Music NFTs are dead (again)
Recapping an iconic week for crypto
gm music fans.
Welcome to a momentous week for the crypto industry,.
The SEC finally approved a Bitcoin ETF after ten years of applications — a huge and iconic step forward for the entire ecosystem.
Meanwhile, chaos emerged around music NFTs after a major music duo Flyana Boss dropped an NFT but quickly cancelled it after backlash from fans.
It’s already been a long year and it’s only the second week of January! Let’s jump into it.
Headline Story - Major Artist Pulls NFT After Backlash
Rap duo Flyana Boss dropped a music nft this week but it only lasted a few hours. After backlash from fans, they cancelled the sale after just seven editions were minted.
It’s a good moment to reflect on the fact that mainstream music fans are still hostile to NFTs. Looking through the comments many fans are still concerned about the environmental impact of blockchain (even though it was reduced by 99% after Ethereum’s Merge in 2022), while others still think it’s a cash-grab or scam.
Grimes’ manager stoked the fire with a controversial tweet, claiming music NFTs are a “failure” and the only use case is speculation.
Personally I think it’s an exaggerated take as speculators have mostly disappeared from the space leaving a smaller community of passionate builders, artists and collectors. However, it’s a good reality check that we still haven’t found a model that resonates with real music fans yet.
Onchain music roundup
3LAU launches generative AI music model
The producer and founder of Web3 platform Royal just launched an AI music model based on his own songs. To debut the new tool, he dropped a song combining his model with vocals from Grimes AI.
3LAU collectors can get early access to the tool, and everyone else will have to wait until January 12th to purchase an NFT pass (333 available). If you create a song using 3LAU’s tool you’ll have full rights to release it on Spotify or anywhere else. (Read more).
1,000 music NFTs submitted for Optimism competition
Last year the Optimism Foundation launched (probably) the biggest ever art grant with over $1m in prizes for music and art onchain. The deadline for entires closed this week and it looks like more than 1,000 music NFTs were submitted.
Onchain music platform updates
Sound.xyz changes Tiers branding for more clarity. (Read more).
Zora adds 0xSplits to share revenue between collaborators. (Read more).
Catalog is hiring a designer. (Read more).
Zooming out: Broader Web3 news we’re watching
11 Bitcoin ETFs are approved by the SEC (Read more).
Ethereum leads the crypto rally higher, hinting at hopes for an ETH ETF to follow. (Read more).
BASE reveals its 2024 mission to attract a billion users onchain. (Read more).
New crypto tax rules require everyone to report crypto income/transactions above $10k within 15 days. (Read more).
Top 15 NFT projects now make up $3.8bn in market cap, calculated by floor price. (Read more).
Onchain prediction market Polymarket did more volume than OpenSea. (Read more).
Biggest Music Drops of the Week
It’s a rare week on Sound.xyz where dozens of the biggest artists in the space all dropped free music to qualify for Optimism’s “We <3 the Art” competition. We made a playlist of some of our favourites — giving you the chance to collect from Lyrah, Daniel Allan, Rohki, Bloody White, Reo Cragun and other big names.
Zora is also one fire this week with music video drops from Latasha, Coop D’Ville and a genesis drop from Harmony. Check them all out here.
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.
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.