Being a creator is hard, but creating in the music industry gives you an extra level of difficulty. Most musicians receive a small share from streaming services for their music and that’s all.
However, RAC, a musician who loves to experiment with new technology, was able to remain independent by creating his supercommunity with a single song in a very short time. Do you want to know how? Keep reading.
Who is RAC?
RAC is a musician who makes remixes of many songs. In recent years, he’s been known for looking for ways to monetize his music under his own terms after having a disagreement with his record label.
In several occasions, he’s talked about how, when he released his album “Strangers” with a record label, they gave him $350,000 upfront, which he had to use to pay for all the expenses of recording and releasing the album: marketing, recording studio, music videos… etc. But this wasn’t free money, he ended up in debt with the record label.
All the money he earned from royalties on the album (12%) went directly towards paying off that debt. And only once it was paid off would he start receiving that 12% that belonged to him.
However, after a lot of trial and error, RAC found a way to use digital collectibles to monetize his music and build his supercommunity. Actually, he was able to raise $31,000 from one song in a few hours, the equivalent of 9 million streams on streaming services.
How RAC created his supercommunity and remained independent
RAC launched a series of digital collectibles of one of his songs, called “Sinners”, at $310 each copy. Many of his fans bought the 100 copies available, selling out superfast. The musician made $31,000 just from this first sale, which is more than enough to support your music for almost a year.
But what did the fans receive for buying this collectible?
Thanks to the collectible of the song, RAC’s fans became part of his supercommunity.
They were given access to a Discord server with RAC, where fans can speak with him, they have received other free collectibles from the artist, a gift of 50 $RAC (the artist’s own coin) worth $150 at the time, and also the benefit of investing in the creator, as the digital collectibles appreciated in value and could be resold.
In addition to this, RAC can easily identify his 1% fans. In other words, he built his supercommunity, Now, he can interact with them without the noise of social media, and continue rewarding them any way he wants to. He can give them VIP access to his concerts, composition tips, and anything else he thinks of, as long as the fans keep holding the collectibles.
Digital collectibles are a key that allow creators to build an ever-lasting connection with their fans. It doesn’t matter if all of social media disappears, because as long as fans keep the collectibles, they can keep in touch in any platform compatible with them and maintain the connection.
Finally, RAC made over $7,800 extra from the resale of his digital collectibles, on top of the $31,000 from the first sale. This is because, as a creator, you can enforce a fee every time a fan sells the digital collectibles you created. And, most importantly, you get paid instantly, unlike any streaming platform there is.
Conclusion
Digital collectibles are a great tool for musicians who want to remain independent and build a stronger connection with their fans like RAC. It can give you an alternative and instant source of funding, as well as a way to create your supercommunity and identify your 1% fans.
What do you think? Do you want to know more about building your supercommunity? Give as a holla on our Discord.
