Million-Dollar NFT Sales Get Attention, but Don't Expect Them to Last
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Bulletin YOUR DAILY ENTERTAINMENT NEWS UPDATE MARCH 17, 2021 Page 1 of 23 INSIDE Million-Dollar NFT Sales Get Attention, But Don’t Expect Them to Last • Meet the Nonprofits Feeding Thousands of Out- BY MICAH SINGLETON Of-Work Touring Staff The $11.7 million price tag on 3LAU’s sale of 33 col- I think that overlooks the real opportunity here which lectible NFT — — versions of his is to build permanence and perpetual equity in media • How Ice Cream non-fungible token Can Help Make 3-year-old album, Ultraviolet, on Feb. 25 has become on the internet.” Sense of Streaming a beacon for the music industry over the past three NFTs allow the creator to set a perpetual royalty Royalties (Op-Ed) weeks. There’s clearly money to be made in digital during the “minting” creation process that will allow collectibles and now there’s a rush to break into the them to get paid for third-party sales, a feat not pos- • UMG Signs Expanded Licensing market. But artists beware: Exponential growth like sible with any current digital (or physical) good. The Deal with African this is not sustainable and many of the people who average royalty rate is set between 10–25% according Streaming Service were involved in NFTs early on do not expect these to Goens. That means NFTs can deliver artists lifetime Boomplay exorbitant sale prices to continue. royalties with every future sale. • HITS Act “I think it will be very difficult to replicate again,” Right now, the NFT market is booming thanks to Reintroduced in says 3LAU about his $11.7 million haul – an NFT rare sorts of collectors: millionaires — and some bil- Congress on Behalf record until digital artist Beeple sold a single piece lionaires — who made fortunes investing in crypto- of Struggling Music for $69 million on auction at Christie’s on March 11, currency in its infancy. They are the Ethereum and Creators the third-highest sale price for a piece of art by a liv- Bitcoin “whales,” or individuals who hold enough of • Independent ing artist in history. “This was an experiment that was the currency to sway the market, and they have made Artists Claimed the wildly successful beyond my wildest imagination.” their imprint on the early days of the NFT explosion Majority of This Despite a slew of other recent NFT successes with these headline-grabbing sales. Year’s Grammy from , , and oth- “What 3LAU did, that’s not to the masses,” says Awards Deadmau5 Grimes Shawn Mendes ers, Dee Goens, co-founder of NFT marketplace Zora, Dean Wilson, Deadmau5’s manager. “That is 10, 15, concurs. “I’m not sure if the crazy amounts of money crypto billionaires who are in this space, scooping up that creators are earning in the five, 10-minute spans the Beeple artwork. That doesn’t feel like a sustain- • BILLBOARD 200 of these wild opens — I don’t know if that’s sustain- able business.” CLICK HERE able,” he says. “I’d be excited if it was for creators, but (continued) CONGRATULATIONS TO ASCAP’S TOP GRAMMY AWARD WINNERS AARON DESSNER BEYONCÉ BILLIE EILISH DUA LIPA ALBUM OF THE YEAR 4X WINNER 2X WINNER BEST POP VOCAL ALBUM folklore Became most awarded woman Future Nostalgia in Grammy history FINNEAS O’CONNELL FIONA APPLE KAYTRANADA MARIA SCHNEIDER 2X WINNER 2X WINNER 2X WINNER 2X WINNER Click here to view the full list of ASCAP winners CONGRATULATIONS Album of the Year Taylor Swift folklore Aaron Dessner Jack Antonoff Page 3 of 23 IN BRIEF 3LAU acknowledges that the whales that there’s this massive amount of artists palatable and interesting to a much wider are having a disproportionate impact on that might only have 50 buyers, but are now audience and sustainable in the long run. the massive sales we’ve seen so far, but generating $4,000, $5,000, $10,000 a month Relying solely on big spenders to push NFTs he believes that the customer base will in revenue that they can live off of,” Darling- forward can only last so long. continue to expand as more artists launch ton says of the digital art market that kicked “Discussions are being had around, NFTs. “A small percentage of our audience off the NFT rush. how do we create a low barrier to entry?” is our fan base and a large percentage of it Long before musicians began pulling in Darlington says. “When we say low barrier are people in crypto who are also our fans six or seven figures from NFTs, digital art- to entry, we mean you’re not forced to own today,” 3LAU says. He’s now focused on ists were pulling in sustainable revenue; in Ethereum, you’re not forced to own crypto- making his future NFT drops more afford- 2020, the NFT art market pulled in $12.9 currency. You can use a credit card and at a able to the average fan, he says, specifically million in sales — largely from smaller auc- low cost. These pieces of art don’t need to be for those who supported his NFTs before tions and lower fixed prices — accounting thousands of dollars.” the market exploded. 