What does it take to be successful in Web3 music? (Without Spotify)
+ biggest music nft drops this week
gm music fans,
Every week we bring you a deep dive into one of the leading artists in Web3. This week, Violetta Zironi who is maybe the only musician that has successfully “opted out” of Spotify and Web2 to make a living with her NFT community.
We’ll also bring you the biggest music NFT drops this week. Let’s get into it!
Discover some of the best music in Web3 through our Spinamp playlists, where we curate songs from various NFT platforms into one place.
Ziggy Ziggy Daily - Our favourite music in Web3 updated every day.
Ziggy Ziggy Breakouts - Artists at the cutting edge with potential to break into something bigger.
Ziggy Ziggy Beats - Our favourite underground dance and electronic music.
Violetta Zironi is the Web3 music success story we should all be talking about.
The singer-songwriter is one of the few artists that has proved you can find success through NFTs… without Spotify, TikTok or any music industry backing.
A true, organic Web3 success.
She no longer releases music on streaming services.
Her NFT collections have generated more than 400 ETH on OpenSea alone.
And she’s still fully independent with no team.
This is the 1,000 true fan theory truly playing out in front of us.
But that doesn’t mean it’s easy…
Here’s her story.
Building community around music
At 18 years old, Zironi found early success in music, signing with a major record label and appearing on Italy’s version of the X-Factor. Like many artists though, she craved something deeper and turned back to independence before her live career was upturned by Covid in 2020.
Zironi discovered Web3 and dropped her first project in April 2022, ‘Moonshot’ — a collection of 2,500 NFTs built around a 5-track album and unique artwork from her father, a Disney animator. The collection slowly sold out over a few weeks, but has now become one of the biggest music NFT projects on OpenSea, generated over 300 ETH in secondary volume.
Moonshot is more than just a tokenized album, it’s an access pass into Zironi’s community, offering lifetime free tickets to her concerts, free merchandise and free mints. This year she followed it up with a second collection of 5,200 NFTs called Another Life, generating a further 100 ETH volume.
What does it take to be successful in Web3?
On the day Another Life dropped in February, Violetta Zironi spent a marathon 14 hours on Twitter Spaces, playing music, engaging with her community and educating people on NFTs. This tells you everything you need to know about building success in Web3.
She estimates that she’s spent 3,000 hours on Twitter Spaces since launching her first collection, hosting her own daily shows and dropping into other large communities to share her story and play live music. On top of that, she’s fully independent and manages everything from design to music to marketing and promotion.
Her job is not just writing music, it’s promoting her projects and building community on a daily basis — not dissimilar to going out on tour after an album.
The biggest myth in Web3 is that artists can show up, mint an NFT and make big money. That might have been true in the few red-hot months of the bull market. But the reality on the ground is completely different. Violetta is proof that success in Web3 is possible, but any artist at the top of their game is putting in the work!
Biggest music drops of the week
Sound.xyz
Campfire - Miami Freestyle. Campfire is a collective of musicians that host regular songwriting camps. Today they’re dropping their genesis on Sound — a collaborative track that emerged from a songwriting camp at Art Basel — featuring Aly, Tarot, Elle Symone, Early, and TK.
Elcee the Alchemist - TOUCHDOWN. No-one in Web3 sounds like Elcee the Alchemist right now. Fresh UK sound, 11/10 lyrics and delivery. He came out of nowhere earlier this year with a huge genesis track. Now he’s back with a new release on LNRZ.
Every week we bring you the best music from Lens Protocol — the Web3 social layer where a thriving music community is growing.
Nena - Venus - Incredible Latin vibes on this live video from Nena on Lenstube. The session was shot in the South of France and collectible on Lens. We’ve been very bullish on bringing more music video content onchain and really excited to see this one.
Catalog
Catalog is the home of exclusive 1/1s - like browsing through a record store.
This week, cinematic AI project Rohki dropped its first ever track on Catalog. After selling out several videos on Glass and the first season of music on Sound, Rohki is bringing a slow-build, soundscape instrumental to Catalog.
Thanks for reading!
We believe a new generation of independent music will be born out of Web3 culture. Discover the best music here first. Follow us on Twitter where we share the best music every day.
Ziggy Ziggy Music Season 2 is supported by Spinamp and Lens Protocol.
Disclaimers: We may own NFTs mentioned in this article, have previous or current contracts with companies mentioned and may earn referral income from links to music NFTs. This newsletter is purely informational and should not be considered financial advice. Nothing in this content should be considered a recommendation to buy a particular NFT, only an expression of our opinion.