My Summer Lair Chapter #256: How Do You Turn Fans Into Family?
Patience. These show notes are going to be Clumsy because Somewhere Out There are Innocent listeners who’ll be confused by the Web3 topics Raine and I cover in this fascinating My Summer Lair conversation.
Web 1 was the classic static websites of the late 90s early 2000s: think digital pamphlets. There’s no interaction. Back then you were listening to classic OLP albums like Naveed and Spiritual Machines. (I dig In Repair from that album!)
Web 2.0 refers to websites that emphasize user-generated content, ease of use and like most university courses you’re graded on participation. Social media, really. By then you were posting on Facebook listening to OLP’s Gravity and tweeting about their Healthy in Paranoid Times.
We’re now slowly entering Web3 which is being dominated by scary words that are often properly ill-defined. Cryptocurrency, metaverse, blockchain and even NFTs (non-fungible tokens).
Web3 seeks to repair that damage and those ugly unhealthy relationships. It gives you (as a consumer and creator) digital control of your assets.
You’re no longer renting, you’ve bought property.
Property that includes NFTs. That is what OLP did with the NFT release of Spiritual Machines 2. Replace t-shirt with digital album (and all the extras!) and you can understand why their hardcore fans would be excited.
For those fans, this is digital ownership in a prime online neighbourhood.
Those special fan connections are what Raine is building with his new company Drrops. Drrops is a live event platform that helps artists/bands build communities that they own.
The last part is Web3…it is empowering bands to control their data and to manage their digital assets.
If you got upset because Elon Musk purchased Twitter; sure…you can delete your account but…but! you walk away with nothing. Elon wins, you do not. That’s Web 2.0. It’s free to sign up but you leave with nothing just as you came with nothing.
So I spoke to Raine at Collision Conference who was there asking…what if there’s a better way than just Tweeting and IGing to connect with his fans?
Is there a better way for all bands to build healthier fan relationships?
Because according to William Gibson: “The future is already here – it’s just not very evenly distributed.”
Is there a way to change that? Drrops is Raine’s solution and his response. Because this is a confusing conversation I open it with a metaphor to give it a framework and easier to digest.
The 2019 documentary he made with his wife Chantal Kreviazuk I’m Going to Break Your Heart.
Our Lady Peace @ W • T • F
Host Sammy Younan
Recorded: Thursday June 29, 2023 at 11:30 am at Collision Conference
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