Photo Credit: Vinyl Group

Australia’s Vinyl Group has completed an agreement to acquire the assets of London-based Web3 platform Serenade.

Vinyl Group, the only music company listed on Australia’s Securities Exchange (ASX), has entered into an agreement to acquire the assets of London-based Serenade, a Web3 pioneer of physical and digital collectibles, through a business deed sale which includes 100% of the shares of Serenade’s UK subsidiary.

Serenade’s digital marketplace has served over 200 global artists, including Liam and Noel Gallagher, Muse, Sum 41, Twenty-One Pilots, and Thirty Seconds to Mars. Sales of their NFC-enabled Smart Formats have grown 56% month-over-month since launching in January, with a total of 12,000 units sold in the first half of the year.

Further, Serenade has commercial partnerships with over 100 record labels, including Warner Music Group, Beggars Group, Concord, Glassnote, FUGA, and PIAS. It will operate alongside the Vinyl brand with the goal of improving the gross margins of its fastest growing division.

Vinyl Group has acquired 100% of Serenade’s assets (excluding their R&D receivable) in exchange for $800,000 in shares, valued at the 15 day volume weighted average price (VWAP) of Vinyl Group shares on the ASX for the period immediately preceding the completion date, for a total of 8,214,274 ordinary shares. These shares will be subject to a 12-month escrow from the date of issue.

A further $1,500,000 in shares will be paid to the shareholders of Serenade, contingent on the combined business of Vinyl.com and Serenade achieving a minimum revenue target of $4,000,000 and Earnings Before Interest and Taxes (EBIT) of $500,000 in the 12 months following the completion date.

The company will also purchase Serenade’s UK subsidiary on a debt-free, cash-free basis, free of any and all encumbrances, for $1.00 with a one-month put option, for the purposes of expediting the expansion of the business into the UK and European markets.

As part of the deal, key Serenade employees have joined Vinyl Group, with Serenade CEO Max Shand entering into a full-time employment agreement with Vinyl Group, to both lead Serenade to achieve its performance goals while also helping to rapidly accelerate the Vinyl business. This will aid in expanding its product offerings into physical and digital collectibles while launching into additional markets.

To incentivize performance, Shand will receive five million options upon sale completion, vesting in two equal tranches. The first vests upon the combined business of Vinyl and Serenade achieving 12 month post completion goals of $4,000,000 in revenue and $500,000 in EBIT, aligned with the performance stock offered to Serenade shareholders. The second tranche vests on the second anniversary of an employee’s employment. These options will have a seven-year term and will have an exercise price to be agreed between the purchaser and Shand prior to the issue of the options.

“Max Shand has built Serenade into a business with significant potential, and through our acquisition of the platform, we’ll put the resources into Serenade to allow it to reach that potential,” said Vinyl Group CEO Josh Simons. “Vinyl Group is, at its core, a tech business, and this was a great opportunity to expand our tech offering. We look forward to welcoming Max and other key members of the Serenade team to Vinyl Group.”

Serenade CEO Max Shand concludes, “I’m thrilled to announce the acquisition of Serenade by Vinyl Group, Australia’s only ASX-listed music company. From our very first conversation, it was clear that Josh […] and the board shared our vision for supporting artists and audiences through outstanding music products, and so I’m excited to see how this partnership accelerates our impact. I also want to acknowledge the incredible Serenade team, whose passion, integrity, talent, and dedication made this all possible.”

The deal was completed over the weekend, with the buying giving notice to the seller that due diligence had been satisfied. Vinyl Group has agreed to pay the verifiable legal and accounting costs of Serenade capped at $20,000.

Web3 streaming platform Tune.fm has reportedly scored a $50 million raise. Photo Credit: Ben Blennerhassett

After kicking off 2024 by scoring “a $20 million commitment of capital,” web3 superfan and streaming platform Tune.fm has reportedly secured another $50 million.

That sizable raise came to light in reports from crypto trades including Cointelegraph, which specified that Global Emerging Markets had put up the sizable tranche. At the time of this writing, the New York City-based VC (a stakeholder in Events.com and much more) didn’t appear to have published a formal release about its Tune.fm support.

However, per the mentioned outlet, this latest raise means the self-described “decentralized music streaming platform and music collectibles marketplace” has obtained a cool $80 million from investors overall.

Besides a reported intention to use the $50 million to provide liquidity for its JAM token – that is, the digital currency behind the Hedera-powered service – Tune.fm doesn’t seem to have disclosed its precise plans for the capital on social media. (Statements published by multiple outlets, purportedly relating to today’s round, appear to be the same as those put out at the time of the January raise.)

In any event, when we last checked in, the startup was zeroing in on a global buildout, the development of a mobile app, and major label licensing deals. Now, Tune.fm’s app is currently live on the Play Store as well as the App Store, and on the international-expansion front, the company is continuing to plug projects from acts such as Moroccan rapper CM Yassir.

According to Tune.fm, said projects have the potential to earn “instant royalties” – to the tune of “10-100X more than you can on Spotify or Apple Music” – via on-platform streams out of the gate. Also touted by the business is its value as a promotional tool and the revenue possibilities behind its NFT marketplace.

On the opposite side of that arrangement, Tune.fm says users “get paid to play” promoted tracks, which are available “as lossless uncompressed masters.”

Especially because the per-stream royalty rate at leading platforms appears unlikely to improve anytime soon – among other things, growth is strongest in emerging markets with lower subscription and ad costs – it’ll be worth following the moves of Tune.fm.

Furthermore, competing services’ price increases could render Tune.fm more appealing yet, particularly given the apparent opportunity for superfan-geared offerings to become the norm. Universal Music acts are live on Hybe’s Weverse superfan app, Warner Music is preparing to roll out its own platform for diehard supporters, and Spotify has confirmed that a more expensive “Deluxe” tier is forthcoming.

A live performance from RZA and his fellow Wu-Tang Clan members. Photo Credit: Adam Riggall

A federal court has ordered Martin Shkreli to turn over “all of his copies, in any form,” of Once Upon a Time in Shaolin, the seventh studio album from the Wu-Tang Clan.

Judge Pamela K. Chen handed down that order today as part of a wider preliminary injunction, with the underlying case having been levied by crypto-focused company PleasrDAO back in June. (Also in June, the ultra-limited-edition work became available, at least in part, to the public as a token.)

For a bit of quick background, the Wu-Tang Clan in 2015 released just one physical copy of Once Upon a Time in Shaolin, which isn’t available via streaming services.

The so-called “pharma bro” Shkreli bought the decidedly rare double-CD for a reported $2 million, but authorities ultimately seized the asset following his conviction on securities charges. The aforementioned PleasrDAO then purchased the project, indicating in legal documents that it had paid a total of $4.75 million.

Predictably, given the hefty price tag, Once Upon a Time in Shaolin “was supposed to constitute the sole existing copy of the record, music, data and files, and packaging,” according to PleasrDAO’s action.

But “Shkreli improperly retained copies of the data and files at the time of the forfeiture and has released and/or intends to release them to the public,” the platform further claimed in the initial suit, specifically alleging, among other things, violations of the Defend Trade Secrets Act.

Needless to say, the alleged violations are hardly sitting right with the buyer, which participated in a preliminary injunction hearing this past Friday, August 23rd.

And during said hearing, the court was convinced that there were “sufficiently serious questions” about the potential “violation of the Defend Trade Secrets Act,” besides concerns relating to possible unjust enrichment as well as “immediate and irreparable injury” to PleasrDAO.

Consequently, Judge Chen has barred the 41-year-old defendant “from possessing, using, disseminating, or selling any interest in the Wu-Tang Clan album Once Upon a Time in Shaolin,” per the order.

Additionally, as highlighted, the judge ordered Shkreli to “turn over all of his copies, in any form,” of the 31-track album to his counsel by Friday, August 30th. Along with these copies, the Brooklyn native must sign an affidavit confirming “that he no longer possesses” the 110-minute effort.

Not stopping there, the court settled on the same deadline for the submission of “a letter from defense counsel certifying that they have taken possession of” the album copies. And by the 30th of September, Shkreli will need to provide the “names and contact information of the individuals to whom” he forwarded the work and any financial proceeds therefrom.

“Defendant is warned that any act by him in violation of any of the terms of this Order, after actual notice of this Order to Defendant, may be considered and prosecuted as contempt of this Court,” Judge Chen spelled out in closing.

On social media this afternoon, Shkreli took aim at the sales attributable to the NFT for Once Upon a Time in Shaolin and addressed reports of the preliminary injunction via different tweets.

Photo Credit: Shubham Dhage

Sony has announced it is developing an Ethereum layer 2 blockchain called ‘Soneium’ which it plans to use to create new services by leveraging the various businesses and IP within the Sony Group.

Sony Block Solutions Labs (under Sony Group) will continue to explore the provision and development of the Soneium blockchain in the future. Soneium is a public blockchain with an open network that anyone can participate in. By developing blockchain, which is the basic structure of web3 applications, Sony says it will be able to provide “comprehensive web3 solutions from the infrastructure to the application layer—rather than just providing partial services.”

End users will be able to access Soneium through applications that are compatible with the Soneium network—interacting with web3 games and NFT marketplaces. By utilizing blockchain technology, activity history within apps is managed in a more decentralized and autonomous manner than on the traditional internet. Each app can be used by accessing it from your digital wallet.

Sony says in addition to existing web3 services that will be compatible with Soneium’s future, it is also investigating how new services that collaborate with businesses within the Sony Group can be developed as Soneium-compatible apps. “We will work to create use cases that can spark the interest of people who have never used web3 services,” Sony says in a press release.

“Soneium’s web3 technology can support the expansion of creators’ potential and strengthen engagement with fan communities. Specifically, we will explore protecting the rights of content created by creators, new mechanisms for returning profits to support creators and fans, and opportunities for creators to be active across the digital and real worlds.”

Sony says it is planning to release a Soneium ‘testnet’ for app developers soon. Developers will be able to use the testnet to co-create applications using Soneium’s technology with developers both inside and outside the Sony Group. Sony Block Solutions Labs is a joint venture with Startale Labs Pte Ltd.—a Sony Group company established for the purpose of building new network infrastructure and utilizing blockchain technology.

Photo Credit: BAYC NFT

A federal judge has opted not to dismiss the years-old lawsuit filed against Justin Bieber, Madonna, and a number of others over alleged Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT deceptions.

That determination emerged in a new order, obtained exclusively by DMN, on several pending dismissal motions. For a bit of quick background – the class action complaint was originally submitted in December of 2022 – it’s hardly a secret that the vast majority of non-fungible tokens have parted with a massive amount of value since their hype-fueled height.

(At the time of this height, Universal Music Group’s 10:22PM even debuted a “supergroup,” Kingship, consisting of Bored Ape Yacht Club characters. The virtual band, while seemingly light on actual music releases, rolled out a Roblox experience last year.)

And according to the plaintiffs here, said hype, driven by “manufactured celebrity endorsements and misleading promotions” involving the defendants, caused unwitting customers to pursue “losing investments at drastically inflated prices.”

Naming other defendants including but not limited to Yuga Labs, Guy Oseary, Adidas, Serena Williams, Khaled, Snoop Dogg, Post Malone, Steph Curry, and (as of last August) Sotheby’s, the suit also describes alleged connections between the Bored Ape NFTs and the since-imploded FTX.

Meanwhile, much of the action is dedicated to charting the precise timetable associated with the “meteoric rise” of Bored Ape NFTs and the subsequent floor-price deflation that allegedly left misguided buyers in a bad spot.

In terms of the actual claims, the filing parties are alleging multiple violations of various California business and consumer laws as well as separate violations of the Exchange Act and the Securities Act.

Late November of last year saw Yuga Labs fire off an over 60-page motion to dismiss the case, maintaining, among other things, that the NFTs don’t constitute securities and that there wasn’t any “materially false or misleading statement, omission or fraudulent scheme” in play during the relevant period.

Additionally, individual defendants such as Bieber likewise urged the court to dismiss, arguing in many more words that the artist’s Bored Ape promotional posts on social media are non-actionable.

“Bieber’s purported statements [about Bored Ape NFTs] are non-actionable generalized and/or humorous statements on which no reasonable consumer would rely,” reads one line from the 30-year-old’s reply supporting Yuga’s dismissal motion.

Of course, there’s nothing humorous about losing boatloads of money, and the dismissal arguments haven’t persuaded the court at this stage.

Though Judge Fernando M. Olguin acknowledged “concerns” about the claims regarding the defendants’ express knowledge of the allegedly unlawful conduct, he underscored the need to begin by deciding whether the NFTs in question constitute securities as defined by the Securities and Exchange Acts.

Running with the point, the court rejected without prejudice the dismissal motions and set a September 3rd deadline for the parties to submit a proposed order and schedule for handling these same motions – albeit with the focus confined to the NFTs’ securities-classification status.

Should it be found that the NFTs do, in fact, constitute securities, the defendants could then submit renewed dismissal motions or seek to have the originals reinstated, the court said.

Doodles Records has launched ahead of the release of a project featuring Lil Wayne and others. Photo Credit: Doodles

Self-described “next-generation art and entertainment studio” Doodles has launched a namesake label as it prepares to release a project featuring Lil Wayne, Lil Yachty, and others.

Miami-headquartered Doodles, founded by Dapper Labs vets Evan Keast and Jordan Castro as well as artist Scott Martin (known professionally as Burnt Toast), reached out with word of Doodles Records.

Back in 2022, the overarching company, billed then as a “web3, media & entertainment brand” specializing in NFTs and more, unveiled a $54 million raise. Now, amid ongoing market shifts, Doodles’ official description lacks any mention of web3 or non-fungible tokens.

However, the three-year-old platform still sells NFTs alongside a variety of physical products, according to its website, with items in both categories based on stories, characters, and animation developed in-house.

Running with the point, Doodles is teeing up a “debut short film” entitled Dullsville and the Doodleverse for October, following a smaller-scale premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival in September.

With Pharrell Williams handling the project’s music, the aforementioned Lil Wayne and Lil Yachty have signed onto the film alongside Swae Lee and Coi Leray.

Besides having voice roles in the work, Lil Wayne, Lil Yachty, Swae Lee, and Coi Leray have recorded for the three-song soundtrack behind Dullsville and the Doodleverse. This EP is poised to debut via the just-established Doodles Records, and Sony Music’s The Orchard is set to handle distribution.

Those tracks are “Not in the Store” by Coi Leray and Pharrell Wiliams (scheduled to become available, complete with an animated music video, in early August); “Can’t Hold Me Down” by Lil Wayne, Lil Yachty, and Kyle Richh (later in August); and “Doodleverse (Draw Me Closer)” by Swae Lee, Lil Yachty, and Pharrell Williams (September).

Also on the horizon for Doodles is a “direct-to-community media platform” called DoodlesTV, through which subscribers will receive early access to music videos, premieres (including for Dullsville and the Doodleverse), digital collectibles, and more.

Particularly given the industry’s ongoing superfan-monetization focus, it’ll be worth closely monitoring the results of Dullsville and the Doodleverse and the other releases Doodles is preparing. Though it perhaps goes without saying, commercial results aren’t guaranteed for films even when they feature superstar acts.

But generating solid fan interest via a comparatively accessible format (short movies watchable at home as opposed to full-scale theatrical releases) could well pay off for Doodles owing to the comprehensive music, merch, and fan-community infrastructure in place. And there’s certainly something to be said for having direct control of animation and creative direction.

In a statement, Doodles CEO Julian Holguin made clear that music will play a significant part at his company moving forward.

“Music is and will continue to be a core pillar of Doodles,” the former Billboard higher-up communicated, “so we’re thrilled to announce the official formation of Doodles Records.

“Releasing music with some of the most legendary and relevant artists in the world on our first project is a dream come true and a massive source of pride. Moving forward, we will fuse music, animation and technology to create groundbreaking content experiences that will empower artists and their communities,” finished Holguin.

A live performance from Snoop Dogg, who’s facing an infringement action over two BODR tracks. Photo Credit: gcardinal

Another day, another copyright battle: Snoop Dogg has been slapped with an infringement complaint for allegedly infringing on two tracks incorporated into BODR.

Producer-songwriter Trevor Lawrence Jr. just recently submitted that complaint to a California federal court, with Snoop Dogg himself, Death Row Records, and Web3 platform Gala Music named as defendants.

As described by the direct, contributory, and vicarious infringement suit, the plaintiff in 2010 created and copyrighted two backing tracks, “Pop Pop Pop Goes My 9” and “Get This D with Hook.”

Fast forward a decade to November of 2020, when the Ed Sheeran and Alicia Keys collaborator Lawrence Jr. claims to have presented the works to Snoop Dogg “for potential in-studio experimentation.”

The way the filing party tells the story, Snoop “responded positively” and requested copies, which were provided without “any agreement” in place regarding the efforts’ commercial exploitation.

Then, late January of 2022 allegedly saw a representative of Snoop Dogg and his Death Row Records label reach out to Lawrence Jr. to explain that the famed rapper and entrepreneur “intended to include a derivative work based upon ‘Pop Pop Pop Goes My 9’ in an upcoming album.”

During that conversation, Lawrence Jr. explained that he’d require as a fee a $10,000 producer advance (to be recouped against the appropriate royalty stream), the retention of a 50 percent stake in the underlying composition, and publishing royalties from the derivative creation, per the legal text.

The terms, Lawrence Jr. purportedly made clear during the call, would need to be put into writing; the representative is said to have confirmed that the described details were suitable. And when he received a similar call the following day about Snoop’s desire to use “Get This D with Hook,” the plaintiff essentially communicated the same general terms, according to the suit.

Though it’s not exactly spelled out in the lawsuit itself, Lawrence Jr. does, in fact, have producer credits on the resulting BODR works: “Pop Pop” and “Get This Dick,” with the latter including a songwriter credit to boot.

Nevertheless, Lawrence Jr. claims he wasn’t “furnished with any paperwork to confirm the agreed-upon scope of use or terms of compensation for exploitation” of his works. That’s proving a big hang-up in light of the “stash boxes” that Snoop Dogg and Death Row released via Gala towards the top of 2022.

Unsurprisingly, given Snoop’s longtime support for Web3 and the nature of Gala’s model, the stash boxes included NFTs (and in particular 1,470 tokens per track, we covered nearly two years ago). But Lawrence Jr. didn’t “authorize any such exploitation of his work, which was never within his prior contemplation.” All told, the plaintiff estimates that the defendants pulled in “tens of millions of dollars” via the so-called stash boxes.

While the majority of the complaint gives the distinct impression that Lawrence Jr.’s seeking damages specifically for the stash boxes and other allegedly unapproved exploitations, the main body’s final paragraph makes it seem like the plaintiff hasn’t received any royalties at all.

“To date,” that paragraph reads, “Defendants have refused to properly license the Lawrence Tracks or compensate Lawrence for their use in the Broadus Tracks. This refusal encompasses not only the Stash Boxes, but all traditional forms of phonorecord exploitation (for which Lawrence has received no royalties from Defendants).”

In any event, Lawrence Jr. is seeking injunctions blocking the alleged infringement, damages, and the profits resulting from the BODR tracks in question. DMN reached out to Gala for comment but didn’t receive a response in time for publishing.

DRiP Haus has officially acquired Vault Music as it plots continued expansion initiatives and prepares to release a mobile app. Photo Credit: DRiP

Self-described Solana-based creator platform DRiP Haus has announced the acquisition of Vault Music, an artist-geared hub for exclusive digital items.

DRiP, which says it enables fans to “build the world’s greatest collection” of limited-edition music, art, and more, unveiled the buyout via a formal release. Established by FanDuel co-founders, Vault in February of 2023 disclosed a $4 million Series A.

Simultaneously, the “fantasy record label game” creator emphasized the reach of its underlying “Digital Music Collectible (DMC) format,” which has drawn participation from artists including Fletcher, Kids That Fly, Naïka, and a number of others.

In a potential indicator of the wider Web3 space’s positioning, DRiP opted against so much as mentioning digital music collectibles (let alone NFTs) when revealing the Vault purchase. Additionally, the transaction’s precise price tag and post-deal organizational structure are unclear.

What we do know, however, is that “all” Vault’s drops and users are expected to transition to DRiP, which is preparing to release a mobile app and already counts as artist users Jason Derulo and Waka Flocka Flame.

Said app is poised to roll out on Android as well as iOS “later this summer,” with “highly requested music-specific features” and “a natively embedded wallet” part of the offering. Additionally, DRiP creator support for news, videos, and podcasts is on the way, higher-ups relayed.

Addressing the deal in a statement, DRiP founder and CEO Vibhu Norby applauded Vault’s success in “harboring musicians from outside of the existing ecosystem” and made clear plans “to help them continue that effort.”

Meanwhile, Vault CEO Kara Burney reiterated a goal of unlocking additional revenue streams for independent artists at the intersection of Web3 technology and superfan platforms.

“We’re incredibly proud of the tools and community we’ve built to help independent artists sustain their careers directly with their own fanbases,” Burney communicated. “DRiP shares our belief that web3 technology can be used thoughtfully to create true ownership and new royalty models that did not previously exist for artists.

“Ultimately, this is a win for our community, who believed that on-chain music could make a sustainable difference in the livelihoods of artists, and improve fan experiences in the process,” concluded the longtime marketing exec. “We believe wholeheartedly in DRiP’s vision to transform the creator economy, and we are grateful to be a part of their ongoing investments to serve the music industry.”

In related news, Web3 streaming platform Gala Music, having partnered with Snoop Dogg and Death Row Records on exclusive tracks in May, today teamed up with Rakim. With the rapper’s first studio album in 15 years scheduled for a broader release on July 26th, three of the project’s songs are already live solely on Gala – with seven instrumental works dropping on the 12th.

New Tha Dogg Pound tracks featuring Snoop Dogg and October London have released exclusively on Web3 streaming platform Gala Music. Photo Credit: gcardinal

Just when you thought streaming exclusives were dead, new music from Snoop Dogg has become available solely through Web3 streaming platform Gala.

Gala Music and Snoop Dogg-owned Death Row Records shared details on the exclusive tracks today. As many know, the Shiller co-founder Snoop Dogg, who inked a far-reaching Gamma partnership deal last year, has long advocated for NFTs and the broader Web3 space.

Meanwhile, excepting livestreams (like YouTube’s “Couchella”), live performance tracks (on Apple Music and more), and spatial audio editions, streaming exclusives have for some time been few and far between. The shift towards pan-platform releases wasn’t an accident, as they reward paid subscribers across all platforms by ensuring releases are widely available.

Evidently, though, exclusive studio tracks haven’t ceased hitting streaming services altogether. Tha Dogg Pound (consisting of Daz Dillinger and Kurupt), which is set to drop a new album on all platforms on May 31st, has debuted “Finesse” and “Baggin U Up” on Gala Music.

Featuring Snoop Dogg as well as October London, the tracks are already available to play, without ads or a required sign-up of any kind, via Gala.

In keeping with Snoop’s previously noted affinity for NFTs, 100 tokens appear to have been sold (after being plugged on the appropriate Gala pages) for each of the songs. Snoop Dogg didn’t officially comment on the exclusives, which have followed the on-platform rollout of singles from Youngboy NBA, Jordin Sparks, Snoop himself, and others.

However, Gala president of music Leila Steinberg touched upon her company’s ambitious vision for the Web3 opportunities available to artists.

“Gala Music is at the forefront of ushering both established and emerging artists into Web3 and introducing them to the many opportunities that exist in the space,” said the former 2Pac manager Steinberg. “And we couldn’t be more excited to partner with Death Row Records and a legendary Hip-Hop group, Tha Dogg Pound, on their first Web3 releases!”

Admittedly, NFT sales have slowed dramatically from their peak, and music Web3 funding, owing to growing attention on AI and several different factors, has decreased substantially. Nevertheless, as the industry continues to zero in on superfan monetization – Warner Music is developing an entire app dedicated to capitalizing on fandom – it stands to reason that Web3 projects may still find takers among particularly committed supporters.

Bringing the focus back to streaming exclusives, Snoop Dogg previously pulled the Death Row Records catalog from leading platforms. And before returning the relevant works to Spotify and more after uniting with the aforesaid Gamma, Snoop and Death Row finalized a timed-exclusive pact with TikTok.

Photo Credit: Coachella / OpenSea

Coachella is dipping its toes into NFT offerings again—despite the disastrous FTX partnership that featured ‘lifetime’ tickets. Here’s the latest.

Coachella has announced it is teaming up with OpenSea to offer NFTs to concert goers—again. That didn’t go so well last time after cryptocurrency exchange FTX went belly-up and declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2022. That NFT drop offered 10 lifetime festival passes as an NFT—which became worthless in the FTX bankruptcy. The Coachella NFT Discord server filled up with complaints that users could not transfer their NFTs from their FTX wallets.

“We do not currently have any lines of communication with the FTX team,” a Coachella server administrator told those buyers at the time. “We have assembled an internal team to come up with solutions based on the tools we have access to. Our priority is getting Coachella NFTs off of FTX, which appears to be disabled at the moment.”

Coachella wasn’t the only live music festival effected by the debacle. Tomorrowland also offered an NFT drop through FTX, with those NFTs becoming unavailable as the platform wound its way through bankruptcy proceedings. Both of those initiatives were based on the Solana blockchain, which received significant investment from venture capital backers.

Coachella’s new NFT effort with OpenSea as a partner will use the Avalanche blockchain network—a complete abandonment of Solana. These new Coachella Keepsakes are a series of three NFT collections with what it calls “tangible, in-your-hands, VIP experiences and merchandise.”

“From exclusive access to the festival’s most coveted spots like the Rose Garden or the new Oasis Lounge to limited edition Coachella merchandise, these NFTs are your all access pass to some of the festival’s most exclusive offerings,” the press release reads.

“Our collaboration with OpenSea begins a new chapter in how we use NFTs to provide unique custom experiences for Coachella in real-life an online,” adds Sam Schoonover, Innovation Lead for Coachella. “We’re moving towards a future where Coachella isn’t just an event you attend—but an experience you can own and shape based on digital tokens in your possession.”

That last bit is really important—if you do plan on buying a Coachella NFT you should read about self-custodial wallets. Part of the reason those first FTX NFTs failed is because they remained in the bankrupt company’s possession as the platform collapsed. OpenSea has been around in the web3 space for a while—but there’s no guarantee a web3 crash wouldn’t send it into the brink, too.

Photo Credit: OneOf

In 2021, the Recording Academy struck up a partnership with NFT platform OneOf to distribute three NFT collections to commemorate the 64th, 65th, and 66th Grammy Awards. So what happened?

Details for the NFT partnership with the Quincy Jones-backed NFT platform were revealed November 2021. Both the 64th and 65th Grammy Awards received their NFT tie-ins as part of that planned partnership, but the 66th Grammy Awards NFTs are nowhere to be found on the OneOf website. So what happened to that partnership?

“In considering an NFT partner, we were committed to working with a like-minded organization that had an artist-first approach and we undoubtedly found that in OneOf,” Recording Academy Co-President Panos A. Panay said in the initial announcement of the partnership.

“As an Academy, we are always looking for ways to help artists discover new forms of creative expression, while also creating new ways of income generation and ways for fans to interact with the artists that they love. OneOf shares that vision, and we are proud to work with a sustainable NFT company.”

But as funding for music web3 projects dried up in 2023, OneOf has seemingly disappeared from the conversation. Digital Music News covered the platforms’ first new drop in more than six months in January 2024—a Music Hall of Fame NFT collection featuring art prints and vintage slides of popular music figures including KISS, Jim Morrison, Jimi Hendrix, David Bowie Elvis Presley, Notorious B.I.G., and more.

Those NFTs are available for sale on the OneOf website for $395, though a peek at the transaction records show the sales have been few and far between.

OneOf seems have run afoul of the hardcore NFT buyers who feel as though the platform is now a joke. “Most of us won’t spend another dime until they follow through with promises of past drops,” one investor told Digital Music News. “When I bring them up on NFT groups, it is as a joke or [people] have never heard of OneOf.”

The Recording Academy seems to have given up on the partnership as NFTs were not a part of the discussion for the 66th Grammy Awards at all—especially as funding in the space has dried up. Crunchbase reports total web3 funding fell 74% in 2023 compared to 2022’s funding figures—from $26.6 billion down to just $7 billion.

A promo image from the OneOf “Sky’s the Limit” Notorious B.I.G. NFT Collection. Photo Credit: Michael Lavine

Amid mounting complaints from token holders – and adjacent concerns about its path forward – non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace OneOf has shown signs of life with a new “drop,” centering on prints of “vintage slides” featuring artists such as Elvis and David Bowie.

A longtime OneOf customer tipped Digital Music News to this latest OneOf project, which the platform quietly plugged on social media. Against the backdrop of reduced music web3 funding and an even more pronounced falloff in the value of NFTs, the corresponding Instagram post was OneOf’s first since early November.

Initially priced at $199 a pop but with a current cost of $395 apiece, each of the tokens appears to serve as a “digital certificate of authenticity” for physical prints of slides owned by Globe Entertainment & Media Corporation. Up for grabs at the time of this writing were prints and digital certificates (seemingly a total of 10 per act) featuring the Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix, Mick Jagger, The Beatles, Kiss, and others.

The aforementioned customer told us that OneOf had hosted a Twitter Spaces event about the “Music Hall of Fame” products at hand – also expressing the belief that takers appeared few and far between for the pricey prints.

Meanwhile, on the NFT company’s Discord server, that OneOf’s newest endeavor in months revolves around fresh tokens as opposed to support for already-sold NFTs looks to be fueling renewed community-involvement complaints.

“Most of us wont spend another dime until they follow through with promises of past drops,” one investor spelled out. “When I bring them up on nft groups, its either a joke or theyve never heard of oneof.”

OneOf has for some time faced similar complaints – raising additional questions yet about its operational outlook following over $70 million in announced funding. Last year, we reported on the formerly high-flying company’s apparent woes – including, most significantly on the music side, allegations of failing to honor promises behind a Notorious B.I.G. token drop.

Chief among these promises was (and is) the “first access” that purchasers would purportedly receive to The Brook, a “lifestyle, fashion, culture, music, entertainment metaverse experience launching soon with BIGGIE’s hyper realistic avatar as a character.”

Close to two years after the corresponding release was published, though, The Brook isn’t live, and the appropriate domain name has long been listed for sale. Furthermore, customers, who spent substantial sums on the tokens, are continuing to inquire about other components of the drop, including a promised say in the commercial use of “Biggie Smalls’ most famous freestyle.”

“Does One Of still have employees?” one individual asked in the Biggie section of OneOf’s Discord server in late December. “What are they currently up to? I’m lost and trying to figure out when we can use that Biggie track.”

“CRICKETS ……. The whole site seems like until they need some money then here goes the globe drops another 32k for what, we dont get anything but crickets. Come on man!!!!!” a different ticked-off token holder wrote in January.

