I wanted to reach out to you all to make sure you had a last chance to submit a memory for this final Scene and collection.

Head to the main site to submit to Scene 6!

https://scenes.soundoffractures.com/

To support the project you can collect the songs also via the main site or collect your individual scene or any that resonate with here

Meant To Be (Scene 5)

Meant To Be is about growing as a person and how moments in your life can be so overwhelming at the time you can't make sense of them but as you grow older you come to terms with how they contributed to making you who you are.

https://app.manifold.xyz

nft://undefined/undefined/undefined?showBuying=true&showMeta=true

Im working on plans to create an exhibition for the project so we need all the support possible to make it a reality so collect the songs, collect your scene and lets take this piece of art to a more people x

SCENES

Listen to SCENES on Spotify · album · Sound of Fractures · 2024 · 11 songs

https://spotify.com

This guide delves into creating deeper connections with listeners through co-creation, community building, and world-building.

Co-create: this is really about making people feel a part of what you do, and there are many ways to do it.. But making stuff together is one of the best. It doesn't have to be making music, it can just be starting a conversation and letting people see themselves in what you do. A simple idea is co-creating or crowdsourcing art work and content ideas.

Build your minimum viable community: it can be 3 people, just start. No number is too small. It can be instagram dms, Whatsapp, Discord, Telegram, Zoom.. If someone dms you about your music, invite them into your world. Share the things that inspire you, and your process.. But importantly, invite them to share and connect with each other, that's when it becomes a community, and not a broadcast channel. People live most of their lives in dms so lean into that, that way you don't need to rely on the algorithm to reach the people that care the most.

World Building: People want to be a part of something, I like to think of everything as world building, so embed your identity and your concepts into more than just the music. Who you are should flow through everything you do around your music, and that includes content, how you speak, what you care about, and even how you promote and distribute your music. People care about people, and want to connect. Your music is central to your identity, but there is more to you than just that, so embrace your story and people will care about your music more.

Make your process part of your social media output: There isn't going to be a magical moment where you are suddenly good at socials. Just start doing, and the best way is often bringing people into your process early as possible, why?  because it doesn't take time away from creation, it helps people connect with you before you even release a song, and they become a part of the creative journey, so when the song is released it means even more to them.

Sell your process: Yea that's right i said it! This is the next step from the previous point; There are some amazing platforms where the shackles are off in terms of file formats; check Zora, withfam and Metalabel for great examples. I sell artefacts of my work and my journey: session notes, videos, demos, drafts. They are all interesting ways for people to own a little piece of what you do. All the things you put into your music have value beyond the audio file, and while streaming has killed the value of audio, why not explore capturing the value in other places. Selling digital artifacts costs you next to nothing so go explore.

Build a scene or form a collective: too often we are rolling the dice individually when we should be cross pollinating, sharing audiences and supporting each other. We need to join the dots between the people who love what we do, and connect them with each other. Thinking collectively and releasing collectively is a great way to do this, and it creates a healthier career with people around you to ride the ups and downs with.  The mentality we need is: “If one of us releases, we all release”.

There have been over 170 submissions over the first 3 Scenes which is crazy. It took me some time to process this. I often preach about metrics that matter, such as why a follow is worth more than a stream but it even took me some time to see how much more valuable a submission was than a sale. It’s funny how even when we move to a new format such as NFTs to escape an issue we end up recreating it so easily. In my mind the amount collected would be the marker of success, and now I’m in the process of the project I can see more clearly. The marker of success is emotional value for the participants.

Expectations and hopes: I had a few things in my mind that hoped this experiment would test or at least I would learn more about , now I realise these should not have surprised me. The simple root of the problem is as always: what I want to do sits in a grey area and doesn’t follow simple narratives. It’s always been one of the things that attracted me to using the block chain in the first place, but I think we all underestimate how long it takes people to form new habits and embrace new ideas. I had thought that by providing something of value to people that they would be tempted at least to support the project in return, or at best find value in collecting their memories and the song that helped elicit them from the quietness of their past. This has been very rare so far.. so maybe the process itself felt like an act of support, or maybe sharing it after did.. or maybe the submitters own emotional experience doesn’t carry the value I had anticipated beyond the moment. I know for sure that for lots it’s been a moving experience, so I wonder if something deeper is just not what we look for while online. I think the rails and rituals we are comfortable with within platforms that form our daily lives are underestimated. Engage, like, share or save. Move on. The big lesson is that people are online to be entertained, to kill time.. not to connect, or share or take part.. well not in the way we have been used to anyway. Those things may be happening, but through different and maybe quicker processes. They are more fleeting perhaps. They share their experiences by aligning with another just through the mere act of consumption or a share.. and instant share within the framework of a platform they are used too. So, you need to have a connection with those audience members before you ask them to break their rituals and habits, or you have to accept the slow pace of enacting change one person at a time, which is where I have found myself. Building a fan base one person at a time through an emotional process, which has been hard, but i know that every connection i make is strong and will last.

Even within the niche communities of web3 music , the action of stepping off the regular platforms to collect music doesn’t quite make sense yet. There are set models of how people interact, they see it happening and they are comfortable fitting into that, they know what the actions are and the things to say. We have pfp type models which of course have a more understood underbelly of speculation, but to buy a thing as a memento of a personal experience (although this is very normal I would think) it’s not a process people have felt a natural urge to follow. It may be that if something is un-memeable, or doesn’t bring kudos by association then people don’t know how to or don’t feel driven to support it publicly.

In my early drafts I called SCENES an exploration of our relationship with nostalgia and how we share our lives on social media. It was exactly this, but not in the way that I thought. To me the content of the submissions was the output that would show us something, but in reality the response to the concept and the reactions to taking part have been the biggest eye opener.

People scroll. They see a thing. They click it. Then they are faced with a challenge, and not at a time they chose. This really has been the most interesting moment. Pretty much all new people have come through 2 paths:

• My Web3 community that is established

• Or the major social network apps: View content > new follower > DM

Because of this I have had to go back to creating content, and back to reaching out into the void. It dawned on me quite early on that the value proposition of SCENES was more suited to those looking for something emotional, something they could resonate with or get some form of processing from. This and a love for electronic music. I was essentially looking for validation from the wrong places, forming my goals around narratives similar to those I had chased in the commercial music industry; “I need my big drop to sit alongside these (insert artists) big artists, to raise myself to their level and get validation from their tastemakers”. But no. What SCENES is doing is setting me apart, it's a MVP, it's a proof of concept. I want to continue creating experiments that push the boundaries, that are ahead of their time and dont need to fit the commercial narratives of platforms in order to exist. They will always sit in the grey, they will always push the boundaries because that is the exciting thing about technology, and where examples of a new future for creators will most likely be found.

