Maelstrom’s new blockchain DJ mix aims to make royalty payments fairer

French DJ and producer Maelstrom is releasing a new mix featuring music from artists like Boys Noize, Surgeon and Space Dimension Controller. The new mix is being hosted on NFT music platform Sound.xyz and there are 150 NFTs of the mix available, all priced at 0.1ETH – around £230 at the time of writing. Percentage splits mean that each artist will receive 5.71% of the final amount, Maelstrom will receive 15% and crypto community Friends with Benefits will receive 5% for assisting the project. All the splits happen automatically on the blockchain – Maelstrom is hoping the experiment could prove to be a new model for producers to be fairly compensated for their work. 

“I’m always happy when DJs play my music,” Maelstrom said in a press release around the new mix. “But it’s also a strange feeling to see someone getting paid a five-figures fee when none of the producers who made the music they play get compensated for their work. Of course, curation is important. DJing is a creative practice and requires skills and talent, but it also needs music, and ninety-nine percent of the time the DJ gets most of the light while the producers don’t even get mentioned – and almost never get paid.” If all 150 NFTs are sold, each artist would receive roughly £2,000 for providing a track for the mix. 

While the mix is being sold as 1/150 NFTs, it’ll also be available to all to listen to via Sound.xyz. 

Maelstrom concluded: “I hope this can be replicated, and that it can help rethink the relationship between DJs and producers as an interdependent one, instead of a transactional one. Community is key to the survival of healthy and creative scenes, local and global.” 

It’s unlikely, given the high cost of each NFT, that this is the solution to revenue disparities between DJs and producers. But as Web3 continues to garner more interest and debate, it’ll be interesting to see how the mix and sale is received when it goes live on Sound.xyz. 

Find out more about Maelstrom’s Ensemble Mix here. The sale and listening party go live today, Thursday, March 24th at 9pm UK time.

If you’re new to Web3 and NFTs read our article ‘What are NFTs and why should electronic music care?’ here.