Beats by Dre Enters Web3
+ 6 big stories in Web3 music this week
gm music fans.
The reports of Web3 music’s death are certainly exaggerated! Beats by Dre just announced a Web3 partnership, while Harry Style onboarded 5,000 music fans to crypto wallets (that’s not a headline I expected to write). Also last week, Warner Music revealed a new grant for blockchain music projects.
Let’s get into the biggest stories of the week.
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1. Beats by Dre Enters Web3
The world’s most recognizable headphone brand has taken its first step into Web3, partnering with NFT project Akutars. The details of the partnership aren’t clear yet, but the teaser video points to a unique headphone design and founder Micah Johnson hinted at a limited edition run of only 13(!) on a Twitter Spaces.
Akutars is a PFP project founded by former MLB player Micah Johnson, inspired by his 14-year-old nephew. Aku is one of the rare authentic and compelling stories in the NFT universe so this seems like a good entry into Web3 for Beats, in our opinion.
2. Harry Styles onboards 5,000 fans to Web3 wallets
Superstar Harry Styles just played one of the biggest gigs of his life at Slane Castle, Ireland, to more than 80,000 fans.
5,000 of those fans also claimed a Web3 wallet during the gig, allowing them to store ‘memories’ from the event such as photos. Fans could also access a venue map and eventually earn loyalty rewards. The app is powered by a partnership between EVTNZ and Co:Create which aims to build a loyalty-reward system for gig-goers.
“There’s a huge disconnect for the customer when it comes to events,” said Kim O’ Callaghan, the founder of EVTNZ. “Whether they’re going to one event or 100, they’re treated the same — there’s no rewards, loyalty, or community … It’s just ‘sell you the ticket. There you go.’ … We need to engage the fans more.”
5,000 self-custodial wallets were claimed during the Harry Styles event and there are more superstar artists in the pipeline. Those who claimed wallets will be able to unlock rewards for purchasing tickets, buying merch and other activities.
3. Warner Music x Polygon grant
Warner Music Group and Polygon Labs have launched a music accelerator. They’re looking to incubate a broad range of projects working at the intersection of music and Web3. Examples could include artist-fan communities, new distribution tools, ticketing, merch and digi-physical products.
Successful applicants will receive funding, mentorship and marketing support. Apply here.
“Through this partnership with Polygon Labs, we look forward to actively supporting the people, protocols, and platforms that are pushing boundaries and helping WMG to reimagine how we use technologies to create, share, and experience music” - Oana Ruxandra - Warner Music Group.
Every week we bring you the music and strategies from Lens Protocol — the Web3 social layer where a thriving music community is growing.
Get paid for retweets?
Did you know that Lens has a referral link scheme built into their “mirror” function (the equivalent of a retweet)? That means music fans can potentially get a cut of sales if they share music on Lens apps.
Singer songwriter Valentina Cy has been using this incentive to encourage fans to share her music across Lens. This track includes a 5% referral fee, helping her reach 130 mirrors.
4. Own streaming royalties in a former Billboard #1
Music platform Anotherblock is making a name for itself by bringing some huge hits into Web3. The company enables fans to own streaming royalties in mainstream songs — most notably Rihanna’s “Bitch Better Have My Money.”
Last week, they returned with a former Billboard #1, “This is Why I’m Hot” by rapper MiMS. The track was released back in 2007 and now has 50 million+ streams. Anotherblock estimates the royalties will return 6.3% - 6.9% annually.
5. Sound.xyz launches community pages
In the same week that Spotify decided to delete artists data, Sound.xyz shipped a new tool to give artists more control of their data. The platform just launched Community pages for artists so they can see their earliest and biggest supporters, access social media handles and emails of subscribers, and export all their available data.
6. 3LAU speaks about music NFTs
DJ and producer 3LAU appeared on the Invest in Music podcast this week to talk about his record-breaking music NFT auction back in 2021, as well as his plans for Royal and general thoughts on the Web3 music space. It’s a great conversation and worth a listen.
Thanks for reading!
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Ziggy Ziggy Music Season 2 is supported by Spinamp and Lens Protocol.
Disclaimers: We may own NFTs mentioned in this article, have previous or current contracts with companies mentioned and may earn referral income from links to music NFTs. This newsletter is purely informational and should not be considered financial advice. Nothing in this content should be considered a recommendation to buy a particular NFT, only an expression of our opinion.
Beats being part of Apple now puts Apple in the NFT space 🤔