As the project grows and lives in the world people start to understand it more, they become familiar with the ritual, then become familiar with the language and aims. Those of us who are taking part and forming a network of people that have a shared ethos and interestings or maybe just the emotional capacity to reflect and disconnect. We have entered into a time particularly in the circles interested in the possibilities of the blockchain where the long term viability of speculation as a driver of growth is starting to be questioned, and although it is very much still the centre there is at least an interest in projects like mine, that look beyond the builders, the speculation and shilling, and aim to create experiences that can be represented and archived on the blockchain. These networks formed about real world interests and emotional value will be something we look to in the future to find our people and signify the things we care about. Music, nostalgia, emotion and community.

Scenes has gone from a drop to an ongoing piece of performance art, providing a commentary on the relationship between personal moments, music and our complex relationship with social media. What now excites me most is taking this piece of art out into the world once it's complete, and letting it speak for itself.

“Through every high and low, I am always with you.”

Below is my Scene for “Don’t Worry” by Sound of Fractures

https://opensea.io/assets/0x1384349dd1FF81C3B884352A65b19D1224C016A7/68

At first glance, it appears as a simple image. Yet, delving deeper, it reveals itself to be much more: a connection, an expression, an emotion, a reflection of myself. It's an image that transcends the “physicality” of pixels, touching the intangible realm that can only be felt, not seen.

When I selected this image for the scene, I expected a challenging decision. Surprisingly, it was seamless. Everything aligned perfectly. Reflecting on the track and its theme, I realized there was only one person I wanted to include in this message. The process of choosing the image and crafting the message transformed into an emotional journey. I reminisced over all the moments we shared - the good and the great, the joyous and the sorrowful. It was like watching the story of my 24 years unfold before my eyes, all intertwined with this man. In that moment, I recognized once again that he is the most significant person in my life, irreplaceable and unparalleled, second only to my children ( I don’t have any yet haha ). Tears fill my eyes as I write this - tears of joy, gratitude, and appreciation. He is my father, my mother, my best friend, my soul.

Usually, I am not one to openly share these sentiments, but I'm making an exception to highlight the extraordinary nature of SCENES. This project goes beyond music, technology, culture, or whatever else you consider it to be. It's an initiative that captures something far greater - an exploration of our inner selves, our emotions, and the connections we forge.

The sentiments I've expressed above are a testament to the profound impact this project has had on me. And I believe it has the power to evoke similarly deep responses in others, though your experiences may be uniquely yours. Scenes 4 is now live, offering you the opportunity to contribute your own image, create your scene, and deepen your connection with yourself, your loved ones, or anyone significant in your life.

Life among other things is an emotion, and emotion is life.

SCENES is not just a project; it's a catalyst for igniting even more of what lies within us Thank you! Enjoy exploring your own “scenes”!

https://opensea.io/assets/0x195bcCAcB4335B90e14f8D9DD4a4cFCEd0e28dC2/11

Explore the gallery and collect the song to support the project:

https://scenes.soundoffractures.com/

"SCENES" re-imagines the music album; it’s an experience where fans contribute their memories and photos in response to each song, creating a unique gallery of moments.

• It invites the audience to put themselves in the process of releasing each song in an album

• Forms visual and emotional bonds between the songs and the audience

• Captures those bonds for posterity in the release campaign and onchain

We all know the emotional value music brings to our lives, and SCENES aims to capture that in a way that current models struggle to do. Both for artists and the audience. The heart of SCENES lies in its collaborative nature. Visit the platform to contribute your personal memories, in response to each track, creating your own 'Scene'.

The beginning

The idea started with a simple question; how do we capture the emotional value of music? We get married to it, we cry to it, we break up to it.. it reminds us of those we love and those we have lost, and it transports us back to some of out most important and defining experiences we have had. We all know its value to us personally in terms of emotion, but its very hard for artists to convert that into something meaningful financially in the current landscape. If someone loves a song they are happy to spend money on tickets, merchandise or even add it to a video on socials to communicate that… but the financial representation of emotional value is rarely captured directly by the artist. Scenes is the start of a conversation between music and memories, its an experiment to see if through a process we can the story the music holds to elicit a memory from a listener, create a bond, and create an experience of value for both the artist and the audience. The end product is a memento for you to take away with you, and as more people take part together we can form an online tapestry of emotional moments in our lives that can be explored by everyone.

The Process

The interactive album invites fans to contribute their favourite memories and photographs in response to each song, which are then turned into a unique gallery of “Scenes.”

More than 300 fans have already contributed to the project since it launched last week, establishing a new way to release albums and proving that fans can be active collaborators rather than just passive listeners.

Each song and its accompanying submissions will populate a digital gallery. An archive that's a living testament to how music interacts with life moments in today's social media-dominated era.

At the culmination of each submission period, a singular song's Scene will be chosen, used as the main artwork for the release and the gallery will be encapsulated forever on onchinan, to form an artefact of the personal moments and the song.

On the day of each songs release:

• All contributors will receive their personal scene and instructions on how to share

• The song’s artwork will be revealed

• The gallery will go live for all to explore

This enables the project to grow over a period of time, as more people share their Scenes and other join in:

• SCENES consists of 6 Singles/Submission rounds

• 1 every 3 weeks to allow for growth and increased reach.

In an world where value is increasingly hard to capture, culture is fragmented and social media has brought a new dimension to how we connect, Scenes aims to re-think an album release. SCENES is a way to start a conversation together, it aims to create emotional value through this experience and give the participants a memento in the form of a unique personal ‘Scene’.

Sound of Fractures takes elements of Jamie XX and Burial and mixes it with found sounds, like his daughter’s heartbeat and day to day life to create a unique form of deeply emotional electronic music. This time, with "Scenes", he goes a step further, seeking to challenge the traditional album format. Instead of offering passive consumption, he sparks an active dialogue with listeners by intertwining personal stories and music. Through this new project listeners are not just passive consumers but active collaborators.

The experiment begins with "Scenes". An invitation to the world of Sound of Fractures, where every sound holds a story and every listener is a co-creator.

https://scenes.soundoffractures.com/

Funding:

SCENES represents an ambitious leap into the confluence of music, technology, and community, funded through the Sound of Fractures Token. This token is not merely a digital asset; it is a cornerstone of an emerging ecosystem where fans and supporters transcend the traditional role of passive consumers to become active participants in the artistic process and enablers of new ideas that don’t fit common funding models. By purchasing tokens, contributors directly finance the production of SCENES and contribute the output underpinning a model where the success of the music is shared, embodying a true partnership between the artist and the audience.

The funding mechanism provided by the Sound of Fractures Token reflects a significant shift from conventional music industry economics. It harnesses the potential of blockchain technology to facilitate a decentralised and transparent funding model. This approach democratises the creative process, allowing fans to be collaborators in individual projects while ensuring that Sound of Fractures, as an artist, retains independence and the freedom to experiment. The token's success is a testament to the collective belief in the project's value, signalling a new era of community-driven project development where supporters are rewarded not just with the final product, but with a stake in the project's journey.

Scenes is executive produced by CY. Lee, Maarten Walraven and Nick Smith

The first thing I feel like I need say is : fuck there is so much going on.

Ok I’ve got that out my system.

I know I need to write a launch post for the new project, a thread, a TiktTok.. or 100 of them, but first I just need to write down whats in my head.

