NFT
An Introductory Guide to NFTs in the Music Industry
Last week, rock band Kings of Leon became the first band to release an album as an NFT, expanding the possibilities for crypto and blockchain technology in the music industry. If that first sentence already lost you, you’ve come to the right place. NFTs are undoubtedly the buzziest new topic in music and for good reason. In February 2021 alone, NFTs earned nearly 22 million dollars in the music industry, according to data collected by Water & Music, but it’s much like explaining the Internet to someone in the ’90s who has never seen it before. NFTs are highly conceptual and unprecedented, but it makes sense once you get used to the idea. Consider this article your true introductory guide to NFTs in the music business, wherein, we will break down the most important characteristics of th...
ODESZA to Release Debut NFT Collection
As lockdown measures and the absence of live music events continue into a second year, the EDM community has recently experienced an explosion in the popularity of NFTs. The items have emerged as a means for artists to gain financial support during a time when many performers’ livelihoods remain uncertain. For those unfamiliar, an NFT, or non-fungible token, is a digital collectible item. NFTs are stored on a decentralized blockchain and can never be deleted or replicated, meaning that the person who buys or obtains one will be the sole owner. In the electronic music space, NFTs often appear as digital artworks accompanied by exclusive music. Following the likes of Flume, Disclosure, and many more, ODESZA is the latest major dance music act t...
Dillon Francis and Lane 8 are Beefing About NFTs
It seems the NFT craze is starting to rear its ugly head. Electronic music producer Lane 8 recently took to Twitter to share his thoughts on the current climate of NFTs, or non-fungible tokens, writing that sales of the digital collectibles are “pandering to the ultra rich while excluding the normal fans who built [him] up in the first place.” Hours after Lane 8 published the tweet, Dillon Francis took a screenshot of it and went on to mint the image as an NFT on the Zora marketplace, dubbing the item “cool story bro.” “[D]on’t worry Lane 8 when you make an NFT we will all remember this,” he wrote in the description, along with a smiley face. Francis then shared his newly minted NFT on Twitter, announcing that he would be donating the pro...
Flume Enters the NFT Space With Trippy “Saccade” Digital Artwork
Flume is the latest major electronic music artist to join the wildly popular NFT space. Flume’s foray into the NFT space, which could be one of its most lucrative, is a stunning collaboration with visual artist Jonathan Zawada. Titled “Saccade,” the trippy artwork depicts a polychromatic eye and pupil, which mutates and dilates in awe-inspiring fashion. It’s one of the most intricate NFT drops to emerge during the non-fungible token craze, which has exploded in the EDM landscape. Flume and Zawada’s “Saccade” NFT is accompanied by a hypnotic ambient song produced by the future bass pioneer, the audio of which the winning bidder will receive in MP3 and WAV formats. The rare 1/1 item is the first in a series of NFTs to be offered by th...
Disclosure Produced a New Song Live on Twitch and Minted It as an NFT
Grammy Award-nominated dance music duo Disclosure has thrown their hat into the red-hot NFT ring. Disclosure recently took to social media to announce their debut NFT release, which was streamed live on Twitch via a music production session. Immediately after the song was created, it was minted and made available for purchase on Zora, a major marketplace to buy, sell, and trade limited edition digital collectibles. Watch Disclosure’s Guy Lawrence explain their debut NFT release below. There’s a good chance you’ve found yourself in a Google rabbit hole recently due to the NFT craze. NFTs, or non-fungible tokens, are digital collectibles whose ownership is verified and protected by blockchain technology, ensuring authenticity. The items—often unique pieces of...
Kings of Leon Are Releasing Their New Album as an NFT
Kings of Leon are about to do something revolutionary. On Friday, the Grammy-winning alt-rock band will release their new album When You See Yourself as an NFT, making them the first band to ever release their album in this burgeoning cryptocurrency format. For those who aren’t up on their crypto lingo, NFT is an acronym for non-fungible token. They’re essentially a form of digital currency like Bitcoin, except instead of a monetary value, they contain art, music, or even something unique like a concert ticket. Throughout the last few months, their popularity has soared immensely in the music community — and so has their value. Over the weekend, Grimes sold a collection that contained exclusive songs and art that earned her $6 million via auction. In addition to releasing When Yo...
