NEWM x Sick City - The Record Store Music Collectibles 2.0

[GENERAL] Name and surname of main applicant

[GENERAL] Email address of main applicant

Additional applicants

Andrew Westberg (CTO), Tiziana Pittini (CPO), Jimmy Londo (Sick City)

[GENERAL] Please specify how many months you expect your project to last (from 2-12 months)

[GENERAL] Please indicate if your proposal has been auto-translated into English from another language.

[GENERAL] Does your project have any dependencies on other organizations, technical or otherwise?

[GENERAL] If YES, please describe what the dependency is and why you believe it is essential for your project’s delivery. If NO, please write “No dependencies.”

No dependencies

[GENERAL] Will your project’s output/s be fully open source?

[GENERAL] If NO, please describe which outputs are not going to be open source. If YES, please write “Project will be fully open source.”

We cannot open source the source code from NMKR.

[METADATA] Category of proposal

[IMPACT] Please describe your proposed solution.

Our proposed solution comprises of two key components to support artists in navigating the NFT space: A revamp of The Record Store's UX/UI, and the introduction of an Artist Success Service.

1. Updated UX/UI of The Record Store: Listeners need an intuitive and seamless platform to buy their music NFTs. By revamping The Record Store's UX/UI, we aim to make the platform more user-friendly and less daunting for prospective buyers. The goal is to simplify complex processes, making them more understandable.
2. Artist Success Service: This is a dedicated support service to help artists navigate the world of NFT Collectibles, including:

• Minting Assistance: Technical support throughout the minting process and assistance creating metadata with correctly linked digital assets, ensuring artists feel supported and confident in creating NFTs.
• Marketing Support: We understand that promotion of NFTs requires a unique approach. Our team will provide guidance on how artists can effectively market their NFTs, build their brand and engage with listeners in the context of NFTs. This could include guidance on pricing, understanding when and how to release and how to leverage social media.
• Community Building: It's crucial for artists to know their community. We'll facilitate spaces (both virtual and physical, if possible) for artists to interact, share their experiences, and learn from each other. This will foster a sense of camaraderie and shared learning that can make the NFT journey more rewarding.

Through this two-pronged approach, we aim to make the process of creating, selling and managing Music-NFT Collectibles easier and more accessible for artists.

[IMPACT] How does your proposed solution address the challenge and what benefits will this bring to the Cardano ecosystem?

An updated UX/UI is key to simplifying NFT technology, making it more user-friendly and encouraging broader adoption. It ensures accessibility, accommodating users of varying technical knowledge and abilities. Moreover, an intuitive and appealing design boosts user engagement, prompting users to explore the platform's features and have a deeper connection with the Cardano ecosystem.

The Artist Success Service further advances the NFT ecosystem by providing practical assistance in the creation (minting assistance) and marketing of NFTs, while also fostering a community where artists can share and learn. The service acts as a bridge between the artist's creative process and the technological aspects of NFTs, which are often intimidating for new users.

This solution brings numerous benefits to the Cardano ecosystem:

1. Increased Adoption: By making it easier for artists to create and sell NFTs, we encourage more artists to join Cardano. This grows the ecosystem and increases usage and adoption.
2. Boosting the NFT Marketplace: More artists minting NFTs means more unique, creative assets on the marketplace. This could draw in more buyers, enhancing the vibrancy and value of the NFT market within Cardano.
3. Enhanced Community Engagement: The community-building aspect of our solution can lead to a more engaged artist community, which is critical for the long-term health and growth of any platform.
4. Innovation and Creativity: By providing a platform and support for artists, we're creating an environment where creativity and innovation can thrive. This could lead to unique and interesting use cases of NFTs, which could further promote and enrich the NFT ecosystem.

Our solution is designed to be a win-win-win for artists, listeners and Cardano. It supports artists in their journey into the NFT space while promoting growth, engagement, and innovation within the ecosystem.

[IMPACT] How do you intend to measure the success of your project?

The success of our project can be measured using a combination of qualitative and quantitative metrics, which will provide a comprehensive view of how well we are achieving our goals.

