Nigel Eccles is no stranger to building innovative products that leverage technology to connect fans and creators. As the co-founder of FanDuel, he helped pioneer the daily fantasy sports industry.

With VaultMusic, he set his sights on disrupting the music industry by leveraging the blockchain. We connected over the beta launch of their new fantasy manager experience/feature: think Football Manager but with Music Artists whose performance (e.g. subscriber growth) on platforms like Spotify determines your performance week to week.

Having raised at a $4m valuation on February 2023, they were acquired by DripHaus in July 2023 to merge operations and become the home for digital music collectibles on Solana and beyond.

In an interview in Feb 2023 he shared how early experiments validated the concept, how Solana’s infrastructure made it possible, and why the rise of live recordings could redefine fan engagement. Inspired by the vinyl resurgence but designed for a digitally native audience, VaultMusic (now DripHaus) seeks to blend exclusivity, ownership, and accessibility.

Origins

Nick, thanks for taking the time.

You seem to really believe in the transformative potential of web3. In researching your background, your kids losing access/data with both Pinterest & Snapchat is one (of many) touchpoints. What excites you most about the blockchain and crypto space?

Yes, so I just think it is really interesting that while consumers don’t necessarily ‘want’ decentralization, they are seeing the drawbacks of centralized control of existing social platforms. These platforms do form people’s identity and the idea that a centralized entity that doesn’t act in your interest is frankly terrifying.

On twitter you’ve undertaken weekly in depth analysis of platforms including @joinserenade, @soundxyz_, @catalogworks, @join_royal, and @vaultmusichq (of course). I was surprised to learn of the inverse/zero correlation between NFT/blockchain sales vs streams for instance - what do you think explains this?

Well we could say we are early but I think that’s an easy excuse. I think the real reason is there is almost zero overlap between true fans of the artist and buyers of these formats. Basically no one in web3 has created a format that has managed to really connect with true fans, in the same way that vinyl does (for example).

Correlation Stats

On the Web3 Academy podcast you spoke about The $10B Music Industry Problem & How Web3 Solves It: specifically the devaluation of music (streaming) and Vault’s solution enabling artists to create limited editions that offer a unique and exclusive experience for fans. You’ve also shared an a16z report revealing that in 2000 both the music and games industries were worth around $40B. Today, the games industry is worth over $100B, while music is less than $20B.With these in mind please walk us through the pre-launch origins of VaultMusic, what research did you do? What complements/solutions did you try? Who did you speak to, what communities were you a part of etc.

Really we didn’t do much or any research. We did speak to a number of unsigned artists who loved the idea of NFTs but felt the format just wasn’t built for music. We created Vault as a digital music format that fans can own.

Launch & Traction

The launch of Fletcher's "Girl of My Dreams" collectible seemed to really validate the model, selling 3000 units. What key lessons did you learn from that successful test launch? There is now a weekly New Music Tuesday series that sells out regularly too with a combination of free mints alongside exclusive releases. Would love you to dive in on how you guys have iterated, influences, pivots, and artist stories e.g. Bella Rose selling 50 of her “80 Proof” deluxe singles on @vaultapp_ at $4.99 each in March (100k spotify streams worth)

So a big part of Fletcher’s success was her real connection with her fans. She also intuitively understood what her fans wanted and what should be in the vault and how to market it.

Fletcher

This kind of traction helped you raise a $4 million Series A round. How did you convince investors that VaultMusic could uniquely impact artists and fans?

So Vault was a significant technical undertaking. To raise the Series A we needed to build the product and have a significant backlog of artists ready to drop with us.

One of your notable collaborations is with the Drip Haus collecting game. Additionally, you’ve developed an app that simplifies many of the complex aspects of web3, providing users with a seamless transition from receiving a text message to participating in a Tuesday drop within the app. This is a stark contrast to the often challenging experience of managing wallets and seed phrases. Why did you decide to launch on Solana?

