Musicians find the courage to manage their money well

Disruption is a fact of life. Species evolve, planets decay, and the ways of the past crumble as the future evolves. There has been no greater disruptor than the rise of the Internet which has systematically created options where there were none before.

John Waupsh and his CTO Ben Morrison, formerly of banking, admitted touring musicians have a money problem. This problem was not one of reckless spending, reckless bookkeeping, or losses due to waste or theft, although these problems are still rampant. Waupsh acknowledged that novice and fellow musicians moved from town to town as they performed their shows in homes, clubs, bars, and theaters.

This constant movement, along with the fact that shows are usually performed at night and on weekends when the banks are closed, gave John pause. How could musicians be better served by their financial institutions given that they are paid after hours and often have to pay local supporting musicians immediately after the event?

Previously, musicians had to collect a check for their performance and deposit it whenever they found a local branch of their bank, later they could deposit by photo. Either way, they should still fund the payment of their local backing musicians, as well as the organization of per diems and performance payments for their traveling group. None of this was easy and record keeping was a nightmare as the tour traveled by car, van, bus or truck from city to city.

Waupsh’s banking experience enabled him to create a neobank, a decentralized finance solution (“DeFi”). He and his team created the Nerve app for musicians and music makers. This app acts as the musician’s banking center. Money can be transferred to or from an account that ultimately is held by Piermont Bank, an FDIC-backed institution. Nerve accounts facilitate instant payments to any other Nerve account holder, provide free access to 55.00 ATMs, allow direct deposits from third-party payers, and consolidate activity data to facilitate tax record keeping and commercial. In addition, the app bundles access to data from social media and other third-party sources like Tik Tok, Spotify, YouTube, Instagram, and Facebook related to games or traffic, making it easier for their customers to track their impressions and growth or decline. of their online presence.

Ultimately, the plan is for Nerve to become the central banking solution for musicians and music creators due to its ability to centralize access to banking and financial records and services, aggregate streaming and social media tracking. and have a constantly updated portal so that those who make money from music can focus more on their craft and less on the flow of money from their business.

Banking in the cloud using a neo-bank DeFi solution backed by comprehensive FDIC protection offers the most portable solution, perfect for a business model where everyone is constantly on the move. As the Nerve team progresses with vendors and musicians property licensors, they can improve the means by which funds can be automatically transferred through Nerve directly to musicians, regardless of location. where they are at that time. The Nerve team works with integrated companies that serve musicians by facilitating their ability to deposit funds owed directly to Nerve accounts. What a great selling point – the money is coming to you, rather than having to chase it.

Earlier this month, Nerve announced its latest release: Collabs. Collaborations come in two forms: Legitimate which is designed for state sanctioned entities such as corporations, LLCs or partnerships, and Casual which are for individuals or groups without a formal entity in place. Collaborations are designed so that any group of musicians or music creators can create transparency in that anyone can have access to see the movement of funds to, from or through the account. However, only the account administrator can authorize the transfer of funds. This is meant to make things easier when, for example, a group of four men are on the road and everyone is curious about what the promoter has paid, how much has been deposited on merchandise sales, or whether he Enough on account for lunch might be more than a hot dog at the nearest AM / PM food stop. Whenever the money belonging to a group is handled by a single person, creating a way for all those who have an interest in that money to see it move avoids any trace of mistrust or regret.

I really enjoyed the conversations I had in preparation for this story, John Waupsh has an easy charm about him. Below, in video and audio podcast format, is my conversation with John Waupsh.

As part of researching this part, I opened a Nerve account for myself. It took a few minutes. They sent me a debit card as attractive as the Apple

AAPL
branded credit card. They then offered me a savings account which took a minute to open and fund. I didn’t recognize the thought that went into this process until I needed to open another account for a company I’m involved with. This process took over an hour at a local bank. That’s when it hit me. Nerve is as disruptive to opening a bank account as Tesla

TSLA
is to buy a car. Buying a Tesla takes five minutes or less on their website. The nerve is just as painless. There, in real life and in real time, it is the effect of the disturbance. Why would someone want to drag a folder full of documents into a bank where there may or may not be a banker with time to open an account when you could just go to the app store and download Nerve? Currently, Nerve is reserved for musicians and music creators. I bet they get a lot of it and quickly.