Just when I think that being an artist can’t get more complicated, it always does. We are constantly finding more work, more types of output and ultimately more things to market and communicate. The pay off should be more autonomy and more control of our IP, and that is what I believe rethinking our approach can give us. So, this time it feels different as I’m getting back already has more emotional value to me.

In under 2 weeks time my new project SCENES goes live. Its been months in the making, from a seed of an idea which was “ how do we capture the emotional value of music”, to what now closely resembles what an artist platform could be. I cant wait to share it with you.I counted the new tools I have learnt to use over the last 8 weeks… 15! Maybe this is just normal life now, but taking on something new and ambitious really accelerates that, takes you out of your comfort zone and there is no better way to learn than to have a problem you need to solve. The scariest thing about creating new work I think for me and lots of us is; creating it and finishing it is just the beginning. Really the work starts the day of the launch, as what really matters is people discovering it, taking part and getting something of value. For that to happen its down to me to get it out to the world. Which all starts on 1st December 2023.

The thing that is making this whole project possible is Sound of Fracture Token. Its the thing that I can point to as working right now, and you can still take part via the site.

The community around me been coming together to make this whole project possible.

That in itself is amazing.

I don’t see this happening anywhere else.

So, if the plan is to show the world how we can build new models for artists that can reshape their approach to being a creator, but also change the experience of the audience too.. well then we are already doing that, and you can still join in by buying Tokens via the link. How far this project goes really does depend on raising enough for us to be able to reach as many people as possible, and we have not hit the funding target of 5 ETH yet. If you are reading this, you can make the difference and there’s still time grab one of the last executive producer slots.

Maybe what this post is in the end is a thank you to those who have joined me on this journey so far. It’s one that is hard to say in a way that really conveys how much every contribution matters. Thank you isn’t really enough, but hopefully taking part in SCENES is a way to bring something new to this relationship, and I can’t wait for it to start.

An extra thanks to the executive producers of SCENES, you especially have backed me continuously, taught me so much, been a sounding board for every step and a been the lead funders at the same time as developing these new models along side me. You really have shown that you see a different future than the norm and you are actually making it happen.

To become an executive producer of SCENES you need to hold 200 Sound of Fractures Tokens. Buy your tokens here.

Thanks to all of those who submitted to the first round of submissions for SCENES, and for those wondering what I’m talking about.. it will all become clear soon and i hope you take part too!The first song from SCENES called Willows Heartbeat will hit DSP’s on the 1st December, and the artwork will be a Scene created by one of you.

You can pre-save it now here:

Listen to "Willow's Heartbeat" by Sound of Fractures

"Willow's Heartbeat" - Sound of Fractures

https://symphony.to

• Sound of Fractures Token

• Building Worlds: Introducing Sound of Fractures Token

• Creating Alongside Expectation

As  previous posts have shown, the question of ‘why’ becomes central to every conversation I have, and my ‘why’ is different to yours, or yours, or yours .. we all have our reasons to connect with ideas. So, in response to some of these conversations I have decided to adapt the model to not just fund on a project by project basis, but to share in the onchain revenue in return for participating and contributing to my projects. The Sound of Fractures Token will now offer collectors who contribute by buying the token during the project window to share 50/50 in the onchain net profits of the project Scenes, with the other 50% going to a Sound of Fractures treasury. The move will hopefully bring in more interest but also help participants feel  a part of the project, from  process and journey to  end product in terms of artistic output but also of revenue.

For me any revenue share model for musicians has always felt a bad idea due to the admin pressure it puts on the artist to account to contributors over the long term, these challenges for me make it an unworkable idea. However, I wanted to explore this approach and by working on a project by project basis and focusing on onchain profits it can work and facilitate the use of the blockchain to handle the back end distribution of funds via an onchain splits contract. The budget will consist of previous Sound of Fractures income combined with the Sound of Fractures Token project raise. The budget will go towards the build of the custom project site and the marketing and PR for the project. Once the project has recouped, all net revenue will be automatically distributed to token holders in return for their participation and contribution to the output of the project. If the aim is to truly make the audience participants in the artist's world, then this approach aims to acknowledge that participation at both the conception and output of the project.

By buying Sound of Fractures Token you are a creator in the project alongside me and you can capture the value that you add as you watch it grow. This ranges from 1 to becoming an executive producer for 200 Tokens.

Buy your tokens now:

https://softoken.xyz/

• Open Letter

• Sound of Fractures Token

• Building Worlds: Introducing Sound of Fractures Token

Part 1 : Life In The Grey

I wanted to share this post to give insight into what it’s like to be creating ideas that don’t fit into a tidy box.

To be creating and thinking outside of current models and expectations comes with the endless challenge of explaining yourself to an audience saddled with preconceptions. It is without a doubt hard to break free of what we know, that goes for me too, I constantly feel myself being pulled back to the safety of things I already understand, formats I’m familiar with and approaches that have examples and frameworks that are easy to understand and explain. It makes sense that in a society where you need financial support that communicating in set simple ways is the default. We follow what has worked. It’s our natural position, but it can be a ball and chain that slows us down and stifles our thinking. Openness to something new is challenging for all of us, and the and on the other side of that is people trying to communicate something that has a radically different goal (especially in terms of where revenue is generated and for who), which is incredibly challenging as the audience constantly tries to fit your ideas into shapes that they already have formed in their mind.

The strengths of this process are of course learning how to talk about your ideas to people in ways they understand. Having a clearer picture of the assumptions you will need to navigate, the preconceptions that are coming and how you will have to navigate them in a way that demonstrates the value of your idea rather than causing your audience to shut down and switch off.

The key here is to keep an open mind. We don’t know what works, it’s impossible. You won’t lose face by accepting that. Cultivating an environment where we never settle too soon, or cut corners just to feel the safety of ‘knowing’ is empowering. It’s an experiment and moving forward in any other way pulls us back to the safety which is to recreate what we already have… and at least that is one thing we can now all agree on in music: it isn’t working for independent artists.

Projects like mine (Scenes) are experiments that set out to find answers when we don’t even know what the questions are. They are exploratory, they are heading out into the unknown, by their nature they need to sit in the grey area. It's exciting and important but often exhausting and lonely experience.. but at the other end we might find new concepts, new products, new approaches or new markets… or just have fun on the way and enjoy the journey.

Part 2: Questions and Answers

Firstly I want to thank those who responded to me with thoughtful questions about the Sound of Fractures Token, its aims and the first project (Scenes) it aims to make possible. My initial roll out has been one that I kept short, straight to the point and largely focused on the value of the key concepts so as to keep things simple, but I can't wait to share more about Scenes with you all. Because of this approach naturally the focus has been on the funding method, the token, and the concepts that underpin why I took that approach and why it's important, not the creative idea itself. Here are some excerpts from the conversations I have been having alongside building and trying to raise funds for Scenes, the first Project that will be funded by Sound of Fractures Token. I wanted to share this to document the journey of both the fundraise and the personal journey of what it's like to be a creator that wants to walk down untrodden paths often going against the current narratives. The questions and responses are unedited. And just to reiterate, I want to thank the people I quote here for their thoughtful responses, it has been invaluable.

