How NFTs create a 'beautiful cycle' between artists and fans

cointelegraph.com:

The nonfungible token art industry has developed into a “beautiful cycle” thanks to the connection artists have with their fans according to artist Danielle Weber who spoke at the Australia Blockchain Week conference. 

Weber spoke on a March 23 panel discussion titled “Pushing the boundaries of NFT utility and art - Homegrown spotlight” about the benefits of the nonfungible token (NFT) ecosystem bringing artists closer together with their fans. She highlighted the fact that such closeness provides mutual advantages for both artists and fans:

That connection with fans is apparent the moment one enters the NFT space. A collector may join a Discord channel from an NFT project or begin following an artist or a collection’s account. Through those media, collectors can voice their opinions and get real-time updates directly from the content creators about the direction they are taking with their art. As Weber stated, such an arrangement allows artists to “think more widely about how we can give back to our supporters.”

She believes that this two-way street of communication between artists and fans “has taken out the middlemen and the galleries” which “pushes you to stand up as an artist” and be “at the forefront of your project.”

The process that generated the apparent give-and-take cycle in the NFT space took time to develop, as noted by another panelist and founder of the Metakey NFT collection, “Matty”. He said that when he started his foray into the NFT space about four years ago, “every Discord had like 200 people, and if it had 1,000, it was a big project.”

However, sales in the NFT industry currently outweigh those from the traditional art auction industry. Last year, NFT sales totaled about $23.1 billion according to