decrypt.co
Atlantic Records artist Arden Jones wants to pay off strangers’ parking tickets—and he’s selling Ethereum NFTs of his hit song to bankroll the project.
The 21-year-old singer-songwriter’s single “Parallel Parking,” which has racked up nearly 25 million streams to date across platforms like Spotify and Apple Music, was recently released via music NFT platform Sound.xyz to support Jones’ “Parallel Parking Fund.”
Fans can submit their unpaid parking tickets to the project via Twitter or Instagram, with all funds from the NFT sale going into a community wallet to pay off however many randomly selected submissions it can.
parallel parking came out exactly two years ago today 🖤
dropping on @soundxyz_ today to celebrate + all the funds will go towards paying off peoples’ parking tickets !!
🚗 https://t.co/GBSjQZGvSl pic.twitter.com/Z4t3UdOj2g
— Arden Jones (@ArdenJones_) January 21, 2023
For 0.05 ETH (about $80), collectors can buy the NFT of the song via Sound.xyz and contribute to the fund in the process. The NFT drop coincides with the two-year anniversary of the song’s original release, which led to the artist’s viral success and his eventual signing with the major record label.
“A lot of parking tickets (especially in Los Angeles) are given out unnecessarily and excessively,” Jones told Decrypt via email. “I also feel that so many ‘No Parking’ signs in L.A. are purposefully confusing and are set up to make money, not to restrict parking where it’s necessary.”
parallel parking fund ❤️ pic.twitter.com/NSrlJVMcvD
— Arden Jones (@ArdenJones_) January 23, 2023
So far, just 18 Parallel Parking NFTs have been sold out of a possible 100, totaling 0.9 ETH in funds (about $1,440) ahead of the drop’s conclusion this afternoon. While just under 1 ETH worth of sales isn’t much in the world of crypto, it could pay off a number of parking tickets while linking Web3 to a fun promotion that benefits fans and followers.
Sound.xyz is one of the rising platforms in the emerging music NFT market, providing artists a way to connect directly with fans and let collectors potentially share in their own growing success with an asset that could rise in value and demand.
The platform has hosted drops by the likes of Snoop Dogg, RAC, and Pussy Riot, and raised $5 million in 2021 in a round led by VC giant Andreessen Horowitz.
Jones said that he’s been interested in Web3 for some time before this drop, and has released tour merchandise that embeds a chip from IYK, a startup that authenticates physical items via NFTs. Tapping a phone to the chip in the merch unlocks an NFT and unreleased music for owners, he explained. Jones has also previously given away NFT artwork tied to a music release.
One of the "Parallel Parking" NFT buyers, collector and music NFT investor Cooper Turley, told Decrypt that it was “rare to find someone breaking on traditional platforms spending the time to cultivate their Web3 strategy.” Turley is also an investor in Sound.xyz.
“I know that not all of my fans are familiar with the Web3 space,” Jones said of his moves, “so I want to make it as easy to access as possible.”