A cursory examination of the same section of OneOf’s Discord server shows that Biggie NFT holders may have had, for a limited period, the opportunity to mint separate Big Poppa avatars in The Sandbox free of charge. Many say they weren’t aware of the deadline to do so, per posts on the convoluted subject.

Photo: Logan Weaver

Yesterday, Digital Music News unearthed a shocking statistic in our latest DMN Pro Weekly Report: music-focused Web3 funding had plunged 51% between 2021 and 2023. But why are there so many green shoots in January if this space is crashing?

For signs of life in the music-focused Web3 space, look no further than DMN’s inbox this morning. Top of the pile? An alert from Warner Music Group’s ‘Web3 Music Accelerator,’ a joint effort involving Polygon Labs. DMN first reported on WMG’s Web3 incubator last summer, and several months later, some early hopefuls are being announced.

According to the companies, the aim of the incubator is ‘to power the next generation of innovation at the intersection of Web3 and music’ — and most likely, take a healthy cut of any successes.

(Incidentally, Universal Music Group is also prepping its own incubator — dubbed ‘UMusicLift’ — though it’s unclear if Web3 will be part of the initial portfolio of supported companies. The initiative is coming out of UMG’s Digital Innovation team and will serve as a new online hub dedicated to ‘supporting the next generation of diverse, music-related startups and entrepreneurs who aim to accelerate the next wave of digital transformation.’)

Interested in a serious deep-dive into Web3 startups and funding in the music industry? Check out our latest DMN Pro research report on Web3 successes, failures, pivots, and funding levels — including a rundown of every company making a play for this space. 

Not a DMN Pro subscriber? Change that immediately!

So far, WMG’s ‘winners’ are merely ‘hopefuls,’ and both have celebrity backers — which isn’t necessarily an indicator of eventual success (or, for that matter, failure). MITH is focused on fan engagement, with Jack Harlow, Emilia Clarke, and Halle Berry offering some celebrity sizzle to the platform. MITH plans to give artists AI-driven data and analytics from ‘artist-owned first-party data on their audiences,’ with Jack Harlow among the first artists to benefit.

Also on WMG’s ‘most likely to succeed’ list is Muus Collective, which features Paris Hilton and celebrity gamer Felicia Day on the board. The company’s rewards-focused community approach focuses on ‘fashion-centric experiences’ across mobile games, digital collectibles, and broader entertainment. What that means in reality remains to be seen, though expect a heady explosion of gaming, music, and fashion.

“Music and fashion have long been inextricably linked, and we see a wealth of opportunity to explore this relationship in a gamified virtual environment where players interact and express themselves with both music and fashion,” relayed Amber Bezahler, a cofounder of Muus Collective.

Music Web3 funding, 2021-2023 (Source: DMN Pro Music Industry Funding Tracker)

If that sounds eye-roll-worthy, we get it. After all, investors have splurged over $400 million on music-focused Web3 plays since 2021, with sub-categories like NFTs, the metaverse, cryptocurrency and blockchain. Many of those startups have yet to produce a proof of concept – or are simply dead.

In fact, we found a few dead bodies after simply shaking our editorial stick. Chief among the moribund is the Quincy Jones-backed OneOf, a self-described ‘NFT platform built specifically for the music vertical.’ OneOf announced a $63 million raise in 2021 and another $8.4 million round in 2022. But as we’ve exhaustively reported, several customers claim this company is ghosting its customers.

Several maintain that the formerly high-flying company has failed to honor promises made ahead of token drops, such as the development of a Notorious BIG metaverse. Perhaps worthless coins are a cliché at this point, but several customers holding tokens are still wondering what happened on OneOf’s Discord server.

Meanwhile, music NFT platform Stems, which raised $4 million in 2022, looks to have gone dark, as we first reported last year. Predictably, funding has dipped in the music non-fungible token sector and seemingly all but ceased for industry companies that deal solely in NFTs.

Sounds bleak, except for a significant number of Web3 plays that are quietly pivoting.

Topping that list is Limewire, which quickly plunged into — then out of — the murky waters of Web3. Ahead of its 2022 relaunch, the face-lifted LimeWire was billed as a “one-stop marketplace for artists and fans alike to create, buy and trade NFT collectibles with ease.”

The platform then scored a $6.5 million raise in May 2023 before shifting into the burgeoning generative AI sphere, a move set in motion by the September buyout of BlueWillow.

Which brings us to January of 2024.

Despite the seemingly dour drop in funding since 2021, 2024 has delivered three unexpectedly large Web3 rounds, according to DMN Pro’s Music Industry Funding Database. That includes three multimillion-dollar raises for Medallion (a $13.7 million Series A), Tune.fm ($20 million), and TRAX (a $2.9 million “decentralized funding round”). Those rounds are healthy, though investors are likely looking for a more focused and disciplined approach to Web3 in 2024.

Like we said, it’s complicated.

During 2021 and 2022, capital rushed into non-fungible token (NFT), cryptocurrency/blockchain, metaverse, and wider music Web3 startups in the music industry. But how are these businesses faring amid dramatic funding and market changes?

Following the hype surrounding music Web3 startups and their vast capital raises, how are these companies doing? With a quick-moving media cycle often skipping to the next story, a number of underperforming Web3 companies have been flying under the radar.

But that doesn’t paint a complete picture. Last year saw several companies technically classified as ‘Web3’ double down — or pivot into — more lucrative sub-sectors.

Medallion, for example, announced a $13.7 million Series A (and ambitious plans to bolster its presence in the increasingly crowded superfan arena) in December of 2023. And ahead of its 2022 relaunch, the revamped LimeWire was billed as a “one-stop marketplace for artists and fans alike to create, buy and trade NFT collectibles with ease.”

Then, the platform scored a $6.5 million raise in May of 2023 before shifting into the burgeoning generative AI sphere, a move set in motion by the September buyout of BlueWillow. Other Web3-focused music companies are likewise reinventing themselves to align with market trends.

Meanwhile, multiple Web3 plays have drawn huge funding rounds in January of this year. So what’s likely to happen in 2024? That’s the focus of our latest DMN Pro Weekly Report.

Report Table of Contents

I. A Look At Web3 Music Startups’ Funding

Graph: Web3 Music Funding by Year, 2021-23

II. How Web3 Companies Evolved During 2023

III. Not All Digital Technologies Are Made Equal – NFTs Face Pronounced Market Challenges

Graph: Music NFT Funding by Year, 2021-23

IV. Are There Any Positive Takeaways for Web3 Music Companies in 2024?

(l to r) TRAX co-founders Tom Stuart (CEO), Ollie Francis (CTO), and Henry Wilson (COO). Photo Credit: TRAX

Web3 superfan platform TRAX has announced a nearly $3 million “decentralized funding round.”

UK-based TRAX, which bills itself specifically as “a content aggregator and social marketplace helping artists build a digital space for” diehard supporters, just recently unveiled the $2.9 million raise.

As described by the startup, the capital was secured via the Internet Computer blockchain. Now, the entity is set to function “as a decentralized autonomous organization” (DAO), with its various $TRAX governance-token holders “democratically” controlling operations.

“The funds raised will be held in TRAX DAO’s treasury,” the company indicated, “allowing $TRAX holders to decide on how best to utilise them.”

Notably, between the late-December close of the decentralized round and the mid-January funding announcement, the initially mentioned $2.9 million tranche is said to have swelled (owing to a valuation boost for the underlying digital currency) to approximately $4 million.

“With our decentralized funding round complete,” CEO Tom Stuart communicated in a statement, “TRAX is seeking opportunities to maximize the benefit we provide to artists through partnerships, events, and other bespoke opportunities, in the UK and around the world.”

Previously, December had seen the TRAX head Stuart thank the operation’s backers, tease “some big announcements and updates in the New Year,” and double down on an ambitious goal of bringing “web3 technology to the masses through music.”

Expanding on the latter objective as it relates to TRAX’s core superfan-monetization ambitions, the business has emphasized its plans to help artists build lucrative fan communities offering exclusive content and shows.

As 2024 progresses – and a number of superfan platforms work in earnest to drive monetization – it’ll be worth monitoring the actual income advantages delivered to creators. As it stands, the likes of Tune.fm, Renaissance, We Are Giant, Sony Music-backed Fave, and several others are equipped with newly raised funds and looking to capitalize on the fandom of ultra-dedicated supporters.

Meanwhile, evidence suggests that superfan enthusiasm – a central component of each company’s model, of course – remains abundant. South Korea physical album sales exceeded a record 115 million during 2023, according to Circle Chart data, with Seventeen alone having moved an astonishing 16 million units on the year.

Additionally, streaming’s prevalence is growing dramatically in emerging markets including India, with the vast majority of MENA’s music revenue now attributable to streaming as well. In the long term, these and adjacent developments could well lay the groundwork for global superfan initiatives.

Tune.fm has announced $20 million in new funding. Photo Credit: Tune.fm

Web3 streaming platform Tune.fm has disclosed “a $20 million commitment of capital” and plans to score major label licensing deals. 

Tune.fm only recently revealed the multimillion-dollar tranche via social media as well as a formal release, with several crypto and blockchain publications having promptly covered the news from there.

Founded in 2011 by brothers Andrew and Brian Antar – the latter of whom is CEO and holds the same position at companies called Promo Power Group and Shipmate Fulfillment – Tune.fm says its Hedera Hashgraph-built JAM token and adjacent “micropayments technology” afford artists “instant royalties” for on-platform streaming.

The overarching model also enables creators to pull in between 10 and 100 times more royalties than they would on traditional services like Apple Music and Spotify, according to Tune.fm, which operates a music non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace as well.

Additionally, on the superfan front, Tune.fm has emphasized that its offerings further encompass backstage passes, meet-and-greet opportunities, behind-the-scenes content, merch, and more.

Returning to the $20 million commitment, Madrid-based alternative investment group LDA Capital is said to have provided the cash, joining existing Tune.fm backers including Animoca Brands, Andy Hertzfeld, and Union League of Philadelphia affinity club Broad Street Angels.

Moving forward, the Web3 music service intends to put the funding towards attracting additional users, building out its team, launching new products (among them, at least in the long term, “a music festival metaverse”), and enhancing “liquidity for the JAM token across international markets,” higher-ups signaled.

Expanding on these points, a Tune.fm mobile app, for both iOS and Android, is expected to roll out “soon,” per execs. Likewise on the horizon is a desktop app for Mac and Windows – besides, most significantly, licensing discussions with the decidedly monetization-minded Big Three.

“Tune.fm is also planning to negotiate licensing deals to onboard the full catalog of major label content typically available on Spotify and Apple Music,” the business spelled out. “Labels and publishers can also leverage Tune.fm’s technology to dramatically increase their earnings for their artists’ music.”

Looking ahead to the remainder of 2024, it will, of course, be worth keeping an eye out for developments regarding Tune.fm’s major label talks.

As highlighted, Universal Music, Sony Music, and Warner Music have for some time now been working in earnest to squeeze more money out of streaming and, relatedly, capitalize upon diehard support. Superfan app Fave detailed a $2 million raise in October with backers including Warner and Sony.

More recently, December saw Web3 artist-community platform Medallion unveil a $13.7 million Series A and an ambitious 2024 roadmap.

Photo Credit: Avenged Sevenfold

NFTs are dead, right? Avenged Sevenfold hasn’t gotten the memo, despite fan complaints after their first NFT drop in 2021. Now they’ve minted one million more NFTs with Ticketmaster and Berify. But do their fans have an appetite for these things?

The band announced the one-million mint for its alternate reality game, ‘Life is But A Dream…” which coincides with their album announcement and single release. As part of the NFT minting, over 335,000 Ticketmaster digital collectibles were part of the rewards program for the band’s fanbase. But this 2023 NFT initiative isn’t the first time Avenged Sevenfold went hard on NFTs and blockchain technology only to be met with harsh criticism from its super fans.

In 2021, the band announced it was mimicking the Bored Ape Yacht Club DAO with a collection of 10,000 Deathbats NFTs for its fan club. Holding a Deathbat was supposed to grant access to an exclusive community, giving those members other ways to connect with the band. Rare Deathbats supposedly allowed meet-and-greets at shows, free tickets for life, merch airdrops, and more. Frontman Matt ‘M. Shadows’ Sanders led that initiative, which was not well received.

“Seeing Shadows going on a thousand podcasts/radio shows pushing NFTs, explaining what they are, and trying to convince the audience that they’re worth purchasing has been sad,” writes one fan on reddit in a thread titled, ‘NFTs are a scam and A7X should be ashamed for pushing them.’

“My recollection of Shadows and more importantly the band is they shy away from media appearances and it feels like the only reason they’re showing their faces is to promote a ponzi scheme, because that’s what NFTs are—a ponzi scheme.”

Getting fans to embrace the technology has proven more difficult than expected, probably because the speculative market collapsed. The band has offered education about its NFTs through its Discord and has created videos on why NFTs are the future of interactions for superfans. So where do Ticketmaster and Berify come into all of this?

Berify’s technology authenticates and rewards fans for their various purchases. Token-gated ticketing is provided by Ticketmaster, giving fans access to the best tickets first and access to scannable merchandise for authentication. It’s worth noting that Avenged Sevenfold went hard on The Sandbox game, which featured NFT-based land purchases. The Sandbox CEO Sebastien Borget shared in September 2023 that roughly 50% of tis business comes from countries in Asia.

“If you don’t focus on Asia, you will think the metaverse is dead from the North American and Western side,” Borget told CoinTelegraph. “But it’s so hot in Asia. Hong Kong and Korea are the top two markets, followed by Japan.”

Photo Credit: Glen Carrie

LimeWire has announced it is releasing an AI Music Studio to allow users to create “fully ownable AI-generated tracks.” This is LimeWire’s second investment in AI tech.

In September 2022, LimeWire acquired AI image generation platform BlueWillow. The company says its AI Music Studio will introduce a revolutionary, easy-to-use interface that empowers individuals, regardless of their experience, to become music artists. LimeWire says users will be able to generate full-length tracks, create cover images for their work, and publish all on a single platform.

LimeWire says it also incorporates open-source AI technologies, enabling users to retain ownership of the music they create. “The launch of LimeWire AI Music Studio represents a groundbreaking technological milestone, symbolizing not only a stride forward in our pursuit of innovation but a profound commitment to fostering creativity within the dynamic landscape of modern content creation,” shares Paul Zehetmayr, co-CEO of LimeWire. “As music continues to evolve, so does our dedication to providing aspiring musicians with cutting-edge tools that empower and amplify their artistic expression.”

The AI Music Studio debut lays the foundation for LimeWire’s continuous product development plan, aiming to fully launch the AI-enabled audio workstation in 2024. LimeWire envisions a future where anyone can be a music artist producing full-length tracks, from beats and melodies to lyrics and editable singing voices. This commitment aligns with LimeWire’s overarching mission to provide a best-in-class suite of AI tools.

“Our platform is designed to break down barriers, allowing aspiring musicians and creators to unleash their potential with the power of AI,” adds Julian Zehetmayr, co-CEO of LimeWire. “As we venture into the future of music, it is our firm believe that AI technology should be a catalyst for inclusivity, empowering aspiring musicians from all walks of life. By providing accessible AI tools, we aim to level the playing field, ensuring that traditional resource contstraints no longer hinder the creative journey.”

Photo Credit: 10:22PM (Universal Music Group)

Remember those Bored Ape NFTs Universal Music bought at the height of the NFT craze? They’re finally ready to capitalize on the dead trend with a Roblox experience.

10:22PM, a joint venture with Universal Music Group, has announced a new “immersive experience” built around KINGSHIP in Roblox. That’s the name of the virtual band the JV has created around the NFTs. The experience launched in Roblox today.

Players start their journey by crash landing on an island paradise, then embarking on a quest to unite the band members. For the first six weeks, visitors to the KINGSHIP Islands can earn limited items and emotes for their avatars. There are also animated avatar heads and bodies for sale in the experience.

“For the first time, both KINGSHIP’s community and new fans can immerse themselves in the band’s world as they work to rescue the members and unite them in the Floating Villa,” reads the press release about the experience. “As they go through the Islands, fans will earn free accessories to style their avatars inspired by the band and other characters in KINGSHIP’s story.”

As the weeks progress, fans will be able to earn additional free limited virtual goods and experience official music produced by Hit-Boy and James Fauntleroy, who serve as co-executive producers and their sonic creative team, who oversee the evolution of the group’s music direction and sound. KINGSHIP Key Card holders qualify for special Roblox badges and Floating Villa access.

The KINGSHIP Islands experience is also one of the first experiences from a music group to support facial animation. It enables visitors to embody the band members throughout the Roblox platform with facial expressions mapped to actions. These emotes and facial animations are available to purchase in the experience—which is where UMG is making back the money it spent buying these monkey NFTs in the first place.

Fletcher, who’s released projects via Vault Music. Photo Credit: Justin Higuchi

Vault Music, a limited-edition music platform co-founded by former FanDuel CEO Nigel Eccles, has launched an artist-focused game billed as a “brand-new take on fantasy football.”

Vault just recently shared details of the game, entitled Fantasy Record Label, in an email to Digital Music News. Already live on the Web3 business’s app, through which artists including Sid Simons, Wilmah, Cotoba, and Telescreens have made projects available to superfans as “limited run NFTs,” Fantasy Record Label will see players compete for “weekly cash prizes,” according to Vault.

As its title suggests, Fantasy Record Label tasks players with “signing” the five acts they judge to have “the most growth potential,” which is measured by their week-to-week cumulative “change in Spotify monthly listeners.”

According to Vault’s description, players must own at least one NFT on-platform from each musician on their fantasy roster, and the top-10 rosters in a given week (as judged by the overall movement of all five artists’ Spotify monthly listeners) will win the aforesaid cash prizes.

“Think fantasy sports but for the music industry,” elaborated Vault Music co-founder and CEO Nigel Eccles, whose company announced a $4 million Series A in February. “I believe that unlike the sports and gaming industries, music has failed to energize top fans and embrace new formats.

“Streaming has been great for the music industry’s bottom line, but it serves passive listeners, not diehard fans. Our goal is to bring joy, pride, and competition back to collecting music, and create upside for both fans and artists in the process,” concluded the BetDEX Labs co-founder.

Meanwhile, Vault Music throughout its official announcement message emphasized “the streaming economy’s payment inequity” and specifically acknowledged Spotify’s newly confirmed compensation overhaul. Among other things, the latter is set to halt recorded royalties on tracks that fail to rack up at least 1,000 annual streams.

Expanding upon the points in remarks of her own, Vault Music chief marketing officer Kara Burney drove home that Fantasy Record Label is utilizing “fandom to put more money in artists’ pockets at the time when they need it most.”

“Already we’ve seen artists earn more with a single release on Vault Music than they’ve earned from streaming in a year,” continued the former Skyword chief marketing officer Burney. “That’s because in our game, just as with real record labels, up-and-coming artists have the most potential upside. Our players are incentivized to discover, collect releases, and sign the next music stars to their fantasy label before their big break. It’s a music economy where everybody wins.”

In other superfan-monetization news, We Are Giant earlier in November rolled out with approximately $8 million in funding, after Sony Music- and Warner Music-backed Fave in October disclosed a $2 million raise.

Photo Credit: LimeWire

LimeWire is focusing on generative AI with an acquisition of BlueWillow. The former hub for piracy wants you to forget about the NFTs it used to raise money in 2022—even as the SEC squares up. Here’s the latest.

LimeWire began its life as a peer-to-peer music-sharing platform that enabled massive piracy—prompting RIAA action. The service was officially shut down in 2010, but a group of investors purchased the name with the hopes of reviving it as a place for web3 music to flourish. That vision has fluctuated almost as rapidly as the web3 space has changed. The platform has raised $17.5 million in multiple rounds of funding to date—mostly through the sale of its cryptocurrency token LMWR.

The service also launched a series of 10,000 NFTs dubbed ‘LimeWire Originals‘, which promised LMWR tokens as a reward for holding them. The company raised $10.4 million in a private sale of its token led by Kraken Ventures, Arrington Capital and GSR, with participation from several other investors and high-profile music industry members. LimeWire even struck a deal with Universal Music Group as its first major label deal to allow UMG artists to launch music-based NFT projects using the LimeWire marketplace.

In May 2023, LimeWire made its cryptocurrency token (LMWR) available to the general public for purchase, advertising itself as an NFT marketplace for music built on top of the environmentally neutral Algorand blockchain. But now it appears LimeWire is using the Polygon blockchain to launch LimeWire AI Studio—a focus on generative AI rather than NFTs.

The LimeWire AI Studio’s mission is to “empower anyone to become a content creator.” Users can generate AI-generated images, with music and video capabillities coming later this year. To help with that, the company acquired BlueWillow AI. BlueWillow has more than 2.3 million monthly active users and has generated more than 500 million images so far. LimeWire plans to integrate BlueWillow’s text-to-image tech into its AI Studio.

What’s pretty clear is that LimeWire is grasping at new technology straws in an attempt to remain relevant again. Glancing at the terms Stoner Cats NFTs were sold under, they don’t seem that much different than LimeWire Originals. The SEC seems poised to claim jurisdiction over any fund-raising NFTs as unregistered securities after the Stoner Cats fine and subsequent order of destruction for that NFT collection.

Stoner Cat NFTs were created to fund an animated web series, of which six episodes were produced. Only those who owned the NFTs could view the episodes. But the SEC was laser-focused on the Stoner Cats’ royalty fee that was baked in and that potentially spells trouble for the LimeWire Originals NFT project.

Stoner Cats NFTs carried a 2.5% royalty so each time an NFT was sold, the company behind Stoner Cats received a payment. “The royalties created incentives for SC2 to encourage individuals to buy and sell the Stoner Cat NFTs in the secondary market,” the SEC order read. “If the Stoner Cats show was successful, the price of NFTs could rise and so could the amount of royalties.”

What’s the royalty fee on LimeWire Originals? 2.5%.

Photo Credit: Andrey Metelev

On the heels of the well-documented non-fungible token (NFT) craze – and billions in related purchases – a whopping 95% of the digital-asset collections are now worthless, according to a new study.

This and other telling data points emerged in a report from cryptocurrency analysis platform dappGambl. As part of the underlying research, the outlet zeroed in on the value and ownership details associated with 73,257 NFT collections, per the appropriate text.

Of these collections, 69,795, or north of 95%, had “a market cap of 0 Ether,” the breakdown shows. Running with the crypto-focused source’s estimate, some 23 million individuals hold the (monetarily) worthless virtual items. Additionally, only 21% of the analyzed NFT collections were sold out at the time of the study – leaving the remaining 79% with unmoved inventory.

The same resource also features a look at “the top [emphasis added] 8850 NFT collections according to CoinMarketCap”; 1,614 of the involved collections were valued at $0 and considered “dead.” Moreover, including the latter, 3,530 collections (almost 40%) of the previously expensive assets at hand had a value between $0 and $100.

3,643 of the formerly strong-performing collections had a value between $100 and $200, though, with just 80 different collections maintaining a price in excess of $6,000. Of course, the in-depth look at NFTs’ value (or lack thereof) has arrived following a difficult nine months for the relatively new products.

After sizable sales and an array of funding rounds came to fruition during 2021 and much of 2022, 2023 has to this point delivered multiple lawsuits and federal charges relating to NFTs. Meanwhile, reports have shed light upon token owners’ understandable qualms as well as the alleged failure of once-high-flying NFT platforms like OneOf to provide promised benefits.

Notwithstanding these far-from-positive developments and the described study, dappGambl expressed confidence in NFTs’ ability to rebound and remain relevant moving forward. The potential recovery, the outlet indicated, will depend upon tokens’ ability to provide access to worthwhile products, services, groups, and benefits as opposed to solely existing as overpriced and artistically questionable digital images.

Expanding upon the idea, multiple NFT companies are pivoting into the rapidly evolving (and more commercially viable) artificial intelligence space. This week, for instance, fan-monetization platform Afterparty revealed a $5 million raise and plans for an AI-messaging buildout, acknowledging that it had “scaled from a token-gated fan access and collectibles platform.”

And today, the revamped LimeWire, having previously disclosed a goal of opening “up the NFT market to the mainstream,” announced the purchase of BlueWillow, an AI-powered artwork generator.

Photo Credit: Leo Baron / Farrell Music Ltd

Singer-songwriter Robbie Williams makes his web3 debut, partnering with metaverse platform LightCycle.

British singer-songwriter Robbie Williams is taking the plunge into the web3 space, partnering with AI-powered lifestyle metaverse platform LightCycle. Robbie is bringing a personal performance of his 25th anniversary live show to the metaverse, giving fans worldwide a 3D experience, “extending his legacy to the digitally inclined.”

With a planned launch in Q4 of 2023, LightCycle is a “hyper-realistic” virtual city aiming to become the go-to destination for art, film, gaming, music, fashion, sport, property, and retail in the web3 space. AI technology enables users, businesses, and brands to create commercial installations or purchase land and other digital assets.

A preview of the Robbie Williams metaverse event will be unveiled as part of a LightCycle preview night at EDGE Global Web3 and AI Investment Summit in Hong Kong at the AsiaWorld-Expo on September 26 and 27. LightCycle’s presentation will include an augmented-reality showcase, full details of which will soon be announced.

“Staying connected with my fans has always been important to me. I’m fascinated by the web3 space — it’s full of creativity and mind-blowing potential. It’s also a big new market for music and discovery,” said Robbie Williams. “As an artist, I’m always looking for ways to push forward, so this is the perfect next step in that journey. The talented development team at LightCycle have produced some incredible work, and I’m excited to see it all brought to life in full 3D glory.”

“Robbie has a dedicated and passionate fanbase, and we believe that, through our unparalleled technology, we can bring them a supremely enhanced environment and fan experience,” added Sara Ezen, CEO of LightCycle. “The concert is truly something special, and we’re excited to be giving it a home in LightCycle so his fans, new and old, can enjoy next-level interaction and engagement. We are looking forward to seeing where we can go with this.”

The partnership, formed between Williams and Vertexlabs.uk, is a significant milestone for the latter’s AI-powered lifestyle metaverse platform, LightCycle. It also marks a natural evolution in Williams’ career, whose initiation into that realm began with his recent AI-assisted composition, “Angels (Beethoven AI).”

“Robbie is a visionary creative and, as the ultimate showman, his music and songs have had a huge cultural impact. We are enormously excited to be bringing this super special performance into LightCycle. We’ve had a lot of fun creating the project, and we can’t wait to share it with the world. We hope that, through Robbie’s initiation into web3, new and existing fans can elevate their entertainment experience in a virtually enhanced way,” concluded Ander Tsui, Founder and CEO of Vertexlabs.uk.

Photo Credit: Stoner Cats

Federal regulators have charged the founders of the Stoner Cats NFT collection with selling unregistered securities. How long before the SEC comes after music NFTs?

The SEC charged Stoner Cats 2 LLC with conducting the offering of unregistered securities for sale in the form of NFTs, raising around $8 million from investors to finance the cartoon called ‘Stoner Cats.’

The SEC says the founders offered and sold to investors more than 10,000 NFTs for $800 each, selling out within 35 minutes. The order finds that before and after marketing these NFTs to the public, the Stoner Cats marketing campaign highlighted the benefits of ownership—including the ability to resell the NFTs on the secondary market.

“The SC2 team emphasized its expertise as Hollywood producers, its knowledge of crypto projects, and the well-known actors involved in the web series, leading investors to expect profits because a successful web series could cause the resale value of the Stoner Cat NFTs in the secondary market to rise,” the SEC report reads.

The cast of the animated web series included Ashton Kutcher, Chris Rock, Dax Shepard, Gary Vaynerchuk, Jane Fonda, Michael Buble, Mila Kunis, Seth MacFarlane, and Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin.

The Stoner Cats NFTs were configured to provide a 2.5% royalty for each secondary market transaction, encouraging individuals to buy and sell the NFTs. The SEC order says those purchasing these items spent over $20 million across 10,000 transactions.

“Regardless of whether your offering involves beavers, chinchillas, or animal-based NFTs, under the federal securities laws, it’s the economic reality of the offering—not the labels you put on it or the underlying objects—that guides the determination of what’s an investment contract and therefore a security,” says Gurbir S. Grewal, Director of the SEC’s Division of Enforcement. That statement may present some problems for music NFTs that raised cash at the height of the NFT boom in 2021.

Much of what the Stoner Cats NFTs promised to its investors, relaunched web3 music services like Limewire have also promised to investors. Will these services soon be in the SEC regulators sights?

Founders of the re-launched Limewire created the LMWR token that “enables its holders to make purchases on the platform, earn staking activity, and royalty rewards and execute voting rights,” the offering states. The founders also offered an NFT collection called ‘LimeWire Originals’ in 2022 described as “the highest level of membership the LimeWire community has to offer.”

Most artists end up juggling various platforms and multiple ‘dashboards’ during the production, distribution, and promotion of their music. Now, OmMuse is working to consolidate everything an artist needs into a central repository — the OmMuse Hub.

For artists, the process of creating, delivering, and monetizing music is a complex chore involving seemingly-endless partners. Apart from the countless nuts and bolts of music production, artists and managers need optimal organization and storage of files, advanced sharing capabilities, collaboration tools, royalty tracking solutions, and mastering tools that allow them to extract the most out of their work.

Most of these solutions are scattered across multiple platforms, forcing artists to coordinate a large number of endpoints. That’s a headache that OmMuse is aiming to solve with a consolidated service that allows every artist — on varying stages of their creative process — to simplify and optimize their creative process. Just recently, OmMuse joined forces with DMN to broaden awareness of their consolidated platform solution.

Company founder & CEO Vivek Patel outlined OmMuse’s vision to simplify music industry processes and propel musicians in their creative pursuits.

Patel adds that OmMuse will allow artists to ‘derive more value from their work by leveraging the latest tech in AI and blockchain.’ OmMuse CMO Chris Gertz-Rombach further explained that OmMuse primarily aims to facilitate accessibility, ease of use, collaboration, and discovery by utilizing tech to its absolute capacity.

The consolidated approach means that artists can tap into interactive creative tools to organize their entire catalog, discover collaboration opportunities, and distribute their music. For indie musicians, OmMuse brings elevated accessibility, a clean interface, and the ability to be discovered directly via the platform.

To keep the interface clean, OmMuse dashboard leads to only three tabs: My OmMuse Hub, Explore, and Artists.

OmMuse is in its late seed stage with a soft launch, and Gertz-Rombach reports that a few hundred early users have provided encouraging feedback. Gertz-Rombach also relayed a success story of musician Michael Alvarado, who is already collaborating with artists he discovered through OmMuse.

OmMuse is free to join ‘because a big part of our ethos is accessibility.’ Gertz-Rombach added, “We want anyone around the world to easily access OmMuse to create music, to distribute it by signing up for free.”

The platform’s cloud-based ecosystem is structured to assist in music-focused pursuits such as storage, organization, and collaboration. Gertz-Rombach says OmMuse was developed because other creative platforms were too ‘noisy.’

