by Mylo Hebron (Decent Core Contributor)
Decent is an NFT market place and decentralized record label that democratizes participation in the music industry. Through Decent, fans are able to buy into their favorite artists’ future streaming royalties by purchasing royalty-collateralized NFTs. Simply put, artistes get an upfront recording fund from fans when they buy NFTs which in turn pay back a fraction of the artist’s streaming royalties over a set term. These royalties are accessible after the set term elapses. Payouts are executed by open-source smart contracts making the process transparent and trustworthy. This incentives fan participation in marketing and interaction with the artiste, accelerating their growth. It’s a win win for both fans and artistes.
Let’s point out a practical example and compare it to the Decent model. In 2012, Macklemore and Ryan Lewis released their smash hit, Thrift Shop. According to Forbes, the song went on to generate over $9 million in a year. Before this success, Jimmy Iovine (co-founder of Interscope records) offered the duo a traditional recording contract. This 360 deal would have meant that the label takes a massive cut of the artiste’s master rights as well as a third of their merchandise, sales, and show revenue. After all the math is done, Macklemore and Ryan would have been left with about 7% of the royalties to share (after recoupment). Macklemore and Ryan did not take this route, rather, they opted to distribute their song using a company known as Alternative Distribution Alliance and they were able to capture the value they deserved.
For many artistes, the label route has become an impractical and in some cases parasitic relationship in the modern age. As labels have lost their market share on distribution, marketing, and even consumption, they’re simply not as effective or necessary as they used to be. Enter Decent. Decent is reinventing funding and marketing in the music industry with this new landscape in mind. By making terms, royalty splits, and capital allocation flexible, customizable, and transparent, Decent is providing a solution that has been a long time coming in the industry. Furthermore, the Decent route incentivizes organic marketing as well as allows for the sharing of financial and sentimental success with the people who matter most: the fans.
Now, one may ask, what does the future hold for traditional labels with the advent of Decent? Well, the results may vary from some labels being wiped out to other labels offering independent label services such as distribution and marketing services to artistes. However, one thing is certain, there will now be a more equitable playing field for all artistes.
