My next record available in bitcoin n delivered in a drone.
— Snoop Dogg (@SnoopDogg) December 2, 2013
@coinbase dm your info. I want to make it happen.
— Snoop Dogg (@SnoopDogg) December 9, 2013
@bitpay I wanna make this happen. DM me your info.
— Snoop Dogg (@SnoopDogg) December 9, 2013
There has been a noticeable amount of buzz around Snoop Dogg’s recent tweets to Coinbase and Bitpay announcing his plans to sell his next album for Bitcoins. I’ve tried contacting him for an interview, but while I wait for his response, I’ve decided to explore how this decision could impact Snoop and the Bitcoin community.
Album Sales and Residuals
It is quite remarkable what one person can do. Snoop literally has an entire economy built around his music and adds on to his repertoire with his experience in writing soundtracks, previous work with video games, television, and the movie industry.
Just looking at his album sales alone:
- 3 of his albums have gone multi-platinum
- 4 of his albums have gone platinum
- 1 album has gone gold
Having an album ‘go platinum’ means one million albums have been sold. Multi-Platinum status is achieved when over 1 million albums are sold, and a gold status is earned anywhere between 500,000 to 999,999 albums sales.
Assuming he were to sell a digital version of his album for $10, achieving platinum on the album selling for Bitcoin would bring in 10 million dollars or 10,380 Bitcoins through the Bitcoin network. The reality is that there may not be enough Bitcoin users for Snoop to get his sales solely from Bitcoin, but even getting 1 of those sales in Bitcoin would mean $100,000 in sales or 100 Bitcoins.
Looking forward into the future, a successful release for Snoop could lead to other fellow rappers to follow suit and extend using Bitcoin to pay for CD and merchandise manufacturing, concert sales, and radio play fees.
Remix Market
An understated boon could come from those who remix the content from albums sold for Bitcoin. A DJ could see this and repeat the trend opening his remix of Snoop’s song to receive payments via Bitcoin and exponentially tack on new Bitcoin users along the way.
Snoop would need to approve of these remixes, but with his track record of promoting remixes, I would expect to see a future where remixes could be sold for Bitcoins as a likely follow to Snoop’s lead.
Another Way To Spend
Many people are won over by Bitcoin’s native ability for quick potentially anonymous transactions and security. Others who have resisted using Bitcoins or have succumbed to the early negative press on Bitcoins may resist adopting the new technology due a difficult time understanding Bitcoin.
These barriers could be quickly overcome if someone saw something of value (a new hip hop album) available to them for Bitcoins.
New Exposure to Bitcoin
What would you do if over a few weeks or months you were given 100 Bitcoins? Artists who succeed in Bitcoin, much like miners who have mined Bitcoin, will have an excess of BTC that can be spent instead of fiat. As Bitcoins appreciate in value, any owner will be able to spend less and less to pay for the services and businesses they use.
In Snoop’s case everything associated to his brand, from his albums, charities, etc will be able to use the Bitcoin capital he has raised, which could lead to getting paid by Snoop for promotions, or Snoop seeking out Bitcoin friendly merchants for any products he would buy. This could also extend to more basic things like food and clothing purchases. He may even consider paying his body guards in Bitcoin.
When Snoop shows up with Bitcoins at the places he frequents, folks may do a little extra work to make their business Bitcoin friendly, and these changes can benefit the entire Bitcoin community.
Other Thoughts
Snoop embracing Bitcoin would bring all of his fans who aren’t already using Bitcoin into the Bitcoin community.
It is major endorsements like these and others (see statements from Kevin Rose, Ashton Kutcher) that will open the minds of folks and help them overlook any details that would typically turn off non-technical folks and open their minds to the good Bitcoin can bring.