So for Solana the choice was easy. It was the only blockchain that was built to be fast and cheap. When you want a web2 front end then it was (and really still is) the only option

You’ve introduced a series of updates that have significantly enhanced the user experience on the platform - from aesthetic changes (ice-blue hue in the App Store) to functional improvements like the ‘See All Artists’ feature and ‘Add All Tracks to Playlist’ option in your recently launched Playlists feature. How do you balance data-driven decision-making with visionary execution in your product development process? Could you provide some insights into how user feedback and data have shaped these updates?

For this stage most decision making is based on user feedback and vision. It is only when you start hitting more scale that you start to consider the data.

Account Abstraction: Could you share your thoughts on account abstraction in your app? How have you managed to abstract away the complexities of web3 accounts while maintaining security and functionality?

With great difficulty! Honestly it isn’t easy. I advise everyone to avoid building on blockchains unless you can’t completely avoid it.

Latest

With the rise of streaming, you've noted live music will evolve to become more important and VaultMusic fits by capturing unique live performances. How do you see fans engaging with these live releases compared to studio tracks on streaming?

So studio tracks will always be primary but I definitely see a potential rise in real fans trading in live recordings.

You seem really well versed in the NYC music scene, epitomised by Cassette Culture 3.0, and initiative that seeks to preserve important local music scenes via VaultMusic. Please explain how it provides worldwide reach for indie artists like going on tour. How do you plan to evolve the initiative to further empower these artists?

So I’m really sure it does right now. Vault is really just a new music format however it is seeing a emergence of a global community who are collecting in the format.

Vault Fantasy Manager

A vinyl resurgence shows fans care about ownership. How can Digital Music Collectibles (DMC) & VaultMusic replicate the tangibility of vinyl in a digital format?

Vault will never be a replacement for vinyl. But for a more digitally native fan it is a great complement. And unlike vinyl you can play the format on your phone and without degrading the value of the product.

VaultMusic aims for its DMC format to rival vinyl sales in coming years. What needs to happen for it to reach that ambitious goal?

A lot! I think we just need to steadily bring more artists on to the platform.

Fun

You made 2021 to 2022 predictions that were 5/14 accurate (according to your own ratings), care to comment on these a year later please? Would love any new ones for 2024 too!

I don’t think they have gotten a lot better to be honest! Actually one has which is the bet on Phantom. I still think they will flip Metamask.

What about your prediction in light of Friendtech or in the context of apps like Farcaster which has had circa 5k paid sign ups since going permissionless last week.

So Warpcast is definitely seeing some early traction. But things still remain a lot slower than expected. Friendtech was bitclout 2.0 and unfortunately followed the same boom/bust trajectory.

Nigel Predictions

You joined Chess.com in April and have been slowly but surely rising up the rankings from circa 400 ELO to circa 750 today. I tend to love an aggressive Queens Gambit opening for white, do you have any favourite openings and/or strategies and/or tactics? How will life change once you are a grandmaster?

I’ve been hard stuck at around 700. I think I need to do more of the lessons and less trying to pick up a game at midnight when I should be going to sleep!

Lastly, given you are launching a fantasy music manager game, one of my favourite books is SuperMensch by Shep Gordon. He tells stories about managing Alice Cooper, amongst others he was hanging with in the 60/70s like Hendrix and Joplin. Let’s say you are Shep.

During a 1969 Toronto concert, a live chicken mysteriously appears on stage while Alice Cooper is performing. Assuming it could fly, Alice tosses it into the crowd… who proceed to tear it to shreds. As his manager, the chaos unfolds on stage - what do you do in that moment? I'd love to hear your perspective on crisis management there!

Ah the chicken on stage test. Band plays on. Make sure it gets recorded and shared on social media.

Thanks Nigel

Vault Music (sunset) acquired by Drip Haus. Nigels focus is now as co-founder and CEO of @playBetHog, a crypto native casino and sports book.

Drip + Vault Merge

Connect

Papa