What exactly does it mean to âhave web3 in your toolkitâ? This week, we unpack the toolkit with VĂRITĂ, who has made a habit of strategically utilizing new technology throughout her impressive seven year career as an independent artist. For her, being in control of distribution, embracing digital scarcity with intention, and having more direct access to her fans and supporters, are key.
Quick to experiment with and adopt new tools, VĂRITĂ is implementing web3 to further bolster her long-term visionâbuilding a sustainable career from her art. Ushering in a ânew eraâ with her upcoming album, sheâs confident and unapologetic in her laser-focused pursuit to piece together the bigger picture.
For the past seven years, VĂRITĂ has relentlessly been on the forefront of revolutionizing the music industry, paving the way for artists to maintain independence and create sustainable careers. Meticulously and tirelessly building her business with a CEO mindset and a passionate commitment to the highest quality of musical and visual storytelling, sheâs now adding web3 to the ever-growing multiverse that is the world of VĂRITĂ.
âWhen I started I was very clear that I wanted to build something that was going to be sustainable for 10 to 20 years. I didn't want to be a flash in the pan or something that the industry threw at a wall to see if it would stick. I knew I wasn't built for that game. Iâm built for the long game.â Three albums and 350 million streams later, VĂRITĂ not only has accomplished what she set out to do, she continuously raises the bar finding new ways to connect with her fans and build lasting engagement. âThe number that really matters to me is the number of people who I can make one-on-one connections with around the art that I make.â
With web3 in her toolkit ahead of her upcoming album release, her steadfast tenacity and out-of-the-box thinking has unsurprisingly placed her on the forefront of the new internet. âIn web3 you have to be quick on your feet, constantly adapting to the music industry, the market, your audience, and the culture,â says VĂRITĂ. âThatâs something I've been able to do really well partially because I have the agility and the freedom to pivot quickly and experiment. That sort of sustainable autonomy has been really important and really intentional.â
Prompted to experiment in web3 after a particularly poignant conversation with RAC about the core and inherent value of music during an episode of her podcast, VĂRITĂ began minting music from her previously released discography while writing her new album. She was onboarded as one of Catalogâs inaugural artists where she has sold a half dozen 1/1s on the platform, building a new kind of fan relationship with her collectors.
âI got a note from one collector saying, âI have experienced so much financial freedom from cryptocurrency and Ethereum, and I love your work. Your work is so meaningful and impactful to me, I want you in this world and I want you to win.ââ Beyond all the hype and speculation, this kind of patronage is what gets VĂRITĂ most excited. âWhat I love about the people who are investing in music in web3 is weâre really bringing back that old school, pure, patronage. And I think a lot of what you see popularized in quote unquote web3 Twitter culture is speculative⊠âweâre gonna buy it and flip it etcâ⊠thatâs different. True patronage is the idea that we believe this is art, we believe that this art has value and will make a cultural impact, and weâre going to invest in it to uplift the artist.â
Seeing the power of this firsthand when her 515 edition Royal drop sold out in six seconds, VĂRITĂ is optimistic and grateful for the empowering capabilities of web3 while also staying pragmatic about how it fits into her holistic approach for longevity. âI've added web3 to the constellation of already existing revenue streams, while recognizing I can't be fully dependent on it,â says VĂRITĂ. âI want to utilize it and build relationships with people who have a similar perspective on what I'm making. And I want to implement these tools practically and effectively into my career to provide a blueprint for other people to integrate it in a way that works in the long-term.â
VĂRITĂ cites digital scarcity and access to data as two primary tools sheâs utilizing in her album release strategy. âWhat does web3 provide that I can't get in web2, and how do I build for that?â says VĂRITĂ, posing the question as a guide post for her business plan. âDigital scarcityâthe idea that we now have a ledger of transactions and can prove provenance and ownershipâI think is highly valuable. That's why Iâm really focused on 1/1s in this new era, and am really focused on treating the music like the fine art that it is. That means making it scarce, because itâs actually ubiquitously accessible on the other end. Anyone can go listen to it and experience it for free, but very few people are going to get to own it, and I think thatâs fucking cool.â
VĂRITĂâs new era, set in motion by the announcement of her new album and the release of her first single âare we done yet?,â is a world she created in order to share her music in a more experiential way. Using web3 to help identify her core fans and enhance user experience, VĂRITĂ is experimenting with new technology while taking into account existing fan behaviors. For example, sheâs utilized the traditional idea of limited-edition merch to embed blockchain technology in the fan experience. Launching The VĂRITĂ Crewneck in collaboration with IYK to kick off the campaign, the sweatshirt doubles as the key to accessing an exclusive first-look at the unreleased record. Told through a series of short visual scenes that accompany each song, the merch grants its owner premier access to the multiverse of VĂRITĂâs new era. âEvery song is meant to be its own world, and we have really unique individual scenes for each one. Essentially viewing the visuals as a visual graphic novel. When you put it together it very clearly tells the narrative of the record,â says VĂRITĂ.