Nifty Gateway Founders on Why Musicians Should Embrace Digital Art: “EDM Artists Are Just the Perfect Fit for NFTs”
As the latest Bitcoin and cryptocurrency hype cycle has gripped investors and driven a whole new wave of adoption to the space, Duncan and Griffin Cock Foster find themselves at the epicenter. The twin brothers and entrepreneurs have helped spearhead a meteoric trend in the digital asset space with their company Nifty Gateway, a marketplace for digital art and collectibles called NFTs, or non-fungible tokens, which are collectible assets authenticated and secured by blockchain technology. A few years ago, the idea of collectors purchasing digitally minted art pieces to the tune of thousands and sometimes even millions of dollars would have seemed ludicrous. However, as public comfort and interest in blockchain technology has only continued to rise, cultural influencers—especially musicians...
Grimes Releases New Music via Cryptocurrency Art Auction, Rakes in $6 Million
Grimes has released new music, but it’s not available as a physical release or via streaming services. Instead, the unreleased material accompanies cryptocurrency art pieces in WarNymph Collection Vol 1, a collaboration with her brother Mac Boucher which made Grimes more than $6 million via auction. The art isn’t physically available, either, but comes in the form of non-fungible tokens (NFT). WarNymph contains 10 different pieces. As Exclaim points out, Earth is accompanied by the unreleased track, “Ærythe”, while Mars is soundtracked by “Mars Theme”. The collection was made available on the NFT marketplace Nifty Gateway and sold out in 20 minutes. A percentage of proceeds from the sales will be donated to environmental NGO Carbon 180, presumably in an attempt to offset the electrici...
Steve Aoki Announces Debut NFT Release
Steve Aoki is the latest dance music producer to join in on the blockchain-powered art craze after announcing his debut NFT release. NFTs, or non-fungible tokens, are digital collectibles that are unable to be replicated or mutually interchanged. The value of NFTs lies in their singularity, since they are truly unique and belong solely to their owner. Hosted on the popular Nifty Gateway marketplace, Aoki’s foray into the NFT space finds the dance music superstar teaming up with renowned visual artist Antoni Tudisco. Known for his beautifully chaotic releases, Tudisco has provided artwork for a litany of major brands, including Apple, Nike, Adidas, Sony, and BMW, among many others. Aoki took to Twitter to share a short preview of the new collection of NFTs, te...
RAC Has Launched a Creative Agency Specializing in NFTs
For years, RAC has been a strong proponent of blockchain technology. Last year, he went as far as to introduce his own cryptocurrency called $RAC, a Zora-based community token powered by Ethereum. He’s also fervently supported fellow artists looking to enter the high-tech world of NFTs, or non-fungible-tokens. Now, RAC will share his wealth of crypto knowledge through a new creative agency, 6 Digital. Announced across his social media pages, his new agency will specialize in NFTs and help artists develop and manage their own releases. 6 Digital will help artists navigate and demystify the complex world of the blockchain-powered digital collectibles, the popularity of which has mushroomed in recent weeks. Check out RAC’s announcement below. The new ventu...
Adventure Club Teases New NFT Release
Famed electronic music production duo Adventure Club has teased a new NFT release. You may have found yourself in a Google rabbit hole recently due to the rise of NFTs, or non-fungible tokens. The digital collectibles, which are stored on a decentralized blockchain and are therefore unable to be replicated, have quickly emerged as an alternate source of revenue for musicians who may be experiencing the pitfalls of COVID-19. Dance music producer and cryptocurrency pundit 3LAU recently sold a collection for a record-breaking $3,666,666, opening the floodgates of the arcane NFT world, which had experienced only lukewarm popularity at the time of Adventure Club’s first release back in December 2020. The duo took to social media yesterday, February 28th,...
Lindsay Lohan is Selling a Daft Punk NFT for $15,000
NFTs have been taking the dance music world by storm as of late. Many artists are finding that the digital collectibles are a great way to recoup some of the revenue lost due to the pandemic. Now, a recent story from Decrypt reports that a seller named “Daft Punk” has been gifting NFTs to a number of celebrities on the online marketplace Rarible. While the artwork featuring images of the duo was transferred to Mark Cuban, Soulja Boy, and Tyga, among other celebrities, only one has put theirs up for sale—Lindsay Lohan. The report shared that the listing was set to 8.8 ETH, which converted to around $15,000 when posted. However, at the time of this article’s publication, the listing for Lohan’s sale has been restricted from public viewing. Decrypt Simi...
