Jamify creator Frames Jenco: It’s time independent artists stand up for themselves

Want to manage and listen to all of your @relayxio music NFTs in one place? Want to discover new audio collectibles on #Bitcoin? Have no fear, Jamify is here!

🚨 Announcement: https://t.co/NQDVpJYoKE
🖱️ Site: https://t.co/DwdonmmOMO pic.twitter.com/a7A21s3atw

— Jamify (@JamifyBitcoin) January 1, 2022

On New Year’s Eve, Jamify a music NFT platform launched. Jamify displays audio NFTs minted via the RelayX platform where listeners can find artists’ collections of music and reward them appropriately.

Users simply login to the site with their RelayX wallet. Lots of features such as liking (via micropayments), and organizing songs are to be implemented, but Jamify looks to be a very promising platform demonstrating the benefits of open standards (RUN protocol).

The BSV community loved this release and saw an immediate influx of artists minting new songs on RelayX and Jamify.

👏👏Smacking 2022 with a SURPRISE!!! We put out our first NFT with an unreleased track attached to it. They’re up for sale right now and very limited. Show us some support!!!!!
🤘😈👽
⬇️⬇️⬇️https://t.co/ZpTFENV7VD#NFT #detroit #basshouse #techhouse #2022NewYear pic.twitter.com/Imzbux68wM

— Metawav. (@_metawav) January 2, 2022

Check the Bitpost here for more details.

I had the opportunity to interview the creator Frames Jenco (@FramesJenco) about the launch and plans moving forward.

What was your motivation to build Jamify over the holidays?

Frames Jenco: This was something born out of necessity. I saw artists like MC Mandeep and Phillie B releasing really high-quality music on RelayX where it was easy to get lost in the feed of random JPEG mints.

Even I had no idea how much music was already on there because it was too hard to find. I was about to release a new song called Free Ride and when it started to come together, I was pumped.

I wanted to make sure it had a better chance at being heard. I think that was the final catalyst, but I have to mention, Mandeep gets a lot of credit for getting me back into making music in the first place. Sounds cliche but Satoshi Bop was really a life changing track for me.

In the Bitpost, you referenced ‘The Power of Open Standards’ highlighting the RelayX and RUN protocols. Can you go into why these enable quick innovation?

Frames Jenco: I don’t think this has received anywhere near the attention it deserves. Bitcoin lets us work against the same neutral database. The content we put there wants to be consumed, but is not owned by some big company, it’s owned by the creators. I was able to build Jamify in only a few days because others have worked for years on the tools and standards, I leaned on to build it.

In the future, you will be able to click a few buttons and launch a new website that inherits an entire catalog of existing activity. This will be possible for every kind of app you can think of from social media to ride sharing apps. The combined network effect allows you to band together with other ‘indie platforms’ to compete with giants. This has been described as coopetition in this space before, and it’s going to be a beautiful thing to watch unfold.

When will the $JAM fungible token launch, and how will it work?

Frames Jenco: JAM will be here very soon, and it’s designed to jumpstart a micro-economy. I dislike altcoins as much as most of you probably do but this is not the same thing.

JAM gives me some leverage to reward music collectors and artists while generating even more attention for the platform and dramatically improving the chances of success. JAM will be a true utility token. This part is a responsibility I take pretty seriously.

What are your thoughts on using NFTs as paywalls or pay during streaming to be able to listen to songs?

Frames Jenco: I love the idea of NFTs as paywalls. I think of them as keys that will grant you access to all kinds of special things from your favorite artists. Things like discounts on merch, autographs and stickers in the mail, backstage passes, or even exclusive access to new music releases before they go public. They are a great tool for artists to give back to their fans and build stronger connections with them.

As far as pay per stream, I’m not against it just not in the current form. We’re uploading music to the blockchain unencrypted. This is great for exposure and at the end of the day we want people to listen to the music. If you want to do pay per stream you need to do it in a way that someone can’t just go grab it from the blockchain or force miners to become licensing police (nightmare).

My current thinking is, we don’t need to worry about that right now. There’s plenty we can do with a free to stream model that will see artists earn even more than they do currently on bigger platforms. NFT sales are the cherry on top but for many already exceed what they are used to.

The Features page allows for users to support development of the platform directly. Is there any incentive for users to do so (such as potential rewards, NFTs, $JAM airdrops, etc.)?

Frames Jenco: I’m still working out the details here but yes contributors can expect to see some kind of reward in the future. Of course, the obvious one is you get to use the feature you’re really looking forward to sooner than later, but yea other rewards will come into play. More to come on this.

Were you surprised how many artists quickly wanted to be listed on your platform?

Frames Jenco: To be honest, not really. I knew this was something we needed and had talked to some leading up to and during development. I have a feeling this is the beginning of a much larger wave.

Once artists realize we are putting the songs on-chain and they can bring their music somewhere it will be properly appreciated it’s an easy sell. If I can deliver a top-notch minting experience and a few other key things I know they want, we will be off to the races.

nice 🙂
send a copy of the nfts you want to list to 1framesjenco
then DM with 600×600 cover art also

— Frames Jenco (@FramesJenco) January 1, 2022

Currently songs minted on RelayX do not automatically display on Jamify as users still have to manually list with yourself with a specific sized cover art. How can you leverage the openness of RUN to streamline this process?

Frames Jenco: I’m working to add an automated process for this now. Artists can already see collectibles they own. The next update will allow creators to access an administration page for their own mints, group them into albums, set cover art and publish to the Jamify catalog. There are some nice surprises tied to this I won’t spoil just yet.

5.
Many small indie artists will make more from a few cheap NFT sales than from months of streams and gruelling pitches to playlists. Do you think they'll feel the same about Spotify when they realise this?

— Mandeep (@MandeepTheMC) January 1, 2022

How do you feel Jamify can help artist monetize their work?

Frames Jenco: This process has been truly enlightening for me. I’ve released only a few songs and have been really surprised at the NFT sales I’ve seen in such a short time, even before Jamify. This will be a 10x on that. 

I’ve been around musicians my whole life and have seen how difficult it can be to get traction. Many of these guys work their butts off and typically have jobs that pay the bills in addition to the constant effort to book shows, lug around all that equipment they spend whatever extra money they have on, design, and sell merch, and have enough energy left to keep their fan base excited and band members on-board.

Oh yeah almost forgot, they also have to create all that music! Bitcoin is going to change everything for these people, and I feel blessed to be a part of making it happen.

What is the #1 priority for Jamify going into 2022?

Frames Jenco: The top priority is to deliver a worthy home for the massive amount of unheard talent out there. We all listen to the same small group of songs on repeat for decades serving a machine that uses us like we are fuel. It’s time the independent artists stand up for themselves and take control of the situation.

Thank you Frames for taking the time to answer my questions about the new streaming platform atop BSV. I hope the readers learned more about Jamify. Please check out the site at https://jamify.xyz/

This article was lightly edited for clarity and grammatical purposes.