3LAU’s latest drop last for 24% of the overall NFT market, accord- Friday with digital artist Slime Sunday had ing to a study from nonfungible.com and NFTs available for $333 — not cheap, but a L’Atelier. In 2019, the NFT art market gener- Meet the far more affordable price point for average ated $456,885 in revenue. music fans. “The idea that an artist who has 4,000 Nonprofits “Now what it’s about for me is how do I fans can suddenly be supporting their fam- get my real fans into the space and get them ily, that to me is why this is so incredible,” Feeding excited about it?” 3LAU says. “And how do Darlington continues. “They can create I make this affordable for everyone and give whatever type of content they want to cre- Thousands of everyone the ability to show patronage? If ate, you’re not creating it to fit into the mold you’ve purchased a lot of stuff in my collec- of what you’re being told is what’s popular Out-Of-Work tion in the past, we want to give you the first right now, because you only need 50 fans right of refusal on something that’s maybe that care about you that are paying $400 or Touring Staff cheaper in the future.” $300 a month.” While those whales are dominating news That burgeoning art market hasn’t trans- BY TAYLOR MIMS headlines, there is a quietly developing lated over to music yet, and many questions market for smaller digital artists who are remain about rights issues like royalty splits ast year, live production vet- pulling in a sustainable income, according and copyright protections for music-based eran Sandy Espinoza received a to Mike Darlington, founder and CEO of NFTs that have yet to be answered. But late-night phone call from a tearful indie electronic label Monstercat, which when average fans can easily pick up a col- former tour crew member. After was the first label to hold an NFT drop back lectible version of an album for a set price Llosing all work and his livelihood amid in January. “What people aren’t realizing is under $1,000, it will make the NFT market the coronavirus pandemic, the man was NO LOVE LOST “It’s a safe bet that Blxst “Bound to cash in will be even bigger than he is now” on his immense talent in 2021” OVER 150 MILLION STREAMS "OVERRATED" IMPACTING RADIO NOW “Primed to be LA’s next superstar” “One of the more intriguing young acts “It’s time for Blxst to shine” to deserve recognition in LA” IN PROUD PARTNERSHIP WITH Red Bull Records_04_031321.indd 1 3/3/21 6:19 PM Page 5 of 23 IN BRIEF unable to feed his children and feared he’d Live event crew members were hit partic- year to 2.6 million. lose them in a custody battle with his ex- ularly hard by the pandemic due to compli- “We realized very quickly that many peo- wife as a result. Espinoza sent him a gift cated unemployment guidelines in the 2020 ple who supported Conscious Alliance were card for a local grocery store, and when she CARES Act. The pandemic relief legisla- now finding themselves in need of support,” got another call the next week, his tears tion allowed for freelance workers to apply says Justin Levy, the non-profit’s executive were of gratitude. for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance director. “I’m somebody you can call if you’re (PUA) unless they had a W-2, which was Conscious Alliance also paid event work- in a pickle and you have no other often not a full representation of what they ers to help set up various food banks — a tac- choice,” says Espinoza, who has worked earned. The weekly $600 federal pandemic tic the Touring Professionals Relief Kitch- as an audio engineer for more than 40 unemployment compensation (FPUC) en (TPRF) adopted as well. A partnership years. That’s why last March, she formed the supplement was essential to mix earners between restaurant industry non-profit The nonprofit Roadiecare to connect anony- until it expired at the end of July and was LEE Initiative and Touring Professionals mous donors with out-of-work touring later replaced by a $300 weekly supplement Alliance, TPRF launched in December in staff in need of grocery gift cards — or sim- in the fall.