NFT games have started to become really popular as certain titles like "Axie Infinity" have been raging on and a number of gamers have been profiting from the bullish trend. Could NFT music be the next big thing?
NFT Music Starts Selling
According to RollingStones, in June, 2021, an online marketplace that buys and sells royalties, Royalty Exchange, was the first company to ever sell publishing rights to Lil Dicky's "Save Dat Money" song which was a hit in 2015 as an NFT. Just a few weeks later, the company stepped up its game by auctioning off 1.5% ownership stake in the sound recording royalties of "A Tribe Called Quest" from the hip-hop group's initial five studio albums.
The NFT reportedly sold for 40.191 $ETH which was equivalent to a whopping $85,000 during that time. Anthony Martini, Royalty Exchange CEO told Rolling Stone that they created this particular new type of income-producing NFT. NFT games are now very popular with Axie Infinity leading in the front lines.
'A Tribe Called Quest' NFT Royalty
In order to be clear, the group "A Tribe Called Quest" did not directly sell their stake. However, another rights-holder did so which was unbeknownst to the group which caused upset to its members. Billboard had alleged that Royalty Exchange had been able to partner with the band in order to auction off the royalty shares.
"A Tribe Called Quest's" very own Ali Shaheed Muhammad actually criticized the article on Instagram for giving a "misleading headline" which worded the story in a certain way to "gain clicks" and would adamantly state that the band had also do have a hand in the deal.
NFT Royalties
In a way, this particular kerfuffle actually highlights why the royalties should be handled as NFTs in the very first place. Muhammad was just a teenager when he initially signed a five-album recording contract with Jive Records back in 1989.
For the negotiations, both him and Q-Tip were represented by Ed Chalpin and Ron Skoler who reportedly owned PPX Enterprises. In a recent post, Muhammad also stated that Chalpin deceitfully added a clause to the said agreement in order for PXX to get paid a percentage of recording fund each album.
'A Tribe Called Quest' Hidden Clause
The group technically did not discover this "hidden clause," which they then disputed, until they finally started recording their second album called "The Low End Theory." Muhammad claims that neither Ed nor Ron had ever told them about the language in the said agreement. While there has been very brief movement in the NFT music space, Grimes has sold NFT music along with her art which brought her $6 million in total.
It was reportedly unwarranted and where they come from is considered "crooked." Ed even sued them and reportedly lost. He then appealed the case and was reportedly rich and had deep pockets to litigate. It was also mentioned that they were not rich and that they were kids with a dream while having an album that was slowly selling and remained deeply in debt to their record company.
Related Article: Top 10 Cryptocurrencies Recover from Bloody Bearish Volatility | $DOT and $BUSD Competes for Spot
This article is owned by Tech Times
Written by Urian B.