Conversation 1:

• what you do get for contributing that much?

Credit for your contribution immutably on chain. Access to the Executive Producer Chat group, allowing you to take part in, offer input and learn from all the decision making and discussion that form the project operations and coordination. Rather than collecting an end product you are taking it forward. Your name is on the platform in the main credits, it brings you cultural capital, network value and visibility. You are platformed as a funder of new music models throughout the 4 month project campaign. You receive a non transferable project badge to further represent this onchian.

• I get you a token but is that freely tradable later?

yes

• Are revs tied to the token?

They will be tied to the token on a project by project basis. Each project has a funding, development and execution cycle. At the end of each project cycle a percentage of on-chain profits will be divided between the treasury and token holders who collected during the specific project cycle.

Conversation 2:

• So world building sounds amazing, and we think it could be a sustainable path for artists moving forward if the right incentives are put in place. That being said, your written thoughts (we went through your website as well) feel somewhat incomplete, and here are some of the questions and comments we were left with that you could develop in future writings:

• You wrote: "Tokens can be used to create, communicate and monetise in ways that could not be done before" and "and there is better ways for those who contribute to be seen and feel valued" - which ways?

They provide us with decentralised tools to use for raising funds, and allow for representing that process and participation immutably on a chain.

• What does the SoF world look like? where do fans / collectors access this world, how do they experience it? right now it's hard to understand

Working this out is part of the experiment. We as independent artists do not have a holistic single place for this, the tools and frameworks simply do not exist yet. Artist worlds are formed by a network of outputs, and if done correctly it is the synergy of these outputs and weaving of the artists identity throughout them that forms a world. My gut reaction is that there are tech industry expectations that this happens in a single meta-verse style environment that you can walk around in, but this is in opposition to the independence we need, as it limits us to the goals and expectations again of singular platforms and the tools they offer. Another interpretation is that of literary worlds of lore building. I don't think we have a clear and simple framework for music yet but it's exciting to explore that without simply planting an artist or music into an existing interpretation as we have been doing.

At the moment the audience experience it by participating and connecting with their memories, others and the music through the participation, as the project progresses they will experience it though being offered the opportunity to explore their own memories and identity and how they relate to music, technology and images.

• what role does the token play in it beyond holders getting access to early stuff? the projects you have listed (e.g. scenes) seem cool, but they feel like isolated projects, not really part of a world

This again relates to expectations of world building. Independent artists cannot yet build singular worlds as it is often the expectation of technology markets. The single projects form a web/network, which is essential in approach as by conforming to one approach is to presume you have the answer, and that technology won’t change this. Building on a project by project basis allows for continuous experimentation and exploration while still having achievable and impactful outputs.

A revenue share model is also being explored on a project by project basis

• "Scenes aims to redefine what an album is and how it works in web3 and web2" - how?

By moving beyond traditional formats and understanding of audience and artist relationships. Music as a singular audio format does not and will not capture value in the same way it used to, so recreating it as a model by representing that onchain is also not a future that gives us sustainable answers. A music project or output needs to be reframed as a one element of a creative entity that forms that artist network value, and positioning it as something that caterers specifically to web2 or web3 is not a useful approach in my mind.

• "as we are moving into a new phase of the blockchain" - which phase? this is vague and hard to understand, who is your audience here?

Ok yea this relates to the stagnation of Music NFT’s as a format, and moving beyond that simple use of the blockchain as a way to represent existing formats.

• there appears to be an opportunity to expand the role of the token beyond funding for access, and tying that to your vision for the SoF world - perhaps bringing in aspects of gamification to the world you're building.

Gamification is something I would love to explore, but the key here is not to tender to a crypto audience with expectations of an NFT project. It is to explore the emotional value of music to audiences and how to create that value and capture it in a more effective way than traditional models can. The tooling we have will offer many opportunities to experiment and they shouldn't all be attempted at once, this is not the way to open up the tools to new audiences.

Conversation 3

• I would actually get more out of understanding the exact parameters of the token more so than why it is important in the way its currently presented. This currently reads as somewhat of a sales pitch (which is a great resource to have). I go more towards tokenomics and wondering:

• Total Supply

• % Circulating

• Relationship to a treasury

• Current FDV of the token

• Relationship between token holdings and onchain earnings

Ok so to the first 2 points it’s not a liquid asset, so I work with an overall treasury that takes income from all my music activities and feeds it back into new projects. The last point is interesting and I’ve been discussing this with other holders. Some kind of fractional revenue share of profits I am considering .. is this really the thing that makes it click for you? My focus is on taking music forward right now and not putting money in my pocket for clothes and rent .. I guess the cyclic nature of the funds being reinvested to build new things has been the focus of what’s got me here.

• Yeah 110% this is what demonstrates clear value capture to me and makes it a compelling thing to buy.

Reinvesting to build new things gets tricky as a collector because I want the aritst to win but its unclear if they do blow up if any of the things that i've collected will actually capture and accrue value

It was born out of collectors like you I guess who felt like buying single songs over a long time didn’t really show how much they were contributing to an artist career - it was “I love supporting this thing but I want to be able to show I made this happen more clearly”. Hence the executive producer credit like in the movie culture

• Right and I definitely see a lot of merit in more distinctly highlighting the backers and their involvement! I would personally be most interested in a system that allows me to receive a % of future earnings so that I'm basically betting on your future in a way that's passively capturing value

Come on this journey with me and learn more about Scenes by helping me create it. Get your Sound of Fractures Tokens now:

https://softoken.xyz/

To catch up on what Sound of Fractures Token is and why i took this approach to funding projects:

https://mirror.xyz/sofractures.eth/M_Q8M_RIxWhE2snROE9OucAqXBtntDp0sNPQ8qEMJzA

• Sound of Fractures Token

• Creating Alongside Expectation

• Sound of Fractures Token now with a revenue share model

World Building to me is about understanding the network of connections that form strong emotional bonds within and around an artist's music and creating artifacts around it to symbolize them. We are moving into a future where we need to rethink the Artist-Audience relationship. Traditional methods of distributing music, especially on platforms that homogenize artists, diminish the artist's identity. Music in our digital age can no longer be a mere product. . Instead, artists should visualize and position themselves as a world that fans would want to engage with and contribute to.The core idea is to provide emotional value, making fans active participants in the artist's world rather than mere passive consumers.World Building focuses on creating long-lasting and evolving relationships based on shared experiences and mutual appreciation. It's about the mutual relationship and coexistence between an artist and their audience. The bond isn't unidirectional; it's the start of a conversation. The token is an invitation to this conversation and, when bought, a show of support.

Innovation onchain

Putting the connections between artist and audience onchain means they are given the immutable status, but also a theatrical status. They are there, and they can be played with. The Sound of Fractures token is a project-based incentive and support system that allows people to help Sound of Fractures build worlds around my music.

