Web3 Breakdowns Ep 50 - Jay Stolar: The Future of Songwriting
Primer: In year 3045, the metaverse is ruled by the evil Xani Republic. Angelbaby has managed to escape from the metaverse into the real world. Find out how Angelbaby, this budding virtual artist, has experienced success as part of the Hume Collective record label in this episode of Web3 Breakdowns.
Who Is Jay Stolar?
Started singing when he was 7
Went to the NYU School of the Arts
Started a band, playing across the country
Became best friends with David Beiner, his Co-Founder at Hume
Creating A Song Every Day
Applies to every craft — showing up everyday and honing the craft is what’s important
For every song you hear on the radio, the songwriter has written anywhere from 10 to 100 songs
Has a theory that on a scale of 1 to 10:
The songwriter can get a song up to 9
A 9 to 10 is decided by the people and by culture
It comes back to what feels good, authentic, and has the most magic
If a business person says that they will write hit songs for you, that person is full of shit
“Eventually it [a hit song] will come. It might not be on day 1, day 2, it might not be on day 1000. But at some point, if you stick with it, whatever is true and specific and authentic to you will come.”
- Jay Stolar
Becoming A Songwriter
While writing songs everyday, he wrote a song called Brooklyn in the Summer
The song was sent to an artist called Aloe Blacc
The song brought him into a whole new world of writing and producing for other artists
Has worked with Selena Gomez
Did a bunch of music called fake music — music that’s written specifically for film, TV, or commercials
Realized that unless you are in the top 10 or 20 songwriters, you do not have a lot of power. Most of the revenue do not go to the songwriters
Have to consider the artist and the manager going along with his songs as well
Realized he’s not cut out for day-to-day song writing
Started learning about virtual artists and the idea of creating music and story
In 2017, he started Hume with David Beiner, his co-founder. They wanted to help songwriters and producers who do not like to perform on stage, but still wanted to express themselves artistically
Will Blockchain Disrupt The Music Industry?
Was asked a similar question before
Just because there’s a new world, it does not mean that it supersedes or replaces the old world
Most likely, there will be 2 worlds: The traditional music world and the Web3 music world
What Is A Virtual Artist?
Calls them Metastars — virtual artists that are native to the metaverse
Two main types of metastars:
An artist creating an avatar of himself/herself
A virtual artist that is not an alter ego of a singular human
How Did He Move Into Web3?
David had an advisory firm speaking to VCs about the blockchain
Was thinking of what’s the next Pixar and how a platform could redefine the relationship between a fan and an artist
Angelbaby
Angelbaby’s Backstory
A seven foot virtual rabbit from the year 3045
In Angelbaby’s time, the metaverse was closed by the Xani Republic, an evil republic
The Hume Collective was formed to fight the Xani Republic
They developed a deep culture of making decisions together on songs and co-creation
One day, Angelbaby was ratted out. They went through a crazy fight against the Xani Republic and Angelbaby escaped out of the metaverse and into the real world
Angelbaby is from a project called FLUF World
Becoming A Popular Virtual Artist
Having a creative team that has a clear vision and shows up everyday
Have a song called All Gold Spaceship, which was the first song that the community decided on
It became the fastest growing song that they have done
Decentralization And The Creative Process
Don’t believe in decentralized creativity, especially in songwriting
In other areas, it can be really cool (e.g. story and lore)
Vision For Hume
Hume is a creative studio
“Hume works holistically to develop virtual artists in the way that Pixar works holistically to develop a movie.”
- Jay Stolar
They are creating a platform that allows fans to interact and engage with the artists in a way that you never really been able to do before
Which Song Did He Pick?
Selected the other song but had a gut feeling that All Gold Spaceship would win
Most Excited To See Built
Within the next 6 months:
Bridging the gap between Web2 and Web3
Bringing Angelbaby to the rest of the world. Interacting with Angelbaby on platforms like TikTok and Spotify
In the next 6 years: People can write their own songs, learn animation, and create an avatar for themselves, and build their own audience
All information presented above is for educational purposes only and should not be taken as investment advice. Summaries are prepared by The Reading Ape. While reasonable efforts are made to provide accurate content, any errors in interpreting and summarizing the source material are ours alone. We disclaim any liability associated with the use of our content.