1. User Acquisition: The number of artists who sign up and use our platform to mint NFTs. A steady increase in user numbers would indicate that our platform is providing value.
2. NFT Creation: More NFTs indicate that artists find the minting process accessible and beneficial.
3. Sales and Market Activity: The number and value of NFT transactions on our platform. Higher sales volume and value indicate a successful marketing and pricing strategy and a strong market for music NFTs.
4. Retention Rate: The number of artists who continue to use our platform and services over time. High retention would indicate that we're providing ongoing value to our users.

By continuously monitoring these metrics, we can gauge the success of our project and make any necessary adjustments to our strategy and approach. Our ultimate goal is to create a platform and service that provide real value to artists and contributes to the growth of the Cardano ecosystem.

[IMPACT] Please describe your plans to share the outputs and results of your project?

Everything we are building is open source, and with transparency as one of our driving values, we consistently share our successes, failures, strengths and shortcomings publicly. We will continue to share output and results on overall product development, future funded proposals and previously funded Project Catalyst proposals (Fund9) the way we are sharing them now:

• Public reporting of milestone statuses – Discord, Twitter, Telegram, Newsletter, Youtube 
• Conferences and events – Public speaking events or recorded interviews
• Community lives and AMAs during the development process – Weekly Twitter Spaces and sporadic AMA events on specific topics in Discord
• Survey and poll reports from user feedback – Public community votes and UX research
• Catalyst landing page – We have a dedicated Project Catalyst landing page on the newm.io website where users can review our funded proposals and track progress – newm.io/catalyst
• Youtube Founders’ Outlook – Casual chat between our Founders about previous year and year to come
• Nerd Out Youtube Channel – Andrew Westberg’s personal Youtube channel where he discusses Cardano development in-depth

[CAPABILITY/ FEASIBILITY] What is your capability to deliver your project with high levels of trust and accountability?

Our team has consistently demonstrated a strong capacity to deliver complex projects with high levels of adaptability, transparency and accountability, as evidenced by our track record of successfully managed and executed Catalyst proposals, as well as quarterly NEWM Community governance votes that directly affect $NEWM token holders and strategic partnerships driven by community needs. Our commitment to meeting project goals within defined timelines and budgets sets a precedent of dependability.

Adaptability in Delivering Community Needs

A noteworthy accomplishment that directly pertains to this proposal is the successful launch of The Record Store in April 2023 – recordstore.newm.io – the first marketplace dedicated to digital music collectibles on Cardano. Although a collectible music marketplace was always a part of our roadmap, we envisioned it further down in our development journey. However, we listened and saw an immediate need in the Cardano community and delivered. Through strategic partnerships with NMKR and Sick City, we created an effective and mostly user-friendly platform that has since earned the trust and endorsement of numerous artists.

Transparency and Accountability

Our commitment to transparency has strengthened our standing as an accountable team. We maintain and nurture open lines of communication through all of our community channels, and support a culture of mindful listening where community members feel heard. 

We also consistently share our code and development progress with the wider ecosystem, underscoring our dedication to open source principles and community engagement. This level of openness encourages community feedback and critique, enabling continuous improvement and bolstering the reliability of our software. We invite you to review our work through our Github repository: https://github.com/projectNEWM

Proof-of-Concept (POC) – Stream Tokens

We’ve already completed several one-off, POC sample sales where we showcased the following features:

• Music distribution to all the major streaming platforms
• Fractionalization of streaming IP rights via Stream Tokens
• Stream Token sales to the public

[CAPABILITY/ FEASIBILITY] What are the main goals for the project and how will you validate if your approach is feasible?

Our main goals for this project are as follows:

1. Design & Implement an Upgraded User-Friendly UX/UI: Our first major goal is to create an intuitive, seamless and user-friendly platform that simplifies the process of minting and managing NFTs for artists.
2. Establish an Effective Artist Success Service: We aim to offer supportive services that guide artists through the intricacies of the NFT landscape. These services include minting assistance, marketing support and community-building initiatives.
3. Increase Artist Adoption of NFTs: We aim to increase the number of artists leveraging NFTs as part of their creative and commercial strategy.