The Token

This token delves beyond traditional boundaries, harnessing the possibilities of the blockchain to provide the funding to redefine contemporary music careers. As we look to the future of what a career is for musicians we need to explore new approaches to capturing value and building community around art, and to do so there needs be opportunities to experiment without boundaries. As it stands artists rely on a small number of options to be able to fund world building. Often these are provided by platforms, labels and brands who don’t have the sustainability of the artist's career as a core goal, or they focus on a select and limited audience. This leads to a lack of innovation and as we are moving into a new phase of the blockchain, it requires us to look beyond its use as a way to tokenise existing formats on chain, and instead as a tool to develop how we interact with music and fandom in all areas.

Buying into the token allows for collectors to be a part of and recognised for driving new innovative ideas that engage and include audiences in the process of building creative worlds with and around music artists.

Buy your tokens here:

https://softoken.xyz/

Read more:

https://mirror.xyz/sofractures.eth/M_Q8M_RIxWhE2snROE9OucAqXBtntDp0sNPQ8qEMJzA

nft://1/0x48c9CFEE623bad26e896A2018C992Bd60ed5Ef0E/?showBuying=true&showMeta=true

The collector of archive token 1 gets control of the interactive map that allows them to explore the connections between the media.. .they then have the option to curate what else in archive becomes part of the final collection and is represented on-chain.

The collector of the token 1 is airdropped 4 additional tokens which they curate from the archive files into the Real Friends ARCHIVE Collection. I wanted to place the start Sound of Fractures, where i came from and how it developed on-chain.

The Real Friends EP ARCHIVE

Contents:

• Real Friends - ARCHIVES MAP

• Photos From My Mums Wall - Traces

• Photos From My Mums Wall - Life Hacks

• Photos From My Mums Wall - Real Friends

• Art work - Out takes

• Press Shots - BTS

• Logo Design Out Takes

• SOF - Mood board

• Online interview - unedited

• Sound of Fractures - first mirror post draft

• Real Friends x Glass - video notes and thoughts

• Real friends - initial thoughts on how to talk about EP

• EMOTION - Private phone note

• Sound of Fractures - Real Friends EP - EPK

• Sound of Fractures - Brand Bible

• Real Friends Video - behind the process

• Real Friends EP (Marketing Plan)

• REAL FRIENDS - video Treatment_v2 by Guy Gooch

• SOF_ ‘Beauty in the mundane’ press shots pitch

• Life Hacks - Final Artwork

• Real Friends - final Artwork

• Traces - Final Artwork

• Press Shot Full

• Press Shot Full 2

• SOF Press Shots - Location Guide

• 
  

Lastly a big thanks to @fascinated @cxy and @ourZORA for helping me work through how to best execute this idea.. in the end i went with what felt right to me, which is one NFT as a key to the Archive rather than breaking it into smaller pieces.. it felt it belonged together.

https://softoken.xyz/

Why a token?

• I need a way to fund new projects.. so how?

• We have to experiment to find new ideas and paths for creatives.. we have tools, but to combine them in new ways and contribute to redefining what a music career is, we need funding.

• Tokens can be used to create, communicate and monetise in ways that could not be done before, but we are limited creatively by the tools available and trend based narratives.. I believe we need to build our own worlds that are unique to our identities.

• Music NFTs have removed so many restraints from my creative out-put, but there's more that can be done, and there is better ways for those who contribute to be seen and feel valued.

What do i get?

• Supporters will be able to show they were here first, at the heart of new ideas.

• Those who contribute a minimum of 200 Tokens will get an Executive Producer credit on the project and album, exclusive access to behind the scenes workings and detailed insights into in the execution of projects.

• Supporters will be given badges with access to privileges; including updates on projects, funding uses and access to behind the scenes planning and workings.

• Contributions will be represented by project badges. Badge holders will have tiered access.

• All badge holders will have access to process and participation.

How many tokens should i collect? / Contributor Badges:

Contributions will be represented by project badges.

Project 1: Scenes

Executive Producer: Minimum 200 Tokens within project term.
Scenes Core Team Badge: Minimum 20 Tokens within project term.
Scenes Friends Badge: Minimum 10 Tokens within project term.
Scenes Contributor Badge: Minimum 1 Token within project term.

Individual Token Price: 0.0025Eth

Collect here:

https://softoken.xyz/

Join the Real Friends community to stay up to day with SOF Token and to participate in project 1:

Real Friends Community

Welcome to the Sound of Fractures Collector Group - this is the first step in building up the next stage of the project, and a place to connect with others passionate about music and life

https://guild.xyz

This young space may not have the capacity to be creating and developing new leaders … yet this is one of the complaints we hear most about the ‘old’ industry; that there is a lack of development and it only follows numbers. Yet here we are unable as a scene to work out how to amplify, develop and assist the next wave of artists with the potential to take this technology to new audiences and show how beneficial and creative it can allow us to be.

So over the last months I’ve slowed down, because when I started my exploration of the block-chain I decided that I wanted to have intention, story and reason for how I release my music .. not that this should be the route for everyone, just that this what I decided was what was going to make me me. I’ve be been waiting and searching for ideas I feel excited by that can help people connect with my music and me on a deeper level, and importantly re-think their experience of supporting artists and offer something different to what we know. The challenge has been of course money … to build new ideas and concepts we need it, other wise we only have the tools that are already being used, and our creativity is limited to what we as artists can attach to the ownership and the distribution itself... and again this becomes limited by the tools built by others. This creates an echo chamber as the people attracted to these approaches are the only newcomers to the space, and they come with a singular reason and narrative for what is ‘good’ and why they are here.

There has been and continues to be some amazing success stories each in their own lane, and own way of approaching and building around blockchain technology… the issue is that the expectation is these are the only routes as we focus on an single ‘answer’ or ‘proven’ route to success .. I want to challenge this as this was my problem with web2; that we are served this one route and limited to that route to success.

I hope and I want to show that the blockchain allows us to continuously re-develop new ways of growing as artists and standing out provided by the flexibility of the tech we have at our disposal. Creative careers are in a constant state of uncertainty as technology continues to impact our lives, and we are all searching for value both as creators and consumers. So, we need people to be able to experiment, to take risks and find answers when we don’t even know the right questions to ask.

We need to build our own worlds, our own way and find our own people.

Introducing Sound of Fractures Token (SoFT), a way to invest in Sound of Fractures and unique projects. This is more than an investment. It's a chance to be a part of something innovative, contributing to building new ideas on a project by project basis:

https://softoken.xyz/

Each Frame is unique.

Music forms only part of an artist's output. Frames isn't about recreating music formats but exploring what blockchain can do around music.

As with other releases in my journey I’m interested in the life of a song, not just as an audio file but exploring where that value lies in the world that’s built around it. The blockchain has been an exciting and refreshing place for me to explore my passion for world building and creating connections, and Frames is the next stepping stone on the way to bigger things.

Collect and take part:

https://zora.co/collect/zora:0x3d094f1da951e1b401ce8f191ac14f0c2c520c09

Frames has been created to enable collectors to help fundraise to build the project titled ‘Scenes’ that will take place in summer 2023 and all collectors will be able to participate in the first submission round of the Scenes project.

