Our Lady Peace lead singer Maida: NFTs make me independent
NFT will mark debut of S!NG platform in the NFT marketplace
When you ask Raine Maida, lead singer of Canadian rock band Our Lady Peace, the price of its new non-fungible-tokens (NFTs), his answer is: “How much would you pay?”
He owns “a bunch” of NFTs, mostly Rolling Stones-themed ones, and would like to buy Radiohead NFTs if they launch any.
On 19 November the award-winning Canadian band, which has sold several million albums worldwide, will launch its first ever NFT, marking the debut of the platform S!NG on the NFT marketplace.
The launch will precede the launch of the band’s new album Spiritual Machines 2 and Maida said it would “show the superpower of NFTs in the music industry”.
Symbolic launch
The first NFT on the S!NG platform – the first ever for the band – is emblematic both of the rise of NFTs and of the music industry crisis.
“Our first NFT is gonna be given for free,” Maida told Currency.com in an exclusive interview. Fans needn’t worry, however – there are 499 more NFTs coming in the following days.
“Basically, the aim is giving the first NFT to the community for free and letting the fans themselves choose a reasonable price for the upcoming ones.
“We want to reason with them on the price, we want them to tell us how much our works could be worth. That’s fair value to me.”
As for the content: “It could be whatever, an original demo for example. The wonder of NFTs is that we can engage with our fans for the first time and realise what they really like.”
The NFT superpower
According to Maida, NFTs are reshaping the music industry and building a closer relationship with fans.
“For the first time, I feel an independent artist,” he said. The Our Lady Peace vocalist says NFTs are giving artists freedom.
“They (NFTs) cut out the middle man. We don’t have to wait weeks to upload content on apps like Spotify – we can do our music and drop it straight away on a platform receiving royalties on the drop and the NFT resale as well.
“Our work is fairly valued and above all, we have power over our production. We are free to upgrade content any time we want."
He added: “With NFTs artists don’t need to worry about streaming or publishers. Fans and the community are the only ones who matter.”
“Maybe not everyone will appreciate NFTs now, as we are at an early stage, but I’m sure we are headed in the right direction in being among the first pioneering music NFTs.”
S!NG platform
The S!NG platform was born after revisiting an old project on which company founders were working.
“The idea originated some years ago, but is only now finding an application. We operate on the Ethereum blockchain, but with no gas fees and no other costs,” said Geoff Osler, CEO of S!NG.
“As all the minting process is in-house, we cut energy consumption to the minimum. We are going to improve once the Ethereum upgrade is completed.”
Alongside Our Lady Peace, the company is working with music stars such as Wes Borland from Limp Bizkit and rapper Aloe Blacc, but they are also working with young talent.
“We are receiving a lot of requests from young musicians. Hopefully our platform could help a lot of them emerge,” he added.
