Monstercat dance label sells $180K of musical NFTs in two minutes

Major EDM record label Monstercat has highlighted how non-fungible tokens, or NFTs, can be a successful new revenue stream for artists and the music industry, generating $180,000 in the first two minutes of an NFT collection release.

The collection consists of animated video clips with music backing and was created in collaboration with Australian-based digital artist Giant Swan, renowned for his use of VR technology, and Platinum producer Varien, who recorded “The Crown”. It was released on the Winklevoss-owned Nifty Gateway yesterday.

The collection included 500 Constellations packs which were sold out in one second flat at $0.50 each, and approximately 470 NFTs containing one of four unique video clips in the Origins Collection. Each edition sold for between $350 to $450 each.

The total amount of sales and resales generated from this collection totaled $250,000.

Based in Canada, the label was formed in 2011 and has worked with many famous artists including Pegboard Nerds, Vicetone, Seven Lions, Rameses B, and Kaskade. Their YouTube channel“Monstercat: Uncaged” has 7.57 million subscribers  and 2.7 billion views in total while Monstercat’s alternate YouTube channel “Monstercat: Instinct” has 736,000 subscribers and 217 million views.

According to an announcement shared with Cointelegraph, Monstercat is driving for “artist sustainability” and sees the NFT space as a means to encourage this with the ability “to generate alternate monetization means for artists while introducing them to new audiences in the digital collectibles universe.”

The internet and streaming services have undermined artists’ ability to earn reliable revenue from their content, and the pandemic has seen the cancellation of most physical concerts and events.

Monstercat joins the NFT charge following the footsteps of artists like Deadmau5, 3LAU, British DJ Carl Cox, and Space Yacht.

Two weeks ago saw Nifty Gateway welcomd Rick and Morty co-creator Justin Roiland who auctioned his NFT collection on January 19. The NFT platform has hosted some high-value sales with one collection inspired by technology, nature, and Star Wars selling for $3.5 million in December last year.