We as musicians have been battered into believing that its not ok to ask for money… why? It’s ok for Twitch streamers and You-tubers to ask for subscriptions and tips to support their output.. why is music so different? Our art at the moment relies on streaming which does not pay enough, and the ones that get to the point where it does pay have investment from label and corporations to get there. To be able to experiment and grow as independent artists we need investment, and as a scene we need different voices, styles, approaches and more artists crossing the visibility threshold, attracting varied audiences, and fostering unique identities. This is my first drop that is openly about building for the future and talking about how your contribution creates value in the Sound of Fractures ecosystem.

https://mirror.xyz/sofractures.eth/61toZcxxVrFIZeK0VS1pukyf9a08JNNOLY2Kr7td4aA

I hope and I want to show that the blockchain allows us to continuously re-develop new ways of growing as artists and standing out provided by the flexibility of the tech we have at our disposal.

Build our own worlds. Our own way and find our own people.

Collector Rewards:

10+ Editions: An analog Cassette tape of the Real Friends EP and a SOF Mini mix NFT airdrop

5+ Editions: A SOF Mini mix NFT airdrop

Watch the full video here:

Collect the music drop here:

nft://1/0x4A0EC22F647aF377dFA8429094C375E7d850667f/?showBuying=true&showMeta=true

So, here’s how it’s playing out so far:

Personal finances:

I work for a University, it is a lot of work, but it allows me some flexibility and I can talk and teach about my life and what I’m trying to do. The wages keep me steady, but yes I have less time for music, the counter to that is; how much music can you make? And most importantly; how much ever gets heard? So, I’ve had to learn to adjust to not making as much music which has been hard because it became a coping mechanism - a way to bury myself in creation and hide from the world. The positives are that I’ve not relied on my music income to live for the first time in my life. What this means is that from my first release as Sound of Fractures all my income from music has gone into music, and the plan is to continue this.

Music Finances:

The tension between minting art on-chain for provenance and potential investment value is one we are all working through. Particularly, how best to articulate value when emotional value is a factor for both creators and collectors. The things we collect in life continue to grow in emotional value to us the longer we hold on to them, and that mirrors how we hope our financial investments grow too. So, as the saying goes, I'm HODLING on my music career. I’m investing in my long-term life as a creator, by reinvesting in my career now, and creating the stability to be here long term. Crypto offers us this unique way to allow others to be a part of this process too, and that’s why I'm breaking this all down, because I’m all in. This isn't a hobby or a distraction from responsibility. I’m building a stable creative entity that can weather the storms of life and markets, and be empowered by you and the technology to innovate and experiment in the gray space between Web2 and Web3. Everything should link together and will increase its impact on the Sound of Fractures network with each new track, piece of content, or connection.

I see it as a funding cycle, each time I can spend on growing exposure, the exposure helps me generate more meaningful connections and more income, and with each funding cycle the reach grows, the audience grows, and the reputation of the project grows. The input comes from me and collectors and with each creative cycle Sound of Fractures accumulates more connections, exposure and funds to reinvest in the project. What is so hard to factor in when trying to describe or visualise this process is the role of emotional connections, and the power that music has to bond to experiences. It almost renders any attempts useless, but not quite as we live and create in a world with financial pressures. I believe we need more simple ideas that encourage progress and have longevity as their focus.

A more useful way of thinking about the cycle (once you add more layers of connection) is as an interconnected network. A network of creativity, platforms, value capture and connections. As the network gets busier it grows in reach and status, cycling over and over, and each new connection and revenue stream in turn increases the traffic within the network. What is key to this, of course, is the ability to sustain, adapt and maintain the network, so it stays healthy and functional.

This way of working, although it has its imperfections, gives me control of my career in a way I've never had. I can release music when I want and how I want, and there is no-one making bad decisions that affect my work (apart from me!). The benefit is a focus on progress and sustainability. As the project develops I am slowly clawing back more and more creative time, but with way higher chances of progress and hitting key moments than most musicians, and much less risk of it falling apart or me falling out of love with it. It is early days for me, so if it needs to be one fan at a time or one collector at a time, then that is fine because I know I'll still be here rolling the dice, creating interesting projects and making music I love a lot longer than most musicians get too.

We don't know what the future is for a music career that is not backed by corporations, but there needs to be people experimenting to find out. As Sound of Fractures I will continue to share ideas, experiments and involve the community around me in my process.

What next:

This week i am starting to roll out the process of raising funds for the next steps for Sound of Fractures, and I will share the details in my next post Finding Balance pt.3.

Step one is ‘Hold Me’ which you can collect here, there are 11 left and every collect matters:

nft://1/0x4A0EC22F647aF377dFA8429094C375E7d850667f/?showBuying=true&showMeta=true

I made some big changes in my life a few years ago. In a way I became my own experiment. For the first time, I took some regular work in order to have some steady income. I also became a parent and I wanted to change my life and creative career.

Previously, I had worked so hard that I didn't take a proper break for 9 years with the only travelling being to writing sessions and camps abroad. It wasn't until I met my partner (a seasoned traveller) that I took a 3 week break… Only to come back and realise it didn't make any difference - my work and connections were still there. Work hours as a creator sometimes never end and we never switch off, and I needed to escape this mindset while also acknowledging that I'm a workaholic and that I have some of my most fulfilling moments when I'm deep in a project.

I have lived off music since I was 20 years old and my day-to-day routine 7 days a week was this:

Wake up, make beats and prep sessions, do sessions, mix and work on songs, create new ideas / beats, do emails, sleep…

I loved it when it was good, and I struggled when it was hard and I rode those waves until I crashed. It sounds like being an addict doesn't it? Sometimes music feels that way; it's how I cope, it's how I define myself, it's everything to me, but being responsible for another life is a powerful thing too. I decided to try something different as I didn’t want to raise my kids feeling unfulfilled, I wanted to be ….. well I didn’t know, but not this.

When it gets down to it this first post is really about having time, giving time, and being present. In other words, how I value and spend my time and how I can be present in moments and give them my full attention. I don’t think about emerging technologies as just an opportunity to rethink financial structures, or music distribution, but about lives. For me, it’s about real people finding new ways to live with their art and passions. We're conditioned to follow hot takes and clickbait. Yet, finally, I feel we are starting to see past the “just do the work”, “I'll sleep when I'm dead” and “all you need is a hit” trash we hear everyday. Instead, we start to think collectively about what we are all in this for. 99% of creators burning out and falling out of love with their art should not be a goal we are working towards, and I feel the pressure to endlessly create and show up is part of the problem. I struggle with it even now and it's a constant learning curve, yet the focus of this series of posts is a positive one: whatever this web3 / on-chain / blockchain music thing is… it's working for me and helping me find balance.

I’m still thinking about how this is actually panning out, but writing this is one example.. I can put ideas out in the world and let them connect and find their way to people. It's not unique to the blockchain, but arguably the community we are part of is unique in the way it consumes information. I can speak like this and tell you that the most important thing here is that balance is in the interest of longevity. Being happy, productive and stable as a creator is a powerful thing, and if we want great art to continue being created for a long time then we should be thinking about how we can support and encourage this in the lives of those who inspire us. So they can grow, so they can be prolific and so they can build a world around their music that gives it the best chance of reaching those that need it.