“There are way too many features and buttons on other platforms, so OmMuse is streamlined and simple. That’s our most positive feedback, too.”

OmMuse also aims to create simplicity throughout, instead of overwhelming artists with complex processes. Patel calls it the ‘grandpa test,’ adding, “If our grandpa can figure out how to add the songs and batch-upload tracks, then anyone can do it, right? OmMuse hub contains it in one place. It’s encrypted.”

Unlike conventional file storage platforms like Dropbox, OmMuse isn’t packed with music-irrelevant tabs and buttons. Dropbox’s free tier provides a miserly storage of 2GB, alongside a file size limit, which is unworkable for most musicians. The cloud storage giant also fails to offer the flexibility and navigation required for effective music collaboration. Also missing from Dropbox and its competitors are song-specific organizational capabilities, including metadata fields specific to music tracks.

“One of the big long-term plays we’re focusing on is the ability to organize huge sets of music data,” Gertz-Rombach shared. “Our tech automatically extracts metadata from tracks but also detects things like BPM and genre if not added manually. So labels and massive catalogs are organized and sifted through efficiently when uploaded and stored.”

Perhaps most importantly, non-music-specific platforms like Dropbox consistently fail to provide the vigorous privacy required for high-value music files.

To keep the interface clean, the OmMuse dashboard leads to only three tabs: My OmMuse Hub, Explore, and Artist. Users subscribed to the OmMuse free tier can create a profile, upload up to five gigs for free, and gain encrypted storage for large music files. Users can also employ more precise sharing and permission tools — better-suited for potentially lucrative music files.

“Any track you upload publicly will place you on the Explore page,” says Gertz-Rombach.

OmMuse artist profiles provide the spark to find the correct chemistry for collaboration. Gertz-Rombach says these discoverability features close the ‘search’ gap. He explained, “We found a lot of artists who want to be public with their music and get discovered. So any track you upload publicly will place you on the Explore page.”

Artists can also opt-in to become featured artists so others in search for collaborators can reach out and initiate a project. “It’s a way for other musicians, writers, or even labels to find artists.”

OmMuse’s mastering tool with Dolby.io.

Artist profiles can include everything from their work history, a link to their website, and their music. “It’s an additional way for artists to be discovered, and a way to find other collaborators,” Gertz-Rombach relays, adding, “Maybe you’re looking for a producer that can make beats for your next track or a writer to help with a hook? In some ways, it is like a bit of a social platform.”

OmMuse also integrates AI to facilitate music production, mastering, smart contracts, and other creative tools.

“OmMuse also partnered with Dolby, and users subscribed for OmMuse’s paid tier at $7.99 per month receive discounts for Dolby.io AI Mastering. You can preview [the mastered track] up to 30 seconds before you pay for it,” says Gertz-Rombach.

The startup also introduces proprietary smart contracts, with which artists can upload music projects and designate different royalties for multiple collaborators. Gertz-Rombach explained that users can also mint their music through the smart contract for distribution, adding, “We absorb all the minting fees if you’re subscribed to a paid tier.”

The technology company appears to have a major partnership on the cards. Without naming any names, Gertz-Rombach hinted at a prominent digital distribution tie-up for OmMuse. “OmMuse will be the first platform that uses ‘their’ backend API to go within our platform. We’re one of the first that will be able to leverage it.”

Gertz-Rombach says that with further future developments and partnerships, OmMuse will be able to distribute music to all streaming platforms.

(Also, exclusively for DMN readers, OmMuse is offering a three-month subscription to their Major tier for free. OmMuse Minor remains free for everyone.)

Here’s a more detailed overview of OmMuse subscription tiers:

Free Access: OmMuse Minor

• 5GB of Optimized Music & File Storage
• Basic AI-Based Music Organization
• Choose to Share Music Publicly or Privately
• Profile, Tracks, & NFTs Listed on Explore Page
• Full Price Dolby.io AI Mastering ($29.99/track)
• Full Price Music NFT Minting ($29.99/track)
• Unlimited Encrypted Messaging with Users
• Update Track Versions With Collaborators

OmMuse Major: $7.99 per month

• 500GB of Optimized Music & File Storage
• Enhanced AI-Based Music Organization
• Choose to Share Music Publicly or Privately
• Profile, Tracks, & NFTs Listed on Explore Page
• Discounted Dolby.io AI Mastering ($7.99/track)
• Discounted Music NFT Minting ($14.99/track)
• Unlimited Encrypted Messaging with Users
• Update Track Versions With Collaborators

OmMuse Studio: $14.99 per month

• 1TB of Optimized Music & File Storage
• Advanced AI-Based Music Organization
• Choose to Share Music Publicly or Privately
• Profile, Tracks, & NFTs Listed on Explore Page
• *Tracks & NFTs Added to “Featured Section”
• *Profile, Tracks, & NFTs Highlighted on Website
• *Social Media Promotion on OmMuse Socials
• Discounted Dolby.io AI Mastering ($4.99/track)
• Discounted Music NFT Minting ($9.99/track)
• Unlimited Encrypted Messaging with Users
• Update Track Versions With Collaborators

*Premium benefits only available to Studio users

A higher-end, customized Enterprise tier is also available, according to OmMuse.

Photo Credit: Andres Hernandez

Limewire is introducing an AI Creator Studio on the Polygon blockchain to help artists create web3 content.

Limewire says its initial focus will be on image generation, using artificial intelligence models to allow users to create new images or enhance existing ones. The platform says it plans to extend this creation tool to music generation in Q3 2024. Users will have access to a wide variety of beats, melodies, and songs to create their own musical compositions.

The platform gained notoriety in the early 2000s as a place to share pirated music—resulting in millions of millennials who think Bob Seger sang “Drift Away.” The service eventually met its demise in 2011 after a battle against the RIAA and record companies commanded a $105 million out-of-court settlement. In 2021, Austrian brothers Julian and Paul Zehetmayer purchased the Limewire IP with the intention of rejuvenating the brand from its days a notorious P2P sharing network.

In March 2022, Limewire returned as a digital collectibles marketplace, securing $17 million in funding through a private token sale. Limewire initially announced plans to launch a music-focused NFT marketplace at the height of the NFT boom, but the focus appears to have shifted from that initial vision.

Limewire says all of the content generated with its AI Creator Studio will be minted on the Polygon blockchain. Earnings will be split between the original artist and the creator of the AI-generated content. The platform distributes ad revenue, paid out in its LMWR token to artists based on the views their content generates.

When content pieces are traded on the secondary market as NFTs, creators earn a royalty paid in the USDC stablecoin. Creators will have the option to restrict access to only fans who pay a monthly fee—creating yet another revenue stream. Limewire will offer a certain number of free creations per month to each user of the platform, while serial minters will need to pay a fee.

Photo Credit: Impact Theory

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has charged media company Impact Theory with offering unregistered securities in the form of NFTs.

The SEC says Impact Theory raised $30 million in funds from hundreds of investors through the offering. From October to December 2021, Impact Theory offered and sold three tiers of NFTs—known as Founder’s Keys—in the form of ‘Legendary,’ ‘Heroic,’ and ‘Relentless.’ The SEC says Impact Theory encouraged potential investors to view the purchase as an investment in the business, stating that investors would profit if Impact Theory was successful in its endeavors.

“Among other things, Impact Theory emphasized that it was ‘trying to build the next Disney,’ and, if successful, it would deliver ‘tremendous value’ to Founder’s Key purchasers,” the filing reads. The order finds that the NFTs offered and sold to investors were investment contracts and, therefore, are securities subject to the SEC’s governance. “Accordingly, Impact Theory violated the federal securities laws by offering and selling these crypto asset securities to the public in an unregistered offering that was not otherwise exempt from registration.”

“Absent a valid exemption, offerings of securities, in whatever form, must be registered,” adds Antonia Apps, Director of the SEC’s New York Regional Office. “Without registration, investors of all types are deprived of the protections afforded them by the robust disclosures and other safeguards long provided by our securities laws.”

Without admitting to or denying the SEC findings, Impact Theory agreed to the cease-and-desist order, which found Impact Theory violated registration provisions laid out in the Securities Act of 1933. Impact Theory also paid $6.1 million in disgorgement, prejudgment interest, and civil penalties.

Impact Theory also agreed to destroy all Founder’s Keys in its possession or control, publish notice of the order on its websites and social media channels, and eliminate any royalty that Impact Theory might otherwise receive from future secondary market transactions involving the Founder’s Keys.

Photo Credit: Sotheby’s

Class action Bored Ape NFT lawsuit against Justin Bieber, Snoop Dogg, Post Malone, and Madonna expands to include Sotheby’s.

A lawsuit filed by investors who regret their purchase of a Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) NFT during the height of their craze in 2021 has now expanded to include the Sotheby’s auction house as a defendant. When a Sotheby’s auction misled investors by giving the Bored Ape NFTs “an air of legitimacy” to “generate investors’ interest and hype around the Bored Ape brand,” the lawsuit alleges.

The lot consisting of 101 Bored Ape NFTs sold in the Sotheby’s “Ape In!” auction for $24.4 million in September 2021, well above the pre-auction estimates of $12 million to $18 million. According to data from CoinGecko, a Bored Ape NFT can be purchased today for about $50,000 in cryptocurrency.

The inflated prices at the Sotheby’s auction “was rooted in deception,” claims the lawsuit filed in US District Court for the Central District of California, as the buyer was not disclosed at the time of the auction to be now-disgraced cryptocurrency exchange company FTX.

“Sotheby’s representations that the undisclosed buyer was a ‘traditional’ collector had misleadingly created the impression that the market for BAYC NFTs had crossed over to a mainstream audience,” the lawsuit furthers, saying that investors bought the NFTs “with a reasonable expectation of profit from owning them.”

Previously, investors sued Bored Ape creator Yuga Labs and four company executives, along with various celebrity promoters, including Snoop Dogg, Justin Bieber, Madonna, Jimmy Fallon, Kevin Hart, Gwyneth Paltrow, Serena Williams, and Steph Curry. The initial class action lawsuit was filed in December 2022, with Sotheby’s added as a defendant in an amended complaint submitted on August 4.

The amended lawsuit claims that Yuga Labs colluded with Sotheby’s auction house to run “a deceptive auction,” with the winning bidder FTX described during a Twitter Spaces event as a “traditional” collector. Only later was it revealed that the buyer was the now-bankrupt crypto exchange platform FTX, whose founder Sam Bankman-Fried is in jail awaiting trial on criminal charges.

Photo Credit: PiggyBank

NFT royalties are dead as OpenSea, one of the biggest marketplaces for buying and reselling, has said it will no longer collect resale fees.

Starting March 2024, OpenSea says it will no longer enforce royalty fees, instead considering them tips going forward. That’s an optional percentage of a sale price that sellers can choose to give to the original artist. If a seller decides that percentage is 0% then that is their choice. It’s the last nail in the coffin of web3 as a sustainable marketplace to support artists.

Blur has overtaken OpenSea as the largest NFT marketplace by trading volume, only instituting a 0.5% fee on most collections. OpenSea says it will stop enforcing a royalty fee on all new NFTs beginning August 31. Current royalty fees for established NFT collections will continue until March 2024. Past that point, all royalty fees will be considered optional tips on future sales.

OpenSea fully admits in the blog post supporting creators through royalty fees hasn’t been in the web3 community’s interest for a long time. “Since its introduction, we’ve seen several web3 marketplaces and aggregators (Blur, Dew, LooksRare) circumvent the Operator Filter to avoid enforcing creator fees on their platforms,” CEO Devin Finzer writes in the blog post making the announcement.

Finzer says despite royalty fees going away; there are still other ways for creators to monetize their work using web3 tech. “Our role in this ecosystem is to empower innovation beyond a single use case or business model,” Finzer continues in the post. That’s an interesting take, considering OpenSea was founded on the principle that creators could continually receive a cut of their work when it found a new buyer.

It’s also unclear how much future NFTs have in any applications beyond internet clout. Coachella attempted to sell 10 life-time NFT tickets to its shows that are now caught up in the FTX bankruptcy scandal.

A top OneOf customer claims to have been removed from an official Discord server and a Telegram channel following public criticism of the company’s alleged failure to provide promised benefits to NFT holders. Photo Credit: Alexander Shatov

Last week, Digital Music News reported on far-reaching customer criticism of NFT platform OneOf. Now, despite having dropped thousands on tokens, a customer we spoke with says he’s been abruptly cut off from the Quincy Jones-backed company’s main communication channels. 

The impacted NFT holder – who wasn’t identified by name in our piece but did provide quotes and disclose purchase-history details – emailed us about the abrupt end of his access to OneOf’s Telegram channel and Discord server. According to the individual, OneOf, which has yet to respond to DMN’s multiple requests for comment, blocked him on the mentioned platforms without notice.

(While Discord and Telegram seem relatively popular among OneOf’s NFT holders, the latest post in the company’s Reddit community looks to have been published nine months ago.)

Notwithstanding the lack of a public response from the tight-lipped NFT company, the allegedly excluded customer also told us that remaining members had been briefed on his conspicuous absence from the digital communities. A OneOf founder, the allegedly kicked-out purchaser explained of his discussions with members, had attributed the development to a purported violation of “community standards.”

It’s unclear exactly how the customer could have violated the Discord server’s community standards by respectfully expressing his opinion – and well outside the server at that. But moderators yesterday created new requirements for said server or modified existing rules, the appropriate page shows.

“Respect the Owner’s Decisions: The final say on server matters rests with the server owner,” reads rule 19, with rule 20 then encouraging “constructive criticism” but prohibiting “any defamatory, false, or harmful statements about our company.”

Of course, the customer’s remarks, far from constituting defamatory or false statements, were based upon easily verifiable facts. Similarly, others who’ve voiced even firmer criticism directly on OneOf’s Discord server appear to have continued access.

“How do the founders sleep knowing the platform they built is crumbling?” a different user wrote on the OneOf Discord last month. “Oh wait, they are waiting for another bullrun to help cover up their ineptitude.”

Independent of conversations regarding the long-term value trajectory and viability of non-fungible tokens, OneOf indicated in July of 2022 that those who bought its Biggie NFTs would “soon” gain access to The Brook “entertainment metaverse experience.” At the time of this writing, the promised digital world didn’t have so much as a live webpage.

That an individual who spent hard-earned cash on this and other “drops” is being punished simply for commenting on the matter raises questions about the precise plans of OneOf (which has announced at least $70 million worth of funding) and the steps that all digital-item platforms must take to maintain the trust of users moving forward.

A nighttime shot of Luxembourg, where ANote Music is based. Photo Credit: Cedric Letsch

European royalty-investment platform ANote Music has announced that it’s raised €3.3 million, and execs are now looking to draw further support from institutional investors with an offering that works “in a similar way to Bowie Bonds.”

Luxembourg-headquartered ANote Music, which bills itself as “Europe’s leading marketplace for investing in music royalties,” emailed Digital Music News today about the funding milestone and the institutional-investor expansion.

On the former front, “additional funding” has enabled the five-year-old blockchain business (which officially launched its platform in late July of 2020) to crack the initially mentioned €3.3 million ($3.64 million at the present exchange rate) in secured funding.

Within the total, the Algorand Foundation’s Algorand Ventures and Limewire stakeholder ACME Innovation are said to have contributed north of €500,000 ($551,235). Meanwhile, ANote Music likewise noted that it had obtained the Young Innovative Enterprise Grant from Luxembourg’s Luxinnovation “national innovation agency.”

This grant, higher-ups indicated, will allow ANote “to receive further backing from Luxembourg’s Ministry of the Economy.” In a statement, Luxinnovation senior advisor of start-up acceleration Sven Baltes reiterated that ANote had participated in Luxembourg’s Fit 4 Start acceleration program in 2019, with continued government support helping the entity “to grow and expand on an international scale.”

And in remarks of his own, Algorand Ventures EVP Ryan Terribilini added in part: “ANote Music is a natural fit for Algorand Ventures, as it represents a unique and exciting use-case for the tokenization of real-world assets, and offers a previously inaccessible asset class to our ecosystem. We are thrilled to see ANote leverage the lightning-fast speed, reliability, and security of the Algorand blockchain to facilitate the trading and distribution of payouts to investors and artists on their platform.”

Shifting to the institutional-investor side, ANote Music also took the opportunity to disclose its sponsoring of Music Royalties Enhanced Strategy Certificates (MRESC), which the company describes as a Bowie Bonds-like product designed “to meet the demand of ANote’s growing customer base of family offices and institutional investors.”

“This news reflects the growing interest that professional investors and family offices have in the music sector,” ANote founding director and CEO Marzio Schena said of the product, which has been designed for investments of over €125,000 ($137,604). “The second half of the year promises to be packed full of more news, as we plan to bring to market our first Asian music catalogue later this summer and launch the ANote Backstage Pass loyalty programme.”

At present, investors can purchase via ANote stakes in the IP revenue of metal artist Logan Mader, Justin Bieber collaborator Steve James, and German indie label Ever Ever Music, to name some, the platform’s website shows. Per the company, “90% of investors on the ANote platform are profitable, with average annual returns of more than 10%.”

Lastly, ANote is “on track” to top €500,000 in “total royalties distributed” by 2023’s end, with a current “active trading platform market cap of €25m,” according once again to the company. In other royalty-investment funding news, May saw anotherblock unveil the close of a roughly $4.4 million seed round.

A promo image from the OneOf “Sky’s the Limit” Notorious B.I.G. NFT Collection. Photo Credit: Michael Lavine

In 2021 and 2022, when the non-fungible token space and the wider crypto market were flying high, music NFT platform OneOf raised millions. Now, some who dropped thousands on the company’s tokens claim they’re missing out on promised benefits and support while holding virtual goods worth a fraction of their initial price.

More than two years have passed since OneOf announced it had secured $63 million in seed funding and garnered the backing of industry powerhouse Quincy Jones. And throughout the following year or so, other non-fungible token (NFT) startups would go on to reveal multimillion-dollar raises of their own – to the tune of over $100 million in funding disclosed specifically by music NFT companies. 

Accompanying these raises were all manner of attention-grabbing headlines – involving the sale of entire NFT collections and the massive price tags attributed to certain tokens – as key stakeholders predicted that the continued embrace of the technology at hand would fundamentally change the music industry. 

Along the way, OneOf in particular made waves in the music world, including by partnering with iHeartRadio, the Grammys, and Warner Music Group, to name a few. August of 2022 then saw the Tezos- and Polygon-built platform unveil an $8 million raise with support from Amex Ventures.

But some believe that OneOf’s operational reality starkly contrasts the optimism implied by recent headlines and social-media posts. 

Against the backdrop of rising rates and a well-documented crypto winter, an NFT purchaser described to Digital Music News an alleged failure on the part of OneOf to follow through on key promises, keep alive the communities behind its tokens, and transparently communicate with those who’d participated in even the most expensive of “drops.” 

Having originally been drawn to OneOf by Quincy Jones’ involvement – “you know, all that hype and everything” – the investor said he’d participated in nearly every drop from the company’s inception until early 2023. All told, he estimated that he’d purchased 1,500 to 2,000 tokens via OneOf for a cumulative $40,000. 

“There was a really, really strong community at one point, and people just gradually got tired of the lack of fulfillment, the lack of transparency, the withdrawal from contact of the leadership and the founders,” the investor explained to DMN. 

This alleged lack of fulfillment, he said, was perhaps most evident with regard to the “Sky’s the Limit: The Notorious B.I.G. NFT Collection.” First detailed with the legendary rapper’s estate in June of 2022, the 3,000-token offering would per its formal release enable participants “to collectively license the audio of Biggie Smalls’ most famous freestyle.” 

Additionally, OneOf and the other involved parties in their release promised holders “first access to The Brook, a lifestyle, fashion, culture, music, entertainment metaverse experience launching soon with BIGGIE’s hyper realistic avatar as a character.” 

While the Biggie drop reportedly sold out in 10 minutes – generating “over $300,000 in revenue,” per the LinkedIn profile of OneOf’s social media coordinator – no such metaverse experience had arrived at the time of writing. Little more than a flashy trailer for the as-yet-undelivered digital world had been released, and the web address featured in said trailer, TheBrook.io, was entirely inactive. 

Also created for the Biggie drop were 10 “gold microphone” virtual items that the investor told us had been expected to be “randomly airdropped” to purchasers. But according to the individual and multiple posts on OneOf’s official Discord server, customers received just a small portion of the 10 microphones. 

“The only way we found out that they did this was by noticing nobody was talking about getting one,” he said. “Because in the Discord everyone was talking to everyone.”

OneOf’s approximately 23,000-member Discord server remained active – and featured other complaints from those described as NFT holders – when this piece was published. “One of [sic] is just selling art it’s not an investment unless you find a special buyer who likes jpgs,” one individual wrote on the Biggie thread in late June. “This project was liquidity for someone but not us.” 

“This project is dead. Oneof got their money and has moved on. … The Brook.io (one of our ‘perks’) website hasn’t worked for months,” commented another, with a third having described the situation as “100% a rug pull.” 

“OneOf and the creators of this one played everyone,” a different critic claimed in a late-June post about the Biggie NFTs. “tf is even going on with the Fulton freestyle we all supposedly own a % of[?]”

A OneOf representative didn’t respond to DMN’s request for comment about the status of The Brook, the company’s present team size, and other topics.

Beyond the alleged failure to deliver promised NFT benefits, OneOf saw high-profile partnerships – including with the aforementioned Grammys and iHeartRadio – fizzle out despite having been set in motion by multiyear pacts, according to the investor and the platform’s token drops. 

“They had a three-year deal with iHeartRadio Festival,” he told DMN. “The first drop was really, really good. And then the next festival came around – nothing. There was no announcement. They just didn’t do it. And the same thing with the Grammys. They had a pretty good drop with the Grammys, they had two or three parties in Las Vegas at the Grammys. 

“We noticed, ‘Well, the Grammys are coming up and they haven’t said a word.’ I finally got an answer like two weeks before the [65th Annual] Grammys, ‘Oh, they’re not on the schedule.’ That’s all they would say. And so that’s two three-year contracts that seem to have fizzled out. No announcements,” he continued.

In their 2021 announcement message, the Grammys and OneOf did in fact emphasize that they’d “teamed up for an exclusive partnership to release NFTs that will commemorate the 64th, 65th and 66th Annual GRAMMY Awards.” 

Though a drop didn’t appear to coincide with the 65th Grammys, OneOf in October of 2022 reiterated a separate deal centering on the Latin Grammys. And in a release about their own August of 2021 agreement, iHeartRadio and OneOf didn’t point to a specific timeframe for the union. OneOf announced a tie-up with iHeartRadio’s The Breakfast Club program in February of 2022, however.  

Notwithstanding the resulting difficult-to-quantify community and sale-price impacts, multiple NFT holders recently tried to sell their digital goods at losses through the OneOf Discord – “offers will be accepted looking for 500$ i paid 999$,” an individual penned of a G-Eazy token that appeared to include two VIP tickets to one of the rapper’s shows.  

A personnel reduction, including several executive departures, accompanied OneOf’s described operational scale-back; the entity had approximately 80 team members following its $64 million raise, the investor estimated. 

Nevertheless, Refresh Miami in a February of 2022 article mentioned Miami-headquartered OneOf’s having “around 60 employees.” At the time of this writing, the business was displaying on LinkedIn a “company size” of between 51 and 200 employees, with 54 of the individuals on the networking platform itself.

Upon reviewing the associated profiles, though, DMN found that several of the professionals were simultaneously holding roles at seemingly unrelated organizations (Adweek, DropChain, and more). 

Others, as investors whose firms had backed the company, didn’t actually hold positions at OneOf. And a number of different team members were simultaneously working for Quincy Jones Productions, making the extent of their day-to-day involvement with OneOf unclear.

2022 and 2023’s opening half also brought the quiet departures of the platform’s director of events, head of marketing, director of strategy and production, senior director of product, VP of artist acquisitions, lead marketing copywriter, artist relations manager, and chief technology officer, per the now-former OneOf employees’ LinkedIn profiles.

Despite these points and a purported dramatic slowdown in on-platform NFT sales – “the marketplace is almost totally inactive; nobody’s buying anything,” the investor said – OneOf added former Warner Music Group head Stephen Cooper to its board in February. 

Then, the entity quietly bought enterprise-focused Tap Network in April, provided “free digital collectibles” for a TLC-Songvest partnership in May, completed a “Jimi Hendrix – Contact Sheet Prints” drop in June, and debuted a series of GLOrdinal NFTs in July – with execs teasing on social media a “Middle East and Africa expansion.” 

According to the longtime OneOf user and NFT investor we spoke with, however, the perceived lack of support and community behind prior projects will undermine confidence in any future initiatives among veteran and prospective customers alike. 

“I could not look myself in the mirror if I had taken $1 million or $2 million from 2,000 people over the last two years and just completely left them high and dry with no promises of anything for the future,” he said. “And that’s basically where we are.”

Photo Credit: Liam Shaw

Seven-year-old non-fungible token (NFT) ticketing platform GET Protocol has announced a $4.5 million “strategic seed round” and doubled down on plans to “significantly disrupt the ticketing industry.”

Amsterdam-headquartered GET Protocol, which claims that it “bridges mainstream audiences into web3 at large scale,” unveiled the multimillion-dollar raise today. Self-described “thesis-driven venture firm” Flow Ventures led the newly detailed seed round, which likewise drew support from The Sandbox developer Animoca Brands, Limewire stakeholder Redbeard Ventures, Isle of Man-based Funfair Ventures, and the Tezos Foundation.

GET Protocol – which per its website affords clients “unrivalled data” as well as “total control and insights over the primary & secondary market” with NFT tickets – communicated that it intends to use the tranche to “break into new markets through strategic alignment.”

“Ticketing is one of the few web3 applications that everyone agrees on,” Flow Ventures elaborated in a statement, “but very few people work on. That’s because it’s an incredibly hard industry to penetrate. We strongly believe this will be one of the first web3 projects that becomes mainstream. … GET has proven its tenacity as one of the oldest web3 projects, and we think they are up for the task of fully disrupting the ticketing industry.”

Moreover, with north of four million tickets having been issued on-platform across 121 countries, according once again to the company’s website, GET Protocol higher-ups emphasized their intention “to vigorously scale up our business across the board and grab the attention within the Web3 space.”

As part of this scaleup, Tezos, besides contributing to the seed round, is poised to integrate GET Protocol’s “NFT ticketing facilities” into its forthcoming “EVM network upgrade,” the involved parties disclosed. The “formidable collaboration,” GET Protocol indicated, will drive “millions of new users into Web3 through the Tezos ecosystem.”

And in remarks of his own, Tezos ecosystem venture capital lead Amar Odedra added in part: “Our partnership with GET Protocol to become their new native blockchain further solidifies our commitment to fostering innovation and embracing pioneers who are pushing boundaries in their respective fields. Together, we will drive the ticketing industry forward and set new standards of innovation, efficiency, and trust for millions of users worldwide.”

In closing, GET Protocol took the opportunity to name some of the acts (Gucci Mane and Lewis Capaldi among them) who’ve used its NFT passes at their shows – claiming also that “not a single ticket issued by the protocol has been scalped or resold outside the conditions set by an event organizer.”

Earlier this week, a report suggested that ticket resellers earn an average cumulative profit of $41,000 per show, and in Brazil, lawmakers last month moved to crack down on ticket scalping by introducing new legislation.

Photo Credit: Warner Music Group

Warner Music Group and Polygon Labs have announced a new music accelerator program for blockchain-based innovation.

The program aims to power the intersection between the music industry and web3 technology by supporting developers who are launching music-related projects and dApps using the Polygon network. Ideal applicants for the program consist of companies and entrepreneurs operating at the intersection of music, technology, and web3.

They should focus on specific areas of the industry, such as fostering artist-fan communities, establishing decentralized music production and distribution systems, innovating ticketing solutions, exploring music-related merchandise, digital and physical collectibles, and integrating music with interactive technology and gaming.

Applicants who meet the criteria should also demonstrate a strong enthusiasm for the future of music and possess ideas that go beyond the stage of conceptualization. The most competitive candidates will actively engage with or implement their concepts using the Polygon blockchain protocols. Anyone interested in joining the music accelerator program can submit their applications here.

“WMG is focused on enabling its artists and songwriters to build, activate, engage, and monetize their communities in this next era of music creation and consumption,” adds Oana Ruxandra, Chief Digital Officer and EVP, Business Development, WMG. “Through this partnership with Polygon Labs, we look forward to actively supporting the people, protocols, and platforms that are pushing boundaries and helping WMG reimagine how we use technologies to create, share, and experience music.”

Selected projects will receive funding from both WMG and Polygon Labs, an industry-leading endorsement from two entities helping drive the future of music and blockchain. In addition to funding, selected projects will be eligible for a range of support from the best in the music and blockchain businesses, including mentorship and check-ins, strategic advising, networking and connection creation, and marketing and promotion.

Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis and will require projects to submit pitch decks, demonstrate proof of traction, and detail their proposed use of funds. Projects who receive funding will then meet with WMG & Polygon Labs on a quarterly basis to provide updates, review progress, and receive strategic advice.

Photo Credit: Unitea

Engage-to-earn music platform Unitea has announced a $7 million seed funding raise. The round was led by 1st Class Guernsey, Chaos Capital, TokenSociety, and Fuel Venture Capital.

Unitea’s platform is hoping to change the way fans engage digitally within the music industry. It’s board of directors includes Pitbull (Armando Perez) and Claud VonStroke (Barclay Crenshaw). Unitea features an in-app economy that encourages users to create content with music and branded filters from artists to earn rewards. This gamified system creates actionable data for artists and brands to deepen their connection with fans.

In the time since the pre-seed round started in 2020, Unitea has accomplished over 2,000 reward activations. Unitea says now that the seed round has closed, it will leverage the funds to expand the capabilities of its platform within the music industry and beyond. Unitea has created engage-to-earn platforms in partnership with Procter & Gamble, while also activating through the Unitea app with 42 music festivals including Breakaway, Gem & Jam, and Dirtybird Campout.

How does Unitea work?

Fans on the platform share music and create content to earn digital tokens called Karma. These karma tokens can be redeemed to earn exclusive rewards, from custom digital assets, concert tickets, to artist meet and greets. The tangible value of the reward helps drive engagement with fans, delivering valuable data to artists and brands who are using the app.

“We’ve cracked the code on deriving meaningful benefits through engage-to-earn within the music space,” adds Ketan Rahangdale, CEO of Unitea. “Unitea gives digital assets real purpose across the engagement cycle, empowering artists and brands to cultivate and grow a passionate fan base organically.”

“With the support of our investors, Unitea is primed to make fan engagement more authentic in a way that benefits everyone in the ecosystem. Whether it’s a musician, an artist, or a popular brand, Unitea makes it possible to gamify the engagement process and provide value across the board.”

