Together with the client, Marc Eigenheer (ICADIA GmbH), who is interested in innovative NFT projects, the idea arose to research and present use cases on how to implement NFTs within the music industry. The initial idea was to develop an NFT-based beat store for the music producer collective STR808 SQUAD, in which the author participates. However, suppose research shows that an NFT-based beat store is not desirable. In that case, the option to present a different business model is also allowed.

The first step was to establish an academic foundation on what NFTs are and how they are currently used. Then, in a further step, interviews with experts in the NFT sector answered ambiguities from the research. Also, a survey of the public, producers, and singers gathered different opinions on NFTs. Lastly, the results were displayed in a business model showing a potential use case of NFTs for the producer collective STR808 SQUAD.

Results have shown that an NFT-based beat store is not desirable today. NFTs deliver considerable potential, primarily due to the safety aspects they provide using blockchain technology. Furthermore, the connected smart contracts NFTs use can eliminate intermediaries and, therefore, costs and human failure. However, significant drawbacks such as unclear international laws, complex understanding for the public, and usability challenges make NFTs a technology that is not yet ready to use for a beat marketplace. However, a business model to use NFTs as a marketing strategy to sell songs and create an audience seems to be a good starting point to use NFTs within the music industry. Such a business model is presented in the bachelor thesis and will be implemented within the producer collective STR808 SQUAD accordingly.