Hold me is about the complexity of emerging yourself in something that can be bad for you… whether that is music, love, social media. Its the feeling of wanting to hold on even when something could hurt you .. you know you shouldn’t but for some reason you just hold on… and that in doing so it makes it even more desirable. 

COLLECT on @soundxyz_ and support me in the most direct and impactful way possible:

nft://1/0x4A0EC22F647aF377dFA8429094C375E7d850667f/?showBuying=true&showMeta=true

Get a limited edition NFT and access to the Real Friends community, where you can connect with others, share knowledge, and get access to my full process 🤝

REMIX, edit and create chaos using the 'Hold Me' @spores_  🎛️:

A way to explore the song without having any technical production experience! 

STREAM where you listen to your music most, dive in and soundtrack your life 🔊:

https://tone.soundoffractures.com/holdme

I wanted to build something new for people like me and you to be a part of from day 1, and this is it! Its not often we get to be a part of something in music from the beginning and I’m inviting all of you to come and get involved.

https://mirror.xyz/wildawake.eth/E751ntZTznXu5hlUmlBsuSMimI0pftCQeg25gLE0cwI

This week sees the first release go online at Thursday 9pm GMT, to celebrate the C O N T X T release we will be holding a release party on twitter spaces hosted by the amazing Alyss where C O N T X T will be playing a mix of his EP featuring unreleased songs, followed by an interview and general chat… and we would love you to be there, join in and ask questions or just listen in!

There will be 12 Editions only of each release as we want them to feel special, and they will be available to collect in both pounds, dollars and crypto.

Collectors will get access the Wild Awake telegram chat group with all the artists, my Real Friends Community where i share my work and behind the scenes process.. and C O N T X T will send you a copy of the exclusive mix and the free band camp downloads to his while EP.

Wild Awake

@wildawakeworld

Catalog Number WATT001:

Save Me by @contxtmusic

12 editions only

Drop Date: May 11 on @TokenTraxx

Set Alert :laylo.com/wildawake

Drop Party: x.com/i/spaces/1OdKr…

15

4:17 PM • May 4, 2023

Read more about the project here, learn about what we are doing and how you can get involved:

https://mirror.xyz/wildawake.eth

It’s a collection of musical building blocks that to me represent the things that connect all my favourite music. Whether that’s James Blake, The Weeknd or Jamie xx; to me there is a sonic connection between the artists that inspire me which draws from alternative electronic influences.

Building Blocks is free for all my NFT holders!

Listen, Purchase or Collect here:

Kits

Own your sound.

https://www.kits.io

I’m excited to announce I’ve partnered with @kitsio and @Riffappxyz for a collaborative activation to help those who create with the samples grow on the web3 social layer Lens Protocol .

Riff / Beatz.xyz have built a custom dashboard that allows anyone that collected the pack to upload a snippet of their created track, where we can all listen to each others work, share and bring visiblity to each other through collaboration.

Collect, Collaborate, Share

If you have collected the pack and are working on a track head over to:

https://www.beatsapp.xyz/contests/kits

If you want to submit a snippet you need to collect the Building Blocks pack at https://www.kits.io/packs/building-blocks

Once you’re on the contest dashboard click on Enter Competition which will lead you to the snippet upload.

Upload your track, select the snippet and share it!

Here is one i made earlier! Listen:

On March 22nd 2022 at 23:20 I minted my first Music NFT!

To commemorate a year of releasing on chain I have created a time line of all my work so far as a Free Mint!

Open to collect till exactly one year from the day: March 22nd 2023 23.20

https://zora.co/personalize/collections/0x6476b7fe5aec17bbc267741fdfa2bf5290cc8423/info

As musicians we find it so hard to stop and take in what we've achieved, we feel constantly exhausted and never look back, as we are always focussed on what next... I wanted to share my journey of experimentation, and record it on chain forever.

This year has totally changed my experience of being a musician, and although I still work crazy hard, what I’ve got back while experimenting with web3 tools has been so much more rewarding for me than what i had before.

Thank you for all the support

Jamie xx

Let Go

Collect a free NFT poster of the artwork for my upcoming single Let Go via @Showtime_xyz

Pre-Save my upcoming single to claim your free NFT by Serbian designer and club culture photographer Teodor Kopicl.

Let Go is out on DSPs 8th March 2023

https://showtime.xyz/nft/polygon/0x81FEDbC7a71bD2bE760f13798e94F72cc53c910A/0

Explore More:

https://soundoffractures.xyz/

We are in a moment where more artists than ever before experimenting with distribution technologies at the same time, and I really believe we need to be documenting the details for the future. We all have our own reasons and our own paths, and I’m happy to share mine with you. At the start of every release for me lies a story, a story in the music. It is in the music that I find the seed for all my ideas that I build, whether that is the artwork, the visuals, social media content or, as I have got deeper in to using web3 tools, the way I distribute. I start by saying this because music is the centre of everything for me, and staying true to this has always kept me on the right path… there are no short cuts working this way, but I know I can look back on my decisions without regret.

So, I start this story with ‘No One knows Me Like You’ ft Scott Quinn. Ever since my first encounter with Web3 I’ve been interested in the idea of the life of a song on chain.  The current streaming economy and web3 encourages artists to keep throwing out music. I love the freedom to do this, but I also want the total opposite freedom. We create these pieces of our lives that we pour our hearts into and often labour over. These deserve more time and more value. So, I wanted to draw from how I had released music in the past and experiment with the life of a song on chain and how to extend it. The idea would be to have the main version, an acoustic version and then the remixes. The latter of which land on the 11th of November.

The initial release was Scott’s first time releasing his music on the blockchain and it sold out in 10 mins. The drop Spaces felt like a special moment for both of us. As soon as it was over I knew I wanted to think of ways to continue the experiment around this song and connect this moment to its release on DSPs. I knew the best way to get Scott excited about experimenting more was the pull from the emotion and sentiment of the song… so we started with the words he wrote about the song’s meaning:

“Love is a mirror, whether platonic or romantic. It’s this aspect of intimacy that a lot of us find so daunting; the idea that someone could ever accept us for who we REALLY are. Warts and all. This song explores that journey of doubt, vulnerability and ultimately the quest for acceptance…not from our partners but from ourselves.”

We talked on a call with both of our teams where one of us raised the idea to build on an idea Scott had previously experimented with: where his fans submitted phone videos that were then used to create his music video. This started the conversation of how to pull from both of our worlds to form one idea, and bring listeners into the experience of releasing music as an NFT. The key here was creating something listeners could be a part of, so they could experience and better understand why releasing in NFT format has become so important to me.

The idea in its first form was to combine a pre-save activation for when the main version of the song went live on DSPs with a communal NFT drop. We wanted to offer listeners who pre-saved the song the opportunity to contribute to the artwork of the NFT by submitting a photo. In return their photo would be embedded in the NFT artwork for the song and they’d also get a split in the contract. The aim was to get listeners to submit a photo that tied into the concept of the song - to form a collage of personal and intimate photos of yourself or something that is important to you.