(l to r) anotherblock co-founders Sebastian Ljungberg (CTO), Michel D. Traore (CEO), and Filip Strömsten (COO). Photo Credit: anotherblock

Notwithstanding the Web3 space’s well-documented funding falloff, music non-fungible token (NFT) startup anotherblock has announced the close of a €4 million ($4.35 million at the present exchange rate) seed round.

Stockholm-headquartered anotherblock, which revealed a $2.5 million raise last June and officially launched in August, detailed its newest multimillion-dollar round today, via a formal release that was emailed to Digital Music News. Contrasting the seemingly insignificant offerings of many competing NFT platforms, anotherblock’s tokens are according to the company’s website tied to the partial ownership of tracks’ streaming royalties.

To date, the less than year-old “blockchain-based marketplace” appears to have hosted the sale of streaming interests in songs popularized by Rihanna (“Bitch Better Have My Money,” with each token representing 0.0033% of streaming royalties), Offset as well as Metro Boomin (“Ric Flair Drip,” with the tokens each consisting of “0.00075% of the music streaming rights” at hand), and others.

Now, anotherblock intends to use its newest injection of investor capital to “scale up globally” and to “make its product available to a more extensive range of artists, producers, and record companies,” according to execs.

London’s Stride.VC (also a backer of Linktree and Daily Motion) is said to have led anotherblock’s $4.35 million raise, and Axwell (real name Axel Hedfors) joined fellow Swedish House Mafia member Steve Angello, who participated in a prior round, by funding the Web3 operation this time around.

“I have followed anotherblock since the beginning, and it is clear that their work aligns with their vision,” communicated 45-year-old Axwell, whose group sold its back catalog to Björn Ulvaeus-founded Pophouse Entertainment in March of 2022. “Enabling greater rights flexibility is the future of the music industry. It creates a whole new freedom for creators to share the financial incentives with fans, which are the most important thing we have.”

Meanwhile, anotherblock co-founder and CEO Michel D. Traore in remarks of his own elaborated upon the aforementioned expansion plans, specifically disclosing a goal of reaching potential customers outside the crypto sphere. (The business likewise counts as co-founders former NASDAQ senior software developer Sebastian Ljungberg, who doubles as CTO, and former SEB higher-up Filip Strömsten, who’s COO.)

“Our primary focus in the first year was to educate and prove our product, but going forward, it’s about reaching an even wider audience, particularly outside of the crypto space, and enabling even more creators to get involved,” the former Lendo exec Traore said in part. “The blockchain ecosystem currently boasts more active users and greater opportunities to engage them than ever before, opening up endless possibilities for the combination of music rights and technology.”

Shorter term, anotherblock says it’s teeing up an NFT for Mims’ “This is Why I’m Hot” (2006), and the drop is currently set for Wednesday, June 7th. Last week, Swedish “self-serve music licensing platform” Freshsound unveiled an approximately $2.2 million raise of its own.

Photo Credit: Limewire

Limewire says it has surpassed its $15 million funding goal, more than halfway to its limit of $30 million.

The project raised funds in fiat and cryptocurrencies including Ethereum (ETH), Bitcoin (BTC), USD Coin (USDC), Tether (USDT), and Binance Coin (BNB). Limewire also added payments support for Ripple (XRP), Cardano (ADA), and Polygon (MATIC) chains on May 6.

In April 2022, the platform announced it raised $10.4 million via a private token sale led by Kraken Ventures, Arrington Capital, and GSR as it focuses on building out its music NFT offering. The company is hoping to revolutionize how the music industry approaches crypto and NFT projects utilizing the name of a popular music piracy app from the early 2000s.

Aside from the name and the branding however, nothing about the business is the same. The team behind the Limewire resurrection is based across Vienna, London, and Berlin. The platform aims to allow fans and artists to create, buy, and trade digital collectibles without many of the technical hurdles that limit NFT adoption in the current landscape.

“As artists perform for live audiences again, positioning NFTs as exclusive backstage passes or access to unreleased content will become an invaluable avenue to strengthen direct engagement and loyalty with fans,” adds Akshi Federici, a partner at Kraken Ventures.

Limewire (LMWR) tokens will be listed on public exchanges on May 16. Holding LMWR tokens will reduce trading fees on the platform, allow fans to gain access to exclusive community perks, and regular Limewire events. The platform says further down the line, token holders will begin to play a role in deciding which up-and-coming artists are supported by the Limewire platform and marketplace in the future.

Investors in Limewire include Crypto.com Capital, CMCC Global, Hivemind, Hard Yaka, Red Beard Venture, FiveT Fintech, DeepTech Ventures, SwissBorg Ventures, 720Mau5, and DAO Jones.

Eurovision 2023 contestant Alessandra performing live. Photo Credit: MandyPettersen

Notwithstanding the well-documented non-fungible token (NFT) sales falloff and the adjacent “crypto winter,” Universal Music Group (UMG) is rolling out “exclusive digital collectibles” for Eurovision competitors ahead of the 67th annual event.

Hilversum, Netherlands-headquartered Universal Music outlined its latest NFT plans in a joint release with Tallinn, Estonia’s Centaurify. Late March of this year saw the major label and the “web3-based music marketplace” unveil a tie-up under which Centaurify would host UMG artists’ aforesaid digital collectibles.

Some of these virtual items are tied to contests, music releases, exclusive communities, and other benefits, the involved companies have disclosed, noting also that the collectibles’ appearance will change in tandem with the commercial showing of the songs to which they are connected.

A track with one million total streams (seemingly across all services) will coincide with an “orbit” collectible, for instance, shifting to “lunar” at 10 million streams, to “solar” at 50 million streams, and so forth until changing to “supernova” at 500 million streams.

UMG (which has partnered with a number of different NFT platforms) and Centaurify previously dropped 3,333 trophies, and the free items at hand were according to the businesses “completely minted out in a few hours.” Meanwhile, the Universal Music trophies in question are said to afford holders “presale rights to all future artist drops,” among other things.

Included within these future artist drops are paid NFT releases from Eurovision 2023 competitors (and UMG-signed acts) Loreen and Alessandra, the companies announced today.

Under the union, Stockholm, Sweden-born Loreen (who won Eurovision 2012 and is again representing her home country this year) and Lillehammer, Norway-based Alessandra are poised to debut Centaurify NFTs for their tracks “Tattoo” and “Queen of Kings,” respectively. The “exclusive” launches (encompassing 50 collectibles for each artist) are scheduled to go on sale one week from today, when Eurovision 2023 will initiate.

And unlike the above-highlighted 3,333 trophies that were made available for free, these digital items will set diehard fans back 0.02 ETH a pop, or $37.50 based upon the cryptocurrency’s present price. Sweetening the pot for prospective purchasers, Universal Music and Centaurify relayed: “If either Loreen or Alessandra wins this year’s Eurovision Song Contest, one lucky holder will be chosen at random to receive two tickets to Eurovision 2024.”

Finally, in terms of the project’s specifics, both tracks have generated north of 50 million streams apiece – meaning that the trophies will adopt the “solar” appearance from the get-go. On the horizon are NFT offerings from K-391, CLMD, and Victoria Nadine, according to UMG and Centaurify.

Despite a dramatic dip in the prevalence of NFTs with limited practical uses, tokens tied to communities, events, and products are still making waves in the music sphere. March saw Ticketmaster take steps to scale up its experimental NFT-gated ticketing concept, and Snoop Dogg that same month co-founded Web3 livestream platform Shiller, through which creators can utilize NFTs to monetize their streams.

Grimes performing live. Photo Credit: Jordan Uhl

If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em? Amid continued fan interest in “Heart on My Sleeve,” the unauthorized AI track made to sound like a Drake collaboration with The Weeknd, Grimes has offered to split the royalties attributable to any AI-generated track featuring her voice.

35-year-old Grimes (real name Claire Boucher) recently took to social media to make the offer and outline its logistical framework, publishing tweets on the subject and then posting her terms to Instagram for good measure. The timing isn’t accidental: despite being pulled from Spotify, Apple Music, and other services, the aforementioned “Heart on My Sleeve” is still circulating on platforms including YouTube, where one six-day-old upload has about 130,000 views and counting.

Of course, numerous other accounts have also uploaded (and re-uploaded) the roughly two-minute work – on top of a bevy of other AI-generated Drake tracks. But those are just a few trees in this wildfire: Rihanna, Michael Jackson, Travis Scott, and Ariana Grande soundalike songs are also proliferating, among other impacted superstars.

And with a growing number of fans still interested in these releases, which are garnering millions upon millions of cumulative plays, Grimes has moved to strike a deal with the parties behind “any successful AI generated song that uses my voice.”

“I’ll split 50% royalties on any successful AI generated song that uses my voice,” wrote the Vancouver native. “Same deal as I would with any artist I collaborate with. Feel free to use my voice without penalty. I have no label and no legal bindings.

“I think it’s cool to be fused with a machine and I like the idea of open sourcing all art and killing copyright,” continued the Alter Ego judge Grimes, who has in the past spoken about her rocky relationship with Beggars Group’s 4AD.

Subsequently, the “Oblivion” artist took things a step further by signaling that her team is officially developing a program that would set the stage for the creation of authorized Grimes AI music.

“We’re making a program that should simulate my voice well but we could also upload stems and samples for people to train their own,” penned Grimes, indicating thereafter that participants will be able to register to receive their royalties “using smart contracts.”

Grime’s AI freedom rally has its limits, however. Hours after the latter post went live, Grimes highlighted certain types of content that would prompt the takedown of the AI-voice tracks. “Okay, hate this part, but we may do copyright takedowns ONLY for really, really toxic lyrics with Grimes’ voice: IMO, you’d really have to push it for me to wanna take something down, but I guess please don’t be *the worst*,” she specified at the start of a lengthy tweet.

Needless to say, far-reaching questions remain about artificial intelligence’s role in music — as well as Grimes’ comments and offer. Front of mind are inquiries pertaining to the sheer volume of releases that the arrangement seems poised to produce, besides the impact on different acts’ followings, prior Grimes projects, and more.

Perhaps parties on the AI side of the deal will find the proposed royalty split far more appealing than a zero percent share, which other acts and companies are in effect pushing by tearing down computer-generated soundalike music.

Photo Credit: CardMapr.nl

Taylor Swift avoided the class action lawsuit against FTX’s celebrity promoters by simply asking about unregistered securities — and coming to her own conclusions. 

The lawyer handling the class-action lawsuit against those celebrities spoke about the case on ‘The Scoop’ podcast. The collective plaintiffs are seeking over $5 billion from celebrities like Tom Brady, Larry David, and Shaquille O’Neal. Moskowitz says celebrities didn’t do their due diligence before promoting FTX—but Taylor Swift did. 

“The one person I found that did [due diligence] was Taylor Swift,” Moskowitz told podcast host Frank Chaparro. He says Swift discussed a $100 million endorsement of the cryptocurrency exchange but pulled out and never promoted it. The sponsorship discussed in 2021 might have included NFT tickets, though marketing staff felt the deal was too expensive. 

“In our discovery, Taylor Swift actually asked them [FTX], ‘Can you tell me that these are not unregistered securities?” Moskowitz says of the pop star. Securities are tradable assets that hold value, such as stocks or bonds. All securities sold in the United States must be registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The SEC alleges that FTX’s FTT token is a security sold as an investment contract, but it was not properly registered with the SEC. 

The FTX cryptocurrency exchange imploded in November 2022 after a series of tweets spooked investors into withdrawing their funds. FTX didn’t have enough money to fulfill the demand and founder Sam Bankman-Fried was arrested in the Bahamas a month later. He is facing over 100 years in prison on charges of securities fraud, money laundering, and bribery. 

Taylor Swift’s increased scrutiny before accepting any promotional deal may have saved her a major headache. Other celebrity endorsers include supermodel Gisele Bündchen, NBA player Stephen Curry, tennis player Naomi Osaka, baseball player David Ortiz, and Shark Tank’s Kevin O’Leary. This isn’t the first time celebs have been in hot water over promoting cryptocurrency scams. Kim Kardashian, Floyd Mayweather Jr., and others were sued after failing to disclose they were paid to endorse the EthereumMax token. 

Photo Credit: Raluca Seceleanu

Once a corporate darling in the metaverse frontier, Decentraland is a ghost town as investors abandon the metaverse.

Decentraland was hailed in 2021 as one of the first instances of an actual metaverse for users (ignoring the existence of Second Life entirely). Now, the metaverse hype-bubble is popping, with Decentraland popping with it. Just this week, mega-players like Disney, Microsoft, and more slashed their metaverse divisions amidst broader layoffs—with the once-hyped locales like Decentraland sinking into ghost town status. 

In March 2022, Decentraland hosted its own Fashion Week with virtual art, music and fashion on display. Brands like Esteé Lauder gave out 10,000 free NFTs to attendees featuring glowing wearables for their avatars. Dolce & Gabbana hosted a parade within the blockchain-based world, hocking its new digital couture. Even Grimes performed a DJ set at the Decentraland Fashion week as an avatar designed by Auroboros. 

The Fashion Week event took place in Decentraland’s Fashion District, where parcels of land were selling for $15,000 per 16-square meter blocks. The hype was there until the virtual hype crashed—leaving Decentraland a virtual ghost town. In fact, some of the actual mining ghost towns in California, Nevada, and Oregon probably have more visitors annually than the Decentraland platform now. 

Decentraland got its start in 2017 as a way to challenge Facebook, according to foundation leader Agustín Ferreira. “Big corporations like Facebook are taking advantage of all our data. With Decentraland, we have a better way to shape the reality of how we treat users.” 

It was one of the first metaverse projects to incorporate blockchain technology. Its founders envisioned a user-governed virtual world where people could develop experiences (not unlike Roblox) on plots of pixelated land. Utilizing the Ethereum blockchain, the developers created a special governance token for Decentraland called Mana. All decision-making about the platform, from creating new districts to banning offensive terms are carried out by votes in a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO).

In 2021, when Facebook rebranded as Meta—interest in the metaverse exploded. Decentraland benefitted from the increased interest as tech companies like Microsoft, Samsung, and Nvidia were throwing their hats into the metaverse ring. The value of the Mana token rose 287% the day after Facebook’s rebranding, reaching a price of $5.48 in November 2021. Suddenly, investors were interested in Decentraland and the promise of blockchain-based digital real estate. 

Soon people were creating virtual real estate companies to buy up digital land to rent out. Because voting power in the DAO is determined by how much Mana a group controls—voting favors the rich with the Mana to back proposals they want to see implemented. 

“[The voting system] does not represent the wider community of creators; it represents speculators who dumped a ton of money in early,” one early Decentraland user told Rest of the World in 2022. Because voting proposals on the platform that would ease the barrier to entry for new people are met with negativity from those with Mana—these proposals rarely pass. The result is that in 2023 Decentraland is a gated community ghost town. 

In October 2022, Decentraland tweeted it has around 8,000 daily active users. Ouch. As The Verge points out, that DAU count puts it behind the 14 year-old co-op zombie shooter, Left 4 Dead 2. If a new web3-based metaverse can’t attract more attention than a decades-old game then what hope does it have? Disney and Microsoft have both reportedly cut their metaverse divisions amid broader layoffs. 

In the words of professor Edward Castronova, “The metaverse is El Dorado for internet startups. They chase it into the jungle and die.”

Photo Credit: Kanchanara

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has sued Justin Sun, a cryptocurrency founder of the Tron blockchain. Several high-profile celebrities are also named. 

Sun is being sued on allegations of “offering for sale unregistered crypto asset securities.” Also named in the suit are the Tron foundation, the BitTorrent foundation and BitTorrent (also known as Rainberry) for the sale of its TRX and BitTorrent (BTT) tokens. The SEC has determined that both TRX and BTT qualify as unregistered securities. “The Sun defendants offered and sold TRX and BTT as securities and were thus required to register those offers and sales with the SEC unless an exemption from registration was available,” the filing states. 

Celebrities named in the lawsuit include Linsday Lohan, Jake Paul, Soulja Boy, Lil Yachty, Akon, Ne-Yo, Austin Mahone, and Michelle Mason. 

“Although the celebrities were paid to promote TRX and BTT, their touts on social media did not disclose that they had been paid or the amounts of their payments,” the SEC alleges in their filing. “Thus, the public was misled into believing that these celebrities had unbiased interest in TRX and BTT, and were not merely paid spokespersons.”

All of the celebrities named aside from Soulja Boy and Austin Mahone have agreed to pay over $400,000 “in disgorgement, interest, and penalties” to settle the charges, without admitting or denying culpability regarding the allegations brought forth by the SEC. “This case demonstrates again the high risk investors face when crypto asset securities are offered and sold without proper disclosure,” says SEC Chair Gary Gensler.

“As alleged, Sun and his companies not only targeted U.S. investors in their unregistered offers and sales, generating millions in illegal proceeds at the expense of investors, but they also coordinated wash trading on an unregistered trading platform to create the misleading appearance of active trading in TRX. Sun further induced investors to purchase TRX and BTT by orchestrating a promotional campaign in which he and his celebrity promoters hid the fact that they celebrities were paid for their tweets.”

Photo Credit: Beatport

Beatport has announced a new digital collectible marketplace called Beatport.io, in partnership with the Polkadot blockchain.

Developed and designed in partnership with Define Creative, Beatport.io will launch on Aventus, a web3 solutions provider for enterprises and parachain in the Polkadot ecosystem. Beatport says the new platform will serve as its first permanent home in the web3 space and will enable labels and artists to create and sell unique digital assets while generating engagement from fans. Artists, producers, and record labels can enjoy the benefits of web3, while giving music fans a way to explore digital collectibles and deepen their connection with their favorite artists and DJs.

“The electronic music community has always been at the forefront of cultural shifts and their early embrace of web3 and all of the promise it offers is no different,” adds Ed Hill, SVP of Beatport’s Media Group. “To user in a new era for the electronic music space, we felt it was important to join forces with a trusted, long-time leader in the blockchain space. Polkadot’s open and interoperable ecosystem enables us to seamlessly tap into web3 and celebrate electronic music by connecting fans with their favorite artists in unique and powerful new ways.”

“Many in the music industry are keen to discover ways in which web3 can better support them,” adds Björn Wagner, CEO of Parity Technologies, a leading contributor to the Polkadot network. “This initiative with Beatport and Aventus is a perfect example of the potential for web3 to elevate the craft of artists. We’re excited to see this application of Polkadot’s technology to better connect artists directly with their fans and reignite the collectible aspect of music fandom that has largely been lost in the age of digital media.”

Beatport says these digital collectibles can serve as fan engagement tools by providing early access to bonus features. Unreleased tracks, discounted tickets, and access to global events and interactive experiences can all be explored through digital collectibles. Speaking on a technical level, the NFTs will be distributed via Aventus, a blockchain built on Polkadot that helps established enterprises deliver web3 use cases from their wide suite of modular and composable products.”

In addition to launching Beatport.io, Beatport and Polkadot will also collaborate on 10 major events over the next 18 months. Each event will celebrate the launch of a new NFT collection accessible via Polkadot-integrated wallets. The events will be produced by Beatport and will take place alongside major music and web3 events.

Photo Credit: Shiller

Snoop Dogg is one of the Co-Founders of a new web3 live streaming platform called Shiller. 

Snoop is no stranger to the world of web3, cryptocurrencies, and blockchain technology. He was revealed as the mysterious person behind the Cozomo de’ Medici Twitter account, which focuses heavily on NFT collectible airdrops and other news. So what’s up with Shiller?

The app describes itself as a ‘live broadcast platform’ that will combine web3 technology with real-time live-streaming content. Snoop Dogg is a co-founder alongside technology entrepreneur Sam Jones. “Get ready for the web3 live stream revolution,” the announcement post begins. “Say goodbye to middlemen and hello to true creator empowerment with Shiller!”

Snoop Dogg has been striking NFT and web3 adjacent partnerships for well over two years now. In April 2022, Snoop Dogg partnered with the Sandbox metaverse to launch an NFT collection of Snoop Avatars, debuting with the single, “A Hard Working Man.” The rapper also partnered with Yuga Labs, the team behind the Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) NFT collection. For that partnership, Snoop performed on a metaverse-transformed stage at the MTV Music Awards in August 2022. 

So what makes Shiller different from Twitch or TikTok?

Shiller says it will use blockchain technology heavily to allow content creators to ‘token-gate’ their streams. It will also integrate NFTs as a way for creators to monetize their streams, much like YouTube and TikTok stickers work today. The web3 initiative aims to cut out middlemen platforms like YouTube and TikTok by giving creators the technology to monetize their own content. 

It’s unclear how much success Shiller will have in the space, as Microsoft quickly gave up with its Mixer platform. Mixer gave up the ghost after only four years of competing with Twitch and some high-profile deals pulling famous Twitch streamers to the platform. Shiller is also competing directly with TikTok’s ever-burgeoning live streaming side too. 

Photo Credit: Brandon Jean

Does the future of music lie with web3, NFTs, and virtual world technology? Maybe. Digital Music News is cutting through the hype during the Digital Music Summit at Country Radio Seminar (CRS). Here’s a quick sneak peek.

Digital Music News’ Chief Revenue Officer Noah Itman will moderate an upcoming panel during the Digital Music Summit at CRS. The live event happens on Monday, March 13th at the Omni Nashville Hotel. Titled ‘Web3, NFTs, and Virtual Worlds: Beyond the Hype,’ the panel promises to provide unique laser-focused industry insight into these next-gen platforms.

Panelists include Rahul Sabnis (CCO iHeart), David Boehme (CEO VBO Tickets), Sean Peace (Founder & CEO of SongVest), Chris McMurtry (VP at Pex & Head of RME), and Zach Bair (CEO VNUE). These panelists will be sharing their unique insight into how artists can take advantage of emerging new worlds to create new revenue streams—all while building a unique brand.

Panel topics will include discussion of web3 technology as a whole as well as its parts. Have questions about NFTs? Smart contracts? What exactly is a metaverse, anyway? All of those questions and more will be answered during this special Digital Music Summit panel.

Virtual Words & Blockchain Tech Take Center Focus

Virtual worlds like those of Fortnite and Roblox have taken center stage for creating new spaces for artists to reach fans in unprecedented numbers. It creates unique opportunities for new revenue streams and continued fan engagement well beyond the initial digital concert. But how can virtual worlds be utilized beyond digital concerts? Panelists will provide unique insight into that question.

So far there has been much ado about nothing over NFT ticket sales. That’s because the technology is in its infancy and has not been without its hiccups. Coachella went all-in on lifetime NFT tickets—but they’re now embroiled in a fiasco of sorting out those lifetime tickets amid the shocking FTX bankruptcy last year. What about a simpler application of preventing counterfeit tickets using blockchain technology? Can the technology help inspire more confidence in enterprise ticketing solutions?

What about the advent of AI in the music industry? Digital Music News has covered how tech companies are building AI DJs meant to provide the same experience as local talent. Is AI-generated music itself an ethical good thing or bad thing? Many labels are now embracing virtual artists, whose image they own wholly. Does this allow them to stop paying for talent? Many of these questions will be raised and answered at the upcoming panel, moderated by Digital Music News CRO Noah Itman.

Country Radio Seminar 2023 Is Next Week

CRS 2023 is just a week away with plenty to do. Longtime attendees may remember the Streaming Summit from 2021, now renamed the Digital Music Summit. “We felt ‘Streaming Summit’ might have been a bit narrow,” says RJ Curtis. A highlight for this year is the newly created Garth Brooks ‘No Fences’ Award, created to honor “an individual in the country music industry who has boldly demonstrated innovation, creativity, and tenacity.

The inaugural recipient of the new award will be honored at CRS with a blue-ribbon committee composed of CRB board members and representatives of Brooks’ team. In addition, Garth Brooks will appear at CRS 2023 on Monday, March 13 for a conversation to discuss the collaboration with CRS and the last several years. “Garth Brooks has given unwavering support for CRS during the past 30 years by showing up to CRS annually and creating innovative ways to engage, entertain, and educate CRS attendees that perfectly match the ‘growth through sharing’ mission of CRS,” adds RJ Curtis.

Country Radio Seminar 2023 is happening March 13-15 in Nashville, Tennessee at the Omni Nashville Hotel.

Photo Credit: Bastian Riccardi

About nine months after it began allowing select artists to sell non-fungible tokens (NFTs) on-platform, Spotify is testing a feature that enables certain NFT holders to access exclusive playlists.

The Stockholm-headquartered streaming platform’s latest NFT expansion just recently came to light in social media posts penned by entities including Kingship. “Signed” to Universal Music Group’s 10:22PM, the latter is a virtual “supergroup” comprised of characters from the Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT project.

And according to Kingship, for which 10:22PM last summer minted thousands of “virtual key card” non-fungible tokens, those who possess its NFTs can listen to a “token-enabled playlist” on Spotify. The team behind Kingship – now including actual musicians – in a tweet described the seemingly straightforward process associated with accessing the playlist.

“All you need is a KINGSHIP Key Card NFT to unlock this playlist on Spotify. For now, this pilot is only available to Android users in the US, UK, DE, AU and NZ,” reads one of the many messages written about the “special moment.”

Individuals who don’t own Kingship key cards – which remain available on OpenSea and, if the displayed sale prices are accurate, are fetching relatively substantial sums – cannot see the playlist’s included songs. Non-owners can however view the landing page for the mobile-only playlist (aptly entitled “KINGSHIP’S Exclusive Playlist”), which is labeled “TOKEN ENABLED” and had 46 likes at the time of this writing.

Upon tapping the play button, one is prompted to connect a crypto wallet (Metamask, Trust Wallet, and Rainbow among them) to his or her Spotify account, and for owners of the appropriate token, doing so would presumably unlock Kingship’s Spotify playlist at once.

Besides Kingship, a portion of the Fluf, Moonbirds, and Overlord NFT communities’ respective members can likewise access exclusive Spotify playlists at present, according to CoinDesk. 

It’s unclear when (or whether) the streaming service will make the exclusive-playlist feature available to different NFT holders and in additional countries. But with NFTs having reportedly experienced a substantial sales slowdown in 2022, while also spurring several high-profile lawsuits, time will reveal the precise popularity of “token-enabled” playlists.

More broadly, though, the presence of exclusive Spotify playlists is significant, especially given the platform’s ongoing effort to optimize the user experience and stand out in the crowded audio-entertainment sphere – while simultaneously making cuts on the podcasting side.

As 10:22PM belongs to Universal Music Group, it bears mentioning in conclusion that Lucian Grainge in January called for streaming’s compensation model to evolve, before UMG kicked off February by announcing a related collaboration with Tidal.

Photo Credit: ICE

ICE announces a deal with gaming metaverse start-up STYNGR, covering the multi-territory use of the ICE Core repertoire.

ICE, the music tech company providing royalties for songwriters, has announced a deal with gaming metaverse start-up STYNGR. This deal brings the ICE Core repertoire to STYNGR’s new service in gaming and gaming metaverses, where players can choose in-game music channels and clips to personalize their experience. The multi-year deal covers a range of territories and supports accurate, usage-based writer payments.

Using STYNGR, game developers are supported with their software development kit (SDK) and can deploy in-game monetization options. ICE Core members will receive royalties from these new applications, expanding as more games and developers utilize the service.

“Licensing such a massive and unique aggregation of musical repertoire as that represented by the ICE Core Societies and Publishers is a great opportunity, and we’re delighted to get this deal in place,” says STYNGR co-founder Alex Tarrand. “STYNGR is a bridge for game developers, allowing them to easily incorporate music into all of their experiences. Being able to cover so many important works on a broad multi-territory basis is a boost for our service.”

“As the next generation of web applications start to be realized, we’re constantly assessing new services, understanding their models, and supporting innovation with deals that also reflect the value of songwriting,” adds Tim Rawlinson, VP of Licensing at ICE. “We’re pleased to be able to work with STYNGR to provide songwriters with new, incremental sources of income as new opportunities for people to experience music emerge.”

Songwriters and composers can also apply directly to access the STYNGR Creator Fund, created to boost bespoke musical experiences for game developers and metaverses. Associated songwriting camps will take place throughout 2023.

The ICE Core license includes a repertoire of collection societies PRS, STIM, GEMA, IMRO, BMI, Sabam, AKM, and independent publishers Concord, Songtrust, Peermusic, and a range of others represented through PRS’s Core Collective Initiative. The ICE copyright database holds over 48 million musical works, representing over 330,000 rightsholders. 

Photo Credit: Napster

Napster has acquired NFT marketplace Mint Songs following its ‘wind down’ in late 2022.

Napster is helmed by former Roblox music executive Jon Vlassopulos, who moved to acquire Mint Songs. Mint Songs is an NFT marketplace that helps artists build a web3 community around their music, mint songs, and provide exclusive art for their fans to trade. So what did Napster pay for Mint Songs? The terms of the deal were not disclosed.

What we do know is that Mint Songs Co-Founder and CEO Garrett Hughes will stay on in an advisory capacity. He’ll be helping to integrate Mint Songs’ technology into the Napster platform, while offering guidance as Napster rolls out new products. Former Head of Product Nate Pham is joining Napster to lead its web3 initiatives.

“We are in an unprecedented era of innovation in the digital music space and it feels like there have been more music startups formed in the last two to three years than in the previous 20,” adds John Vlassopulos, CEO of Napster.

“It’s inspiring to see so many talented teams pushing to create a music ecosystem that is better for artists and fans,” he continues. “Garrett and team have done groundbreaking work helping thousands of artists get their start in web3, reach their fans in new creative ways through collectibles, and unlock significant new revenue streams.”

Mint Songs previously raised $4.3 million from investors. The company worked with artists including Gramatik, Mark de Clive-Lowe and Black Dave to offer exclusive NFT items to their fans. Vlassopulos says the ability to create artist collectibles will be available on the Napster platform “in the coming months.”

“We feel that the natural next step for the Napster service is to include collectibles that fans can get as rewards for engaging with artists they love or that they can purchase to collect and share. We already have hundreds of thousands of artist storefronts where our fans go to listen to music every day so adding collectibles is very contextual in the fan experience.”

Photo Credit: Rolando Yera

Following the collapse of the FTX cryptocurrency exchange, the FTX Arena has rebranded to ‘Miami-Dade Arena’ for now. 

The Miami Heat NBA team and the Miami-Dade County made a joint decision to rebrand the arena to distance itself from any “enduring hardships” as the collapse weaves its way through bankruptcy court. FTX secured a 19-year $135 million deal for the naming rights to the Arena. The Miami Heat were to receive $2 million annually as part of that deal. Now both the NBA and the county are working together to find a new naming rights partner. 

“Effective immediately, Miami-Dade County and the Miami Heat have agreed that, until such a time as there is a new naming rights partner, to refer to the arena as Miami-Dade Arena,” both parties announced in a joint statement. “The removal of the facility’s existing signage and the changeover of branding elements will be ongoing in the coming weeks.”

