3LAU sells collection of album NFTs for $11.7m

Music producer 3LAU has sold a collection of 33 different NFTs for a total of $11.7m. NFTs – non-fungible tokens – are a unique digital asset, part of the blockchain, that are assigned unique ownership. That ownership is then stored on the blockchain and cannot be duplicated or deleted meaning it’s unique to the buyer, which is what gives it its value. NFTs hold the information around who owns the token, its purchase and ownership history, and a link to the relevant digital file. 

3LAU auctioned a series of NFTs, 33 in total, that included special edition physical vinyl, unreleased music and unique experiences such as a custom song with the winner’s creative direction, which was won by the top bidder for $3,666,666. The producer is also opening his own marketplace on his website so bidders and winners can sell their tokens to those who missed out. The protocols around NFT allow for a royalty rate that means the original artist receives a percentage of the resale fee, though 3LAU hasn’t disclosed what hs royalty rate is. You can read more about 3LAU’s auction on his dedicated website. 

NFTs have become a huge talking point over the past few months, with sales in music-related NFTs this weekend alone, – which included Grimes selling her WarNymph digital art collection for $5.8m – amounting to $18.6m, which is 80% of all music NFT sales combined over the nine months, according to analyst and DJ Mag columnist Cherie Hu. Last weekend, Canadian producer Jacques Greene sold an audio clip and accompanying animation NFT for 13 Ethereum, roughly £14,000.