Onchain music has come a long way over the last decade.
There have been many different iterations - all aimed at finding the best way(s) to monetize creative work in a new world.
At Coop Records our mission is to bring great music onchain.
We want fans to prove they were early to their favorite songs and get rewarded for doing so.
That’s why we’re going back to our roots with the Coop Protocol - a fixed collection of editions at an affordable cost.
Onchain music will only scale if it reaches real music fans, and we believe this format is a step (back) in the right direction.
All mints are priced at 0.004 ETH (or ~$1) with varying collection sizes based on track popularity.
Curators earn a reward every time someone collects after them in the feed, and every track earns loyalty in the label.
Here’s what you need to know.
How it Works
All songs are priced at 0.0004 ETH - or roughly $1.
Artists and collaborators earn 75%, with the protocol retaining the other 25%
Collection sizes will vary depending on track popularity and we’ll closely monitor supplies to find the right dynamic.
Each mint unlocks a downloadable file of the track and 50 COOP points.
In the future - the goal is for COOP holders to vote on which songs get released, and the supply of each collection.
Collect is the New Repost
When someone collects a song, it is reposted to the home feed.
When someone collects via a repost, the curator earns half of the protocol fee.
This means after 8 mints, the curator makes their initial cost back.
We took a lot of inspiration from products like Rodeo and Zora which have really pioneered this model.
Key Learnings
Coop Records wants to be a place where artists get paid more per interaction than anywhere else on the internet.
Collectibles are the most straightforward way to get artists paid, and we’re doubling down on making sure artists are first class citizens on Coop Records.
We’re big believers in tokens and have been experimenting with our own iterations through cooprecs.fun - a product we will continue to blend into the life cycle of an onchain song with time.
However - we need to build something that real fans can understand.
Music fans are very easily intimated by crypto. We want to offer a product that resonates with fans, and we believe the idea of collecting a fixed number of editions at a low price to unlock a download is the most effective way to start the conversation about what they’d want to see to start using a product like Coop Records.
Artists and fans have made it clear that downloads are core to the collecting experience. Whether it's for DJs or driving in the car, we’ve learned the fans mainly want to collect to unlock a download beyond anything else.
Soundcloud reposts were the biggest driver of viral growth during the golden era of electronic music in 2014 - and we believe that collects are the new reposts. We plan to lean very heavily into curation as a means of discovering new music and earning residual income along the way.
Music is highly social - and that we need a deeper social graph to see what your friends are collecting for the flywheel to make sense. Be on the lookout for more on this front in the months to come.
Speculation is a superpower - but only in moderation.
We want fans to prove they were early to their favorite songs, but not everything needs to be a casino.
That’s why we’re taking our time on deciding how to marry the experience between our collectibles and token products to find the best way of allowing one to seamlessly flow into the other when there’s enough proven demand.
What's tricky is if you tend too far in either direction you lose the audience.
Making money should not be the primary…
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We also want to give a huge shoutout to Sound which has been the foundation for our catalog and allowed us to get our business off the ground.
We still plan to distribute our music to Sound, Rodeo, Audius and key partners like Soneium as we build on what it means to be a crypto record label.
What’s New?
Every song will have a clearly defined threshold to sell out.
It’s important that artists don’t feel pressure to immediately sell out for a drop to be a “success.”
Music takes time to mature and we want these collections to be long-term achievable targets rather than something that’s intended to sell out in the first 24 hours.
As always - every mint will earn COOP points, with the base amount earned per mint changing to 50 COOP to reflect the reduced mint price.
The new protocol also gives us the means to expand to other chains - and we plan on bringing our catalog and collectibles to more ecosystems in the coming months.
Music Worth Collecting
We’re debuting the Coop Protocol with Laszewo's viral single "Messy" and have a ton of heavy hitter releases lined up in the coming weeks.
Our goal is to find the right balance between nostalgic records that have had years of memories alongside new up and coming tracks for crate diggers.
Moving forward - we’re going to be even more curated in our releases, ensuring everything that comes out on Coop Records for the time being are songs that have a high likelihood of fans wanting to participate.
Get Involved
There’s a lot to unpack here - so be sure to stay close.
We’re entering our next chapter and simply could not do it without everyone reading this post.
To stay involved, join the Coop Records Discord or tap in directly on cooprecords.xyz
Here’s to another step forward for onchain music!
