[Short #26] Starving Artists

An Artist and a NFT walk into a bar...

NFTs have been controversial in just about every possible way: Scams, environmental concerns, a bear market, ponzi schemes, the list goes on. In fact, I would agree that these reasons are all valid to some degree. It’s easy to cast doubts on new technologies, especially if you aren’t participating in it. Conversely, for every strong reason to be healthily skeptical there is a strong reason to be optimistic about what NFTs can do.

One of the reasons that leads me to be optimistic about the space is around empowering artists, and yesterday there was an inspiring story that has since gone viral.

It started with this tweet from a well respected pixel artist on Twitter. With 150k followers, you’d think they’re doing quite well selling prints, making commissioned work, and monetizing their following, right?

Apparently not. This artist makes less than $10k a year and was compelled to explore NFTs as another means of supporting themselves.

jmw327 @jmw327

probably gonna try out nfts, dont understand them or why they are controversial, but cant keep making less than 10k a year and so if there is a chance want to be able to afford healthcare and stuff, sorry if it offends you and please do whatever makes you feel comfortable

Keep in mind, this artist is good. Not just 150k Twitter followers good. But 150k engaged Twitter followers good.

jmw327 @jmw327

JMW knew that a good number of their fans would not be pleased with the decision to explore NFTs, so they preemptively disabled tweet replies. However, humans are creative and resorted to replying through quote tweeting (unintentionally a brilliant way to increase virality). There were some strong opinions from the fans:

The main argument being made here is that the value of cryptocurrencies is going down and that’s true. However, the detractors are probably unfamiliar with the ability to swap crypto into a stablecoin backed by the US dollar such as USDC (unlike LUNA/UST…ha…).

So what did the pro-NFT camp have to say?

Warm, welcoming, gives you a fuzzy feel-good vibe, right? Great…but JMW needs to get paid.

Less than 2 hours after posting the original tweet, JMW put their genesis piece up for auction on Foundation, a platform for buying, selling, and curating digital art. Can the NFT space walk the talk?

jmw327 @jmw327

Check out this NFT by @jmw327 on @foundation! 🌐 foundation.app/@jmw327/pixels…

foundation.appCorner | Foundationa little corner of town

The auction just finished and this was the result:

Details here

Guess the NFT community ended up walking the talk and JMW was able to earn 4 times their annual earnings with one piece. This was the buyer’s commentary:

Fozzie Bear @codethsmithy

Happy owner of @jmw327’s first-ever NFT, “Corner.” I, like many others, found their viral tweet about the piece. No artist should ever struggle, especially one as talented as jmw. NFTs have pros and cons like anything else, but they offer true freedom and creativity. Thank you!

Now, should we expect every artist to see similar results? Absolutely not. It’s clear that this situation is an edge case, and JMW earned it with their talent and hard work. However, it’s clear that Web2 does not reward creators in the same way that Web3 can. Getting ‘paid’ in likes, retweets, and follows does not pay the bills. Getting paid in secondary sale royalties and on platforms that remove middlemen (Foundation only charges 5% on sales) does.

I understand the arguments of NFT skeptics and their respective stances. In fact I hope they maintain them to a degree to keep us honest. However, I would encourage them to have an open mind and heart and do a little exploring. There are some heartwarming stories and lives being changed in this corner of the world.