Dialogue with Chen Huanren: I want to use NFT to find a new way for musicians

Interviewer: CryptoC Tang Han

editor's note

editor's note: In April, Singaporean Chinese singer-songwriter Chen Huanren auctioned his new original work "Nobody gets me" on Opensea. This is the first time for a Chinese singer to sell his music works in the form of NFT. Before the launch of this NFT, he publicly stated: "I believe that in addition to filling our stomachs, our souls also need food. Music is the most direct food for the soul. My career began to be eliminated in CD; MP3 failed to be popular as expected ;In the era when free platforms devalued the value of music, musicians of the same generation and I had a hard time living. The next generation of musicians will definitely work harder than us. NFT may bring the dawn of the next generation of Chinese musicians, but it has not yet It was confirmed. Therefore, I decided to be a guinea pig to test whether NFT is feasible and whether it can stand firm in the Chinese music market.”

Chen Huanren has written lyrics, composed music, arranged music or supervised the works of many Hong Kong singers such as Coco Lee, Sammi Cheng, Eason Chan, Joey Yung, etc. On April 12, CryptoC had a conversation with Mr. Chen Huanren about NFT.

CryptoC: Where did you first know about NFT? And since when did you have the idea to issue your own NFT assets?

Chen Huanren: The first time I knew about NFT was in the clubhouse chat room. I played on Clubhouse for two weeks, and suddenly I heard everyone talking about NFT in a room. The fan mentality of a certain singer's NFT kept me for several hours.

If you want to do NFT, you need to know NFT for one to one and a half weeks. At that time, I thought that NFT might be a way out for the next generation of musicians, so I wanted to study it. After researching, I shared this information with new and current musicians, and none of them seemed interested. At that time, I came up with an idea: If I really want them to try this thing, I first need to treat myself as a guinea pig and do experiments to prove whether the NFT road is feasible.

CryptoC: Your original single "Nobody Gets Me" was auctioned for 7 Ethereum on Opensea. I went to opensea to try to open this work and found that it was locked. Does this mean that no one else can hear the song except the buyer? This model seems to be very different from selling records to the public, or giving the copyright to NetEase Cloud and QQ Music, and then charging them to the public. It is very private. What do you think of this personal relationship between music creators and collectors?

Chen Huanren: I never thought about this question. I just want to present a music NFT model in the simplest way, so that newcomers and current musicians can refer to and follow this model to sell their first NFT. The best way to learn is by doing, I'm just starting out, other musicians at least know what to do if they come in, and they'll probably find a way to do it better than me.

A lot of interesting things happen when the work is sold. Unexpectedly, the audition length of this song was only 7 seconds, which is not enough audition time. And the title of this NFT happens to be number 7. "Nobody gets me" records my music journey of wandering overseas from before to now, and I use No. 7 to record this sad journey. The number 7 has been with me for so many years. Whether it is the mobile phone number, the house number, or the floor where I live, it is inseparable from 7, just like it is destined.

Therefore, the length of the audition music is 7 seconds, and 7 elements are used in the process of MP4 production. The auction date is 11:27 on Sunday, and the auction end date is also 11:27 on the next Sunday. The asking price is 0.07ETH. I am particularly happy that the buyer can actually buy it with 6.9 ETH, but he chose to end the auction with 7ETH, bringing this project to a very satisfactory result.

CryptoC: The currency circle and the music circle used to be two isolated circles. What is the attitude of people in the music circle towards the currency circle or NFT? Will they feel that the current NFT is just a means of financial hype?

Chen Huanren: Friends in the music circle must think that NFT is just a means of financial hype, but what I see is that NFT is a method that can help musicians narrow the gap between rich and poor in the music industry.

