Hip-Hop Legend and arguable GOAT Nas sold the rights to two of his songs via a new crypto music platform called Royal.
The rapper Nas sold two songs as an NFT; let’s dive into what this means for music rights and cryptos.
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Royal And Nas: A Silent Duo…
Royal is a marketplace for music NFTs, advertising it’s platform as a place where users can purchase shares of songs, and then earn royalties on the music they’ve invested in. This month, the songs dropped and took the web by storm; Royal announced that it will sell extended versions of NFTs called limited digital assets that include streaming royalty rights to two of Nas’ tracks, “Ultra Black” and “Rare.” , with a limited amount of tokens available for sale. In total, 50 percent of Nas’ streaming rights for each song will be up for grabs.
‘”Having Nas be the first artist to sell royalty rights through Royal is an incredible affirmation of our mission,” explained Royal CEO, co-founder, and renowned electronic artist Justin “3LAU” Blau. “It’s proof that artists across genres feel strongly about democratizing ownership of their music, and that they want to be connected to their listeners on a deeper level.”
Nas spoke on the partnership as well, saying, “I am always looking for new and unique ways to connect with the people. So I am excited to partner with Royal on their new endeavor in order for the world to connect with my music in a new way.”
Platform Shutdown: The Block is Hot…
Nas and Royal shut the web down within minutes of the drop, as it caused huge delays and servers to crash on the platform. Nas spoke on Twitter after the drop was complete earlier this week, explaining his excitement and gratitude towards the partnership and to his fans. Royal also made a statement via Twitter:
“That’s a wrap! Congrats to everyone who scored a ‘Rare’ token. We’re grateful for the support on this journey to bring music ownership to the world.”
For the Nas music NFT drop, Nas maintains 50% of the royalties for every NFT sale. Those who buy one of the 500 Gold tokens will receive 7% from royalties on every resale, with the 250 Platinum token holders and 10 Diamond holders each earning 21% from royalties.
Matic: The Polygon blockchain (MATIC) is used on the Royal platform. | Matic/USD
In November, Royal received $55 million in Series A funding led by venture capital firm a16z. The platform aims to give music artists a way to maintain and share ownership over their work with fans through NFTs. This drop is exciting for the potential for emerging artists and Royal, as it shows what music and the blockchain can do when paired with intent.
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