âare we done yet,â released on DSPs and as a 1/1 on Catalog on September 22nd, sets the stage. Dressed in red, VĂRITĂ presents a gorgeously haunting performance, singing to a hooded figure, who looks to have been kidnapped. âWeâre going on a pretty dark journey of what it means to be vulnerable and not shying away from the brutality of it,â says VĂRITĂ.
The visual metaphor, VĂRITĂ says, allowed her to more freely explore the deeply personal lyrical content of the record. âThe record depicts me as an unidentified male figure, who seems to be kidnapped,â VĂRITĂ. âItâs me posing myself with this kidnapped figure in all of these different ways and then singing these songs to him.â Adding theater to her repertoire for expression, VĂRITĂ isnât shying away from the discomfort of the recordâs underlying theme: female rage. âI am angry,â says VĂRITĂ with refreshing candor. âExisting in male-dominated industries you start to recognize how overlooked female rage is, and I really wanted to capture that in the entire arc of the story.â
Starting softly, isolating the dreamy texture of her voice and piano, âare we done yet,â builds using harsher, experimental sounds becoming increasingly aggressive as the song twists and turns through an intoxicating sonic and lyrical journey with the words, âthis life wasnât meant for you and me,â repeating as if a mantra dictating whatâs to come.
âI took mushrooms and sat on a mountain in the middle of Irelandâbecause Iâm very Irishâand had this crazy experience where I felt myself communing with all of my female ancestors in all of their rage,â says VĂRITĂ. Experimenting with production while writing from a place of working through trauma and the breakdown of a past relationship, VĂRITĂ has made her most vulnerable record to date. Channeling her experience personally and professionally, the record speaks for the female experience as a call for actionable change.
âIâve had these moments looking left and right recognizing this shit is not equitable. I can be smarter, more qualified, more capable, better versed ⊠and men will take or be given the opportunities. And I'm a white woman, itâs even more inequitable for Black women and women of color.â VĂRITĂ voices the need for intentional action to ensure change as the space is actively being built. âSo much intention is needed in every space, especially here where we are actively trying to create something new, to be inclusive and to make sure we are valuing what is best and most qualified and not what is most familiar.â
Headed on tour with Fletcher as she launches her album campaign, VĂRITĂ is working to bridge the gap between web2 and web3 with the intention, grit, and resolve that has always marked her career. âUltimately I'm an artist, but if I zoom out, what I really am is a creative problem solver. I do that in art and emotion both visually and sonically, but I also do that in business in creating unique distribution strategies,â says VĂRITĂ. âFor me I view this all as one giant puzzleâhow to merge all of these sentiments and motivations together to create something sustainable and compelling. And what I love about web3 is that I've found people who are also creative problem solversâpeople who can hold all of these different motivations at once.â VĂRITĂâs multidimensional approach continues to lay a foundation for future artists and builders as she forges the path forward, one puzzle piece at a time.
HOT DROPS
In Issue #3 we did a deep dive with Reo Cragun. Back for more, the prolific artist and passionate builder dropped his new EP Frameworks on reocragun.xyz in partnership with Soundâs Protocol launch selling out 333 editions of the 5-track project in minutes. NOISE is the proud owner of one of five golden eggs (one per song) with wavy track âZoom.â đđ„ Check out Reoâs Mirror post on the project here.
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