“Miami-Dade County and the Miami HEAT will now work aggressively to identify a new naming rights partner for the arena. We look forward to identifying a new partner to continue funding these and other new critical programs in the years ahead,” the statement continues. Miami-Dade County began the search for a new naming rights partner back in November after the deal was terminated. 

Before the renaming, the building was called the American Airlines Arena since its opening in 1999. In 2019, American Airlines chose not to renew its ongoing deal with the Arena, prompting a bidding war for the new rights. FTX ultimately won out, but now both the Miami Heat and county have egg on their face as the cryptocurrency exchange collapsed.

It’s 30-year-old founder, Sam Bankman-Fried, was arrested in the Bahamas in December and extradited to the United States to face criminal charges. U.S. Attorney Damian Williams has called the incident “one of the biggest frauds in American history.”

Photo Credit: Mastercard

Mastercard announces its new web3-based “Artist Accelerator” music program in an effort to support emerging musical artists.

Financial services company Mastercard  announced  the debut of its  Mastercard Artist Accelerator  program at the 2023  Consumer Electronics Show  in Las Vegas. The program will connect five up-and-coming musicians with mentors, fans, and technical resources to assist in navigating the frontier of blockchain-based experiences and technologies. The program is being developed in partnership with blockchain platform Polygon Studios.

Set to launch in the spring, the Mastercard Artist Accelerator will include a “first-of-its-kind curriculum” to teach artists “how to build and own their brand through web3 experiences like minting NFTs, representing themselves in virtual worlds, and establishing an engaged community.” Fans can also receive access to “unique resources through our collaborations and priceless experiences — in real life and the metaverse” through the limited-edition Mastercard Music Pass NFT.

“Music is a global passion, and connecting people to their passions has been our mission for years, so choosing to invest in this program was a natural way for us to advance this objective,” says Raja Rajamannar, chief marketing and communications officer at Mastercard.

“We also see that web3 holds tremendous promise for artists and creators to create, own, and monetize their content, but only if they know how to leverage it. Take NFTs, for instance — a key to unlocked monetary potential. If emerging artists have the skills and knowledge on how to create NFTs, they are able to then support their career(s). We feel that AR, NFTs, and blockchain are technologies that will continue to gain ground — when effectively executed.”

Mastercard has long been helping its customers get into the world of web3. In October, the company announced Crypto Source, a program to assist banks in getting started providing crypto services to customers. Additionally, Mastercard launched a partnership with crypto-exchange platform Coinbase early last year, which enabled customers to use Mastercard cards to purchase NFTs through Coinbase’s NFT marketplace.

Avatars from DRESSX, which Warner Music Group has invested in. Photo Credit: WMG

After kicking off 2022 by striking a deal with “digital collectibles platform” Blockparty, Warner Music Group (WMG) has closed out the year by finalizing a partnership with (and taking a stake in) “digital fashion retailer” DRESSX.

The Big Three label and two-year-old DRESSX, which bills itself as “a Metacloset of digital-only clothes, NFT fashion items, and AR looks,” revealed their tie-up via a formal release today. Notwithstanding the well-documented crypto winter and recession fears, Warner Music has spearheaded a number of expansion initiatives involving Web3, NFTs, and other digital items during 2022.

And under this latest pact, WMG-signed acts are poised to “collaborate directly with DRESSX to design and launch 3D and AR virtual clothing,” which their supporters will then be able to “collect and enjoy across Instagram, Snapchat, and other platform partners,” according to the major label and the “female-led, female founded metafashion company.”

While the businesses haven’t publicly identified the specifics of the union (including which artists will work with DRESSX first) or the aforementioned investment, Warner Music made clear its belief that the agreement “will enable artists to unlock new revenue streams” and simultaneously create “additional outlets for fans to showcase their fandom across multiple digital worlds.”

Similarly, the release from WMG and DRESSX is relatively light on concrete details about the latter’s offerings and operations. But a video on the DRESSX website, aptly entitled “Our Vision,” emphasizes that users and customers can “wear” the digital apparel at hand not only in the metaverse, but in “real world” photos and videos.

To be sure, the platform dedicates a different section yet of its site to explaining how one can best utilize AR technology to make it seem as though he or she is wearing different clothing in photos (for use on social media and dating apps in particular, DRESSX recommends) and during livestreams. “Remember, DRESSX can digitally dress you, but never undress,” the guide also reminds fashion-minded fans.

In a statement, WMG chief digital officer and EVP of business development Oana Ruxandra stressed the perceived significance of “digital identities” today and expressed the belief that they will “become exponentially more robust and impactful” during the approaching years.

“The representation of our future digital selves will be as important and, if you’re measuring by sheer volume of interactions, maybe more important than how we represent ourselves physically,” Ruxandra communicated in part. “As our digital identities become exponentially more robust and impactful, we are focused on building partnerships that will enable WMG and our artists.”

Moving forward, it’ll be worth following the commercial performance and popularity of Warner Music artists’ DRESSX collaborations, especially given the prevalence of superfans who live for social media in the contemporary music industry.

Also during 2022, Warner Music Group has partnered with The Sandbox (to create virtual concert venues), music NFT platform OneOf, “leading Web3 protocol” POAP (“to mint shared memories as NFTs”), NFT marketplace OpenSea, LGND.io and Polygon, and “collectible card gaming company” Splinterlands.

Photo Credit: Markus Winkler

Days after disclosing that its initial non-fungible token (NFT) project had generated $2 million, “Web3 music specialist” Public Pressure has formally announced a $6 million funding round.

London-headquartered Public Pressure, which arrived on the scene in its current form four months back, revealed the multimillion-dollar raise this morning. Before debuting in the Web3 arena in August of this year, Public Pressure had in 2015 rolled out “as an online community and magazine dedicated to giving a voice to emerging artists and labels,” according to higher-ups.

Now, bringing this original vision to the Web3 space and the contemporary music landscape, Public Pressure says it’s working “to empower the artist/fan relationship while creating new revenue streams for creators and the wider music industry.”

Scytale Ventures, a self-described “digital asset manager with a focus on blockchain solutions,” led Public Pressure’s $6 million round, which likewise drew support from Ethereum and Polkadot co-founder Gavin Wood, Energy Web founder Ed Hesse, Web3 and crypto investment firm Matterblock, and Munich-based VC HV Capital, per the business.

(Public Pressure was built on Polkadot, which is said to boast “the lowest total electricity consumption and carbon emissions per year of the six proof-of-stake (POS) blockchains” and to have been designed specifically “to support the transition of music to Web3.”)

Moving forward, Public Pressure – which says that it has offices in the U.S., Europe, and Hong Kong – intends to continue building out and pursuing its overarching music-related goals. And in a statement, Scytale founder and CIO Mark Cachia touted Web3’s perceived long-term significance for artists.

“We believe that music and artists will be one of the industries that will most benefit from Web3,” said the former Erste Group exec Cachia. “Public Pressure is the first music project on Polkadot and this kind of forward thinking gives us confidence that the team at Public Pressure are best placed to execute a win-win strategy for artists and also investors.”

In a statement of his own, Public Pressure founder and president Sergio Mottola, who’s also a founding partner at Milan’s Twelve Ventures, said in part: “Web 3 is about creating a fairer internet where the user owns their data and identity. For us, it is about creating a more equitable music industry where artists control the relationship with their fans and oversee the distribution of their products.”

Earlier this year, Web3 music-creation startup Arpeggi Labs announced a $5.1 million raise, whereas Web3 music revenue share platform Reveel unveiled $1.3 million in pre-seed funding. Meanwhile, Warner Music has continued to lean particularly hard into Web3, including by launching Probably A Label and by overhauling Spinnin’ Records “to remain ahead of the industry’s curve.”

Photo Credit: Marco Verch / CC by 2.0

Justin Bieber, Madonna, The Weeknd, Paris Hilton, and more face a class-action lawsuit over promoting NFTs.

The lawsuit alleges that these celebrities violated state and federal law by failing to disclose a prior relationship with Yuga Labs before promoting the Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT collection. The suit was filed in the U.S. District Court’s Central District of California and names 37 co-defendants–many of them celebrities. The 100-page filing contains an elaborate alleged conspiracy engineered by these celebrities to boost the value of Bored Ape NFTs.

“The executives at Yuga and Oseary together devised a plan to leverage their vast network of A-list musicians, athletes, and celebrity clients and associates to misleadingly promote and sell the Yuga Financial Products,” the lawsuit alleges.

It alleges that talent manager Guy Oseary–representative for Madonna and Yuga Labs–used his network to publicly support Yuga Labs products in exchange for payments from Yuga Labs. The lawsuit alleges these secret payments were funneled to Oseary through MoonPay. The lawsuit claims that MoonPay was used as a front to secretly process payments from Yuga Labs to various celebrities.

“MoonPay puports to be a white-glove service designed to help the super-rich and celebrities buy NFTs ‘without all the hassle of setting up a wallet, buying crypto, using that crypto to purchase an NFT and then taking custody of it.’ In truth, the executive defendants and Oseary used their connections to MoonPay and its service as a covert way to compensate the Promoter Defendants for their promotions of the BAYC NFTs without disclosing it to unsuspecting investors,” the lawsuit continues.

When reached for comment, Yuga Labs vigorously denied the allegations. “In our view, these claims are opportunistic and parasitic,” a representative said in a comment to Decrypt about the lawsuit. “We strongly believe they are without merit, and look forward to proving as much.”

Photo Credit: Mariia Shalabaieva

Failed crypto exchange FTX was in talks with Taylor Swift for a $100 million sponsorship months before the collapse.

A new report from the Financial Times details the full extent of the would-be partnership. They include a ticketing arrangement featuring NFT technology–similar to that used by Coachella. Coachella’s NFT solution is now missing, and it’s unclear what will happen there.

The CEO of FTX, Sam Bankman-Fried, created several high-profile celebrity partnerships. FTX struck deals with US football star Tom Brady and supermodel Gisele Bündchen. Tennis star Naomi Osaka and basketball players Shaquille O’Neal and Steph Curry also had deals. Larry David also famously participated in the FTX Super Bowl commercial–now the subject of a lawsuit.

According to the Financial Times, the 30-year-old CEO favored approving the deal because he’s a fan of Taylor Swift. Claire Watanabe, a senior executive in FTX’s business development team, was seen by former employees as the driving force behind the Taylor Swift potential partnership.

“Those pushing to scrap the talks though the partnership with Swift was too expensive and questioned whether previous celebrity deals were delivering value for money,” the Financial Times reports. “No one really liked the [Taylor Swift] deal. It was too expensive from the beginning,” said one person speaking on the negotiations.

Sam Bankman-Fried was persuaded to drop the Taylor Swift deal by senior executives at FTX. Another former employee said the exchange still sought a ‘light degree of endorsement’ from Taylor Swift on social media–but Swift never contemplated agreeing to endorse it. “Taylor would not and did not agree to an endorsement deal. The discussion was around a potential tour sponsorship that did not happen,” says another person familiar with the negotiations.

FTX spent $135 million securing the naming rights to the Miami basketball stadium, FTX Arena. On November 24, Miami-Dade county is now asking the federal bankruptcy judge to terminate that deal so it could secure a different name.

Photo Credit: Raph_PH / CC by 2.0

Nearly one month following the implosion of cryptocurrency exchange FTX, Metallica is warning fans of crypto-related scams involving its forthcoming 72 Seasons album.

Metallica just recently took to social media to apprise diehard supporters of the apparent flood of crypto scams centering on 72 Seasons. About one week ago, the more than four-decade-old act revealed its 11th studio album (which is scheduled to debut in mid-April of 2023) as well as a single and a 2023-2024 concert series.

Meanwhile, FTX officially filed for bankruptcy on Friday, November 11th, and besides rather predictably causing massive issues for other crypto players and investors, the multibillion-dollar entity’s collapse is likewise impacting the music industry. FTX Ventures, the exchange’s venture capital arm, was a key player in the non-fungible token (NFT) space pre-bankruptcy.

Of course, more than a few music NFTs have rolled out since 2020’s start, and FTX had invested in UMG’s Bored Ape Yacht Club and issued the tokens for the NFT offerings of Tomorrowland and Coachella. (The latter’s official NFT marketplace was still empty at the time of this writing.)

Now, following FTX’s much-publicized demise and amid the adjacent music industry effects thereof, Metallica is warning fans to be on the lookout for crypto scams ahead of the release of 72 Seasons, as mentioned at the outset.

“In the wake of last week’s exciting news of our new song, new album, and new tour, unfortunately the ugly side of social media made an appearance,” penned the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame-inducted group. “Many of you have let us know about YouTube channels and live streams, as well as websites, claiming to offer Metallica Crypto giveaways in conjunction with last week’s announcement.

“Let’s be as clear as possible. These are scams. They’re being streamed on fake YouTube channels posing to be ours and all pointing to websites that we do not run. Please remember – all of our official social media channels are verified. Always look for official verification before believing something wild and crazy to be true. We thank all of you who have been vigilant in reporting these live streams to YouTube and to us…please don’t let up!”

Needless to say, casual supporters could well have a difficult time distinguishing between authorized NFT drops and “wild and crazy” NFT collections made available without authorization. (One video scam featuring a deepfake depiction of FTX’s founder attempted to trick individuals who are purportedly knowledgeable about crypto, for instance.)

Additionally, evidence shows that crypto scams, far from being new, have already cost Americans north of $1 billion – and potentially much more than that, depending upon one’s precise definition of the term.

Consequently, it’ll be interesting to see how (and whether) different acts take steps to prevent their fans from falling victim to fraudulent crypto and NFT offerings moving forward. Once again at the time of this writing, YouTube appeared to have taken down each of the livestreams described by Metallica, though an official-looking (and unverified) “Metallica: Lux Aeterna NFT” account remained up and running on Twitter.

Photo Credit: LGND.io / WMG

LGND.io partners with Warner Music Group and Polygon Companies on a collaborative project: LGND Music, a new music and collectibles platform in the web3 space.

LGND.io, an e-commerce and interactive platform builder delivering blockchain integration through consumer-friendly technology, announced a multi-year partnership with Warner Music Group and Polygon Companies for a new collaborative project. LGND Music officially launches in January 2023, including a collaboration with the world’s leading dance record label, Spinnin’ Records, a WMG label leaning into many activities in the web3 space.

LGND Music is a music and collectibles platform that supports digital collectibles from any blockchain in a proprietary player, allowing consumers to play their digital collectibles anywhere. Through the partnership, select WMG artists will launch digital collectibles on both the mobile app and desktop platform, allowing fans to enjoy unique content from their favorite artists.

The platform will be built on Polygon, a leading blockchain development network, to ensure a seamless user experience while offering lower fees and faster transactions in an “open, permissionless, and sustainable environment.”

“We are beyond thrilled to finally announce this monumental and groundbreaking partnership with Warner Music Group and Polygon,” says Michael Rockwell, CEO of LGND Music.

“We’ve been working for over a year to deliver the best-in-class blockchain experience for passionate music lovers all over the world, and look forward to innovative and unique content from all types of WMG artists. With the strong support of the Polygon ecosystem, LGND Music is poised to help evolve the entire music industry.”

“We are incredibly excited about the ways in which evolving technologies are changing and challenging the music industry,” says Oana Ruxandra, Chief Digital Officer & EVP, Business Development at WMG. 

“There is tremendous untapped potential for artists to interact with their fans and to monetize that fandom. And, as we continue to lean in and drive forward, WMG’s partnership with LGND and Polygon will help our artists to experiment with and build across Web3 technologies in order to grow and engage their communities.”

“Web3 has the power to transform the music industry for both artists and fans,” adds Ryan Wyatt, CEO of Polygon Studios. “The way that we own and experience music is evolving; by fully embracing decentralized technologies and collectibles, this exclusive partnership between Polygon, LGND, and WMG represents an exciting milestone for the music industry. Polygon is proud to be powering this innovative initiative that will elevate music ownership and bring more music lovers and artists to Web3.”

LGND Music will launch various features, offering enthusiastic music collectors a decentralized ecosystem based on full ownership of digital assets. LGND Music will enable users to buy and fully own music tokens and quickly start a digital collection in a seamless, user-friendly way, even for fans who have yet to become familiar with web3, cryptocurrencies, or digital collectibles.

Photo Credit: Public Pressure

Public Pressure, a web3 music specialist officially launched in August, announced its first official NFT project sold out within days, generating $2 million in revenues.

Italian DJ duo and UMG recording artists Merk & Kremont have teamed up with Public Pressure to create a series of PODs — NFTs containing songs that users can equip inside the web3 gaming platform Moonsama. Once equipped, each song unlocks in-game features or power-ups, including playing the purchased track within the game.

The PODs NFT collection comprised 3,333 limited edition NFTs, sold for a fixed price of $600 each. Each contained unreleased music tracks by DJs Merk & Kremont. The release sold out within days, generating $2 million in revenues. 

Moonsama is the biggest community within the Polkadot blockchain ecosystem, allowing players to purchase in-platform NFTs as utilities. The partnership is the brainchild of Public Pressure president Sergio Mottola and Moonsama founder Donnie Big Bags. It introduces music as a gaming utility for the first time inside a metaverse ecosystem.

“By partnering with Moonsama, we’re bringing NFT music to the Moonsama Metaverse and gaming communities for the very first time,” says Sergio Mottola. 

“By bridging digital and physical worlds, we’re offering labels and artists a new way forward with innovative formats for their art. The success of this collaborative drop confirms our belief — that the future of music and culture consumption is on Web3.”

“We already have a very strong community; in fact, the largest in the Polkadot ecosystem,” adds Donnie Big Bags. 

“However, I’ve observed in the ‘Metaverse‘ space there are a lot of projects only handling 50 people at a time on a screen, giving a kind of ghost town feel. We’re building an ecosystem, not just a project, and want it to feel populated. The plan is to attract more games to our network which utilize our ecosystem assets. The music NFT PODs are the perfect way to show cross-project and cross-metaverse utility. The first of its kind!”

Public Pressure is built on Polkadot, the brainchild of Ethereum founder Gavin Wood. Polkadot boasts the lowest total electricity consumption and carbon emissions per year of the six proof-of-stake (POS) blockchains and is designed to support the transition of music to web3. It aims to empower the artist and fan relationship while creating new revenue streams for creators and the broader music industry.

Photo Credit: Tuned Global

As part of Music Tectonics 2022, a panel on the music industry’s intersection with the idea of the nebulous ‘metaverse’ reveals there’s still a long way to go here. Let’s dive in.

The following was created in collaboration with Tuned Global, a company DMN is proud to be partnered with.

Following the collapse of the FTX exchange, faith in web3 technology and the crypto universe as a whole is shaken. Meta’s vision of what a ‘metaverse’ is hasn’t differentiated itself from any of the hundreds of spaces that have come before it. Meanwhile, some web3 spaces like Decentraland are ghost towns–with monthly active users drying up as users flee crypto adjacent spaces. 

The music industry is soldiering on with virtual experiences like Megan Thee Stallion’s recent VR experience, or the NFT scavenger hunt from Pixelynx, the DJ’s web3 startup. Each of these experiences provides a real-world example of how web3 tech can intersect with the real world to provide an entirely new experience. 

So why the focus on blockchain for the music industry? What parts of the industry or what problems that we’re addressing need to actually be on the blockchain? Is blockchain a solution for the music industry? It certainly has the potential to be. Here’s how these industry insiders view its potential. 

Music Tectonics 2022 Metaverse Panel Participants

• Amelia Daly | Solana – Ventures & Partnerships
• Con Raso | Tuned Global – Founder
• Dean Wilson | Seven20 – CEO & Founder
• Brayden Pierce | Soundromeda – CEO & Founder

“I think that blockchain solves a lot of problems in [the music] industry,” Brayden Pierce of Soundromeda says. “First and foremost–on how royalties are paid out. It’s a long and rigorous process. It’s been integrated through PROs and I think you can simplify the whole process. Essentially, it would save a lot of time, which means a lot more money, by putting it on blockchain and just having it be more of an instant payment instead of waiting for 30, 60, or 90 days for the royalty to come in. That’s certainly one way. I think there are a lot of ways that you can apply blockchain technology to make things more efficient.”

Con Raso, of B2B music and streaming tech firm Tuned Global, shares that his focus is more on helping local artists utilize the power of web3 technology like NFTs.

“The area that we’ve been doing a number of initiatives in is with our DSPs in various local markets. They’ve often got either niche projects–like maybe the fitness industry or the gaming industry. But if we look at some of the emerging markets and we’ve got apps in the Pacific Islands, Ethiopia, Ghana, other parts of Africa, through to the major areas,” Raso says of Tuned Global’s strategy.

Tuned Global has become a fast growing, major player in the music-tech space. We have been monitoring their growth from branded campaigns with major brands, to partnering to provide cleared, headache-free music in fitness apps, as well as provide the backbone for emerging regional streaming players. Now, the company has placed a high-emphasis on supplying music for metaverses, and while attending their panel we heard what they think about this growing opportunity.

Raso added, “We’ve been focusing a lot on how we can bring additional value to those local artists and help them actually make a decent amount of money through the DSP. Blockchain for us has been–can we start to bring NFTs both into a web2 and web3 world? Can artists now start to actually bring forward revenue by potentially fractionalizing rights? Can they start to actually be more in control of their revenue streams and, yeah, ultimately, bring more control in the ability for many of these cultures to really exist from a music perspective where it’s such a struggle?”

Dean Wilson of Seven20, and longtime manager of deadmau5, adds that he believes blockchain technology will help revolutionize the music industry in making it a two-way street of value.

“From a management point and a builder–and an investor–we want transparency and we want to be able to connect with our fans in a really simplistic way and not be told how to do it by gatekeepers and then having to pay that platform to be able to talk to our fans,” says Wilson. This remains especially relevant as the future of Twitter appears to be on the rocks as Elon Musk makes vast changes to the platform. 

“And I think blockchain is finally going to allow us to have a two-way street of value. it’s finally going to allow us to be able to give things to our fans. Can’t give anything to our fans right now. If we want to do that, we have to pay Mark Zuckerberg or somebody else. So blockchain, as in the technology layer, is the first start of the foundation before everything else that we’re going to be able to build on top of digital currency, whether it be entities or collectibles.”

What are some of the broader ways in which music and web3 can integrate into the broader crypto landscape?

So far, not many. Con Raso agrees with that assessment. “At the moment, it’s very much an emerging area. I think the audience and platform is an interesting place, but it’s probably still struggling from a content perspective. We play music in that space. I think broader than that, yeah, we’re certainly working internally on our own experiments around what does it mean to have a web3 experience that includes music?”

“We had some concepts and really struggled to have partners come up with those concepts,” Raso adds. “And we thought, “Well, I guess we just have to build this ourselves and show people how it works.”

Music for web3 and metaverse use is a complex issue that entails many moving parts. Each step of the process may present new challenges–both technical and legal in nature. To better survive those challenges, check out this pocket survival guide from Tuned Global–one of the biggest B2B streaming technology providers in the music industry.

The company is currently helping numerous companies navigate the complexity of music in web3. Tuned Global recently partnered with Digital Music News to share some of its expertise in this area. 

“We’re currently building in Decentraland and being able to have areas for artists and our clients to be able to brand and have an opportunity to showcase their artists in that space,” Raso says. “Because I think we really need that experimental nature of people being able to come in to an area that doesn’t become too technical for them to execute. And then what we do is we learn through those experiences how to change the access points.”

“We’re not looking at it as being just a web3 approach though. We’re saying there needs to be an access point from web2 to web3 and be able to have people sort of traverse from a web2 experience. It might be an Apple, might be something else into a web3 world and start to taste that world. We’re all sort of waiting for that great execution that’s in the market.”

Part of that problem is how fractured what the perceived ‘metaverse’ is at the moment.

“One question is always interoperability, right?” adds Raso. “So there’s a lot of different things that are described as the ‘metaverse’ at the moment–whether it’s Sandbox, Roblox, Decentraland, tons of others. And so how do we build something? When we think of the internet, we think of being able to move seamlessly between areas of the internet.”

“But that’s not true with what the metaverse is at the moment. So I think the next phase is certainly where interoperability–at least to a degree that allows potentially a wearable that you have in one world to be able to be used in another world–are really important.”

As you can see there is no simple universal idea as to what the ‘metaverse’ is. Some aspects of web3 technology will certainly revolutionize the music industry–blockchain has the potential to revolutionize artist payments, fan engagement, and more. But creating spaces in web3 is still very much a gamble at this early stage. Still, these early pioneers are paving the way for positive fan experiences powered by new technology and driven by a web3 backbone. 

In the coming months, the company plans to launch several new initiatives in key web3 environments, providing turnkey virtual locations and streaming or minting tools for any music and media-driven company to dive into fresh, new territory.

We are excited to see what Tuned Global has in store for us as this technology continues to grow in importance to major players in music. Hopefully, we will see them on stage at SXSW 2023 alongside Decentraland, HFA and Redd Smith, discussing ‘How to Build and License Web3 Music Projects at Scale.’

Photo Credit: Coachella.com

The Coachella NFT collection that promised lifetime passes to the festival is now in limbo as FTX implodes.

The ‘Coachella Collectibles’ were unveiled earlier this year and were advertised as “a first-of-its-kind opportunity to own lifetime festival passes, unlock unique on-site experiences, physical items, and digital collectibles.” Only the tokens that promised those benefits were backed by a cryptocurrency exchange that has now filed for bankruptcy protection.

What Happened to FTX?

The cryptocurrency exchange FTX appears to have lent out its customer deposits to sister company Alameda Research. Alameda Research is a crypto hedge fund that has invested broadly in the ecosystem with very little discretion. As Alameda Research collapsed, FTX became insolvent with a balance hole of $10 billion. FTX filed for bankruptcy-court protections on November 11. 

The problem is that FTX was a major player in the NFT space with its venture capital arm, FTX Ventures. it invested in many NFT projects, including Yuga Labs’ Bored Ape Yacht Club. FTX was also the primary issuance for NFT collections for both Coachella and Tomorrowland. Notable sports brands caught up in the sta include the Golden State Warriors, the Washington Wizards and Capitals, Dolphin Entertainment, and Mercedes F1.

Members of the Coachella staff appear to be just as blindsided as everyone else by the exchange’s collapse. In a message posted to the festival’s Discord server, organizers say they’re not sure what to do. “Like many of you, we have been watching this news unfold online over the past few days and are shocked by the outcome,” a message on the Discord server reads.

“We do not currently have any lines of communication with the FTX team. We have assembled an internal team to come up with solutions based on the tools we have access to. Our priority is getting Coachella NFTS off of FTX, which appears to be disabled at the moment,” the statement continues.

The collapse of FTX could have far-reaching repercussions in the world of crypto. “FTX’s reputation holds significant weight in the perception of cryptocurrency among retail users and investors,” adds Gökçe Güven, Founder and CEO of Kalder. “The FTX collapse has impacted the average consumer who is less embedded in the crypto industry more than any other collapse since FTX was globally renowned and trusted. The NFT industry will see an increase in intimidation and skepticism among mainstream users in the short term.”

Photo Credit: Tunedly (Chris Erhardt and Mylène Besançon)

Blockchain technology is rapidly evolving with new use cases. Supply chain tracking and tracing, compliance auditing, and simplified payment processing are all some of the applications for which the technology is being adopted. Now Tunedly aims to disrupt the music industry by introducing blockchain-fueled reward mechanisms to help encourage user engagement.

The following was created in collaboration with Tunedly, a company DMN is proud to be partnered with.

The technology has drawn the attention of artists, publishers, agencies, managers, and more, all in efforts to develop new revenue models. Blockchain technology can help redefine the rights and royalties process, ensuring that everyone in the music industry’s complex value chain gets paid fairly. To that wit, Tunedly is introducing its new TunedCoin project. The project aims to offer TunedCoins and distinctive music NFTs as a reward for music consumers. These rewards can also be used to get access to exclusive events and royalties with their favorite musicians.

Musicians and music managers started Tunedly in 2016 to remove the barriers to entry into the music industry. It provides a live collaboration music production and publishing solution for anyone. Tunedly helps decentralize the music industry by lighting the way for independent artists through its commitment to helping songwriters and other music creators get connected with world-class session musicians for professional music production and music publishing. 

After becoming a market leader in the specialty of music creation, Tunedly branched out into music publishing and then into music discovery in an effort to improve the fairness and transparency of the A&R process. Through the TunedCoin project, Tunedly aims to enable music consumers to vote once a day for a song they believe should be signed. Listeners get rewarded by earning TunedCoins and NFTs as well as a share of future royalties.

How TunedCoins and Tuned NFTs Work

The Tunedly ecosystem is an example of how blockchain technology, non-fungible tokens, and decentralized finance could revolutionize the music industry. First budding artists get discovered on Tunedly by uploading their music on the Tunedly Music Discovery app.

After uploading the song, Tunedly will feature music from new artists next to songs from established artists with no branding to eliminate bias. After this, music listeners can upvote their favorite songs based only on music–no references to the artist’s name or other identifying info. 

Top songs upvoted by the Tunedly community get a publishing offer, and TunedCoin is allocated along with a signing bonus. When the company signs a song listeners gave a star to, the listeners get rewarded by earning TunedCoins and NFTs.

What is TunedCoin? (TUC)

TunedCoin (TUC) is the utility token for the Tunedly Ecosystem. The token is built on top of the Polygon blockchain, which is a second-layer Ethereum smart chain. TunedCoins will be limited to a total number of 21,000,000 (21 million). 

Tunedly says TunedCoin will be a versatile token that prioritizes users of the ecosystem, and use cases for TUC will grow as the platform receives continuous development and updates. The TunedCoin is scheduled to ICO in Q2 2023. Prior to the official ICO, music listeners can acquire TunedCoin by listening to music at the Tunedly Music Discovery app. 

Tunedly says it also plans to distribute royalties to NFT holders of the songs with music listeners. The company will share the royalties of songs signed to publishing deals with users of the music discovery platform, setting aside 50% of its net royalty income of a particular song and pay out that amount proportionally to holders of that song’s NFT, proportionally to the NFT holder’s TunedCoin holdings. In order to make use of the royalty share utility of TunedCoin, a user must own an NFT of a royalty-generating song and TunedCoins both.

Tunedly says it plans to pay close attention to customer feedback to understand their evolving demands as it develops this new system. It hopes the TunedCoin project will be at the cornerstone of disrupting the music industry and the way exclusive content is consumed and distributed.

Photo Credit: NRK P3 / CC by 2.0

From Snoop Dogg to Eminem, we take a look at the musicians who have spent the most money acquiring NFTs, according to a new study.

A recent study from CoinGecko utilized transaction data from OpenSea, SuperRare, and Etherscan to find the most expensive NFTs purchased by celebrities since the beginning of 2021. Of the 50 stars identified in the study, which reportedly bought one or more NFTs, we’ve compiled a list of the musicians who were the single biggest spenders.

