- Spotify and Starbaucks have both kept recent NFT announcements out of their social media feeds
- Announcing an NFT project on social media these days is like spending 48 hours in the virtual stocks
- We could see more companies keeping NFT rollouts off their socials in order to avoid backlash
In amongst the Terra fallout, it slipped under many people’s radars that Spotify has started testing a new feature that allows artists to promote their NFTs on their profiles. One of the reasons why it went largely without comment was that Spotify itself did not publicize the news, which was reported first by Music Ally before being picked up by a few more tech websites. Spotify didn’t mention it anywhere on its social media feeds, only confirming the trial to reporters. This echoes a tactic also recently employed by Starbucks when it announced plans to enter the NFT world, and one has to wonder if these omissions are intentional.
Overblown NFT Fears Have Become Mainstream
Ever since NFTs burst onto the scene in 2021, plenty has been written about their drawbacks. Derided as being nothing more than six-figure links to monkey pictures, the sector has been pilloried for the high prices being paid for images that buyers don’t actually own, as well as the apparent environmental cost.
This, of course, only applies to NFTs on the Ethereum blockchain, and the genuine claim that rainforests are being destroyed in order to perpetuate the NFT market has somehow gained ground.
Brands Worried About Social Media Backlash?
This rise in vociferousness against NFTs has led to any non-cryptocurrency entity that posts anything remotely NFT-friendly being hit with a barrage of criticism from ill-informed respondents, right back to when Kings of Leon became the first band to publish an album as an NFT. Angry responses and threats of boycotts have only got worse in the last year, to the point where it is hardly surprising that brands are eschewing publicizing NFT involvement on their social media feeds for fear of being on the end of an anti-NFT backlash and boycott threats – something that no company wants on its timeline if it can avoid it.
We saw this recently when Starbucks announced a move into NFTs and the metaverse. However, unless you were an avid reader of the Starbucks blog, or caught it through the media outlets that have no issue with people bitching about NFTs in their comments section, you might easily have missed it. It may well be that Spotify has chosen to take the same approach, especially given that the NFT trial is just that, with a potential announcement coming down the line when they roll it out fully.
Just don’t hold your breath.
