NFT music refers to any music track, album or music video that is minted and sold as an NFT on the blockchain.
NFT music is typically issued directly by the artist, and has a number of advantages:
- Royalties. By issuing their music as an NFT, artists can gain perpetual royalties from secondary market sales of that music. This allows the artist to earn a small kickback from fans of their work who wish to get their hands on these music NFTs – which they may deem as fairer than standard industry royalties.
- Funding. Smaller artists may struggle with the raising the funds for the studio time and production costs to release their music professionally. By creating a NFT collection for their music, fans can directly assist artists with these costs, and help more music to be produced and released.
- Speculation. NFT music released by known artists typically commands a higher value, and can lead to speculation of the utility and opportunities that will be given to holders.
Popular artists that have released NFT music include Rihanna – who sold a collective 1% of the royalties to hit song “Bitch Better Have My Money” as NFTs in 2023, BABYMETAL – who have sold limited-edition packages of physical vinyls and NFT collectibles on multiple occasions, and Kings of Lean – who released their 2021 album “When You See Yourself” as an NFT in 2021.