Snoop Dogg – Right Click and Save As guy ($7,088,229)

As a surprise to no one, Snoop Dogg is the number one musician and celebrity with the most expensive NFT. His purchase of “Right Click and Save As guy” clocked in at a monumental $7,088,229 (1,600 ETH) at the time of sale. The piece was listed on SuperRare by artist XCOPY and acquired by Snoop in December 2021, where it joined his ever-growing collection of NFTs.

Justin Bieber – BAYC #3001 ($1,301,550)

Pop icon Justin Bieber takes the number two spot for the musician with the most expensive NFT purchase with Bored Ape Yacht Club #3001. The singer acquired the ape for $1,301,550 (500 ETH) on January 29, 2022. After he announced the purchase on Twitter, many users began poking fun, suggesting that he had overpaid for an ape with “common” traits and characteristics. Considering the NFT’s floor price at the time of the sale was 104 ETH, or $270,908, Bieber paid nearly four times more than necessary to add the ape to his collection.

Steve Aoki – Doodle #2238 ($852,056)

DJ and producer Steve Aoki purchased Doodle #2238 for $862.056 (269.69 ETH) on January 7, 2022. Aoki even paused one of his live performances partway through to excitedly announce the purchase and show fans the NFT, designed by Canadian illustrator Scott Martin. Aoki also bought CryptoPunk #6473 for $160,599 (65 ETH) in July 2021, which he sold a few months later for $974,034 (300 ETH). The artist maintains multiple accounts on OpenSea, between which he collects and moves his NFTs. His accounts include SteveAoki, SteveAokiVault, SteveAokixTheUntamedVault, and 29C1EC.

Marshmello – CryptoPunk #8274 ($504,069)

Masked EDM producer Marshmello purchased CryptoPunk #8274 for $504,069 (130 ETH) on October 19, 2021. He also “aped in” back in September 2021, purchasing BAYC #4808 for 75 ETH, which he sold for 150 ETH or $403,371 at the time — around $183k in profit. Marshmello appears to have a few crypto wallets, but his most lucrative NFT collection is under his OpenSea account, itsmarshmello.

Madonna – BAYC #4988 ($466,461)

Pop legend Madonna purchased Bored Ape Yacht Club #4988 for $466,461 (180 ETH) on March 14, 2022. In addition to owning several NFTs, Madonna has her own line of digital art titled “Mother of Creation,” made in collaboration with artist Beeple. Despite drawing controversy for featuring naked computer renderings of Madonna, one of the pieces sold for around $350,000 (170.5 ETH) in May of this year.

Eminem – BAYC #9055 ($453,776)

Marshall Mathers, better known as the rapper Eminem, paid $453,776 (123.45 ETH) for Bored Ape Yacht Club #9055 on December 31, 2021. He purchased the ape — which he selected due to its resemblance to himself — from Twitter user @gee_gazza. The NFT features a white-furred ape wearing a gold jacket and chain with a boxy army hat similar to one owned by the rapper. Eminem has since used the ape in a music video alongside the ape of fellow rapper and NFT enthusiast Snoop Dogg.

“Celebrities buying NFTs are a testament to how NFTs have begun to intertwine with popular mainstream culture,” says CoinGecko COO and co-founder Bobby Ong. “Whether for investment purposes, used as a social signal, or a means to gain access to exclusive communities, the NFT sector has a high growth potential that is still largely untapped today.”

Photo Credit: Filip

The Mechanical Licensing Collective (MLC) formed after the Music Modernization Act, has distributed nearly $700 million in blanket royalties to its members.

The MLC held its second annual membership meeting last week, sharing some key metrics the group has met. It also announced that three current members of the MLC Board of Directors were each selected to serve a second three-year term on the board–initial terms were slated to end in October 2022.

The MLC has collected almost $1 billion in mechanical royalties to date. As a result of these efforts, rightsholders have received more than $800 million in royalties – nearly $700 million in blanket royalties distributed directly by The MLC and nearly $120 million in royalties processed by The MLC but paid by DSPs pursuant to voluntary licenses.

The MLC’s current match rate for all royalties processed through September’s royalty distribution is 89%. The MLC’s initial match rates for newly reported usage has exceeded 85% for six straight months.

The group now has more than 22,000 members and has added more than 6,000 new members in 2022 alone. The MLC has received more than 17 million works registrations to date and has processed more than 98% of those registrations. So far, the collective has completed 19 monthly royalty distributions, and each has been completed on time or early.

“We are incredibly proud of these accomplishments,” adds the MLC CEO Kris Ahrend. “Our team has worked hard to build robust data processing systems that allow us to distribute royalties accurately and on time. We have also released a suite of tools for our members that enable them to manage their catalog data effectively and correct any missing or inaccurate data they find. While there is still more work to do, we are pleased with our progress and are deeply appreciative of all the support we have received from our Members and from the broader industry at large.”

Tim Cohan and Scott Cutler were each elected by The MLC’s Class B Members to serve as Board Directors for a second three-year term. The MLC’s Class A Members selected Kara DioGuardi to serve a second three-year term as a Songwriter Director on the Board.

Photo Credit: Probably A Label / Warner Records

Warner Records & Probably Nothing present Web3 imprint ‘Probably A Label’ with Diddy scheduled for its first music drop.

Former restaurateur turned web3 creator of Probably Nothing, Jeremy Fall, announces the launch of Probably A Label, a web3 record label in collaboration with Warner Records. The label launched with 5,555 passes selling out in 7 minutes, the holders of which will receive an exclusive drop from Diddy and Jason Martin.

Probably A Label prides itself on its creator-first attitude, based around creators helping artists “rewrite those stories using the power of NFTs.” The label believes web3 allows artists to create with more freedom and connect with fans on a deeper level. Their mission is to live at the intersection of the resulting culture.

This new web3-focused record label model aims to redefine IP ownership in the music industry utilizing web3 technology. It is the first time a major label has joined forces with a leading NFT culture brand to build an ecosystem that enables artists to create freely using these new technologies. Probably A Label aims to elevate the experience of consuming music while collaborating directly with artists in a manner that helps develop and foster creativity.

The exclusive passes with which the label launched debuted on OpenSea, with the first associated music drop coming from Grammy Award-winner Diddy and Jason Martin. These will be claimable exclusively by pass holders. 

“I grew up in the 90s listening to so many artists on Warner Records. It’s surreal to have it come full circle and help them redefine how people experience music in today’s web3 era,” says Jeremy Fall, creator of Probably Nothing.

“There are a lot of conversations to be had around IP ownership and how to best utilize that IP. What attracted me the most about Warner Records is that they wanted to enter the NFT space the right way by offering full IP rights for Stickmen Toys, which we ended up partnering on.”

The collaboration between Warner Records and Probably Nothing started with Stickmen Toys — Probably Nothing helped Warner Records enter the web3 space by providing the bridge from web2 to web3. Stickmen Toys is a collection of 5,000 unique audio-visual avatars, allowing collectors creative and commercial freedom to push boundaries with their copyright ownership.

“Jeremy and the Probably Nothing team share our vision of evolving the connection between labels, their artists, and fan communities,” says Sebastian Simone, VP of Audience & Strategy at Warner Records. “We’re excited to be partnering with Probably A Label on developing what the future of music ownership looks like, collaborating with our communities on bringing IP to life and working with artists to enter the web3 space in a meaningful, authentic way.”

Photo Credit: Gala Music

Snoop Dogg pulled the Death Row Records catalog from streaming services months ago. Now his blockchain-based strategy may be emerging.

Back in April 2022, Snoop Dogg was a guest on an episode of the Drink Champs podcast. He explained his reasoning for removing the Death Row catalog is simple–Spotify doesn’t pay artists well.

“First thing I did was snatch all the music off those platforms traditionally known to people, because those platforms don’t pay,” Snoop told the hosts. “Those platforms get millions of millions of streams, and nobody gets paid other than the record labels. So what I wanted to do is snatch my music off, create a platform similar to Amazon, Netflix, or Hulu. It’ll be a Death Row app, and the music will live in the metaverse in the meantime,” Snoop continued. 

Now Snoop Dogg’s blockchain-based strategy appears to be emerging. Snoop has an exclusive partnership with Gala Music. Billboard reports that Snoop Dogg’s manager Nick Adler has also joined the Gala Music, advisory board. Death Row will use the Gala Music platform to launch exclusive NFTs tied to the catalog’s early records.

The company has already offered one ‘Stash Drop’ from the rapper’s Bacc on Death Row album–reportedly grossing over $50 million. Only 25,000 Snoop Stash Boxes were available, sold for $5,000 a pop on GALA. The stash box included one of 17 track NFTs from the Bacc on Death Row album. Only 1,470 NFTs were available for each song.

“What we plan on doing is giving people access to buying and trading some of these classic records that was the foundation of Death Row,” Snoop Dogg said in an interview with Gala Music.

“If anything is constant, it’s that the music industry will always be changing. Blockchain tech has the power to change everything again and tip the table in favor of the artists and the fans, and we’re going to be right at the front of the pack with this Gala Music deal.”

Photo Credit: Tina Fineberg / CC by 2.0

Apple CEO Tim Cook says the average person doesn’t understand the ‘metaverse’ concept as it stands.

“I always think it’s important that people understand what something is. And I’m really not sure the average person can tell you what the metaverse is,” Tim Cook told Dutch news outlet Bright. The word itself was coined by science fiction author Neal Stephenson to describe a collective place in a 3D-derived internet–like Second Life or Fortnite. The concept of a metaverse hasn’t been a focus for Apple, unlike Meta.

Apple’s hesitancy to join the metaverse hype is not unusual for the tech company. Android devices have had technologies like NFC payments and wireless charging for years. Apple moves slowly, but it takes time to perfect its offering so it becomes mainstream. The company’s mixed reality headset will likely play a bigger role in its desire to discuss the metaverse–but probably using a different buzzword.

“I think AR is a profound technology that will effect everything,” Tim Cook says, but he adds that he doesn’t believe that virtual reality is a way to live your whole life. “it’s something you can really immerse yourself in. And that can be used in a good way. VR is for regular periods, but not a way to communicate well. So I’m not against it, but that’s how I look at it,” he says.

Apple’s rumored virtual reality headset is said to be compatible with the company’s M2 chip–making it more powerful than the Meta Quest headset. Rumors also suggest Apple has shown off the headset to its board of directors, showcasing the ‘RealityOS’ operating system that the headset uses.

Apple’s position on what the metaverse is interesting, given Meta’s current position. Changes to iOS 15 made it so advertising revenue is harder to track on iOS devices without a user’s explicit permission. That decision has affected Meta’s bottom line, costing $10 billion in the first year of the changes.

Photo Credit: OpenSea

Warner Music Group (WMG) has inked a partnership agreement with non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace OpenSea to enable “select WMG artists to build and extend their fan communities in Web3.”

The Big Three record label, which touted its perceived role “as a Web 3.0 innovator” upon announcing Robert Kyncl as CEO, unveiled the tie-up with OpenSea via a formal release this morning. Five-year-old OpenSea – not to be confused with Quincy Jones-backed music NFT platform OneOf, which finalized a WMG partnership pact in January – has reportedly suffered a material sales-volume falloff in 2022 amid a broader crypto winter.

Nevertheless, today’s deal seems to demonstrate that WMG remains committed to NFTs and the wider Web3 space, for some of the major label’s acts are poised to receive “early access to OpenSea’s new drops product, along with improved discoverability, personalized storytelling on customized landing pages, and OpenSea’s industry-leading safety and security features,” according to the involved parties.

(As an aside, the release from WMG and OpenSea makes ample use of the word “would” as opposed to “will,” with the latter appearing a grand total of zero times in the document. “WMG artists would have their own dedicated drop page to host limited-edition projects, which would open new opportunities for fans to engage with music and artists,” one section of the message reads.)

Additionally, Warner Music – which in June announced an NFT and Web3 pivot for its Spinnin’ Records label – is set to benefit from “dedicated support and best practices from the OpenSea team,” the entities disclosed, besides the aforementioned “dedicated drop page to host limited-edition projects.”

Warner Records UK is said to be coordinating with “Web3 company” Probably Nothing to create WMG’s initial OpenSea NFT collection, but it’s unclear when the tokens will become available to fans.

Addressing the OpenSea union in a statement, Warner Music chief digital officer and EVP of business development Oana Ruxandra emphasized the purported potential associated with using NFTs as a means of building exclusive online communities for diehard fans.

“Fundamental to music’s DNA, is community – it’s artists and fans coming together to celebrate the music that they love,” said Ruxandra. “Our collaboration with OpenSea helps to facilitate these communities by unlocking Web3 tools and resources to build opportunities for artists to establish deeper engagement, access, and ownership.”

Aside from this OpenSea collaboration, the Dapper Labs backer Warner Music through 2022’s first nine months has invested in metaverse startup Authentic Artists, partnered with digital collectibles platform Blockparty, united with POAP “to mint shared memories as NFTs,” and rolled out a “first of its kind” NFT project with Bose.

Meanwhile, it came to light three weeks ago that Sony Music’s Columbia Records had quietly filed a trademark application covering NFT songs and visual media. And Universal Music, for its part, has closed 2022 agreements with NFT platform Curio and continued to build out an “NFT supergroup” called Kingship.

Photo Credit: Hume

Web3 entertainment startup Hume has announced a Series A funding round of $11.7 million.

Backers for the crypto venture include TCG Crypto, Collab+Currency, Gemini Frontier Fund, Aloe Blacc, Gmoney, and more. Hume says its approach to web3 tech blends music, digital identity, and storytelling to develop virtual artists known as ‘metastars’ who exist equally in the digital and physical world.

Hume’s first metastar–angelbaby–has performed live at Art Basel, Fluf Haus LA, and SXSW. Angelbaby also has multiple #1 songs on the web3 streaming platform Audius and two #1 trending music NFTs on the OpenSea platform. Founders say the new raise will be used to establish a growing roster of virtual metastar artists, build a fan to ‘metastar’ engagement platform, expand the company’s engineering, creative, music business, and marketing teams, and scale its vision to redefine what it means to be an artist and fan.

“The web3 music space isn’t just introducing new monetization models, it’s introducing entirely new genres and experiences,” says Jarrod Dicker, partner at TCG Crypto. “Through this, fans will become more deeply connected with their favorite artists and the moments that propel that passion. We believe Hume’s approach will be the driving force in this next evolution of the music business.”

Hume says its metastars are developed fully in-house, with a team backing them for their success. That includes writers, producers, storytellers, animators, promoters, publicists, and vocalists. In 2021, Hume debuted web3 artist and Fluf World star angelbaby. Earlier this year, angelbaby released their first single, “NFT,” and performed at Art Basel, FLUF Haus LA, and SXSW.

“Today’s record labels are not inherently built fo web3, and the industry is filled with bureaucracy and politics that often limit the connection between artists and fans,” says Hume Co-Founder and CEO David Beiner. “We created Hume to build a world of metaverse native virtual artists and create a platform that harnesses NFTs in a way that redefines the fan-to-artist relationship.”

Hume recently dropped its first NFT collection–Hume Genesis–on the OpenSea marketplace. There are only 1,035 tokens in this collection, split across three tiers of rarity. The NFTs give holders different levels of power to influence the lives and music of future metastars.

Photo Credit: QQ Music

Some users of QQ Music are demanding refunds on their NFTs after the crypto market has cooled considerably.

Tencent Music Entertainment Group operates the music streaming app (TME), and users say their digital collectibles have become harder to access. Users could search for the term ‘digital collectibles’ in the music app’s main search bar to access them previously. Now users need to access the NFT platform in the purchased section of their profile, with four additional steps.

Tencent launched the NFT platform inside QQ Music on August 2021. The initial rollout saw all 1,983 publicly available copies of the NFT featuring “Monk,” a song by Hu–sold out in an NFT lottery that nearly 80,000 people signed up for. Each of these NFTs was sold at 199 yuan ($30.70 USD). Hu Yanbin is a 38-year-old Chinese singer-songwriter and music producer, and the NFT was made from a demo version of his song released in 2001.

Many QQ Music users are raising concerns that the platform looks as though it will be discontinued soon. “Access has been hidden. Please refund,” reads one of the complaints under the hashtag “TME digital collectibles.” The QQ Music implementation isn’t the first time Tencent has experimented with offering NFTs.

In August 2021, Tencent rolled out the Huanhe app, built on top of the company’s own Zhixin blockchain. The debut sales for that platform featured 300 audio NFTs created on the Chinese talk show “Shisanyao.” But China banned cryptocurrencies last year in a slow process. 

First, it prohibited Chinese financial institutions from engaging in crypto transactions in May 2021. Then China banned domestic cryptocurrency mining the following month. By September 2022, cryptocurrencies as a concept were outlawed in September. Tencent may be looking to de-emphasize the importance of NFTs and their offering in light of this guidance as it has developed over the last year or so.

Photo Credit: Niranjan Photographs

The Ethereum blockchain has completed its ‘merge,’ an upgrade that eliminates the need for mining and reduces energy consumption.

Ethereum has existed since July 2015 as a proof-of-work blockchain–just like Bitcoin. But the transition to a proof-of-stake blockchain has been in the works for several years now. Ethereum developers repeatedly pushed back the merge date to give themselves time to prepare. Before the merge, Ethereum’s power consumption was comparable to a country the size of Chile. Now with the switch away from mining, that energy footprint should be drastically reduced.

“Mining is no longer the means of producing valid blocks on the Ethereum blockchain,” points out Ethereum.org. “Instead, the proof-of-stake validators have adopted this role and are now responsible for processing the validity of all transactions and proposing blocks.

The merge joined the Ethereum Mainnet with the beacon chain, combining the entire transactional history of the blockchain in the process. So what does the Ethereum merge mean for the average user?

The change itself is pretty seamless for the end user. There’s no such thing as old ETH or ETH1 and ETH2. All Ethereum wallets will continue to work exactly the same as they did before the merge. As a result of the merge, fewer ETH will be issued. “Validators on the beacon chain are rewarded with ETH for attesting to the state of the chain and proposing blocks. Rewards are calculated and distributed every epoch (about 6.4 minutes) based on validator performance.”

“The validator rewards are significantly less that the miner rewards issued on proof-of-work, as operating a validating node is not an economically intense activity and thus does not require or warrant as high a reward,” Ethereum.org explains. Miners were mining about 13,000 ETH per day, and rewards for staking were about 1,6000 ETH per day. Now all that remains is the staking mechanism, drastically reducing the issuance of new ETH by 90% or so.

Photo Credit: Steve Aoki

Web3 music creation startup Arpeggi Labs has announced a $5.1 million seed round that drew support from a16z crypto, veteran songwriter and producer Louis Bell, Steve Aoki, and an array of others.

The year-old Arpeggi Labs, which says that it’s “building web3’s home for music creation and publishing,” just recently unveiled the multimillion-dollar raise. a16z crypto led the round with its mentioned contribution, while Steve Aoki and Louis Bell will join fellow investors Wyclef Jean, Electric Feel Ventures, and production duo Disco Fries in becoming Arpeggi advisors.

Additionally, Arpeggi disclosed that it had likewise received capital from 1confirmation (a Palo Alto-based “cryptocurrency focused investment firm”), Kygo’s Palm Tree Crew, WndrCo Ventures, DJ 3LAU, Joe Zadeh, the Audius Foundation, Polymarket CEO Shayne Coplan, Pantera Capital’s Paul Veradittakit, and Cooper Turley.

Arpeggi – which was founded by brothers Evan and Kyle Dhillon as well as their “lifelong” friend James Pastan – dedicated much of its announcement message to highlighting the numerous difficulties associated with collaborating in the contemporary music industry. These obstacles, the startup said, range from the inherent uncertainty of sharing unreleased projects to the hassle of receiving “legal clearances for the use of other artists’ work.”

Predictably, the points set the stage for a look at the capabilities of the company’s much-touted in-browser digital audio workstation, which enables creators to use all manner of samples, loops, and compositions, according to execs.

The professionals who conceive the DAW elements are “guaranteed” to receive attribution as different musicians make use of their creative efforts, and Arpeggi also says that it’s “completely free” to utilize. Moving forward, the entity intends to build out its DAW, integrate “with other web2 and web3 music platforms,” and develop “native social functions that make it easy to connect with the artists you make music with,” higher-ups said.

Earlier this month, Web3 music revenue share platform Reveel announced a $1.3 million pre-seed round.

Moreover, the raises of Arpeggi and Reveel represent only some of the many multimillion-dollar rounds that Web3 startups have publicly detailed to this point in 2022, which has brought with it a “crypto winter” and a corresponding downturn in NFT sales.

To be sure, August saw “Web3 lifestyle platform” MetaSing reveal a $3 million raise, which followed a reported $11 million round for Web3 fan-community and NFT startup Highlight, $9 million in seed funding for Matt Jones’ Medallion, and, towards 2022’s beginning, a cool $4.5 million for Dequency, the self-described “world’s first Web3 music synchronization licensing marketplace.”

Hit-Boy (left) and James Fauntleroy. Photo Credit: HIRDEYERAZ

Universal Music Group (UMG) has officially enlisted music industry veterans Hit-Boy and James Fauntleroy to serve as co-executive producers and members of the “sonic creative team” for its Kingship digital group.

The Big Three record label unveiled these high-profile additions to Kingship via a formal release today. UMG debuted Kingship, which features characters from the Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT project, back in November of 2021. Since then, the virtual “band” – which is specifically signed to UMG’s 10:22PM “next-gen label” – has appeared on limited-edition M&Ms and reportedly sold through a sizable non-fungible token collection.

(Certain enterprising fans are looking to resell the Kingship M&Ms sets at a massive profit on Ebay, but at the time of this writing, none of the astronomically priced listings seemed to have found buyers.)

Meanwhile, 35-year-old Hit-Boy (full name Chauncey Alexander Hollis Jr.) has produced tracks for well-known artists including Lil Wayne, DJ Khaled, Kendrick Lamar, Rihanna, Kanye West, Nas, and Drake, among an array of others. 38-year-old James Fauntleroy, for his part, has songwriting credits on works from the likes of Cardi B, Justin Timberlake, Jordin Sparks, Timbaland, and Kelly Clarkson, to name just some.

Now, Hit-Boy and Fauntleroy are poised to oversee “the evolution of the group’s music direction and sound,” according to Universal Music. The major label, which last week received the Ukraine Peace Prize, also made clear that the newest members of Kingship “will work with Arnell, the group’s Mutant DJ and Producer” – though the creative contributions of the latter, who’s not a real musician or person, remain to be seen.

Even so, Kingship’s music will collect streaming royalties in the same way that projects attributable to actual artists do so, and thanks to the musical talent of Hit-Boy and Fauntleroy, the NFT act’s tracks could make a commercial splash.

Addressing today’s announcement in a statement, Kingship creator (and former Sony Music and Warner Music higher-up) Celine Joshua said: “KINGSHIP’s journey is rooted in storytelling, experiences and music. I’m incredibly thankful that Hit-Boy and James Fauntleroy, two of the most influential and creative geniuses in the entire industry, are coming together to develop the music and sound for KINGSHIP.”

The four-time Grammy winner Fauntleroy added in a statement of his own: “It’s so exciting to be a part of something historical and ambitious. As a huge nerd, and music fanatic, I can’t wait to see what comes from the intersection of the web3 collectors/creatives and the entertainment creative community.”

Universal Music isn’t the only major label that’s taking steps to expand its presence in the virtual-artist and NFT spaces.

Columbia Records closed out August by filing a U.S. trademark application for NFT music and visual media, and Sony Music is continuing to invest in a digital K-pop sensation called APOKI, whose career ascent follows the abrupt demise of FN Meka.

Photo Credit: Mollie Sivaram

Netflix is expected to ban crypto ads and NFTs in the company’s upcoming ad-supported tier.

In an effort to boost revenues, Netflix announced in July that it would be launching a cheaper subscription-based tier that features commercials. Ahead of the ad-supported subscription tier’s scheduled November launch, Netflix has banned cryptocurrency-related commercials, according to The Sydney Morning Herald.

The new tier will reportedly not run advertising campaigns relating to politics, pharmaceuticals, gambling, or cryptocurrency. Additionally, the new tier will not run ads selling products to children.

Netflix has moved up the timeline to November for the launch of its ad-supported tier in a move to compete with Disney+, which is releasing its own similar plan on December 8. According to Variety, Netflix had initially planned to launch its ad-based tier at the beginning of 2023.

“We are still in the early days of deciding how to launch a lower-priced, ad-supported tier and no decisions have been made,” a representative from Netflix stated. The decision to ban crypto ads for Netflix makes sense from a regulatory perspective, though.

The company is asking for a minimum $10 million commitment in annual ad spending from agencies, according to a source reported by Variety. Netflix is locking in its ad buys by September 30 in order to meet the November 1 launch date for the new subscription tier in several regions, including the US and Canada, the UK, Germany, and France. 

The company’s global subscribers have been declining throughout consecutive quarters, and the new ad-supported service will release in a move to boost revenues. The streaming giant lost over a million subscribers, with 200,000 dropping out in just the first three months of 2022. In June, Netflix announced cost-cutting to keep margins at 20% in the face of slowed revenue growth.

The regulatory scrutiny surrounding cryptocurrencies makes Netflix’s stance an unsurprising one. In 2018, Facebook banned crypto ads across the platform before reinstating them later that year. Google reversed a ban on crypto-related advertisements in 2021, enabling crypto exchanges and wallet operators to resume promoting their services on the search engine.

Photo Credit: Cooper Turley Instagram

Cryptocurrency influencer Cooper Turley is starting Coop Records with $10 million in funding.

Coop Records is backed by crypto brokers like Audius and OpenSea. Turley says he seeks to solve the power imbalance in the music industry that’s weighted towards labels and streaming services. He believes NFTs are the right vehicle to shake up the space.

“The biggest word I think of when it comes to web3 is ownership,” Turley told CoinDesk. “So if you create value for a network, you should be able to capture that value in the form of a token or some sort of NFT,” he explained.

Turley says Coop Records will act as an incubator, venture capital firm, and record label all wrapped into one.

He believes that web3 creates new monetization models for music, with NFTs being just one avenue. “Coop Records invests in platforms, artists, and tokens uniquely enabled by web3. Think of it as a hybrid between a venture fund, a record label, and an incubator. We work with founders to create new revenue streams for music,” he tweeted.

“We should be able to invest in our favorite artists. What if an artist raised capital to build an ecosystem for their fans? This is the focus of what we’re calling ‘Artist Seed Rounds.’ Coop Records is excited to invest in artists,” Turley continues.

“The biggest artists on Spotify should have equity in the company. This is why Coop Records is bringing on a select batch of trusted artists as investors. Coop Records makes investing in music companies more exciting,” Turley continues. Turley is a Co-Founder and promoter of the online social club Friends With Benefits DAO. He was removed from the organization following racist tweets from years ago resurfacing.

Now it appears he’ll be focusing on trying to bring (yet another) web3 approach to the music industry.

Sony Music Entertainment’s Columbia Records has officially filed a U.S. trademark application for non-fungible token (NFT) music, visual media, and more.

Though Columbia Records’ NFT trademark (serial number 97571005) just recently came to light on social media, the label officially filed the application on August 30th, its description shows. Also according to the USPTO database description, the trademark encompasses “downloadable audio recordings featuring music authenticated by non-fungible tokens.”

Beyond studio-recorded tracks (as well as non-NFT “downloadable podcasts”), the trademark covers NFT-authenticated live-performance videos and recordings, “downloadable image files containing images and artwork relating to live musical performances,” and an array of similar “multimedia” files.

The remainder of the trademark description mainly outlines associated promotional, management, and website-development services, and needless to say, it’ll be worth following the precise NFT plans of Columbia Records (and other Sony Music labels) moving forward.

Amid turbulence throughout the tech sector and the broader economy, non-fungible token sales have decreased substantially to this point in 2022, including a reportedly 99 percent sales-volume falloff for NFT marketplace OpenSea between May’s start and August’s end.

Even so, Columbia Records isn’t alone in backing the space, for Ticketmaster one week ago expanded into music NFTs with the Flow blockchain of Dapper Labs. Meanwhile, with Warner Music Group itself having invested in Dapper, Warner Records unveiled a merch-driven NFT project with Bose in July.

That same month, Universal Music Group’s Kingship, a virtual band featuring characters from the Bored Ape Yacht Club non-fungible token project, reportedly sold through the entirety of a new NFT collection. (Sony Music Entertainment had likewise taken steps to establish a presence in the NFT sphere prior to Columbia Records’ above-described trademark application.)

Furthermore, at the intersection of virtual “bands” (which, of course, won’t oppose highly active NFT release schedules or hesitate to put out new music in line with execs’ preferences) and NFTs, Sony Music is investing in a digital K-pop sensation called APOKI.

APOKI, whose career ascent follows the untimely passing of FN Meka, has already racked up 76,000 monthly listeners on Spotify, nearly 300,000 YouTube subscribers, and some four million TikTok followers.

And with other virtual “artists” presumably on the way – as a growing stable of digital tools are enabling non-musicians to create and release songs – it’s possible that proper music professionals could miss out on income and opportunities in the coming years, if only because it’ll be more difficult for fans to find their work beneath a pile of tracks attributable to entities that aren’t real musicians or people.

Photo Credit: Reveel

Web3 music revenue share protocol Reveel has announced a $1.3 million pre-seed funding round.

The pre-seed was led by Binance Labs and Moment Ventures. Reveel was part of Season 4 of Binance Labs’ Incubation Program, the company’s investment arm. The company aims to make collaboration easier by providing transparency and equity for creators through the development of tools that makes the administrative side of revenue sharing and royalty accounting as easy as possible.

Reveel says it will use the newly raised capital for staff expansion and product development of its web3 collaboration financial infrastructure and on-chain revenue management tools suite. The company says the emergence of web3 and NFTs has accelerated the trend of creative collaboration by giving creators more ways to monetize their content.

Collaborating in this way requires complex business administration to design and execute agreements on how collaborators share revenue. Reveel aims to give creators a way to manage their business with a simple way to share on-chain revenue by providing a financial stack for web3 collaboration.

“For web3 technology to facilitate collaboration and deliver on its promise to creators in shifting the power back from intermediaries to end users, many building blocks still need to be developed – with one being a financial stack that offers creators a fluid revenue sharing and revenue management solution,” says Adrien Stern, CEO & Founder of Reveel. “Reveel provides transparency and equity to enable collaboration and automate on-chain business tasks so creators can focus on what they’re good at – creating.”

Reveel enables creators to understand their on-chain income and automate the distribution of revenue amongst collaborators, rights holders, and partners.

Through its revenue share protocol, Reveel allows creators to design and deploy their own smart contract to automatically split on-chain revenue with collaborators. Additionally, the ability to track entire NFT drop catalogs, and segment a collector base, makes Reveel a complete web3 business management platform.

Photo Credit: Shubham Dhage

As musicians rush to be part of the NFT craze, trade volumes on OpenSea have plummeted more than 90%.

