Tripling Down on Artist Sovereignty

One of the core principles of the web3 movement is that people can now truly own their data — paving the way for us to collectively wrest control of our digital selves back from the corporate leviathans who have dominated the web2 landscape in recent decades.

For digital creators long captive to the exploitation of these monopolistic giants, this difference is especially massive. In fact, it’s nothing short of a revolution. 

On web2 platforms like Instagram, creators contribute works that become completely controlled by the platform. No more ownership once it’s been published. No recourse if you don’t support the company's direction. No portability of your intellectual property if they decide to shut down. If the company doesn’t like your post, poof — they can just delete it. If they want to tweak the algorithm and make it more expensive for you to reach your audience, they can do it anytime. And if you want to move your creations to a different platform? Nope! Not gonna make it.

Thankfully, due to the shared data layer that underlies the blockchain, web3 creators are no longer beholden to the whims and fancies of any specific tech platform. If they don’t like how an NFT marketplace is running the show, they can take their creations elsewhere and not have to worry about rebuilding their community from scratch. 

In the cryptoart world, this means that artists can and should have as much agency over their assets as they like, with control right down to the minting contracts that underpin their artworks. 

When SuperRare first launched in 2018, the only option was for artists to mint under the shared SuperRare (SUPR) house contract because we wanted to simplify what was an incredibly niche and complex user experience. After years of anticipating more widespread adoption, last summer when we announced our vision for the decentralized future of SuperRare, we also launched the ability for SuperRare artists to create their own self-sovereign smart contracts. The physics of an open, decentralized data layer implies that value creation must stem from product innovation rather than platform capture (i.e. the Big Tech model). More optionality for artists in how they express themselves ultimately means a better, richer world for all of us to enjoy.

At the end of the day, artists should be empowered to “be their own platform” — to have full sovereign and creative control over their work. They should be able to tailor smart contracts to their unique needs, and showcase their work on a marketplace (or two…or five) that aligns with their creative and moral outlook on the world.

That’s why we intend to open doors and build bridges that provide greater control to artists — starting with native support for custom contracts developed by web3 innovators like Manifold and Transient Labs. This means that SuperRare artists can now mint a custom contract on one of these partner platforms and then showcase their works on the SuperRare marketplace, where they’ll enjoy broad exposure to the world’s top collectors and curators. 

It's the best possible scenario for artists. They can craft a smart contract and viewer experience to their creative needs like a bespoke suit, while still keeping it RARE.

The revolution is being tokenized. Experience it today on SuperRare.