Token of Gratitude Initiative Announced

A committee of music industry pioneers have announced the creation of Token of Gratitude, an initiative that is melding together the organic inspirations of musical minds with the power of modern day AI and the undeniable momentum behind NFTs to give back to an industry that has been pummeled throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.

The brainchild of Mike "Parkside" Renaud (owner of Hidden Pony Records and Management) along with Lenny Levine (LL Artists) and Gleb Divov (FAYR Ecosystem / www.fayr.org), the idea was born when the trio found themselves discussing the hot button topics of NFTs and AI through Clubhouse, and how they could be used to not only make a difference charity-wise, but also remind the world of the ways music can bridge people from all over the world together. Imagine a sort of digital "We Are The World" for the 2021 musical landscape that will benefit a trio of charities Behind The Scenes (behindthescenescharity.org/), MusiCounts (www.musicounts.ca/), Unison Fund (unisonfund.ca/) and reestablish the boundaries of how music is created, collaborated on, and then used to give back in a very real way.

The process began on March 6th of this year when the psychology-based AI composer Musical Blockchain had been fed visuals of famous empty venues from around the world and then using its AI has created musical stems inspired by technical "feelings" of said images. Like a sort of creative musical version of the classic childhood game "Telephone," the initial stems created will be passed to a first pod of musicians who will use them to create a track. After several days, the track will be passed to a second pod of musicians, and then a third to adapt, reinvent and bring to life as they see creatively inspired to.

The final track will be mixed and mastered before being sent to Belgian techno pioneer Kris Vanderheyden aka Insider to be remixed. Live via Clubhouse on May 15th, the process of the songs' creation will be revealed from AI compilation, to musical evolvement, to remixing, hammering home not only the magic and diversity in musical interpretation but also the communal way in which music brings us all together.

Once completed, the original track, remixes, and fractal art created by the AI will be minted as NFTs, with 100% proceeds going to the aforementioned charities. A physical lathe cut vinyl of each phase will also be included in the NFT offering.

Artists included in each Token of Gratitude pod are as follows:

POD 1 -- Sulene, Austin Nops (from the band The Effens), Dave Brownsound (from the band Sum 41)

POD 2 -- Isaac Carpenter (from the band awolnation), Tal Vaisman/Jimmy Chaveau (From the band Kadeema), DANKE

POD 3 -- Adam Bentley (from the band Allegories), Terra Lightfoot, Luke Bentham (from the band The Dirty Nil), Brett Detar (from the band The Juliana Theory)

"I'm excited about this initiative in that it's bringing together revolutionary creative ideas and pushing boundaries while benefiting and helping some amazing charities enter the crypto donation space, which is maturing," said Parkside. "I think there's a lot of fear around AI replacing human creativity and what we're hoping to achieve with the Token Of Gratitude is to show how it can be complementary and even potentially inspirational."

"Learning that Gleb and his brother's AI is based on humans and technology working together makes me feel as if we're entering the next step in musical possibility. When I saw the plan, artists and charities Parkside has put together, I couldn't say yes fast enough," added Dave Brownsound.

"Behind the Scenes, MusiCounts, and Unison Fund are thrilled and honored to benefit from the Tokens of Gratitude initiative. As charitable organizations, we strive to make innovative and meaningful contributions to the communities we serve. This groundbreaking musical and technological endeavor will help us broaden our impact," says MusiCounts on behalf of the three charities.