Upgradable NFTs: How collaborations will leap forward

Artist collaborations are an undeniable cornerstone of modern pop culture. The confluence of creative minds ultimately captured in a single work of art is something that has perpetually awakened audiences, critics, and the creative community.

Take "The Marilyn Diptych" by American pop art pioneer Andy Warhol. The iconic artwork is based on a publicity photograph of Marilyn Monroe for the 1953 thriller black. Niagara. Regardless of the actress's undeniable appeal, the photo itself didn't stand out until Warhol put a spin on it, making it one of the most admired masterpieces of the 20th century. But is that a sufficient argument to justify the fact that the photographer or studio behind the original did not profit from the painting? After all, it was his photo, not Andy's. While this is a closed case, there are millions of similar cases. And a new generation of non-fungible tokens (NFT) could be the solution artists have been waiting for.

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Enter the NFTs

Non-fungible tokens are revolutionizing the art world by giving illustrators, musicians, fashion designers (and just about anyone) a secure way to distribute original pieces without losing copyright and reproduction rights. At the same time, collectors gain blockchain-protected ownership of these pieces. What if collectors want to use the acquired pieces as the basis for composing their works of art? Update them, you could say. Can NFTs guarantee legal co-creations of art?

Updates can take any form. A courageous collector might, for example, draw a red line on a Beeple's $ 69 million NFT or take from Hokusai Recently digitized "The Great Wave" and add a surfboard. But as fun as it may be, there are legal issues to deal with, so the risk is worth considering. With the features that upgradeable NFTs offer, everything can be done in a consensual framework. Artists could issue multiple copies of their NFTs, so only some of them could be updated.

Several blockchain players in the NFT space are trying to work in this direction. For example, Wakatta markets itself as a "blockchain designed to meet the needs of the entertainment industry." To achieve such an ambitious goal, it has developed a number of new types of NFTs: upgradeable, time-limited, and text-based. From a technological point of view, this network is being developed on Substrate, the same technological framework used by Polkadot. As Alex Blagirev, Wakatta project leader, put it: “Digital technologies are making it easy for everyone to become a creator of some kind. The creator economy is a reality, especially in the entertainment industry, and we need solutions that adapt and improve it. "He added:

"Non-expendable tokens and artists are a match made in heaven due to the infinite flow of possibilities it creates."

The same idea can work for other industries: Startup Ether Cards help build custom NFTs and create dynamic cards that trigger discounts, enable access, unlock features, connect to physical items, grant updates, and trigger changes based on events from the real world. They teamed up with the basketball player. LaMelo Ball to create a dynamic NFT for him.

A good example for the games industry is Phantasma, a blockchain that focuses on game applications, which also offers a similar NFT function for game developers to control the time availability of their assets in the game.

Related: Non-fungible tokens from a legal perspective

NFT and the music industry

Musicians have also jumped on the NFT bandwagon in the last year, with artists like Eminem, Steve Aoki, and Grimes selling a combined $ 10 + million in NFT copies of their songs. The last managed to sell a one-of-a-kind video clip titled, "The Death of the Old Men," for a whopping $ 389,000.

The music industry is facing increasing pressure from artists around the world speaking out against perceived unfair compensation from streaming players like Spotify and Apple Music. In April, superstars Paul McCartney, Kate Bush and Noel Gallagher sent a joint letter to UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson urging debate on streaming revenue reforms. As complaints mount, non-fungible tokens are fast becoming a suitable alternative for artists to distribute exclusive content directly to their fans, without the middle man. Additionally, upgradeable NFT artists could also make remixing easier, bypassing the complicated and costly legal processes typically associated with collaborations.

Related: NFTs are a game changer for indie artists and musicians

Time-limited NFTs could also be particularly useful in this industry. In virtual setups, tickets for concerts or music festivals could be converted to NFT, granting access to specific time slots, for example. As with any other smart contract, companies or artists can set them to be reusable or gamify their use as they see fit. And once expired, tokens can still be valued and prized as collectibles and legitimately marked as souvenirs.

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No one can say exactly what the future will be like. But one thing's for sure: NFTs are so much more than cat-themed JPGs. Its use cases are rapidly spreading to new domains, reaching areas hitherto unexplored by blockchain technology such as artist collaborations, music royalties, and even events.

The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed here are those of the author alone and do not necessarily reflect or represent the views and opinions of Cointelegraph.