Toye Sokunbi Talks Virtual Communities, African Art and Web3 In New Essay for TechCabal
In a new essay for Africa’s biggest technology news hub, TechCabal, ARTISH’s Toye Sokunbi talks the aftermath of COVID-19 on media consumption habits, and how virtual communities have changed African arts forever. Below are some excerpts from the essay:
“2020 played a critical role in shaping the arts industry we see unfolding today. As mass lay-offs and remote work rocked conventional office culture, people suddenly had more free time on their hands. According to the World Bank, in South Africa, 486,900 new businesses were registered in 2020, a 16% jump from 2019. In Nigeria, nearly 97,000+ new businesses were registered, up 7% from the previous year. The same trend was noticed in many developed and emerging markets around the world.”
In African music for example, while new Afropop success stories from the lockdowns like Rema, FireboyDML, Tems, and others have taken the world by storm, they have also widened the gap it would take for a new artist trying to break into the industry, to reach the same heights. It’s no surprise that mid-tier independent artists like BNXN (formerly known as Buju) have started cornering the NFT market not only for alternative sources of revenue but also to connect with fans outside of music. Last year, the singer dropped the HeadsByBNXN NFT collection, a set of jpegs consisting of different colours and stylisations of portraits in BNXN’s animated likeness. HeadsByBNXN also promises holders perks like free events, merch drops, and a creator fund, which points towards new ways artists are thinking about fan engagement.
Virtual communities are levelling-up Africa’s creator economy, and its potential to empower Africans is also greater than ever. But more innovators in the ecosystem need to be funded and boosted by policy to find a niche, lest Africa may play catch-up while the rest of the world looks to new tech like the metaverse—gaming’s logical progeny—for more long-term sustainable solutions to problems that still plague the creator economy today