly, not the most progressive topic to start talking about when starting a blog about music and Web3 because, if you dig a little, it very very easy. And talking to people like Francesco Robustelli and many others abou...

One of my all-time favourite artists Mark Knopfler has a new album out! I only found out today so I am 12 days late but it’s blaring through the speakers now. Better late than never. The first time I ran into Knopfler was when I was a teenager. The dad of my best friend had bought Sailing to Philadelphia and was playing it on repeat. We ‘borrowed’ the album a lot too so we could play it on our stereo when we went sailing ourselves. Not your typical teenage album but a testament to the influen...

One of my all-time favourite artists Mark Knopfler has a new album out! I only found out today so I am 12 days late but it’s blaring through the speakers now. Better late than never. The first time I ran into Knopfler was when I was a teenager. The dad of my best friend had bought Sailing to Philadelphia and was playing it on repeat. We ‘borrowed’ the album a lot too so we could play it on our stereo when we went sailing ourselves. Not your typical teenage album but a testament to the influen...

Currently, my favourite platform to buy music is Bandcamp. It’s unique (*starts tearing up) in the music industry: it’s good for artists and profitable with amazing editorial content. They take a small percentage of the sales as a fee but are the most artist-centric music-sharing platform. I love that artists and labels can set the price of the music they sell and we can sell physical music and merch. Their editorial team highlights anything and everyone and is a great source for new music. T...

Currently, my favourite platform to buy music is Bandcamp. It’s unique (*starts tearing up) in the music industry: it’s good for artists and profitable with amazing editorial content. They take a small percentage of the sales as a fee but are the most artist-centric music-sharing platform. I love that artists and labels can set the price of the music they sell and we can sell physical music and merch. Their editorial team highlights anything and everyone and is a great source for new music. T...

Back to Spotify because oh boy it’s getting bad. Living legend Reggie Watts is retracting his music and is just flat-out saying it: “F*ck Spotify”. Nice one, Reggs. Liz Pelly wrote a book called Mood Machine and it’s making minced meat of the platform. So I thought it was time to follow up on my story from last time to see what other ways Spotify has conjured up to make money off the backs of the musicians that bring value to the platform. Buckle up, it’s going to be a wild one! In the previo...

Back to Spotify because oh boy it’s getting bad. Living legend Reggie Watts is retracting his music and is just flat-out saying it: “F*ck Spotify”. Nice one, Reggs. Liz Pelly wrote a book called Mood Machine and it’s making minced meat of the platform. So I thought it was time to follow up on my story from last time to see what other ways Spotify has conjured up to make money off the backs of the musicians that bring value to the platform. Buckle up, it’s going to be a wild one! In the previo...

Diving deeper into why music isn’t appreciated as much as it should be. Streaming platforms, here we go again, for years have pushed us to listen to as much music (and as many songs) as possible because it’s good for their bottom line. They understand that most people don’t just sit in front of their hi-fi installation listening for hours on end with their eyes closed in full awe of every little detail journeying from album to album. No, they fully understood that, with our shortening attenti...

Diving deeper into why music isn’t appreciated as much as it should be. Streaming platforms, here we go again, for years have pushed us to listen to as much music (and as many songs) as possible because it’s good for their bottom line. They understand that most people don’t just sit in front of their hi-fi installation listening for hours on end with their eyes closed in full awe of every little detail journeying from album to album. No, they fully understood that, with our shortening attenti...

You don’t need streaming. You need Superfans! For me, when I first entered the Web3 and music space last year, one big thing stood out most: the promise that you could earn a decent living if you’re serious about music. And Superfans is one of the ways to go. I look at it like this: When you get a tiny percentage of a cent on streaming platforms, you need a lot of fans that stream your music regularly to make a decent living. But if you have 1000 Superfans that spend €5 a month on an artist. ...

You don’t need streaming. You need Superfans! For me, when I first entered the Web3 and music space last year, one big thing stood out most: the promise that you could earn a decent living if you’re serious about music. And Superfans is one of the ways to go. I look at it like this: When you get a tiny percentage of a cent on streaming platforms, you need a lot of fans that stream your music regularly to make a decent living. But if you have 1000 Superfans that spend €5 a month on an artist. ...

As usual, some artists are way ahead of their time. One of the greatest of all time was David Bowie. He was as avant-garde as it gets. We all know that he completely changed persona every few years producing legendary figures like Ziggy Stardust and Aladdin Sane. Even if that name doesn’t ring a bell. You definitely know what he looks like. One thing I didn’t know about Bowie, which, admittedly, is quite a bit, was that towards the end of the nineties, he issued so-called Bowie bonds[1]. I do...

As usual, some artists are way ahead of their time. One of the greatest of all time was David Bowie. He was as avant-garde as it gets. We all know that he completely changed persona every few years producing legendary figures like Ziggy Stardust and Aladdin Sane. Even if that name doesn’t ring a bell. You definitely know what he looks like. One thing I didn’t know about Bowie, which, admittedly, is quite a bit, was that towards the end of the nineties, he issued so-called Bowie bonds[1]. I do...