I haven’t here in years! But wanted to share a little project I’ve made: the-design-spectrum.vercel.a…

In London for config this week. Who is here?

The secret to great designs.

Still relevant.

There is absolutely nothing innovative about @vaultdotfm. It’s fairly basic — chat and music. That’s it. But the thing is less is always more — allowing you to go deeper and build deeper relationships with the app, the music, the people and the artist in it.

some thoughts on @jamesblake 's vault yes, it's like patreon, but a bit more concise. I personally struggled with keeping up with the messaging/newslettering of patreon, while sometimes I'd just rather share some music and let that be that. this product isn't for everybody. one of the music industry fallacies is that everything must be mass market. there's not some expectation that you'll subscribe to every artist you follow, only the ones that matter to you that much. that's totally ok. even if you capture 1-5% of your audience, that's such a boost compared to current streaming rates. i have zero issues with this option existing in the market, especially if it gets artists paid. perhaps if i have any critique is that it should be leaning into digital scarcity and collectibles which is still a very unexplored area and often misunderstood in the context of the wider ecosystem, especially by fans. again, these are not mass market projects. this is hyper niche and should be framed that way. i think his initial tweet struck a nerve because we all inherently understand that this industry is fundamentally broken. Is this a part of the solution? perhaps, but it's not the full picture and I think any perceived backlash is because people expected a complete solution in just a few days (lol). some of us have been working on this for a decade now. the solution is complex and i'm increasingly of the belief that the only option moving forward is the complete re-write of the underlying infrastructure with open-source networks. replacing institutions with code. it's not unions, it's not charging more for spotify (that would help tho), it's the complete dismantling of the existing power structures that will ultimately set us free. not even to their detriment, to their benefit because they continually shoot themselves in the foot to the detriment of artists and keep us in this 40bil chokehold, which should be a 400bil dollar industry. the most pervasive, relevant and important art form that human kind has to offer is worth 1/4th of McDonalds.

Let's talk about the James Blake Vault app. Is it revolutionary? No. But that's beside the point. The real shift we're seeing is in mindset: - Music has value - Artists should own fan relationships - We need to stop playing the platform's game That's what matters. I welcome his voice to the movement. And listen... Maybe it doesn't take revolutionary tech. Maybe it's just in how we use the tools. Maybe it's how we decide to play the game. Tools & models like this have existed, but they've been under-utilized in music. They've been "othered" & moved to the fringes. This is changing. Just this month: - James Blake dropped Vault - Nicki Minaj dropped a Gag City fan app - Avenged Sevenfold dropped Season Pass Adding to a wave of this trend that is just beginning. Artists are going direct & creating their own channels. This is the future, regardless of the tech that gets us there. It's a mindset. It's a mission. It's a rejection of music's default setting. We need more of this - however it looks: New models. New experiments. New experiences. There will be no 'one-size-fits-all' - and that's sort of the point. But we must all reject the default setting. And start playing your own damn game. Become your own platform.

Ok, so for the first time I’m going to be releasing from my vault of unreleased music We are launching @vaultdotfm to show music has inherent value beyond just exposure Subscribe to unlock 👇

Presave on Spotify with @soundxyz_ to listen to @sanholobeats new and uplifting drop now sound.xyz/sanholobeats/glow-…

In Feng Shui, clutter as inherently bad, preventing the good flow of chi energy and lowering your spirits and clouding your thoughts. The same can be said in product design -- in design in general. Less is truly more.

2024 is really trying to make me have a better relationship with tech. My phone locked me out twice this year. While challenging, it's a breadth of fresh air. #letstouchgrass

8 yrs ago I wrote an article "How feng shui could help you build better products." Since then, I've learn so much more about feng shui and product design from working at @opensea and @soundxyz_ . Making it a goal to expand on this article this year. fastcompany.com/3055836/how-…

At @soundxyz_, we are always thinking about ways to empower both the artist AND curator economy. #youmatter

👀🎧 Check out this post on @soundxyz_ @BuildOnBase sound.xyz/jessica/post/365f2…

I dropped my first song on @soundxyz_ in early August. It’s been four months. If I were solely focusing on streaming platforms… I would have needed to generate over 4.4M streams to make a 9.4 ETH profit. In the grander scheme of things, in total, I’ve done over 16 ETH in volume with these sound drops. People go on Spotify and just play music. They don’t get to make a comment that the artist is going to see. They don’t get to receive rewards for supporting the music they already love. That’s the real issue. We need web3 mechanisms integrated into web2 models, not only to correct the imbalances of power and control over fanbases, But also to truly empower and focus on the relationship fans and artists have with one another. Artists always say ‘I’m nothing without my fans’, but they have zero control over navigating the relations and experiences they have with those said fans. I’m not all for the doomsday ‘down with record labels’ mentality. Labels have purposes, but we also have to hold the industry accountable. But before that, musicians have to hold themselves accountable. For acting like a superstar and forgetting the people who really did ride with you. For believing it was the fan’s honor to hear your music instead of being grateful for the experience between you and the fan. These are words to myself first, like all of my poetry and music. I write these thoughts selfishly at myself. And sometimes, by the miracles of the universe, those thoughts help someone else who’s thinking of the same things. Collect, listen, enjoy, hate, whatever action you take towards me based on my creative work, Is creative success for me because I’m here to connect with you. I will always allow you to choose what type of connection that makes. One day this screenshot will say 100 ETH. That’s manifesting, baby.

The builders never left.

Personally I couldn't be more excited about welcoming the @sohoxyz team to the @soundxyz_ family.

I am so proud of this team for hacking 3 different awesome "Music is multiplayer" projects last week during our @soundxyz_ offsite. Now help us figure out which one we should launch next?

Collect music. Earn $OP. Yes, please.

Such fun night with bò kho, bánh mì and and bạn. Thank you for bringing us all together @davidhoang.