gm music fans,
At the end of every week, we round up the biggest news stories in Web3 music. Let’s jump right in!
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1. Music NFTs could decide this week’s official UK chart battle
If you’ve been a Ziggy Ziggy reader for a while, you’ll know that music NFTs are chart-compatible in the UK and Australia thanks to an NFT format created by Web3 platform Serenade.
Last year, they helped Muse reach the number one spot in the official UK charts with a limited edition NFT (or “Digital Pressing’). Now they’re back with a collection for Oasis singer Noel Gallagher which unlocks high quality audio downloads and an exclusive docuseries.
This time, the NFT collection could actually tip the scales and decide the UK #1. Gallagher’s album is in a battle with the new Foo Fighters record with only a few hundred copies separating them. Sales from the 1,000 NFT collection could be the deciding factor.
This is one of the rare examples of music NFTs breaking beyond the crypto bubble and reaching existing music fans. Serenade is taking the Web 2.5 approach, hiding much of the crypto mechanics by pricing in UK pounds, enabling credit card payments and avoiding the use of ‘NFT’ altogether (it’s a ‘digital pressing’). Transactions are executed on a Layer 2 (Polygon) to keep gas fees low.
This approach is probably a big reason why Noel Gallagher is comfortable promoting it — the singer has posted about it several times on his socials. But the big question is whether fans will embrace it. At the time of writing, more than 700 of the 1,000 have been sold.
2. Polygon launches ‘Everything Music’
Polygon has launched a big campaign and treasure hunt around music NFTs. You can claim an NFT and earn points for interacting with music services on Polygon such as Serenade, OohLaLa, Decent, Reveel and more. Your NFT will evolve as you go through the process.
Every week we bring you the latest developments from Lens Protocol — the Web3 social layer where a thriving music community is growing.
Imagine giving exclusive access to songs and content only to your social followers. This is now possible thanks to a new integration between Lens Protocol and Bonfire. Bonfire is already one of our favorite tools for musicians — allowing you to host NFT drops on your own custom website. They’ve just announced a long list of integrations with Lens. For example:
Gate content on your Bonfire site only to Lens followers.
Add native Lens follow and collect buttons on your Bonfire site.
Embed Lens posts onto your Bonfire site.
3. A better communication tool for artists + collectors?
Musicians are currently using token-gated Telegram chats to connect with their collectors but it’s not an ideal solution. Web3 platform Showtime just launched a possible alternative: a channel function so artists can send messages and communicate with their collectors.
4. Sound confirms L2 launch
Leading music platform Sound.xyz has been teasing L2 integration but confirmed that it will go live very soon.
5. Music video NFTs (for everyone!)
Glass is one of the leading platforms for music video NFTs. After moving back to Ethereum it’s now open to all artists.
Thanks for reading!
Just a short one today, it’s been a relatively quiet week but do let me know if I missed anything. We’ll be back early next week with the biggest music drops to watch. See you then. 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 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.