Exactly 438 days ago, I minted my first Music NFT.

Since then, it's been a wild journey finding my footing in web3.

In that time, I've been fortunate enough to:

• Raise 50 ETH for my EP Overstimulated
• Sell 26 1/1s on Catalog for a total of 33 ETH
• Sell 175 editions on Sound for 17.5 ETH in primary sales and 70 ETH in secondary sales
• Drop a generative collection on Beat Foundry
• Perform my first headline show in LA at 1720
• Perform at the Brooklyn Mirage and Marquee
• Be featured in TIME

And yet it feels like we're just getting started.

My next project - Glass House - was the result of a Malibu writing camp funded by backers on Mirror.

Today, I'm proud to share that Glass House will be debuting in collaboration with Bonfire on my own site - danielallan.xyz.

Here's what you need to know.

Music NFT Models

Music NFTs have two predominant models: 1/1s and editions.

Both create an opportunity to cultivate direct relationships with fans.

In the early days of streaming, there was a separation between consumption and discovery.

Discovery would happen on blogs like Hype Machine, while consumption would happen on platforms like SoundCloud.

One of the biggest benefits of web3 is that platforms can serve as both discovery and consumption.

I would not be where I am today without the support of platforms like Sound and Catalog - both of which helped me garner early attention from collectors.

A concrete example of this support are Sound.xyz Twitter Spaces and Listening Parties.

For every release, Sound creates a space for fans to hear - and then collect - an artist’s song.

This allows the artist to connect directly with their biggest collectors, and create a feedback loop for real-time monetization.

This system creates a very clear way for a fan to experience new music, and immediately collect it.

Over time, I’ve been fortunate enough to develop a collector base across multiple platforms - due in large part to their early exposure.

As I progressed in my career, I wanted to start branching out and challenging myself.

I wanted to experiment with new models, and try formats that are outside the box from what’s worked on platforms in the past.

My thesis is that once you have a direct relationship with your collectors, you should have full autonomy to drop whatever you want, whenever you want.

That's why I'm minting my next EP - Glass House - on my own site, using my own smart contract.

I believe that for a web3 artist to succeed - they need to release across all platforms in tandem, creating multiple touch points for collectors of all shapes and sizes.

I’m excited to build on top of the early traction I’ve seen on curated platforms, create my own drop, and then find ways to tie all the ecosystems together.

Glass House

Glass House is a 4 track EP made with my closest friends.

Funded through Mirror with Henry Chatfield, we rented an Airbnb in Malibu and made the most honest body of work I've ever been a part of.

The Glass House Music NFTs are generative audiovisual experiences by multidisciplinary artist Sophee Loftus.

The visuals were generated using 3D rendered layers hand-picked to match each song.

This means that on top of collecting the songs, you'll be able to collect dynamic rarity traits across the whole collection. More on this in a later post.

Glass House is expected to be officially released on streaming platforms in mid-September, but web3 gets first dibs.

Collectors will experience Glass House starting as early as July 17th, prior to the first single ever hitting Spotify.

The structure of Glass House is as follows:

- Supply - 1000 Editions 
- Free Mint - 0.00 ETH
- Presale - 0.05 ETH
- Public Sale - 0.1 ETH 
- Restrictions - 25 mint max during presale, 50 mint max during public sale.

Glass House will feature a free mint(s) for all Malibu backers and a discounted mint price of 0.05 ETH for Daniel Allan & $OVERSTIM Holders.

All splits will be run through 0xSplits to provide transparency around sales and royalties.

Here are the key dates to keep in mind:

- Free mint: July 17th
- Pre-sale: July 18th
- Public Sale: July 19th
- Reveal: July 22nd

Any unsold editions left upon reveal will be minted directly to the Overstimulated Treasury.

Glass House is brought to you by the following contributors:

- Daniel Allan - Artist
- Sophee Loftus - Visual Artist 
- Cooper Turley - Project Manager 
- Henry Chatfield - Community Manager
- Brett Shear - Advisor

The drop was made possible in collaboration with Bonfire - a creator-tooling platform responsible for the smart contracts and mint site.

They're the same team that built danielallan.xyz for Overstimulated and have stepped up to offer a custom experience to enable a new minting format for Glass House.

Building Independently

Building a stand-alone site has been a hell of a learning curve.

While it's been motivating to oversee the whole process, there are two major barriers I came across.

Devs are Expensive and Smart

The cost for a full-stack development team can range anywhere from $10,000 - $100,000 while bringing a level of expertise that very few people share.

Thankfully, we used Rampp for the smart contract to offer a simple UI/UX to deploy the contract with limited technical knowledge.

I imported the NFT smart contract into my Bonfire dashboard, and used Bonfire Studio (their no-code page builder) to create a custom minting experience. Bonfire also stepped in to help generate the custom metadata based on a complex system of rarities and traits.

This drop would not be possible without these partners.

Platforms Own Discovery

The predominant players in Music NFTs drive discovery.

For artists releasing outside curated platforms (Sound, Catalog, etc.) it can be difficult to get eyes on your drop.

I have nothing but gratitude for these platforms, but I believe it's time to challenge myself (and my collectors) in a new way.

I want Glass House to serve as an extension to relationships formed on those platforms and a means to create new ones.

In short, I want to challenge the notion that curated platforms are the only way to release Music NFTs.

What This Means

I hope Glass House can be an inspiration for the next generation of web3 artists and give them the confidence to establish autonomy.

Using what we've built, artists will be able to take collector relationships cultivated through curated platforms and evolve them by offering more to their community.

Whether in the form of traditional NFTs, airdrops, or free mints, artists will be able to go at their own pace.

They’ll have a larger design space to customize their drops' supply, rarity, and pricing and do so on their own time.

While we're far from finding the perfect model, I hope Glass House can give artists a glimpse at what the evolution of a web3 artist can look like.

Dropping in a Bear Market

Selling 1000 Music NFTs in a bear market is ambitious.

Glass House will truly gauge the quality of the art, and the genuine demand from Music NFT collectors.

Between the music and the art, this is the most extensive forward-thinking project I have ever released.

We believe that web3 can be a real alternative to traditional record deals.

When working out pricing and supply, we wanted the numbers to be comparable to that of a mid-tier record advance (minus the strings attached with a major deal).

Throughout this process, I've learned that you need to be highly iterative, and highly experimental.

With the market changing every day, finding the right balance between what will “sell out” and what feels safe and being comfortable challenging your limits is difficult.

I've learned to take the process one step at a time, and to be thankful for the opportunity to drop such a tailored version of Glass House that I could not have done alone.

Closing Thoughts

I'd like to give a special thanks to everyone who has gotten me here so far.

From all the artists and writers who made this EP possible, to the backers of the crowdfund, to my collectors, and to everyone who built the site and contracts - thank you.

To everyone who's given me a chance to share my music with the world in front of a live audience - thank you.

While we may be early, it's an honor to be a part of this community, and I could not be more excited to elevate the space as a whole with Glass House.

To stay up with major updates and key dates, follow me on Twitter and join the Daniel Allan Discord.

Glass House is coming.