According to a report from DappRadar, transaction volume on the NFT marketplace has dropped 99% from its record high in May. OpenSea processed around $5 million of NFT transactions on August 28, compared to $405.75 million on May 1 of this year. The trade volume on the platform has dropped 90% from the January 2022 peak of $4.85 billion.

OpenSea has also experienced a massive drop in users, which would explain the drop in transaction volume. Another noticeable effect of the ‘crypto winter’ is that the floor price for popular NFT projects is falling. The floor price is the minimum bid the owner will accept for the NFT. As no one bids or buys, NFT owners can lower the floor price.

The report suggests the floor price for popular NFT projects like CryptoPunks and the Bored Ape Yacht Club are reaching new lows. The CryptoPunks floor price has dropped around 20% from its July high of 83.72 ETH. Meanwhile, the Bored Ape Yacht Club floor price has fallen by 53% from its high of 153.7 ETH. The BAYC is also the NFT project Universal Music has a stake in with its digital KINGSHIP band, featuring Bored Apes as members.

The Ethereum blockchain counts for more than 90% of NFT volume on OpenSea. The price of one ETH has fallen from $4,950 in November 2021 to just $1,500 in August 2022. Waning interest in the NFT market following such a huge drop in ETH price has attributed to a 40% drop in NFT trade across the market, according to Footprint Analytics.

OpenSea grew infamous in many crypto communities for profiting from high Ethereum gas fees. The platform has begun the integration of layer two scaling solutions like Polygon into its Seaport protocol. OpenSea says the benefit here is no setup fees for new users.

“In addition to saving 35% in gas fees for transactions, you will no longer have to pay a one-time setup fee to start using OpenSea,” the official tweet reads. “By removing the setup fee alone, the OpenSea community could save $120M each year.”

After spearheading multiple sports-focused non-fungible token initiatives, Live Nation’s Ticketmaster is now working to bolster its NFT presence on the music side.

Warner Music-backed NBA Top Shot creator Dapper Labs just recently shed light upon Ticketmaster’s latest NFT plans, which center on enabling event organizers “to issue NFTs before, during and after live events,” according to the corresponding announcement message.

With Live Nation having opted to utilize Dapper’s Flow blockchain to mint the tokens in question, Ticketmaster has thus far created “more than 5 million NFTs for event organizers,” the involved parties relayed. And as mentioned, these “digital collectibles” extend to all on-platform events, not just sports games.

(Ticketmaster and the NFL previously used Flow to deliver “virtual commemorative tickets in the form of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) to celebrate Super Bowl LVI,” for instance. Some are attempting to sell the digital goods for astronomical sums on Ebay, and the NFL is poised to make Flow-minted NFTs available “to every attendee at more than 100 select games” this season.)

While the precise details associated with the newest NFT undertaking from Ticketmaster remain to be seen, Dapper’s formal release reiterates that the items are designed to enhance passholders’ experiences – and afford “organizers an entirely new way to engage with fans attending their events,” of course.

Higher-ups specifically touched upon the perceived potential of tying NFTs to “unique loyalty rewards” and “VIP engagement opportunities.” Notwithstanding a “crypto winter” and difficulties throughout the broader economy, several other entities have reported sales success with similar models, wherein tokens grant owners access to exclusive perks.

Addressing the deal in a statement, Ticketmaster EVP of enterprise and revenue Brendan Lynch emphasized the possible long-term effects of widespread NFT adoption at live events.

“Event organizers who choose to offer fans an NFT with their ticket have a real opportunity to make this new technology relevant and relatable at scale,” said the former Ticketmaster SVP and general manager for the NFL. “This is why we are partnering with Flow, because their blockchain is custom-built for fan engagement and frictionless consumer experiences.”

Last month, music NFT platform OneOf announced the close of an over $8 million round, whereas Meta expanded Instagram’s NFT support to some 100 countries. Meanwhile, Kobalt jumped into non-fungible tokens with a collection called “An Electro Revival,” and it came to light that Muse’s recently released NFT album would be chart-eligible in the UK. Incidentally, the 28-year-old group has a number of concerts scheduled presently, including stops in Europe as well as North America.

Photo Credit: Kobalt

Kobalt says it plans to release a lyric NFT collection called An Electro Revival.

Kobalt says its the first global music publisher to release a set of fully licensed direct-to-fan NFTs. The collaboration comes with Ghanaian visual artist, Afroscope. Each of the digital art pieces were inspired by and include lyrics from the song “Le Petite Morte (a lude)” by singer-songwriter Dawn Richard.

The art blends Afroscope’s previous work of futuristic expression of African culture and fashion with Richard’s portrayal of a powerful, Black female superhero, emblematic of the song’s lyrical themes. Together, the digital set contains three individual NFTs to be offered at reserve auctions on the Foundation platform – Foundation.app. The reserve price is set at 1 ETH on August 25. Once the reserve price is met, a 24 auction countdown will begin.

“Dawn and I have a strong mutual respect for each other’s work, and there was a synergy between some of our recent, individual visual explorations,” adds Afroscope about the project. “This NFT is special for several reasons. Firstly it is based on truly moving lyrics by an extremely gifted and inspiring artist. Plus, it brought together creators from different sides of the globe, epitomizing the power of connection and community in web3.”

“This opportunity was akin to how Kobalt has helped me put together sessions with other like-minded artists and songwriters, but this time they helped connect me with a visual artist as they knew my passion here,” says Dawn Richard.

“I believe the artist will be able to create their own ecosystem through spaces like NFTs and the metaverse. I chose Afroscope because I feel his work resonates with my music. Together, we are both pushing for the essence of culture and the power of black excellence through our art,” Richard concludes.

“Kobalt is always looking for opportunities to explore and embrace new technologies, particularly where they can benefit our clients,” says Dan Smith, Senior Manager, Product, Kobalt. “Creative expression is a step into the unknown, and we believe there is great benefit in mirroring this expression in our technology. This collaboration has been rewarding on so many fronts and provides a great learning experience that will help us further explore and scale potential web3 opportunities with our clients.”

Kobalt has more than 13 global offices and the company serves over 700,000 songs, 30,000 songwriters, and 500 publishers. On average, Kobalt represents around 40% of the top 100 songs and albums in the US and the UK.

Photo Credit: Andrey Metelev

MetaSing, which bills itself as “the first decentralized music platform to combine a gaming model with web3 music streaming,” has announced the completion of a $3 million seed round.

MetaSing, a self-described “unicorn startup,” just recently detailed the multimillion-dollar raise via a formal release. The “team” section of the entity’s website shows that former employees of Meta (blockchain developer), Spotify (software engineer), Twitch (fullstack engineer), and Amazon Music are part of MetaSing.

And according to a white paper that’s also live on the multifaceted startup’s website, MetaSing functions as “a Web3 lifestyle platform” and enables players to “equip themselves with NFT in the form of microphones, headsets and music arena.”

Moreover, the company utilizes two tokens, $DJC (which has an “unlimited supply”) and $BEAT (with a “total supply” of 6 billion), according once again to the MetaSing site, which relays that “players equipped with MetaSing NFT can earn token rewards by singing songs, listening to music and creating music NFT.”

On the artist side, MetaSing emphasized in the aforementioned announcement message that it plans to achieve a “fairer redistribution of the results of artists’ work,” referring to delivering a larger portion of revenue to the professionals responsible for creating music.

Moving past these operational specifics and refocusing on the $3 million raise, MetaSing said that the UK’s Pleiades Capital led the round.

In terms of the funding’s uses, MetaSing unveiled a far-reaching roadmap earlier this month, communicating therein that it intends to debut an app on the Play Store and the App Store (besides pursuing a “record label collaboration”) in Q4 2022 before launching a music NFT marketplace as well as a series of “in real life” concerts in 2023.

Lastly, regarding the startup’s objectives, the business’s release discloses that “MetaSing seems to be more interested in being the first to become the opensea of the music NFT trading market.”

In any event, time will reveal the precise music industry role of NFTs, which have struggled amid a broader “crypto winter” during 2022.

Notwithstanding this downturn, though, capital – and major-label support – is continuing to reach music NFTs and platforms. To be sure, Warner Records partnered with Bose on a merch-backed NFT project in July, when Universal Music’s notoriously media-shy digital group, Kingship, is said to have sold through an entire NFT collection.

To kick off August, OneOf announced the close of an $8 million round, while Meta expanded Instagram’s NFT support to 100 countries.

Photo Credit: HitPiece

The HitPiece relaunch is here. The music artist NFT platform now has a partnership with Audible Magic.

The relaunch comes after HitPiece took its website offline in February amid pending litigation from the RIAA and its members. The old HitPiece website was built on top of Spotify’s API, so it could offer NFTs of any song on the Spotify platform. Essentially, HitPiece was re-commodifying metadata provided to Spotify to make money – without the underlying owner’s permission.

Now HitPiece is relaunching with a partnership with Audible Magic in place to “protect creators and other rights holders and demonstrate [HitPiece’s] commitment to authenticity.” Audible Magic’s RightsRx service compares uploaded audio to its authoritative content registry of more than 25 million media assets from creators, music labels, and publishers.

HitPiece says it will use Audible Magic’s identification technology to help verify ownership of new music prior to minting an NFT of said music. That’s how the platform plans to make sure only legitimate music is distributed during the HitPiece relaunch.

“We’re excited to join the rapidly growing innovative NFT, metaverse, and web3 marketplace with HitPiece to continue our commitment to protecting creator rights,” says Vance Ikezoye, President and CEO of Audible Magic. “Through our extensive music registry, music creators and related rights holders on and off HitPiece can be assured the content they own is protected; monetized where permission has been granted.”

“Following many positive conversations with artists, we’re excited to launch the official HitPiece platform to provide creators with a new way to engage with fans and build metaverse communities,” adds Rory Felton, CEO and Co-Founder of HitPiece.

“As someone who has seen every corner of the industry, too often creators are not in control of how and when they can release content. NFTs for music artists will continue to expand, and we’re grateful for partners like Audible Magic who help us ensure we have guardrails to provide an easy and secure one-stop shop for those in the music community joining the expanding world of web3.”

Since the end of the HitPiece beta, the company has collaborated and finalized deals with dozens of creators, including ATL Jacob.

“In music, web3 has significant potential to be a catalyst for increasing artistic integrity, control, and engagement for any musician, no matter their reach,” adds ATL Jacob. “I’m grateful to partner with organizations like HitPiece that understand the business first-hand and put hardworking creators first, and I hope the rest of the industry continues to follow suit.”

Photo Credit: Raph_PH / CC by 2.0

Muse is set to become the first music act with a chart-eligible NFT album.

British rock group Muse and Warner Music UK have partnered with eco-friendly web3 music marketplace Serenade for the release of Muse’s ninth studio album, Will of the People. The record, set to be released on August 26, features the singles “Won’t Stand Down,” and “Compliance,” and will be available on physical formats (CD, vinyl, and cassette) in addition to download and streaming services. The world-first Digital Pressing version will be a limited edition collectible and the first new chart-eligible format since the inclusion of album streams in 2015.

NFTs have always been chart-eligible, provided they conform to existing chart rules, but Will of the People is the first release with a chance of charting that is prepared in an NFT format. While previous albums have come bundled with an NFT, no release has yet charted where the album itself was in an NFT format.

Serenade defines a Digital Pressing as a standalone, chart-eligible release — as opposed to being part of a wider release as a bundle — designed to cater to a “superfan’s” appetite for exclusivity and community recognition. 

“What a fan wants is something simple and understandable but that gives them a sense of proximity to an artist and a sense of recognition from other fans,” explains Max Shand, founder of Serenade. 

Shand describes the Muse Digital Pressing as “the black T-shirt of NFTs” — a digital format that is straightforward to buy and practical in function. Unlike with most NFTs, buyers will not need an existing crypto wallet. Serenade’s website handles the purchase, where a digital wallet is created, and the NFT is automatically transferred. Still, if a user has an existing crypto wallet, they can use that instead.

“There has been loads of noise about NFTs being the future of music, the future of entertainment, the future of ownership,” says Martin Talbot, chief executive of the UK’s Official Charts Company (OCC). “It’s great this is becoming a reality.”

The OCC made NFT albums eligible for charts several months ago, but this will be the first release where the vendor is approved as a chart-return digital retailer. Talbot says the Muse release didn’t force an update of the OCC’s chart-eligibility rules but will be the first in its format that meets the entry criteria.

“As a simple, standardized, and chart-eligible format, Digital Pressings will be a game-changer on the global stage, and we wouldn’t have been able to achieve this without the support of the visionary teams at Warner Records and the Official Charts Company,” adds Shand. “I have always been a huge fan of Muse, so I am beyond excited that they will be the first artist to release a Digital Pressing with Serenade.”

The Muse NFT release is limited to 1,000 copies globally. Buyers get a downloadable version of the album in high-res FLAC files with its own custom sleeve digitally signed by the band. Buyers will have their names listed on the linked roster of purchasers for recognition.

Photo Credit: Instagram

Instagram expands NFT support in more than 100 countries with Flow blockchain support and integration with Coinbase and Dapper.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced that the company is expanding its NFT support on Instagram internationally — including integration for Coinbase and Dapper blockchain wallets –following its initial test launch in May. More than 100 countries worldwide will be able to share their NFTs on Instagram, a feature that was previously only available to select creators in the US.

With NFT functionality, Instagram users can connect to a digital wallet and share NFTs while automatically tagging both a creator and collector. Once a digital collectible is shared, it will have a shimmering effect and can display public information such as a description. NFTs can be shared in a user’s Instagram Feed, in messages, or Stories.

Instagram supports third-party digital wallets, including Coinbase, Dapper, MetaMask, Rainbow, and Trust Wallet, while supporting Ethereum, Polygon, and Flow blockchains. No fees will be associated with posting or sharing digital collectibles on Instagram.

“It’s critical that we continue to build in this space responsibly by reducing barriers to entry, making sure that this technology is safe and approachable for people, and reducing the environmental impact of our product,” Instagram says in their blog post about the expansion.

Meta says today’s expansion reflects the company’s work to expand access to Web3 technology through NFTs while supporting creators who want to monetize their work and build community with their fans. Meta is also planning to work on “augmented reality” 3D NFTs. They’ve also been testing NFT functionality with select creators on Facebook, similarly to their early NFT tests on Instagram in May.

“We understand that blockchain technology and NFTs raise important questions on sustainability,” Zuckerberg said when the company launched its NFTs tests earlier this year. “Meta will help reduce the emissions impact that might be associated with the display of digital collectibles on Instagram by purchasing renewable energy.”

Instagram did not specify which countries are included in its expansion but said the functionality would be available in 100 countries in Africa, Asia-Pacific, the Middle East, and the Americas.

Photo Credit: Single

Shopify announces a strategic investment in music- and creative-focused commerce app Single.

The most trusted music and video app for Shopify merchants, Single, recently announced a strategic investment from Shopify to further its development. The news accompanies Single’s launch of additional NFT-based functionality in the form of tokengated commerce and features for Shopify merchants. In addition to its music and video features, Single is a pioneer for NFTs utilizing Solana blockchain technology. 

“More than 50 million individuals worldwide are creators online, and more than two million of those people are using their creativity to make a full time living,” says Single founder and CEO Tommy Stalknecht. “But there’s still a massively fragmented ecosystem when you look at the tools available for creatives, artists, and musicians to reach fans with their art and make a living at the same time.”

With tokengated content and commerce on Shopify through the Single app, creators can upload any file to the platform and mint it as an NFT on the Solana blockchain. The NFT can then be pushed directly to the artist’s Shopify storefront for purchase like any other merch. The NFT can be used as a digital key to grant its holder access to exclusive content.

“Web 3.0 is having a huge impact on the broader creator ecosystem, especially in the music space, but the feedback I hear most often is that NFTs don’t inherently have value on their own,” Stalknecht continues. “Put simply, we’re letting artists create NFTs that actually do things, that unlock specific tangible value.”

“Shopify sees NFTs as tools for community building and engagement,” explains Chevy Walcott, Corporate Development Manager at Shopify. “The launch of Single’snew artist- and creator-focused features in their Shopify App helps more merchants unlock new and engaging commerce experiences.”

“We’re giving creatives, artists, and musicians a way to own the relationship with their fans, and fans a way to support artists directly and continue gaining more value over time,” Stalknecht concludes. Single has secured a handful of initial creator partners in its debut of tokengating, with further campaigns launching throughout the remainder of the year.

Photo Credit: Andrey Metelev

Despite a reportedly 92 percent falloff in non-fungible token (NFT) sales in 2022 amid a broader “crypto winter” downturn, music NFT platform OneOf has managed to close an over $8 million “strategic round.”

Quincy Jones-backed OneOf, which announced a $63 million raise in May of 2021 and kicked off 2022 by inking a “label-wide partnership” with Warner Music Group, unveiled this latest $8 million round today. OneOf’s newest backers include Snow Hill Ventures (which counts as a managing director Forbes owner Miguel Forbes), Polygon investor Sangha Capital (also an existing stakeholder), the Chain Link Crypto Fund (where OneOf’s CEO is a general partner), the Mirabaud Lifestyle Impact and Innovation Fund, and Amex Ventures.

On the latter front, OneOf took the opportunity to reveal a collection of NFTs that will be available solely to American Express cardholders, as one component of “an exclusive pop-up event inspired by color theory and therapy.”

AE is poised to host the three-week happening – dubbed “The American Express Summer in Color Oasis” – in Bodrum, Turkey. And OneOf, for its part, is set to provide attendees with “a complimentary NFT collectible designed by renowned Turkish artist Selay Karasu,” according to higher-ups.

(Karasu’s work has been featured at Burning Man, which, after facing considerable operational difficulties due to lockdown restrictions and large-gathering bans, is quietly preparing to make a comeback on August 28th.)

Addressing his company’s $8 million raise in a statement, OneOf CEO Lin Dai touted the perceived long-term potential of Web3 notwithstanding the initially mentioned crypto downturn.

“We are excited and humbled by the belief and overwhelming support from our new and existing investors and partners to continue executing towards our mission of bringing the next 100M users into the NFT and blockchain space,” said Dai.

“As the Web3 market matures and consolidates, we see great opportunities in creating new commerce models, enabling creators of all shapes and sizes, from the biggest global brands to the newest independent artists, to unlock the real world potentials of this new technology,” he concluded.

Time will reveal NFTs’ precise impact and role in music moving forward, especially given the challenging economy’s effects on consumer spending habits.

Non-fungible token diehards like Snoop Dogg remain adamant that the digital items are the future of the industry, and it was only in May that Spotify started allowing select artists to plug NFTs on their profiles. Also in May, Pharrell Williams and Troy Carter rolled out NFT ventures of their own.

Moreover, Instagram added NFT support in June, while Warner Records partnered with Bose on a merch-backed NFT project in July – the same month in which Kingship, Universal Music’s notoriously press-averse digital group, reportedly sold through its entire NFT collection in a matter of hours.

On the other side of the “token,” certain artists’ NFTs have reportedly struggled to catch on, and some NFTs that fetched millions in the not-so-distant past have sold for comparatively miniscule amounts in 2022.

Photo Credit: BusinessWire

Metaverse infrastructure company Condense has announced a $4.5 million seed funding round.

Condense describes itself as the world’s first company to deliver live, real-world events into the metaverse. The funding round was led by LocalGlobe, 7percent Ventures, and Deeptech Labs. Also contributing were Tom Blomfield, Grace Ladoja, and Ian Hogarth.

The Bristol-based business was founded in 2019 and offers end-to-end capture and streaming technology to live stream real-world events like music and sports events into 3D applications. The company uses cutting-edge computer vision, machine learning, and proprietary streaming infrastructure to capture and embed live 3D video into any metaverse game, mobile app, or platform created using Unity or Unreal Engine.

Condense says this means true-to-life experiences can be streamed into virtual worlds without the need for VR headsets. Because the events are streamed live as three-dimensional ‘real-world’ video, every player’s perspective is a unique and dynamic as if they were live at the physical event.

In addition to the funding announcement, Condense has also opened the world’s first metaverse studio in partnership with Watershed. That’s Bristol’s cultural cinema and creative technology venue. The idea is to give established, and emerging artists access to the new 3D live-streaming tech. The new studio is a ‘metaverse-first’ event space, but it can also accommodate a live audience.

“The minds behind the technology are pushing the boundaries of tech-informed performance sharing,” says vocalist and producer Grove. “This is great for accessibility and opens up exciting new opportunities for fans to connect with their favorite artists.”

“Hundreds of millions of people are hanging out in immersive 3D platforms like Roblox, Rec Room, Fortnite, Sandbox, Decentraland, and VR Chat,” adds Ziv Reichart, partner at LocalGlobe. “At the same, player demand for live entertainment inside these virtual worlds has never been greater. Condense has built the infrastructure to connect the two – now music artists, sports stars, and creatives can perform and play live in the metaverse, to the largest stadium audience imaginable.”

Photo Credit: Audius

Decentralized music streaming platform Audius suffered a hack with more than $6 million in AUDIO tokens stolen.

The attacker exploited a vulnerability in the platform’s governance smart contract, as detailed by Audius in a postmortem report of the attack. According to Audius, the hacker was able to manipulate the service’s Ethereum-based governance, staking, and delegation contracts due to a bug. Smart contracts are code that essentially write the rules for decentralized platforms to enable them to operate without a centralized intermediary.

Audius uses the Ethereum blockchain for its AUDIO tokens, which was exploited. The attacker altered the Audius voting structure in such that it attempted to delegate 10 trillion AUDIO tokens to hacker-owned wallets to push through governance proposals.

The move didn’t affect the supply of AUDIO tokens, but it did allow the attacker to pass a governance proposal to send the entirety of the community token pool to an external wallet. 18.6 AUDIO tokens were stolen in this manner, worth around $6.1 million at the time of the hack.

Audius says the team was alerted to the attack about 25 minutes after the token transfer started. The team reached out to a white hat web3 hacker to help try and thwart the smart contract exploit attempt. After the team realized the exploit was still active, they developed fixes using the same vulnerability targeted by the hacker.

“The issue has been found and fixes are in progress to get things back to a stable state,” an update from the Audius platform reads. “To prevent further damage, all Audius smart contracts on Ethereum had to be halted, including the token. We do not believe any further funds are at risk.”

While the tokens were worth around $6 million at the time they were stolen, the hacker traded them for much less. The tokens were traded for 705 wrapped ETH – or $1.07 million at the time of writing. After the hacker exchanged the Audius tokens on Uniswap, they moved all the wETH to a crypto mixing service called Tornado Cash, which launders funds in an attempt to conceal their origins.

The hack wipes out the $5 million funding round Audius crowed about back in September 2021.

Photo Credit: MELON

Metaverse development studio MELON raises $5 million in seed funding.

MELON, a game development studio for the metaverse, has announced it has raised $5 million in seed funding. The team is behind numerous music events on Roblox and experiences for clients that include Chipotle, Clarks, Mattel, the NFL, and PacSun.

Crush Music’s investment arm, Crush Ventures, led the seed round. Crush Music’s management clients include Miley Cyrus, Fall Out Boy, Green Day, Lorde, Panic! at the Disco, and Weezer. Former CFO at Roblox and Marvel Entertainment, Matt Finick, who leads a large SPV managed by Crush, has joined MELON’s board.

“MELON is at the forefront of the creative explosion happening in the metaverse,” Finick says. “They are perfectly positioned to build some of the most impactful experiences across music, film and TV, fashion, and sports over the next few years of critical growth on these developing platforms.”

“We’re extremely fortunate to have such a strong collective of early strategic investors in MELON,” adds Josh Neuman, co-founder and co-CEO. “The Metaverse and platforms within it are ripe for disruption and we’re looking forward to evolving our creativity and storytelling in collaboration with our partners, as well as via our original IP. With this group, we’re going to be able to strategize and navigate the evolving landscape at the highest level.”

The company has attracted talent across significant game studios and brands, including EA, Pokémon GO, and Urban Outfitters. MELON believes its multifaceted team has “honed a keen sense for what works in the metaverse,” and that brands are taking notice. MELON’s experience in virtual music events has led to work with Ava Max, KSI, Tai Verdes, and Zara Larsson. The Larsson event won the studio a Clio award earlier this year.

Andrew Kahn, Head of Crush Ventures, added, “Crush Ventures looks to invest in teams that are building the future of how creators and fans will interact. The MELON team has proven to be uniquely capable of building one-of-a-kind games and experiences. We’re thrilled to invest in and partner with MELON as we explore opportunities together for Crush’s talent in the metaverse.”

“MELON is on the cutting edge of bringing experiences directly to where Gen Z lives — their phones,” concludes Tucker Roberts, President of Spectacor Gaming, an entertainment company with connections to Comcast NBCUniversal. “We’re looking forward to the continued innovations that Josh and his incredible team will make at MELON.”

Photo Credit: Markus Spiske

What exactly is a Metaverse, and why is everyone talking about it?

Since Facebook announced its rebrand to Meta late last year, it’s opened room for plenty of questions about what that means. The definition of the term hasn’t gotten any clearer between Meta building a VR social platform and many companies offering little more than their version of a video game world with NFTs attached.

This lack of coherence can be explained by the fact that the metaverse is still in its infancy. The concept is too new to define what it means, much like in the 1970s when the internet was new. Not every iteration of what the internet meant at that time reflected what it would eventually become.

Conversely, there’s a lot of marketing and money wrapped up in the idea of selling “the metaverse.” For example, it’s questionable to separate Facebook’s vision of the future in which we all have a digital wardrobe to swipe through from the reality that Facebook wants to make money selling us virtual clothes. While Facebook is far from the only company that stands to benefit financially from metaverse hype, it begs the question of what exactly that means for the rest of us.

When companies refer to “the metaverse,” they broadly refer to technology that includes virtual reality — persistent virtual worlds that continue to exist whether or not you’re playing — and augmented reality that combines aspects of the physical and digital worlds. Notably, these spaces do not have to be accessed exclusively through VR or AR. For example, elements of the game Fortnite that users access through computers, consoles, and phones have started to refer to themselves as “the metaverse.”

Advocates for the metaverse broadly envision a new digital economy where users can create, buy, and sell goods. Idealistic visions depict the metaverse as interrelated, enabling you to take virtual items from one platform to another — something much easier said than done. Some advocates claim that new technologies like NFTs enable easily portable digital assets. Still, the fact remains that bringing digital assets from one video game or virtual world to the next is enormously complex and not a task to be solved by one company alone.

“Wait, doesn’t all this exist already?” you may ask. After all, games like World of Warcraft, persistent virtual worlds where players can trade goods, have existed for years. Fortnite offers virtual experiences like concerts and exhibits. You can put on a VR headset and whisk yourself away to a virtual location. Is that what the metaverse means? New kinds of video games?

Not exactly. Saying Fortnite or World of Warcraft is “the metaverse” is like saying Google or Facebook is “the internet.” One facet doesn’t encompass the entire scope of the whole. 

Tech giants like Meta and Microsoft are developing tech related to interacting with virtual worlds, but they’re far from the only ones. Many companies, from Nvidia to Roblox and Snap, are building infrastructure around creating better virtual worlds that more closely mimic the physical world. 

Epic, Fortnite‘s parent company, has acquired several companies to help create or distribute digital assets, partly to bolster its Unreal Engine 5 platform. Unreal Engine 5 — a video game platform at its core — is also seeing use in the film industry. The platform could make it easier for anyone to create virtual experiences, which is an exciting prospect.

Still, the idea of a single unified “metaverse” akin to Ready Player One is more or less impossible. Such a world requires cooperation from companies on a scale that frankly isn’t profitable — Fortnite has little to gain from encouraging players to jump on to World of Warcraft, even if it were easy to do. Additionally, the raw computing power needed for such concepts may be further away than we think.

As a result, many companies and advocates now refer to a game or platform as “a metaverse” instead of “the metaverse.” With this definition, anything from a virtual concert to a video game can count as “a metaverse.” Coca-Cola launched a “flavor born in the metaverse” with a Fortnite tie-in minigame — it’s the wild west, and there are no rules.

In the months following Facebook’s rebrand, the concept of “the metaverse” has been a powerful vehicle for rebranding old tech. It’s also been instrumental in overselling the benefits of new tech and capturing the imagination of potential investors. Many companies’ tech demos for their idea of “the metaverse” show very little of the “how,” and much is left to speculation.

While exciting advancements are happening in virtual worlds and the tech enabling them, the tech industry largely depends on futurism. It’s one thing to sell a phone, but selling the idea of the future through that phone is far more profitable. Ultimately, “the metaverse” may be little more than our collective ideas surrounding the future of the internet.

Photo Credit: 10:22PM

Universal Music Group’s digital band KINGSHIP has sold through its entire NFT collection.

KINGSHIP is a digital supergroup signed to 10:22PM, with an initial 5,000 access-enabled Key Cards minted as NFTs. The Key Cards allow collectors to access the group’s virtual world as well as unlock products, experiences, and a token-gated community. The minting took place on July 14 and sold out within two hours after release on July 15.

The KINGSHIP collection was ranked #1 on OpenSea’s Music Chart and was the top-trending NFT collection on the site at release. This release was also the first time OpenSea had a special reserve offered at the same time as the primary mint for sale directly through the OpenSea marketplace. As a result, NFTs #1-#300 sold out within minutes.

Blue Chip NFT holders accounted for 27% of the overall sales, averaging 2 NFTs per holder. At the time of writing, the current floor price of a KINGSHIP NFT on the secondary market exceeds its primary sale price by 2x, despite the downturn in the crypto market.

The KINGSHIP supergroup consists of three Bored Apes and a rare Mutant Ape. KING (lead vocals), Arnell (beats, producer, drums), Captain (vocals, bass), and Hud (guitar, keyboards, vocals). The group’s newly revealed origin story, map, and additional Key Card details are available on the group’s website.

“I’m grateful to our team, partners, and to the community for this incredibly successful sold-out mint,” says Celine Joshua, Founder at 10:22PM and the creator of KINGSHIP. “We’re artist world building with blockchain technology, creativity, and speed. The sold-out genesis Key Card is only the beginning of our new journey together.”

The collectible Key Cards feature different members of the band and contain unique attributes. These attributes will be revealed over time, with some rarer than others. In addition to membership in the virtual world, the Key Cards also unlock access to exclusive music, content, products, and a token-gated community.

KINGSHIP is also in the process of building four Towers on the island, one for each member of the band. Each member’s Key Card provides access to a specific member’s Tower on the island. By acquiring the Key Cards for all four members, holders gain entry to a floating villa above the Towers. Art for the Key Cards will be revealed on Tuesday, July 19.

Photo Credit: Eva Rinaldi / CC by 2.0

Chris Brown’s Breezyverse NFT collection launched on July 1, but no one is buying.

Like the well-known Bored Ape Yacht Club or Doodle NFT collections, Breezyverse is a set of 10,000 NFTs that share a particular motif. In this case, each NFT is an animation of singer Chris Brown posing like a superhero atop a structure, but each has a different trait. Chris Brown might be made of gold, or the moon might appear behind him. 

