gm music fans.
This week everyone is talking about the new Justin Bieber NFT which gives you a small share of streaming royalties in his track “Company” (500m streams).
It sold out in 1.5 hours this morning and is currently trading 30% higher than mint price.
There’s lots to digest in this one. Is Bieber even involved? Does the math make sense? Is it legal in the US? (The drop was geo-blocked in N. America). We’ll get into all of it in today’s newsletter!
I’m excited to announce our newest sponsor for Season 3, Beatport.io.
I got my first break in music as a dance producer and Beatport was my bible - so I’m psyched to see them venture into Web3 with a dedicated platform Beatport.io.
Their first drop is a celebration of Berlin’s underground dance culture: an audiovisual series called NACHTS by photographer and Berghain bouncer Mischa Fanghaenel featuring music from some of the scene’s most important DJs. It tells the story of a culture we almost lost during recent lockdowns.
The first drop is free and ends on 11th Sept so definitely go check it out.
Headline story 🗞️
Justin Bieber NFT drop
2,000 NFTs linked to Justin Bieber’s song “Company” sold out this morning. Each NFT costs $27 and grants you 0.0005% ownership in the streaming rights. Some interesting notes on this one:
Bieber is not directly involved - Anotherblock has partnered with the song’s producer AXIDENT to unlock a portion of the streaming rights.
Do the math - The platform’s previous drops have yielded 7-16% returns but obviously this cannot be guaranteed, and bear in mind the song is seven years old.
Is it legal? - The drop is geo-gated so US citizens cannot collect due to “regulatory uncertainty.” There’s a grey area here because linking an NFT directly to future profits or yield could bring it under scrutiny from the SEC. The problem is we have no clarity.
My take? Investment firms pay big money for music catalog for the yield (Hipgnosis bought Justin Bieber’s entire catalog for $200m earlier this year) but the market is completely inaccessible to small investors. Now you can get exposure for $27 which feels like progress. There are things that give me caution here, but I generally applaud the drive to open up this market to more people.
Web3 music roundup 🎧
⏯️ Gala Music hits 5 million streams - Following the exclusive Earl Sweatshirt drop recently, Web3 platform Gala celebrates a streaming milestone. (Read more)
↪️ Limewire pivots (again) - Limewire launches an AI creator studio powered by the Polygon blockchain. (Read more)
💧 Drop Nation - EDM YouTube channel Drop Nation is launching a series of free music drops on Solana’s rapidly-growing Drip Haus platform. (Read more)
🎤 AI singer signs to Warner - Virtual artist Noonoouri releases debut single via Warner Music. (Read more)
💃🏽 Music party at Permissionless - Web3 rising stars Daniel Allan, Bloody White and more will close out the Permissionless conference in an event by Coop Records. (Read more)
🚢 Sound ships - Leading music platform Sound.xyz adds an instant collect button for secondary sales so you can easily pick up editions from the song page without going to OpenSea or the Sound Market page. (Read more).
🎟️ Friends with Benefits fest early access - Fresh from this year’s event, early access passes are now available for FWBFest 2024. (Read more).
Zooming out: Web3 news we’re watching 👀
💳 Visa x Solana partnership - Visa will utilize Solana blockchain to enable stablecoin payments. (Read more).
🐧 Pudgy Penguins on track for $10m in toy sales - One of the first big NFT brands to monetize effectively with real-life products. (Read more).
💸 Metamask instant ‘sell’ button - The crypto wallet launched a native cash out, with a 9% fee (Read more).
🏦 Ethereum ETF? - Ark Invest filed for an Ethereum spot ETF, only the second ever ETH spot application. (Read more)
✈️ Lufthansa NFTs? - The airline rolled out 200,000 NFTs to passengers that scanned their boarding passes. (Read more).
🕹️ NFT backlash continues among gamers - A gaming NFT project called Creator League teamed up with major influencers including Mr Beast, but later received backlash from some of the influencers who didn’t realise it used blockchain tech. (Read more).
Music drops of the week 🎧
Colors Collect - RIMON
I’m still amazed that these incredible Colors performances are onchain. Feels like the most under-rated drops across music and culture right now. This week’s drop features Eritrean-born singer RIMON. (Collect).
Annika Rose and Sophia Alexa return
Two of our favourite singer-songwriters returned with new releases last week. Annika Rose dropped another mellow-pop masterpiece Stalker and Sophia Alexa broke our hearts again with the melancholic Hall Pass. Both are available on secondary.
Follow Annika and Sophia on Spinamp to stay up to date with all their releases.
Daniel Allan and Kevin George team up again
Last time Daniel Allan and rapper Kevin George got in the same room we got the infectious house crossover “Ball.” They’re back tomorrow with Go Ahead as part of Allan’s dance-centric Duality project.
Follow Daniel Allan and Kevin George on Spinamp to stay up to date with all releases.
Stats 🧮
The bad news? General crypto interest hit a five-year low based on Google search data.
The good news? The new Zora network is on fire with a strong uptrend in active addresses and transactions.
Thanks for reading!
We believe a new generation of independent music will be born out of Web3 culture. Discover the best music here first. Follow us on Twitter where we share the best music every day.
Ziggy Ziggy Music Season 2 is supported by Beatport.io and Spinamp.
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.