We have already proven feasibility in version one of the product that is currently live at recordstore.newm.io

To validate feasibility of the upgrade, we will take the following steps:

1. Pilot Program: We'll initiate a pilot program for the Artist Success Service, offering the service to a small group of artists and gathering feedback on its effectiveness and areas for improvement.
2. Market Research: We'll conduct ongoing market research to understand the evolving needs of artists and listeners in the NFT space, ensuring this platform continues to meet user needs.
3. Community Engagement Metrics: We'll closely monitor community engagement metrics (such as forum activity, event attendance, etc.) to measure the effectiveness of our community-building efforts.

These measures will help us validate our approach, refine our offerings and ensure that we're providing valuable solutions that meet the needs of artists and listeners in the Cardano NFT space.

[CAPABILITY/ FEASIBILITY] Please provide a detailed breakdown of your project’s milestones and each of the main tasks or activities to reach the milestone plus the expected timeline for the delivery.

Milestone 1: Design & Development of Updated UX/UI (Month 1 - Month 3)

• Task 1.1: Develop wireframes for the new UX/UI based on research findings (Month 1)
• Task 1.2: Implement the new design into The Record Store (Month 2)

Milestone 2: Development & Launch of Artist Success Service (Month 1 - Month 3)

• Task 2.1: Define the scope and offerings of the Artist Success Service (Month 1)
• Task 2.2: Hire and train staff for the service (Month 2)
• Task 2.3: Create resources and materials for the service (Month 2)
• Task 2.4: Launch a pilot program to test the service with a small group of artists (Month 3)

Milestone 3: Full Launch & Promotion (Month 3 - Month 6)

• Task 3.1: Collect feedback and iterate on platform and services based on pilot program results (Month 4)
• Task 3.2: Prepare and execute a marketing and promotion plan for the hard launch (Month 5)
• Task 3.3: Launch the updated platform and Artist Success Service to the public (Month 6)

[CAPABILITY/ FEASIBILITY] Please describe the deliverables, outputs and intended outcomes of each milestone.

Milestone 1: Design & Development of Updated UX/UI

• Deliverable: A fully functional, user-friendly, and updated platform design.
• Output: The UX/UI final design specifications, and implementation of the design into The Record Store.
• Intended Outcome: An intuitive and user-friendly platform that lowers the entry barrier for artists into the NFT space and improves user experience and engagement.

Milestone 2: Development & Launch of Artist Success Service

• Deliverable: A fully operational Artist Success Service.
• Output: A detailed scope of service offerings, a trained team, resource materials and a pilot program report.
• Intended Outcome: A comprehensive support system that guides artists through the complexities of the NFT process, helping them create, market and manage their NFTs effectively.

Milestone 3: Hard Launch & Promotion

• Deliverable: Public launch of the updated platform and Artist Success Service.
• Output: Marketing and promotional materials, press releases, social media posts, etc.
• Intended Outcome: Increased awareness and adoption of our platform and services by artists, leading to increased activity in the NFT space on Cardano.

[RESOURCES & VALUE FOR MONEY] Please provide a detailed budget breakdown of the proposed work and resources.

Please note that each line item includes overhead operational, product management & project management costs to coordinate the product development and for filling out forms and reporting milestones to the Project Catalyst F10 teams – due to the friction we experienced the last time we received funding.

[RESOURCES & VALUE FOR MONEY] How does the cost of the project represent value for money for the Cardano ecosystem?

Our project represents value for money for the Cardano ecosystem by:

1. Increasing Adoption: Our efforts aim to attract more artists to the Cardano ecosystem, contributing to its growth and diversification. As more artists join, they bring their listeners, potentially increasing the user base of Cardano.
2. Boosting The Cardano NFT Space: Our project could significantly boost the activity and vibrancy of the NFT market within the Cardano ecosystem. More NFTs and transactions equate to greater liquidity and potentially higher transaction fees, benefiting the entire Cardano network.

[IMPORTANT NOTE] The Applicant agreed to Fund10 rules and also that data in the Submission Form and other data provided by the project team during the course of the project will be publicly available.