This episode of the Trapital hip-hop business podcast might be one we look back on in five or ten years and go, “yep, he called that and this, oh, and that.” That’s because Troy Carter joined me to talk about the future of the music industry. If there’s anyone inside the industry well-equipped to forecast what’s on the horizon, it’s Troy.

He’s founded two companies in the music space — Atom Factory talent management and his current business, Q&A. Moreover, he was previously Spotify’s Global Head of Creator Services and currently sits on the board of directors at SoundCloud. But Carter isn’t one to speak in the past tense. He’s always thinking about the future and he’s quite literally betting on massive changes ahead.

One of those shifts is distribution. To Troy, “it’s no longer just about the MP3.” Today and tomorrow, intellectual property is what will drive distribution. Carter envisions a music industry that better “productizes” itself through a digital portfolio of assets that include virtual merchandise, NFTs, audio skins, and more.

In our interview, Troy goes into depth about how Web 3.0 will turn the industry upside down — hopefully for better this time, not like the way of Napster again. Here’s a list of topics and industry predictions that Carter and I delve into throughout the show:

0:00 Intro
0:47 How The Q&A Business Model Has Shifted Since Troy’s Founding
3:33 What Distributing IP Looks Like In Web 3.0
6:12 Kanye As THE Model For Musicians Product-izing Themselves
9:45 Troy’s Prediction About The Future Of The Music Industry (MUST LISTEN)
14:00 The Myth Of Indy Labels Being “Artist Friendly”
15:44 How Much Does Record Label’s Internal Data Matter?
19:13 The Economics Of A Taylor Swift Record Deal (Or Another Similar Superstar)
24:33 Will Streaming Era Artists Supersede Musicians Of Era Before?
29:00 Troy Is Bearish On Streaming Services
32:06 The Value Of Superfans Compared To Traditional Royalties
38:16 Insights From Working With Prince’s Estate
40:35 Troy Mistakenly Becoming “The Estate Guy”
41:44 What Is Troy’s Approach To Angel Investing?
44:10 Lack Of Music Industry Execs At NFT Week In Miami
46:00 Outro

(From Youtube)