Where creativity meets business – discover famous music NFT projects from beloved artists
Image by Freepik
The music industry is continuously innovating through the use of technology, emerging with new genres and sound techniques. Social media applications have allowed listeners to establish new trends, such as sped-up music, refreshing old synth-wave, and creating micro-genres like drift phonk.
One of the latest music improvements includes the use of NFTs that merge sound with visual digital assets. Music NFTs are innovative tools through which artists can sell songs or albums as digital products to benefit from fewer intermediaries, such as record labels and streaming. On the other hand, NFTs can also be leveraged in the form of Ordinals.
NFT music is even more advantageous for indie artists, as it helps them get recognized and expand their music to multiple audiences. At the same time, they can receive proper royalties and have more control over their music.
Considering these aspects, certain music artists have already approached NFTs to share their creations. Here are some of the most famous of them.
Snoop Dogg
Snoop Dogg is renowned for their collaborations with Ice Cube, Wiz Khalifa, and Eminem. Still, he was always open to unique music projects that included Gorillaz, John Legend, and Mariah Carey. The gangsta rap artist is globally appreciated for his vibes, but he also got interested in NFTs and has invested in a music NFT platform in 2023, as the network would allow artists to monetize NFTs. The artist raised no less than $20 million.
In the same year, Snoop Dogg released the NFT collection series called the Snoop Dogg Passport Series, which offered users exclusive merch and behind-the-scenes content. The collection was released before his summer tour, so it was a great promotion technique.
Eminem
Eminem is also one of the most famous artists who recently got into NFTs. Two years ago, he purchased the Bored Ape Yacht Club #9055 to add to his portfolio of 166 NFTs. The asset was valued at 123.45 Ethereum, or $452K, and everyone can find Ethereum-based assets on Magic Eden as well.
In 2021, Eminem also released its own beat-inspired animated NFT that shook the market. His contribution brought no less than $30 million to the marketplace platform. He also joined venture funds that benefited the industry.
Still, one of the best things about his love for NFTs is the collaboration with Snoop Dog, in which they released a music video impersonating the Apes from the NFT collection.
Whitney Houston
While the amazing singer would be people’s last guess on an artist using NFTs to engage with emerging communities, it seems like it is possible. The singer’s stepsister took the initiative of selling unreleased songs recorded when she was only 17 in the form of an NFT, and it was bought with no less than $1 million.
The NFT also contains a music video created by Diane Sinclair, a digital artist. The money earned was donated to the Whitney Houston Foundation, an NGO that aims to support and empower women in the US. However, for those who love the singer, the NFT will never be public as it will remain in the buyer’s portfolio.
Avenged Sevenfold
The rock community welcomes NFT content as the most loved bands are introducing a unique loyalty program called the Deathbats Club NFT, through which users can get special ticket prices. The functionality is based on the Polygon blockchain and allows users to participate in live events by scanning NFT tags and earning loyalty points.
Even fans outside the club can benefit from such advantages if they connect their digital wallets to the band’s platform to access loyalty rewards and more benefits. Avenged Sevenfold is among the first rock bands to introduce an NFT loyalty product.
Ringo Starr
The famous Beatles drummer is reinventing his music and skills by approaching Julien’s auction house to sell “The Creative Mind of a Beatle, a collection of 20 NFTs. It includes five animated paintings and various audio pieces from the artist that are unique copies. The lucky NFT holders will access a physical painting from Ringo and even meet him on a virtual platform.
There’s no wonder that Ringo got to use NFTs to spread his music, as he continued performing musically since the end of the Beatles. One of his latest songs was with the one and only Paul McCartney, in 2023, in an EP called “Rewind Forward.”
Kings of Leon
The alternative rock-based group Kings of Leon is another famous figure that experimented with NFTs by releasing one of their albums on an NFT platform. “While You See Yourself” is available on OpenSea and owned by YelloeHeartFactories. It includes a digital album download, a limited vinyl edition, and digital artwork.
All the money from the NFT will be directed to the Crew Nation, a charitable foundation that helps those in need when facing various hardships. The token standard from the NFT is based on the Ethereum blockchain.
Deadmau5
The Canadian electronic music producer is not new to the crypto world, as he collaborated with the Sandbox metaverse before for a head5 NFT collection on the network. The artists launched several songs through NFTs on the Nifty Gateway platform, which have brought home more than $4 million from selling them.
Deadmau5 is also offering fans 3D artwork and tickets to exclusive events in the form of NFTs. Besides developing fun NFTs, he also ensured that further collections were usable on the metaverse. For example, partnering with Ready Player Me ensured that collectors could use their NFTs as avatars for video chatting applications.
Do you support artists’ NFT creations?
As the music industry moves forward to appeal to young generations, many artists are adopting new technologies or strategies to avoid becoming obsolete. That’s why several singers or bands are approaching NFTs, even if it seems odd to some fans because they want to explore new horizons and establish their openness to innovation in the market. Therefore, we recall Eminem, Avenged Sevenfold, and deadmau5 among the music artists who leveraged these assets.
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