The main actors in crypto usually want to be taken seriously. Meanwhile, there’s Justin Sun :
SINGAPORE - Media OutReach Newswire - 17 April 2024 - On April 16, the globally renowned decentralized platform TRON revealed its partnership with the esteemed composer Hans Zimmer to create a groundbreaking musical masterpiece in the Web3 sphere—the TRON Anthem. This upcoming theme song, set for a global release, not only symbolizes the unity and pioneering spirit of the TRON community but also reflects global users’ shared hope for the digital world’s future. TRON founder Justin Sun said that this piece is a tribute to the entire TRON community, aiming to inspire and empower users worldwide in ways never seen before.
You might remember Sun from when he was recruiting celebrities including Lindsay Lohan, Soulja Boy and Lil Yachty for publicity, or when he stood up Warren Buffett for publicity. Maybe you recall when he engineered the de-peg of his stablecoin for publicity. Perhaps you remember when he bought the husk of BitTorrent for publicity, or the time he claimed to be trying to buy Credit Suisse for publicity, or when he manoeuvred himself into the role of Grenada’s Permanent WTO Representative for publicity.
Now you can know him by his song:
Tron offers an explainer of sorts:
Sun has long been an avid admirer of the epic feel and profound emotional depth in Zimmer’s compositions. The crypto community was undoubtedly hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic and market downturn. Sun believes that tremendous strength needs to be summoned to uplift both the TRON community and the wider crypto world, and music is the ideal medium for this purpose. Through this powerful and epic piece, Sun hopes to motivate the community while showcasing TRON’s vision and contributions in the Web3 era.
The inception of this collaboration was sparked by a deep conversation between Sun and Zimmer in early 2022. Through this dialogue, these two luminaries in different domains unearthed a shared vision and aspiration for the digital future. Justin Sun demonstrated TRON’s vision of building a more open and equitable Internet in Web3, which engendered the creation of the TRON Anthem.
The press release continues like this for another 300 words, meaning it’s possible to listen to Tron Anthem twice while reading it, though it’s not obvious why anyone would. The song’s a by-the-numbers orchestral piece that starts overblown, accelerates bombastically into pomposity and ends before the coda, presumably because the money ran out. The refrain owes at least something to Carmen by way of Hotel California, with a soundscape quite similar to any Celtic Moods sample pack .
Sun offers an appreciation of Zimmer’s work that’s more contextual. Tron Anthem is “an embodiment of the innovative spirit and decentralized ideal that spurs our global users to push the envelope of the digital world and construct a more open, transparent, and vigorous future,” he says.
Starting with an exploratory and futuristic prelude, the melody develops piece by piece to portray the genesis of a new crypto world, the furious storm on the journey ahead, and the determined marching of believers and builders toward the visible dreamland. Captivating with its uplifting melody and deep meaning, the theme song depicts a more open, free, and equitable digital future, bringing great motivation and resonance to the TRON community.
Though even here, crypto’s most shameless publicity vampire can’t help telling on himself a bit:
As the musical work becomes well-publicized, TRON looks forward to joining forces with partners and users all over the world to usher in a new era of digital economy and write a new page in human history.
When promoting any business with Ponzi-like economics there might be no such thing as bad publicity, though there’s still such a thing as bad music. Maybe we were better off when the proposed next page of human history featured neither.
Nevertheless, Zimmer has a new studio and two divorces to pay for.* He can be excused for his part in this shameless engagement bait since the twice-Oscar-winning composer’s lasting contribution to society is more accurately measured by his 245 film and TV score credits , just as Sun’s can be measured by his SEC charge sheet .
* We’ve asked whether Zimmer took his fee in fiat or crypto. The song’s on his Spotify so presumably it really is him, though we’re checking that too. Any answers we get, we’ll update the post.
Update (19.04.24): Zimmer’s people tell us he was paid in dollars.