NFT start-up “OME” takes on the music industry and looks to give control back to musicians and fans

Of the $42 billion in revenue the music industry generates yearly, less than 12% actually goes to artists. From 2019 to 2020, 90% of music streams went to the top 1% of artists, according to Rolling Stone. The Open Music Exchange, or OME (pronounced like the primordial “Om”), is on a mission to transform the global music industry through decentralization and blockchain technology.

Founded by professional musician and CEO Clay Hawkins, OME aims to give ownership and control of music back to musicians and fans through an innovative NFT marketplace and media platform. The OME platform, which is live in BETA development and testing, enables musicians around the world to mint their songs as NFTs and sell them directly to collectors and fans. The platform is community-led (musicians and music enthusiasts will drive the direction of OME going forward), and includes full music/media streaming functionality, allowing owners to manage, catalogue, and access their favourite music NFTs.

According to Hawkins, the music industry is on the verge of a complete transformation and a radical shift away from the middleman and record agencies that dominate distribution, control, and profits.

“Up to this point, musicians have been completely beholden to the centralised control of recording agencies and streaming platforms. There has been no money in the industry for 99% of musicians — platforms and labels take the lion’s share of profits and heavily monetize the hard work of talented creators,” says Hawkins.

There is a clear benefit in this model for fans as well. Purchasing NFTs of their favourite music means OME is pushing the market back to the traditional days of music ownership and holding value in a personal music collection and away from a pay-per-stream model that allows for ubiquitous access but zero ownership. NFT owners can stream songs for free before deciding to purchase, play owned music on the platform, and curate and show off their music in community spaces.

In the future, users will have the ability to sell or swap their NFTs on a community-based secondary exchange. A unique, community-driven OME Token will be distributed using a play-to-earn model to reward all users on the platform with speciality NFTs, metaverse access, promotional opportunities, and platform discounts.

“OME will allow musicians to connect directly with their fans, gain control of the pricing and distribution of their work, and – most importantly – receive the financial reward of creating music that people love. We want to give full control and financial benefit back to musicians and ownership of music back to fans,” explains Hawkins.

Musicians find it almost impossible to monetize their creativity and hard work unless signed to a major record and distribution label. And unfortunately, artists have come to accept the exploitativeness of the music industry. It shouldn’t be that way. OME is on a mission to change this.

For more information about the Open Music Exchange, please contact us at [email protected]/415-713-5489