ZORATOPIA, Culture House, Instagram NFTs ⚡️

I try not to mull over regrets in my life, but missing SXSW this past week is still one I honestly can’t get over 😭. For those who aren’t familiar, “South by Southwest® dedicates itself to helping creative people achieve their goals. Founded in 1987 in Austin, Texas, SXSW® is best known for its conference and festivals that celebrate the convergence of tech, film, music, education, and culture.”

My friends who went RAVED about it and, after living vicariously through them on social media, I can tell it was everything and more! From watching some of my favorite Web3 entrepreneurs doing line dances at Culture House, to hearing about some fire performances from NFT musical artists at ZORATOPIA, to Zuckerburg sharing the latest plans for Meta—a lot happened. In this post, I want to dive deeper on:

• 3 key highlights from SXSW

• why they matter for the culture

• what it might tell us about where the future is headed

Getting 💰 at ZORATOPIA

Aside from ZORATOPIA being put on by a Black women who is leading the way in Web3 (@callmelatasha on twitter!) and highlighting some dope artists, it’s also ushering in a completely new way for artists to be compensated fairly for the work they create. I specifically want to highlight the artist below who performed a set at ZORATOPIA: TK the Legend. Before performing at ZORATOPIA, he minted his song to the blockchain and created an NFT for his music. Then he had the genius idea to put the link to his NFT in a bar code and display it on the screen behind him while performing. From that one song, he got a bid for 1 ETH = $2,600, which is equivalent to 1 million Spotify streams!

This has HUGE implications for artists everywhere. It proves that there’s a market for people who want to collect art and those who want to create it. It proves that Spotify and Apple Music might be in for a rude awakening if they don’t adopt their own Web3 strategy. And finally, it proves that the creators of the culture can finally reap the financial benefits of their art. I know we’ve already covered this topic, but seeing ZORATOPIA in action brought this to life for me. I can’t wait to begin seeing these type of opportunities become more mainstream. Shoot, I might even record a little song and put it on the blockchain to make some extra coins myself! LOL jk..kinda 🙃

Catching the Vibes at Culture House

Culture House looked like a huge family reunion of some of the most dope people in tech, entertainment, and the arts—all taking place at a beautiful mansion in Austin.

Hosted by Rodney Williams and Marlon Nichols, the sessions focused on inclusion, the democratization of alternative assets, and media ownership. If you were unable to attend the sessions live, you could stream them via the 7th Ave app. 7th Ave is a community platform bridging the gap between Web2 and Web3 for the culture. Not only should you check them out, but you should also consider how this type of in-person and virtual interactions may exist in the future. My personal opinions on how this will play out:

• With Web3, we’ll certainly start to see an increase in token-gated events and communities. For example, in order to enter the Culture House (either virtually or IRL!), you might have to purchase a certain NFT that grants you special access to events, gets you free food and drink tickets, and/or access to meet the panelists and speakers—just to name a few ideas.

• In-person experiences will be supported by a virtual experience happening simultaneously in the metaverse. With companies like Meta building infrastructure to create a true metaverse, I can see this happening within the next 3-5 years or so at SXSW, especially for spaces like Culture House!

• While it may seem intuitive that having a virtual option will make attending events like SXSW and Culture House more accessible, I think we’ll see a divide between organizations that are trying to ensure more access and organizations that are looking to create exclusive experiences for their NFT holders. Personally, I could see a world in which there are a limited number of NFTs that allow you access to the metaverse event and with increased demand to attend, the value of your NFT increases and the exclusivity of being at said event creates a certain allure.

NFTs are coming to Instagram

At a conference like SXSW that sits at the intersection of technology, art, and entertainment, it’s no surprise that Mark Zuckerberg was a featured panelist to discuss the future of Meta. Below are a couple of key highlights from his talk:

• "Metaverse isn't a thing a company builds. It's the next chapter of the internet overall…Our goal is to help build the fundamental tech to bring the metaverse to life." - Zuckerberg

• He predicted the ability for people to express themselves in different ways is going to be an economic driver in the metaverse, including items such as customized clothing for avatars. His hope is the metaverse will support millions of jobs and people doing all sorts of creative work. 

• Being able to transfer items people purchase in the metaverse between games and worlds will be key — which is where Web3 and decentralization come in. NFTs (non-fungible tokens) could be a way for companies to do this, where the clothing an avatar is wearing could be minted as an NFT, for example. In the near term, he said, Meta is interested in bringing NFTs to its existing products.

I think it’s a great move for Meta to follow suit after Twitter and bring NFTs to Instagram. I only have one (major-ish) concern…

What happens when centralized companies try to play in the decentralized world of Web3? Can it be successfully done? How will the Web2 companies, such as Meta and Twitter, adapt while still supporting the movement?

Here’s my current take: Community is at the core of Web3. While the biggest argument against Web2 giants is that they are highly centralized and exploit user data, the one thing they have done well is establish strong and engaged user bases. If Web2 companies can successfully pivot their business model to better align with the decentralized nature of the Web3, they’ll thrive because they already have the community aspect on lock. A Web2 giant will fail if they don’t take the time now to invest in infrastructure that gives their users the ability to own & monetize their contributions. Companies will be judged based on how successful creators, of any type, are on their platform.

No matter what happens, I’m paying close attention because it’s an exciting time to be immersed in the space. We’re literally watching history be built right before our eyes.

This week’s recommended action: Check out Sound.xyz, a Web3 company!

In the spirit of creativity and getting paid your worth, I wanted to highlight a company I’d invest in today if given the opportunity: Sound. They’re building Web3 tools for artists. Some names you may recognize, such as Snoop Dogg, Soulection and Sango, all use the platform. If you’re a musical artist or have a friend/uncle/cousin/bestie who is, send them this post right now! There is money to be made, and this platform makes it happen for the up-and-coming artists, as well as the big dogs. 🔥

Thanks for reading! :)

Kendall