This week’s Web3 Wrap includes Audius’ integration of Solana NFTs to its music ecosystem, pop star Doja Cat’s genesis collection with OneOf, music technology network and community MODA DAO, and much more. There are also a wealth of accounts and artists to check out in the What to Join and Who to Follow section and an artist spotlight on Rashid Ajami.
Read all about it below.
Audius Announces Solana NFT Integration
Decentralized music streaming platform Audius has announced that it will be integrating Solana’s Phantom wallet, allowing users to feature NFTs directly on their artist profile page. This new feature was rolled out to members of the silver tier or higher (meaning they are holding 100 or more $AUDIO tokens in their main Audius wallet). Audius has seen an explosion in popularity recently, with a user base hovering around six million at the time of writing—up from three million in March. What’s even more impressive is that the Audius team has done all this while completely hiding the underlying blockchain technology; according to them, 95% of the users don’t even know they are using the blockchain.
MODA DAO Introduces its Team and Outlines the Roadmap for Music3
Although it introduced itself a few months ago, we wanted to include MODA DAO in this week’s wrap because of its significance to the music industry as a whole—and because it has started introducing and interviewing its team.
In simple terms, MODA DAO is a decentralized technology network and community that aims to guide the “adoption of Web3 in the music industry via NFTs, micro-licensing, DAO governance and DeFi.” Over the next few months and years, MODA will roll out infrastructure for what the team is referring to as Music3, as well as creator tools, a publishing ecosystem, and an innovation lab, which should help to not only lower the barrier to entry for those wishing to enter the space but also by providing funds, technology, and knowhow to do so, whilst ensuring rights are protected and that the technology is future-proof.
You can read more about MODA’s mission on its Medium page, where you can also find interviews with Project Lead Sean Gardner and Media Rights and Data Science specialist Dr. Jay Mogis.
Kings of Leon to Make History With First Musical Recording to be Played in Space
American rock group Kings of Leon is making history by being the first band to have a musical NFT played in space. A live recording of the track “Time in Disguise” from their latest album, When you see yourself, is set to be loaded onto an iPhone and sent into space with a crew of civilian SpaceX astronauts where it will be played for the crew as they begin their three-day mission in orbit on September 15. The NFT will also be a part of an auction to benefit St. Jude’s Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee, and will be packaged with a meet-and-greet of both the band and the space crew. Kings of Leon sees a bright future for blockchain and musical NFTs, stating, “we believe doing things like participating in this massive moment, not only generates money but generates awareness for the charity and the role NFTs can play in the future of raising money and restructuring the music industry.”
Babymetal Announces NFT Trading Card Series
Iconic J-rock band Babymetal is celebrating its 10-year anniversary by minting and releasing a collectible trading-card series. They are releasing the cards as a follow-up to the compilation album 10 Babymetal Budokan, which was released last December. The new series, which is largely made up of pictures of the band members, features 20 collectible card types split across three rarities; 24,200 “commons,” 2,750 “rares,” and 500 “super rares.” The cards are available now on the WAX blockchain and will be on sale until October 10.
Doja Cat Enters the NFT World With Debut Drop
R&B superstar Dojacat is unveiling her debut NFT collection, Planet Doja, on clean energy NFT platform OneOf. The NFT drop will include 26,000 limited-edition tokens at two tier levels that unlock certain perks depending on the rarity. The two tier levels, gold and platinum, will affect how the NFT can be used in the future. Gold NFTs will have the chance to win concert tickets to an upcoming Doja Cat concert, while platinum NFTs have a chance of winning “golden tickets,” which will be redeemable for merch, premium seats, and other VIP perks. OneOf, which initially raised $63 million and is officially endorsed by legendary record producer Quincy Jones, is built on top of the Tezos blockchain, and uses two million times less energy than proof-of-work alternatives. “I don’t know that much about NFTs,” said Doja Cat in a statement about blockchain and crypto, “But what I do know is that they can be bad for the environment and cost a fortune. Mine won’t.”
Multi-Platinum Producer and Marvel Collaborator Announces Debut NFT Collection Scary Devils
Platinum-selling producer Diablo has announced that he’s releasing 9,999 collectibles exclusively on NFT platform Vtail, a platform focused on bringing curation and quality control to the ever-expanding NFT universe. The producer, known for working with artists such as Lil Pump, Diplo, Kodak Black, and on high profile projects such as Marvel’s Shang-Chi, is calling this collection Scary Devils, and will operate on the Ethereum blockchain. Vtail is giving users the opportunity to offset the carbon footprint of their NFT transactions by collaborating with carbon credit company Ecologi.
Psy.P and KnowKnow of Higher Brothers are Releasing an NFT Music Video
Chinese hip-hop stars Psy.P and KnowKnow of the popular group Higher Brothers are making their NFT debut by releasing a tokenized music video. The rappers have teamed up with visual artist Aslan Malik to create a piece reminiscent of sunny south Thailand. Five versions of the video (titled “Phuket” after the Thai city) will initially be released on Binance Smart Chain with 3,000 copies minted for sale. Portions of the sale will be donated to Crypto against COVID, a charity whose mission is to help hospitals and other institutions around the world combat the spread of COVID. Psy.P and friends originally conceptualized the video as a result of not being able to visit the tropical paradise due to the pandemic. Psy.P is rather optimistic about cryptocurrency in general, stating “I’m a blockchain enthusiast, this is my first experiment on NFT with my friends, and I hope NFT will be a part of the future in [the] music industry and could bring more opportunities to independent music talents”.
What to Join and Who to Follow:
Mumu the stan: pixel artist, creator of sold-out collection Tacopixies.
Shvembldr: a generative artist and founder of TBOA (the Block of Art) club.
Vertical Crypto: NFT curator, talk show host, and coordinator (you can also find the Discord here).
Yoeshi Labs: Tezos NFT artist and $BRR token platform creator (you can also join the Discord here).
XNFT Artist Spotlight: Rashid Ajami
Rashid Ajami has carved out a reputation as a diverse and hugely talented producer with releases on Noir, Get Physical, Selador, TOR /XYZ, and Tale + Tone. He also has a recent collaboration with Booka Shade, a track titled “Memories,” under his belt.
Having delved into the traditional art world a few years back, Rashid is now fervently exploring the NFT universe, actively collecting and engaging in the community, and minting his own work. For his first XNFT collection, Falling Through Eternity, finds Rashid collaborating with Walter Krudop on a set of collectibles that fuse dream-like visuals with the transcendent groove-based music he has built his name off. Three of the six collectibles minted flew off the shelves, with three remaining here.