Why do you say that? Because the income of musicians is falling sharply. Generally speaking, there are four main types of income for musicians: the first one is production. 15 to 20 years ago, a famous singer could release 20-30 songs a year, but now he can release a single and laugh. That's a 96% drop. The second is that some musicians will perform performances. Small and medium-sized performance venues have gradually closed before COVID-19. After COVID-19 is over, I really don’t know how many will reopen. Let’s estimate 3- 50% of the drop. The third is to sell peripheral products, which is actually the field of KOL. However, in the KOL field in China, it is not music that sells the most money, but cooking, health, funny, fashion and so on. If you want to be a KOL, making music is not cost-effective, and it may not even be reasonable. The fourth is streaming music, replacing the previous CD and MP3. However, no musician can actually support his family and pay rent with income from streaming music.

I grew up in an environment where CDs and MP3s failed, and free platforms reduced the value of music to almost zero. At that time, it was not easy for me and my peers, but the next generation of musicians must have worked harder than us. I think NFT may be a means to solve this problem. I want to give it a try, use NFT to encourage a new generation of musicians, bring them closer to fans, find their patrons, and then further solve the problem of the gap between rich and poor.

CryptoC: Cross-border experiments require courage. Why did you make up your mind to do such an experiment for musicians in Greater China? What is your own mental journey like?

Chen Huanren: Thank you for the compliment, I don't think I need any courage because I'm very motivated. It should be 3-5 years ago, I started thinking about this problem. At that time, I found that the new generation of musicians became more and more passive and complained more and more, and the current musicians also worked harder and harder. I think there needs to be a way to help with this because I love music. What the Chinese region needs most is a new model to solve the problem of the gap between the rich and the poor.

At the beginning, I just wanted to share this possibility, to open a window for all the new generation of musicians in China, let them try it out, and see if it will help everyone. But I found that I need to be a guinea pig to do experiments to prove some things and make them more courageous. The first step of this experiment is my first NFT, which is a demo that everyone can copy. The second half of the first step is to share this information and results with other musicians, let them know that it is feasible, and let them have the courage to try the first step, because there is nothing special about it. mean. I am very happy that some media want to report, but this is not enough. A lot of sharing is needed to make this message reach their ears.

The second part of this experiment is that I need to prove the sustainability of the NFT model. As for how likely it is to continue, I need to use my actions to prove it. I also hope to try some other models of NFT. If successful, this will explore a new path for other musicians. After the experiment proves, it is necessary to publicize this message, let more musicians hear it, let their fans hear it, and then support them.

CryptoC: For this experiment, what do friends in the music circle think? Are there more musician friends who plan to participate in the ranks of selling music works through NFT?

Chen Huanren: So far there are a few guys, and they all follow, one has already issued NFT, and a few more are preparing. I think this is very good, because not everyone will be bold enough to do this, and some friends who have sent NFT do not seem to understand the operation and nature of NFT. They didn't deliberately promote their NFT, and they were a little unhappy about the result.

I hope to promote this matter more thoroughly, let all music friends do this experiment and have enough publicity. Then I hope that their NFT content can be interesting enough and have stories, so that they can establish a closer relationship with newly joined fan groups and patrons in the encrypted world, so that their model can be more durable.

CryptoC: Next, do you have any deeper thoughts on the combination of music and NFT?

Chen Huanren: Obviously, in the NFT world, paintings and visual works of art receive much more attention than music, and music ranks relatively low. I hope that before big companies, big stars, and big institutions enter this NFT in China, current musicians and newcomers can start first. Build your confidence before the big names come in. Because the NFT thing will definitely fluctuate, and the bubble may explode. It is a good thing to build confidence before the explosion, so that this model can continue to operate. They can build 20-50 sponsorship groups or fan groups in the NFT field. Then develop the music road in this area.

Sometimes I also feel a little silly. However, I think if NFT can be used in the music industry to narrow the gap between the rich and the poor by 2%-3%, that would be considered a successful example. If this model works in the music industry, other industries may borrow this model to narrow the gap between rich and poor, which would be a very good thing. Because the gap between the rich and the poor makes many people unhappy, it is very good to bring it closer and make many people live happier.