While some NFT collections from celebrities are highly anticipated and have sold out within an hour, only 299 Breezyverse NFTs have sold since its launch on July 1. That’s around 3% of the collection. 

With crypto stuck in a dramatic downturn, it’s understandable that a new NFT collection would struggle to thrive. Still, Chris Brown and the team that developed his Breezyverse collection have made things unnecessarily hard on themselves by pricing their NFTs at .35 ether each, which is about $440.

It’s common for NFT collections to launch at a price just under .1 ether, but since the market crash, the cost of Ethereum has dropped by 67% this year. As a result, “free mints” have become popular, in which a creator sells NFTs for free to count on making money back on secondary sales.

Since Breezyverse is aimed at Chris Brown’s fans, the website promises holders exclusive privileges such as VIP concert tickets and meet and greets with Brown. But the NFT market is filled mainly with people who want to flip NFTs for profit rather than those taking an interest in the concert tickets and other swag. 

“With the market being what it is we knew going in that this collection would be a slow and steady offering,” the Breezyverse team told CNET. “The focus was on the Chris Brown audience as an introduction to a long term fan club community project that utilizes the digital space to track ownership.”

“To date we’ve awarded 80+ VIP tickets to his upcoming concerts, meet and greets and his iconic wardrobe from the award-winning music videos ‘Go Crazy’ and ‘City Girls,'” the team adds.

Chris Brown is far from the first musician to dabble in web3, although his collection might take the cake for worst-received. Snoop Dogg and Eminem debuted a new music video last month featuring their BAYC NFTs, while Pharrell Williams became the chief brand officer for the Doodles NFT collection.

Photo Credit: regularguy.eth

The RIAA has sent several takedown requests to the NFT marketplace OpenSea over the sale of .eth domains.

The RIAA has aggressively pursued action against several NFT companies, most recently HitPiece. But most recently, TorrentFreak has documented the organization’s focus in taking down .eth domain registrations as the web3 space takes off. The RIAA notices to OpenSea has for the removal of several Ethereum Name Service (ENS) domain names – or .eth domains.

Some of the domains targeted in these takedown requests include:

• RIAA.eth
• Sony-music.eth
• Warnermusicgroup.eth
• Atlanticrecords.eth
• Virginrecords.eth
• Universalmusic.eth
• Republic-records.eth

The practice is called domain squatting, and it’s no different than what companies experienced in the late ’90s and ’00s as the Dot Com boom happened. One of the early examples of that is when the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) sued a man for cyber-squatting the worldwrestlingfederation.com domain. The case was resolved in 2000, but it highlights how web3 is experiencing many of the same growing pains.

Some of the other domains targeted included .eth domains named after music industry executives like RIAA CEO Mitch Glazier, Sony Music CEO Rob Stringer, and Columbia Records CEO Ron Perry.

“The ENS domain names […] infringe RIAA’s or our members’ trademarks, as they cause dilution, confusion, and/or tarnishment of these trademarks,” the statement to OpenSea from the RIAA reads. “The sale of these ENS domain names is also actionable under the Lanham Act.”

“In addition, the sale of ENS domain names that contain the names of executives at RIAA or our member companies violates the AntiCyberSquatting Consumer Protection Act,” the statement continues.

OpenSea has responded to the requests by removing the offending listings. The auction URLs for these domains now point to a delisting message. This isn’t the first or the last time the RIAA will go after web3 developments as they happen.

Meanwhile, former bastions of piracy like LimeWire and Napster are trying to legitimize the web3 space as a place where creators and artists can engage. LimeWire has struck up a partnership with Soulja Boy and others as part of its “LimeWire Originals” series. What this means is that LimeWire and Napster are hoping their legacy names will attract more interest in web3 products like NFTs.

Photo Credit: Keith C / CC by 2.0

GameStop’s new NFT marketplace earns $44,500 on its first day.

GameStop recently offloaded numerous employees to cut costs shortly before spending millions launching an NFT marketplace. In its debut, the marketplace earned the company $44,500 on its opening day, which is a pretty quiet start given the company’s investment. 

The company’s new crypto-based store is transparent about charging 2.25% on commission. Between that and its rolling stats for NFT sales, Ars Technica gathered that the first day’s sales totaled 1,835 Ethereum. That translates to $1.98 million and an estimated $44,500 commissions for GameStop. For comparison, that’s roughly 0.27 percent of GameStop’s daily net sales in 2021.

However, taking that calculation further, GameStop had 4,816 stores at the beginning of 2021, which means roughly $3,426 in business at each store per day. Opening an NFT marketplace brought the company around the same profits as it would if it opened 12 more GameStop stores without hiring underpaid hourly staff.

It’s too early to say if things are already slowing down after the day-one rush, but the second day’s estimated sales only equal $823,484, or about $18,578 in additional commissions. Still, sales aren’t exactly threatening OpenSea’s market position.

The NFT market as a whole has fallen dramatically over the past six months in what’s come to be called a crypto winter. Daily sales volume on well-established platforms like OpenSea has fallen around 90%. Given this, GameStop’s marketplace numbers make a lot of sense.

Regardless, GameStop meme stock fans, in particular, are hype for the future, discussing the potential for exponential growth and new fee structures using GameStop’s proprietary crypto-wallet. Others are excitedly hunting for Easter eggs embedded within GameStop’s NFTs.

The latter was initially referenced in a loading screen that turns into an arcade cabinet. Fans discovered that inputting the classic Konami cheat code led to several other Easter eggs, including a rocket ship animation and an ASCII skull.  Unsurprisingly, GameStop’s share price is up 10% in the wake of the marketplace launch.

Photo Credit: The.Camera.Lady Instagram

Superfly is partnering with Velvet Sea Ventures and Autograph.io to launch SuperNFT. The trio hopes to foster new types of communities by offering next-generation live experiences.

Created by Superfly founders Rick Farman and Rich Goodstone and long-time collaborator Michael Lazerow from VSV, SuperNFT’s Series A investment round was co-led by VSV and Tom Brady’s Autograph.io. Joining the Series A funding is JDS Sports and Art Blocks Founder Erick Calderon, also known as Snowfro. Pixel Vault Inc. Founder Sean Gearin, marketing executive Nick Tran, LinksDAO founder Mike Dudas and his 6th Man Ventures, and Roger Ehrenberg’s Eberg Capital also participated in this funding round.

“SuperNFT’s product is not NFTs or festivals,” says Co-Founder Michael Lazerow. “Those are just the mediums and tools we plan to use to create the ultimate goal, a deep community of creative souls who want to create the future they envision.”

Leading the company will be CEO Tori Stevens, a 15-year ESPN veteran who directed planning, staging, and business operations for the X Games. Superfly founder Rick Farman, Velvet Sea Ventures partner Michael Lazerow and Autograph Chief Operating Officer and Chief Business Officer Ted Russell will serve on the company’s board of directors.

SuperNFT’s first event will be the SUPERF3ST project, which will mint 3,000 SUPERPASS NFTs. Holders will have the exclusive opportunity to aid in the event planning as ‘SUPERF3ST Founders.’ This unique approach offers SUPERF3ST Founders, as founding members of the community, governance/voting, input into decision-making about event features, such as musical and artistic guests, art installations, creative activations, culinary experiences, merchandise, marketing, timing, location, and more.

Each SuperPASS NFT represents one vote in these creative decisions about the event, along with access to festivals and live events. The SUPERF3ST Founders mint will take place on July 15.

“When Mike and Rick first told me about the SUPERF3ST concept, I was in,” Snowfro says about the new initiative. “The intersection of algorithmic art and blockchain technology empowers Art Blocks artists to release their generative work under a new paradigm for both the artist and the collector. This same shift will power community creativity by working collaboratively to explore new forms of iconic IRL experiences. I look forward to providing creative inspiration to help reimagine the modern festival by putting the artist and collector community at the center.”

Stickmen Toy characters. Photo Credit: Warner Records

Warner Records and Bose have officially partnered to release a “first of its kind” non-fungible token (NFT) collection, and amid a massive falloff in the space (as well as the broader crypto sector), the NFTs will be free to mint.

Bose, Warner Records UK, and The Stickmen Project just recently unveiled the 5,000-token NFT series, dubbed Stickmen Toys and featuring both audio and visual components. On this front, the project’s website elaborates that each of the Bose Stickmen Toy NFT characters “comes with its own 30 second track, as well as custom designed, hand painted traits, unique from the main collection of NFTs.”

Moreover, these 30-second tracks have been “generated from a range of bass lines, drums, melodies, sound effects and vocal samples produced originally by The Stickmen Project,” whose two members aren’t strangers to giveaways and similar promotional efforts.

The NFTs’ mint date will be announced sometime down the line, organizers likewise disclosed, and as highlighted at the outset, “Warner Records are giving holders ownership of the visual and audio IP” from the tokens.

Just in case this non-physical ownership wasn’t enough to excite certain fans, however, Warner Records said that “rare” Bose-themed Stickmen Toy NFTs will be redeemable for limited-edition headphones or Bluetooth speakers.

The token’s holders will also have access to exclusive merch and “The Playground,” or “a community with perks such as live events, Stickmen Toys streetwear, physical collectibles, and future Warner Records NFT projects,” per the involved teams.

Addressing the NFT collection in a statement, Warner Records VP of audience and strategy Seb Simone emphasized the perceived potential of NFTs to connect artists and fans in the digital age.

“NFTs present a powerful extension of the artist-to-fan relationship, giving people the opportunity to invest in an artist’s future success and providing them value along the way,” said the 10-year Warner Records veteran Simone. “We’re proud to be the first major label providing collectors with authentic and meaningful ownership of the underlying audio-visual copyright, free to collectors. We’re even more thrilled to be collaborating with Bose on adding further value to the project.”

Notwithstanding the initially mentioned NFT decline – sales are reportedly down 92 percent year-over-year to this point in 2022 – a number of fans are expressing support for and interest in the Bose-Stickmen Toys tie-up on social media.

Needless to say, though, the digital goods will become available for the ultra-affordable cost of free, providing owners with perks including seemingly desirable real-world products. Building upon the point, many successful NFT initiatives – from The Chainsmokers’ giving away a portion of their royalties via tokens to Coachella’s auctioning off lifetime passes – would have presumably achieved similar results if they’d commenced outside the non-fungible token sphere.

Nevertheless, all manner of music-focused NFT startups (Our Happy Company, Fuel, anotherblock, FanTiger, Highlight, Afterparty, and the revamped LimeWire among them) have closed multimillion-dollar raises this year, and Spotify looks to be taking steps to expand its presence in the segment. Meanwhile, NFT diehards including Snoop Dogg still believe that non-fungible tokens are the future of the music industry.

Photo Credit: Ledger Insights

Non-fungible token (NFT) sales have dropped to new lows amid a broader downturn in the crypto market.

Data research firm Chainalysis reports that NFT sales totaled $1 billion in June. That’s their worst performance since June 2021, when sales were $648m. NFT sales reached their peak in 2022, with sales totaling $12.6 billion that month.

“This decline is definitely linked to the broader slowdown in crypto markets,” Ethan McMahon, a Chainalysis economist, told The Guardian. “Times like this inevitably lead to consolidation within the affected markets. For NFTs, we will likely see a pullback in terms of the collections and types of NFTs that reach prominence.”

NFTs rely on blockchain technology, which is a decentralized ledger to track ownership. Most NFTs are based on the Ethereum blockchain, but music NFT companies like LimeWire and Napster are looking at proof of stake blockchains like Alogrand.

At its peak in January 2022, the NFT market was attracting huge sums as buyers lined up. A digital collage by the visual artist Beeple sold for $69 million. Despite the crypto downturn though, popular NFT collections have held their value. The price on the cheapest NFT in the Bored Ape Yacht Club collection has declined by only 1%, while the crypto market is down as much as 60%.

NFT sales reached $40 billion in 2021 and the 2022 data has already exceeded that figure at $42 billion. But sales in January and February 2022 accounted for more than half of the 2022 total, according to Chainalysis data. The crypto bubble may have popped due to several factors.

The collapse of the Terra stablecoin kicked off the broad crypto downturn in May 2022. Following news that large crypto hedge funds like Three Arrows Capital had exposure to the Terra collapse, crypto lending platforms like Voyager, Celsius, and BlockFi began experiencing trouble. While these troubles have shaken faith in the crypto market, NFTs are likely here to stay.

Photo Credit: Napster

LimeWire has re-invented itself as a crypto-based marketplace for musicians and collectors. So what’s next for Napster?

Hivemind Capital Partners acquired the formerly infamous music brand as part of a take-private acquisition. The original Napster was shut down in 2001 after a lengthy lawsuit for copyright infringement. The Napster name was eventually relaunched as a traditional music streaming service with limited success. Now, it’s Napster 3.0 — a testament to the staying power of the controversial brand.

“Obviously it was completely illegitimate and there was a big backlash,” says Napster’s CEO Emmy Lovell about the original version of the music-sharing app. “But it does still continue to have the reputation of a disruptor and an industry innovator.

Napster was previously listed on the London Alternative Investment Market in 2020. But the company has shifted almost all of its assets to a new private company in January 2022. The process valued the business at around $45.6 million. The company reported revenue of $39.5 million for the first half of 2021 – a paltry sum compared to Spotify.

The company plans to operate Napster 3.0 on the Algorand blockchain, which is a proof of stake chain. Bloomberg reports that Algorand and Brevan Howard Digital Assets were among the consortium of buyers involved in the Hivemind Capital Partners acquisition of Napster. Lovell has declined to provide a timeline for launch of Napster 3.0, but here’s what we know.

The company plans to launch a $NAPSTER token on the Algorand blockchain aimed at music listeners, rights holders, and artists. The supply of these tokens is capped at 10 billion coins and it will be managed by the Napster Innovation Foundation. The idea is to offer rewards to stakeholders, denominated in $NAPSTER. Eventually, holders of the token may be given a say over how the business is run through a process called governance.

“Despite the short-term volatility in the market, personally, I remain very, very optimistic about how this will actually bring a real use case and enduring value and actually bring a paradigm shift to many sectors,” says Matt Zhang. “Music is going to be one of them.”

Photo Credit: Limewire

The LimeWire marketplace launch is here with verified artists on board. They include Travis Barker, Brandy, Nicky Jam, Dillon Francis, and more.

The first available NFT collection launching on LimeWire is from 7 Aurelius, launching July 7. The initial set of collections represents a wide range of content on LimeWire. They include original tracks and artworks and in-person experiences like backstage passes or meet-and-greets with artists. The platform aims to be the place where collectors can purchase exclusive and unreleased music, video content, and digital artwork.

“I have always been interested in web3 and NFTs so I am pretty stoked to release my first NFT collection and to do it on LimeWire,” says Travis Barker about his collection. “I hope that my NFT collection will inspire aspiring artists and fans who want to learn about my creative journey and how I make music. LimeWire has created a platform that makes exciting content like this accessible to all of my fans.”

LimeWire says it is committed to lowering the barrier for entry into the NFT ecosystem for both artists and collectors. That includes stripping away technical hurdles and introducing a simple user experience with a mainstream-ready approach.

“We see a huge demand in the entertainment space for platforms that recognize and appreciate artists for their talent and put them in the driver’s seat,” says Paul and Julian Zehetmayr, LimeWire Co-CEOs. “LimeWire represents a new commercial opportunity for artists of all sizes and genres to engage with their fans, gain more exposure in a unique way and retain more of their earnings.”

Other artists joining the platform include A$AP Mob’s A$AP TyY, CJ Fly, Ortise, Mollow, Luciana, Blacka Di Danca, Samuel Herb, Idalia Valles, Stefano Manrique, David Asante, DJ Monday, BXB LOVE, Noah Jvmes, and many more.

Legendary drummer Travis Barker is releasing his first NFT collection on LimeWire. It features behind-the-scenes footage of himself working at the studio, giving collectors a first-hand look at his creative process. Barker is also releasing a one-of-one NFT that is a 3D model of his drum set that he uses during concerts and in his home.

Brandy is partnering with Probably Nothing’s Photosynthesis for an NFT collection. The drop features a collaborative flower bouquet NFT with an accompanying spoken word content with Brandy speaking about mental health.

Photo Credit: The Come Up Show / CC by 2.0

Snoop Dogg, one of the most prominent celebrities in the Web3 space, sat down with CNBC in an interview at the NFT.NYC conference last week. Here’s what he had to say about the current “crypto winter” and the future of NFTs in the music industry.

While these days he’s well-known for his focus on Web3 and particularly NFTs, Snoop Dogg has long been an early adopter. In 2014, he was part of a $50 million investment into Reddit. Then valued at around $500 million, the platform is today valued at $15 billion, according to Pitchbook data. 

Snoop co-founded Casa Verde Capital, a venture capital fund that has more than doubled in size since its creation in 2015. His announcement earlier this year of plans to turn Death Row Records into an “NFT label” seems par for the course, given the rap icon’s NFT collection worth over $17 million.

“I know (NFTs) have a great opportunity to be big in music, because sooner or later the labels are going to have to come on in,” Snoop says in his recent interview with CNBC. “They’re going to have to come on home and sit at the table and understand that catalogs and things they hold onto are better served on the blockchain than sitting in the catalog collecting cobwebs.”

“And it’s not just labels,” adds his son, Cordell Broadus, also known as Champ Medici — Snoop revealed himself as Cozomo Medici, a previously anonymous NFT art collector, back in September. “It’s movie studios, it’s tech companies, it’s beverage companies… everybody’s rushing to Web3 and they see how big Dogg is in the space.”

“I feel like every great industry has a downfall,” Snoop Dogg says of the current crypto crash and whether he was concerned. “There’s been a depression in every industry you can look at: alcohol, tobacco, clothing, food; every industry you can imagine.” 

The recent downturn in crypto gains has been dubbed broadly as the latest “crypto winter,” indicating a period in which crypto prices fall and maintain that low for an extended time. Some leaders in the space expect a “period of creative destruction,” wiping out many players in the crypto zeitgeist. Billionaire Mark Cuban, a massive investor in blockchain-based technology, compared the crash to “the lull that the internet went through during the dotcom bubble” and expressed that the space is oversaturated in “imitators.” Snoop’s view is similar. 

“This weeded out all the people who weren’t supposed to be in the space and who were abusing the opportunities that were there,” he says. “Now it’s going to bring on great business, and moving forward, when the market comes back, there will only be great things to pick and choose from,” Snoop concludes.

The rapper’s latest crypto project is a collaboration with Food Fighters Universe (FFU), the world’s self-proclaimed first NFT restaurant group. Snoop’s brand, Dr. Bombay’s Sweet Exploration, is expected to open in LA under the FFU umbrella and utilizes his Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) NFT avatar as its mascot.

Photo elements by Tezos, Minh Pham, Kamil Feczko, Mo.

Layering music into web3 and the metaverse is a complex task with lots of moving parts. Those parts can quickly devolve into technical and legal quicksand. With those pitfalls in mind, here’s a pocket survival guide from one of the biggest B2B streaming technology providers, Tuned Global. The company is currently helping numerous companies to navigate the complexities of music in web3, and recently partnered with Digital Music News to share some of its expertise in this area.

Tuned Global founder and managing director Con Raso will be speaking on the panel ‘Web3 Music Services’ at the Sandbox Summit Web3 Special on Tuesday, June 28th in London.

As companies continue to dip into the metaverse, complex implementation questions are quickly surrounding the use of music. Part of the reason is simple: just like real life, listeners want their virtual abodes to feature their favorite music. The metaverse wouldn’t feel ‘real’ without it.

But while web3 developers certainly understand tech, music infrastructure presents considerable complexity. According to Tuned Global, a behind-the-scenes B2B player powering a range of music platforms, even the most significant metaverse or NFTs entrants aren’t fully aware of the challenges associated with music integration and delivery.

On top of that, early-stage metaverse adopters are a sophisticated lot, and their expectations are understandably high.

Since 2011, Tuned Global has been developing customized streaming services for major labels, artists, advertisers, sports leagues, major media companies, and fitness companies.

“Our first commercial music service was for a large telco, and their users were offered $50 of downloads per month plus unlimited streaming,” recounted Con Raso, Tuned Global’s founder and managing director. “Today. we would say. ‘Huh — why bother with the downloads?’

“The reality was that people valued what they understood. Web3 is similar in that it greatly extends how music is used and consumed, and the challenge is to take people down this new path. We fully expect that web3 will be a normal part of people’s day, but we also know that we are in a very early stage of discovery and execution. It’s exciting times.”

Given the early stage of web3, there’s also the problem of a moving target. As the web3 beast grows, conventional music integration strategies face the prospect of obsoleteness. Music access and consumption face dramatic evolution–especially in new-fangled web3 iterations. Even the legal terrain is likely to shift substantially with potentially hairy disputes.

But licensing represents only the tip of a jagged and gigantic music industry iceberg.

Accurately executing music layering within metaverse and NFT projects requires specialized technology for ingestion, storage, and distribution — along with critical services such as playlisting, reporting, and metadata management.

Every successful web3 installation will bring something distinctive to the virtual table. Music executions will be tailored specifically for metaverse, NFT, and gaming environments (or combinations thereof).

Tuned Global has been working with multiple web3 startups/companies dipping into the metaverse, all of whom share a common desire: to deliver entirely new user experiences and music industry business models.

Bringing those visions to reality, however, is complicated.

Raso says Tuned Global is determined to help web3-focused companies create an engaging environment — and music offers a far more compelling user experience. It’s also an excellent way for artists and music companies to engage specialized audiences, especially if the web3 environment filters out typical distractions.

Perhaps the only constant in the early-stage metaverse is that every project is different. Background music in a game, NFT video, or virtual metaverse venue can be customized to individual users and broader audiences. That includes everything from a jazz club in the metaverse or a jukebox in a room, where users choose music and invite their friends.

Other projects are natively tied to music. Web3 concerts for various metaverse projects (for example, Decentraland with Deadmau5, Paris Hilton & 3LAU; Somnium Space with its Take Me to Your Burn Festival; and Sandbox with Snoop Dogg) have already proven their worth. On the streaming front, web3-focused DSPs like Audius and Opus could make inroads, while ‘web2’ incumbents like Spotify are pushing into virtual platforms like Roblox.

Music-specific NFT marketplaces such as Catalog, Sound.xyz, Async Music, and 3LAU’s curated marketplace, Royal, also come to mind.

Beyond that, music is likely to power the next evolution of online fitness classes, whether conducted by a human or its AI replacement.

So how do metaverse creators ensure that they’re integrating music into their digital worlds in a way that provides an enhanced listener experience and checks off the requisite boxes? And how do they guarantee that the content is copyright protected, licensed, and personalized?

Here’s Tuned Global’s checklist of the most significant considerations behind music integration in the metaverse.

(1) The major challenge for web3 projects is typically licensing and rights management. 

There are specific licenses in play for on-demand, sync, and reproduction in any environment, including metaverse installations. But even in more mature arenas like streaming and live concerts, challenges still surround licensing, reporting, and content delivery. Other concerns include the navigation of copyright payouts, content ingestion, metadata management, and — if all these are streamlined — personalization.

Perhaps the first step is to ensure buy-in from all IP owners. For starters, content (both the recording and underlying publishing) has to be paid for and adequately secured. That includes all licensing use cases and territories where a metaverse installation exists.

Web3 projects — NFT, metaverse, or otherwise — typically struggle to obtain (or even understand) music rights from record labels and publishers. In the best-case scenarios, the process is simply time-consuming and complex, though more typically, considerable sums of money are required to secure proper clearances.

In situations involving unsigned artists, or artists that control all of their rights, the licensing task is easier to navigate. However, building a catalog of credible content requires substantial licensing costs and extensive negotiations.

Properly engaging multiple rights holders is a Herculean task — most web3 developers have no idea where to start or whom to contact. Moreover, revenue distribution standards for all rights holders aren’t yet correctly established within metaverse creations, and there’s currently no framework for web3. Publishers, for example, may demand the same payouts as recording owners on NFTs, even though this isn’t the norm for traditional streaming services.

Publishing is often the most complex and potential litigious area. Often, there are multiple songwriters for a single song. Some of those writers may have actual representation by a publisher, which poses a serious question: Does the artist own all the rights?

The result: prepare for some extended negotiations with IP owners that will probably demand a considerable chunk of revenues (or even equity) for their participation.

According to Tuned Global, rights holders aren’t willing to take licensing risks on early-stage web3 projects. Substantial compensation might alleviate some of their fears, so Web3 companies must anticipate demands for large upfront payments — regardless of actual plays. Be aware that major labels and publishers may also demand a percentage share of the web3 company.

“We are currently navigating licensing deals for clients that want to provide items like NFTs at scale, which involves deep discussions with rights holders and publishing organizations,” Raso explained. “It’s still difficult to create processes at scale, but I think there is a willingness to work through these items.”

(2) Tracking, reporting, and related data are significant considerations for music rights owners.

Once a licensing deal is in place, factors like content ingestion, storage, playback, hosting, metadata, and reporting enter the picture. A deal’s a deal —  but that doesn’t simplify the upcoming implementation challenges.

Additionally, in many agreements involving music for NFTs or the metaverse, licensors don’t compensate for how often a track is played. So labels want more — they want to know what people are searching for and what content is most popular. These potential expectations require serious consideration among stakeholders and specialized tech management to track and report.

Labels might suggest a list of backend music providers to web3 developers, and having that partner in place before implementation will accelerate a project while also managing budget expectations.

Companies cannot afford to disregard this step. Suitable technology is critical for managing licensing, reporting, content delivery, navigation of rights holders, content ingestion, content tracking, metadata, and scaling music delivery. It is an expectation from rights owners.

Also, a note of caution: not reporting (or misreporting) NFT secondary sales can be legally dangerous. Anything that misses or misrepresents sales, even unintentionally, can lead to litigation entanglement.

(3) Metaverse music installations must engage users with highly sophisticated personalization.

Web3 provides the opportunity for technology to deliver entirely new user experiences and music industry business models, but music personalization is a task for which developers typically lack experience. Tuned Global, alongside partners like Musiio, has been refining personalization with patented technology. These standards are now expertly injected into metaverse and NFT plays.

From the outset, each metaverse project needs a coherent music strategy to engage its users. That means music tailored to individual users and the broader web3 demographic.

“Music has proven to be one of the most effective mediums to engage humanity,” Raso said. “This is no different in web3. Each metaverse project needs a coherent music strategy to engage its users.”  

(4) A significant web3 opportunity exists around interoperability. 

According to Tuned Global, transporting valuable digital music assets between metaverse experiences and web2 interfaces is necessary. More traditional app-based experiences tap into a broader market. The result is a web3 bridge, though Tuned Global noted that this is a two-way street. Users typically want to wander between web2 and web3 interfaces, and developers can combine the two. NFTs can sit alongside traditionally-licensed music, and traditional playlists can exist in the metaverse, which requires the licensing framework to support both worlds.

“Tuned Global is about to launch a solution that allows NFTs to exist alongside other songs in streaming services, delivering a similar experience for users,” Raso added.

(5) NFTs and music web3 in general require serious backend technology 

Each NFT is identified uniquely on the blockchain. But music, images, or movie assets are stored elsewhere on the web. Accordingly, when using these NFTs within an end-user solution, the original location specified in the NFT may not be high-performance or secure. If you are building a highly scalable product, you may need to be able to support robust distribution and security. 

(6) Integrating the usage of tokens and virtual currency for music access is a big plus. 

The existence of a fully functioning virtual economy that allows for the purchase of music access, as well as the ability to be compensated in digital value, can generate significant revenue. That could defray licensing costs while creating revenue opportunities for artists and IP owners.

But not everyone loves crypto and web3 currency. Do participants — including artists, rights owners, and other stakeholders — prefer fiat USD, for example? These decisions are critical and should be made well in advance.

“What about end-users? We believe there must be an easy path for non-web3 natives to access web3 services. An onboarding that they understand, including credit cards or similar and a transparent wallet,” Raso noted.

Metaverse companies that plan to implement a music layer within their projects should consider: do I have these bases covered?

For Tuned Global, stepping into the metaverse has primarily been an extension of the company’s existing competencies. Similar to conventional projects, the company offers end-to-end music solutions that focus on creating and integrating the technical infrastructure needed to layer music within the metaverse.

In terms of the company’s core competencies, Tuned Global also shared these pillars with DMN. All of these areas are likely to come into play in more complex metaverse projects that involve music.

• Licensing preparation and solution design.
• Music content access with a fully compliant technology platform.
• Effective reporting for artists and rights holders.
• A decentralized platform that’s Web3 enabled.
• Tokenization of the user experience.
• Safe and secure storage and content delivery.
• Metadata and user data management.
• Interoperability between web3 and web2
• A full suite of user engagement and social technologies.

Heading into the metaverse is no small task. However, Raso reported that Tuned Global is already tackling complex implementations involving artist radios, thematic playlists, group listening experiences, and token-based authentication with currency management.

“At Tuned Global, we continue to develop and evolve new technologies to support other people’s ideas,” Raso noted. “We are often blown away by the product plans of the companies we speak to daily and would say that the future has never looked more exciting for the music and broader entertainment industry. Many challenges and learnings are required to build music services and experiences in the web3 space. We believe this will be another pivotal moment in the evolution of our industry.”

Photo Credit: Eminem & Snoop Dogg

Snoop Dogg and Eminem get too high and turn into animated versions of their Bored Ape Yacht Club avatars in the music video for their new song, “From The D 2 The LBC.”

The song made its debut at the end of this year’s ApeFest, an annual event in New York for Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) NFT holders. The video opens with Eminem about to record a take in the booth. Snoop sits in the control room and smokes a blunt the size of his fist.

“Yo, why’s it so smoky in here, man?” Eminem complains, getting high from the contact fumes. He and Snoop then literally go ape, morphing into their Bored Ape NFT avatars in animated segments blended with live action.

Eminem purchased his Bored Ape for 123.45 ETH (USD $452,000) at the end of last year. His OpenSea account, Shady Holdings, indicates 26 other NFT acquisitions.

Snoop Dogg owns many NFTs and has long immersed himself in crypto-culture. Last year, he revealed himself to be popular NFT Twitter personality, Cozomo di Medici. In February, he announced his plans to make Death Row Records an NFT label, and many iconic albums from the label — including Dr. Dre’s The Chronic — are noticeably absent from streaming services.

“If anything is constant, it’s that the music industry will always be changing,” Snoop said when he announced his partnership with Gala Games for the NFT release of his album B.O.D.R. (Bacc on Death Row) back in February. “Blockchain tech has the power to change everything again and tip the table in favor of the artists and the fans, and we’re going to be right at the front of the pack.”

Earlier this month, Snoop revealed plans to open a restaurant, Dr. Bombay’s Sweet Exploration, an “immersive retail dessert experience,” themed around his BAYC avatar. The rapper has also hosted events on his digital property in the NFT-powered metaverse, The Sandbox.