Will NFTs and Blockchain reach the Hispanic audience or divide the market into the have and have nots?

From John Legend to Thalia. From Tom Brady to Paris Hilton. From the Coachella Valley Festival to the Superbowl. The list of artists, celebrities, brands, festivals, and events riding the NFT wave is getting longer by the day. 

The artist or brand, its popularity and reputation are some of the essential assets to which these instruments are anchored, which can be used, among other things, for new releases, rewarding fans, or having a brand presence in the metaverse.

Emerging artists and companies are seeing NFTs as new revenue streams and Blockchain as new financing opportunities. Twitter now allows verified NFTs for profile pictures, making it more real.

The question is whether the new NFT and Blockchain possibilities will reach the Hispanic and Latin American audience or will they divide it between the haves and have nots. Given the lower average income and cultural tendencies, Latinos may not be willing to spend on any of the new trends for some time.

Like any paradigm shift, we are facing a time of transitions where, while many are fully committed to the new era, others are cautious in their steps. 

HOW NFTS WORK

NFTs - Non fungible tokens - an asset that only exists in the virtual world and has a unique digital certificate registered in the blockchain and that is used to record the ownership of that asset as if it were a work of art or an object. of collection.

This opened the door to new opportunities in many ways, even to undiscovered places.

FROM MUSIC FANS TO ANGEL INVESTORS AND SONG OWNERS

The typical fan streams music through their favorite DSP (Spotify, YouTube, Apple Music, etc). Big music fans, buy show tickets, merch, maybe LPs. Super fans that want a VIP experience will splurge on meet and greets or other VIP show packages.
Soon we’ll see fans receiving collectible NFTs for tours, at different levels of VIP access, and even connected to a fan club or other type of ‘real world’ access. 

Another notable path where there are opportunities for the Hispanic market are platforms using blockchain such as royal.io, which allows artists and fans to be co-owners of songs. Royal.io is backed by over $70M in funding.

Those who want to invest can purchase royalty ownership on songs directly from their favorite artists in the form of tokens. If the song is successful, they can claim royalties for the music they own after they've been accrued.

WARNER MUSIC LANDS INTO THE METAVERSE ALONG WITH THE SANDBOX

Since 2020 and in the face of the crisis caused by covid-19, with the cancellation of shows and the subsequent collapse of global consumption, the music and entertainment industry in general found in NFTs a vital ally for new businesses.

Warner Music Group recently partnered with The Sandbox, a play-to-earn blockchain game that allows participants to build a virtual world using NFTs.

In this case, the leading artists of WMG will have, within the metaverse developed by the Korean company, a virtual world called “WMG LAND”, where they could offer concerts and events within immersive experiences. In addition to brand presence in the metaverse, fans will be able to interact, browse and engage with their favorite bands and artists.

Developed countries will lead in the expansion and experimentation of the metaverse, it’s too early to know if Latin America and other countries will follow. 

A DISRUPTIVE MARKET ON THE RISE

According to DappRada sales in NFTs, across all sectors, reached some $25 billion in 2021, as this speculative crypto asset exploded in popularity. In the same report, he assures that there were "signs of a slowdown in growth" towards the end of the year.

Keeping the market in a stable situation and not bursting like any other speculative bubble, of which we already know examples in recent history, is one of the main challenges of the ecosystem.

Trust is also paramount. Fraud or cybersecurity attacks can destroy or delay the nascent industry. As an encrypted and decentralized technology, blockchain is becoming more reliable. Despite some well publicized hacks, we’ve also seen how hard keeping the stolen goods (oh well, at least Heather Morgan finally became viral) is when traceability is part of the blockchain by design.