This platform is a decentralised alternative to music funding
This platform is a decentralised alternative to music funding
List3n is a refreshing perspective to traditional artist grants.
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Let’s dive into today’s topic:
This platform is a decentralised alternative to music funding
List3n is a new community that uses NFTs to build a decentralised and tokenised funding body.
Why it matters
Emerging acts have access to many government-funded artist grants - at least, here in the EU/NL. However:
Artists must know these grants exist (i.e. have a network or education in art)
Artists must understand how these grants work (i.e. have the skills to write an application)
The requirements and the awarding of grants can be biased (e.g. genre, career status)
A funding body with the financial structure of a cooperative is a refreshing perspective to traditional artist grants.
How it works
List3n is a decentralised autonomous organisation (DAO) - a member-owned community without centralised leadership, where all financial transaction records are maintained on a blockchain - in this case Ethereum.
List3n members are those who hold a List3n Member Pass NFT. There are 444 passes. So for now, 444 members at most. Each pass costs 0.08ETH to mint.
One of List3n’s main goals is to financially support emerging artists worldwide by issuing monthly grants:
Applying for the monthly grant is simple. Artists are asked to upload a song and explain what they plan to do with the funds. The challenge is to write this in just 250 characters, which motivates artists to evaluate their unique selling points.
All DAO members vote on who wins. The music submission with the most votes wins the grant. If you want to vote, just mint or buy a List3n Member Pass.
At the end of each month, a winning artist will be awarded 1ETH. They are encouraged to use part of the funding for web3-related activities, but this is not required.
All 444 List3n members will be airdropped a “winning artist token” to their ETH wallet.
Yes, but..
Currently, LIST3N has sold 183 member passes. That means that there is enough money for about five months. After that, the project can run out of funds.
Like many web3 projects, List3n has a Western / North American / English language bias.
Besides the “winning artist token” for DAO members, List3n is a grant without strings attached. It could happen that winning artists show no further interest in embedding web3 into their strategy and use the budget for, let’s say, useless Facebook advertising. That would be a pity for such a great initiative.
Take action now
Apply for the grant: Applications for the first month will close today (April 18, 2023) at 19:00 CEST. At least 336 artists have applied for this month’s grant. Artist applications for next month will probably start soon.
Become a member: Mint or buy a Member Pass and join the Discord.
Further reading
List3n about page (List3n)
Friends with Benefits proposal: FWV x LIST3N (Snapshot)
Said the Whale's Tyler Bancroft Launches Blockchain-Based Music Cooperative (Exclaim)
Disclosure
I hold a List3n Member Pass.