Music NFTs and Video Games are a Perfect Match

Music and gaming have gone together from the very start.

I don't know exactly how many people have heard the Mario Bros theme song, but it must be hundreds of millions by now. Do do doooo do do doo, doot. You know it, I know it, we all know it.

_{Source: Wikipedia}

Did Koji Kondi know how important this composition would be when he wrote it? Or was it just another day on the job?

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater took it to a new level by using music from the real world. Bringing in punk and ska bands for the Tony Hawk series made it feel wild and fresh at the time, not just a normal video game.

Basically every skater, band, or just brand that was in any way promoted by the Tony Hawk series benefited from it. So much attention got put on games like this, and it influenced the youth who would go on to make their own games and art.

Easy to Integrate This into Web3

It's not hard to imagine how this would work with NFTs.

Imagine that Splinterlands had an optional soundtrack in the menu. The soundtrack would automatically show you all of the songs that you own an NFT for.

You might own hundreds of songs from different artists on Hive. You'd pick your favorite tracks that feel like the right fit for your Splinterlands grind, then that would be your soundtrack. You might even be able to buy new songs right in the game and add them to your soundtrack without leaving the site.

Your songs would go with you to any game on the blockchain. Interoperability between chains might also be possible, like Splinterlands cards with the Wax blockchain.

Splinterlands cards and assets have over 6 million USD in total volume traded on Wax. They have pioneered the beginnings of a multi-chain gaming model.

What if games were interoperable with other Wax and Hive games on a soundtrack level? This would create tremendous value for the musicians who could directly sell their songs to consumers with this in-game integration value baked in.

If a popular musician issues a song on a blockchain, it could increase the value of the entire gaming ecosystem on that blockchain. Imagine an hour long instrumental album by a popular producer, designed specifically for your grind.

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Repetitive Grinds

I don't think what I am describing here makes sense for shorter game experiences. If a game is meant to be played for only 10, 20, even 50-100 hours, maybe it is better for the in-game experience to be curated with the game's own soundtrack that is chosen for the player.

After all when I play a single-player game, I am not looking for maximum customization in most cases -- I am usually looking for a curated experience. Cuphead doesn't need a customizable soundtrack.

But when we're talking about the grind, games that consume hundreds or even thousands of hours of somewhat repetitive grinding... that's where the NFT soundtrack integrations make perfect sense. Most people do not want to listen to the same video game soundtrack on a loop for thousands of hours, so they're going to put on some other audio anyway. Why not NFT songs as an in-game option?

People can still just listen on Spotify if they prefer, but the in-game integration will reduce friction and create a more seamless experience for players who choose to use it.

NFT Music Needs New Ideas

We are at the beginning of a wave that wants to form behind NFT music. However, the proper use cases for music NFTs don't exist yet.

There needs to be more interesting integrations and ways to display/consume music that is issued as an NFT. What's the value? How can music be flexed, consumed, and generally enjoyed by the owner of the NFT?

It will not look the same as web2 music distribution models and it will not look the same as web3 visual art models. We need to build web3-native opportunities to use music NFTs, for fun and for the flex.