How and why people share things is important. I didn’t just want to create a free flyer that people would collect for no reason and would never look at again.  I also didn’t just want people to collect. Instead, I wanted them to care and their friends to collect one as well. This, however, was just the first piece of the puzzle. Now that the music was ready and Scott was on board, there were 2 more pieces to bring together. Both had a similar impact to how this worked out. There was my collector group and the choice of platform.

My collectors have come together as a community. Within this group I’ve been very lucky to have a core team, or squad (as my friend Maarten refers to it), that have become not just a sounding board but an extension of my project. It has given me somewhere to bounce ideas, but also I hope a more rewarding way for them to contribute to and thus care more deeply about my own journey as an artist. When I explained the NFT idea excitedly late one night (as are all my calls due to being in the UK), the feedback I received was “why are you doing this, what is your aim?”. At the time I was most interested in how to engage people who don’t own a wallet, so the feedback was “why have so much friction in the process?” If I wanted to engage as many people as I could then I needed strip it back and make it as fun and simple as possible. So I did, and this is how I arrived at the final concept. The simplicity of a way to engage fans in an activation but also in the NFT itself ... not just a free mint but a free mint that allows you to be in the NFT. The nudge from my collectors to keep it simple and fun meant that the free mint created the ‘stickiness’ we all look for. It led people to share about it, because they cared about it, because they were actually involved in it.

The final piece, then, was the platform, Sound.xyz. At the time there was a tried and tested approach to drops but this had started to expand and develop. I approached them about the idea and explained that the drop could only work for me if there could be as many editions as possible. My thinking behind this was that the whole thing would be a failure in my mind if someone submitted a photo and then could not collect. The concept of the drop mattered. I didn’t just ask to extend the way that Sound.xyz usually work, but I asked them to help make the story come together. The team gave me the flexibility to do what I needed to do and we could move forward.

We ended up with a free mint, open for 72 hours with 500 editions. At this point I thought this would be more than enough. The culture around Sound as a platform played its part in many ways. Specifically, one thing I noticed was that a lot of musicians around me who had never collected on the platform before showed interest. As such, it became part of the narrative for me to get as many new people a Sound NFT as possible. it was genuine for me that I wanted people to experience collecting in a space that is often expensive to get into or to simply collect the high profile the drops in time. This subsequently became part of the virality of the free mint. It was like we all banded together to give the people around us a taste of what we were doing and a way to participate in the collector culture around Sound.

Since my first ever mint I have thought a lot about how we reach out beyond our circles and communities to reach new collectors and listeners. I had hoped that this idea would expand my world and introduce my music to new people. but I never expected it to go as fast and big as it did. I had hopes that the combination of all the elements would connect with people but I would have been very happy with 100 collects.

The Drop

The co-ordination of the drop started with me building a custom webpage for the photo submissions and pre-save activation. This went live 2 weeks after the initial mint of the main version and 2 weeks before it went to DSPs with the collaborative NFT being minted on its day of release. Scott and I set about creating an acoustic version of the song because I wanted to make sure it would be a music NFT that people would treasure on its own. Meanwhile, we also worked on the submission page. Looking back, it’s amazing how much work needed to be done, even the language used on the submission page took several back and forths to get right as we thought our main audience would not be web3 natives. By the time we reached the drop date we had 84 photo submissions, and I set about creating the artwork which would be a montage built from all the photos.

How we talk about our ideas is key and while writing this I’m reminded how grateful I am for my community for helping me find the way to put such a tangled web of ideas into succinct and easy to understand words. One of the most useful of these was CXY’s description of the NFT of a “giant group selfie with everyone around your music in it”.

Due to the nature of the idea I had to collate all the picture submissions, create the artwork and mint on the same day... so it was a pretty hectic mint process which I finished under an hour before the actual drop!

I minted the NFT late at night, shared it with everyone I knew and went to bed. Being a new father of a very young baby I was up many times that night, and as I checked my phone I could see the numbers going up and up and up… it was an amazing thing to be able to be there as it spread, and by 9.30 am my time it had sold out. 500 editions collected by 493 unique wallets in less than 12 hours.

As an artist you have these small windows of being able to enjoy the moment. I wasn’t even sure how to react in that moment other than be grateful. Due to the amount of hours put into the build-up, I took the weekend out to catch my breath and just enjoy the fact it had worked! The hardest part of a success like this is how to build on it. We have a set of go to tools such as gated chats, discord channels, etc. that offer us a way to connect in a deeper way but how to engage the collectors of the free mint?

The week after the mint I had more people reach out to me than ever before and the enormity of the drop started to sink in. It was not normal for this to happen in music NFTs at that time, although it will become more and more so in the coming months. The first person to reach out to me was Lackhoney and I have to give a shout out here:

We jumped on a call first thing in the morning and he set about to really drill home to me that I needed to capture this moment right now. By the end of the call I couldn’t even concentrate on anything except what song to put out next and when.

By the end of the day I had contacted Bethia, the featured artist of the song I had chosen. I tried to explain what I was up to, and luckily for me she was keen to go ahead with the drop. This was the first time I dropped a song at short notice and not had a story to build on. However, continuing the free mint and experimenting with how to engage all these new collectors became the ‘why’. We often know very little about our collectors, something I have chatted to Adam Levy about many times as he developed Bello. Moreover, we often touched on how we, as artists, could develop a clearer picture of who collect our work. I developed a couple of ideas around how to re-engage these collectors and give something back to everyone in my community. Again, after a few back and forth conversations with my squad we settled on 2 key considerations for the next drop: activating the secondary market of the free mint; and, seeing who I can bring back in to collect again.

The new song ‘Vulnerable ft Bethia’ felt like the perfect next step as it covered similar concepts within the lyrics and was also was another strong record to capture people’s attention. I settled on a range drop of 10-100 priced at 0,03E with a pre-mint option to re-engage collectors with the first 50 available for 0.01E to those who had collected the free mint.

I scheduled the drop for exactly a week from the time the free mint went live, which felt like the perfect way to continue this story.

The pre-mint sold out in a few hours and we were really lucky to see 72 editions collected in total before the drop closed out. On paper it did exactly what I had hope it would. The next step will be to see how many more people are going to be around for the ride!

This Friday is the final drop in this run, which is the collaborative remix drop with 4 producers around me who have all built their own communities outside of the mainstream music NFT circles - something I have so much respect for. I see all the collaborations happening around me in the electronic music scene between my favourite producers and wondered why we don’t do more of the same in Web3. How do we bring musicians and their communities to form a scene where we can lift each other up and grow as a collective? What is the drop version of the club night line-up of Web3. In a way this whole experiment is a MVP test of that. Admittedly, I would love to explore this on a bigger scale but for now this idea and the people around feel like a perfect fit.

https://soundoffractures.xyz/

THIS POST IS FREE TO COLLECT!

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