Scores of up-and-coming streaming services not so long ago genuinely believed their motley assortment of (often brilliant) degens had what it would take to unseat the legacy streaming giant, as well as its competitors: Apple Music, Tidal & Co. Such bold aspirations ought to be applauded, but they were never fit to last, really. Now, scratch a record, drop a beat and check today’s top music NFT charts, err projects and startups.

They’re finding niches and real-world use cases, funnelling down the big business of music into a few key areas that actually move the needle for consumers. They’re after emerging artists and their would-be fans — they would be fans, that is if they could actually find the tunes. (Blockworks)