coindesk.com
A popular song released by music artist Rihanna was offered as a non-fungible token (NFT) through Web3 music startup anotherblock on Thursday, allowing holders to receive partial streaming royalties. The new platform works with rights holders, including artists, producers and writers, to divest a percentage of their streaming royalty rights, which are offered as fractionalized NFTs.
Music producer Deputy, who collaborated with Kanye West, Travis Scott and WondaGurl to produce Rihanna's hit 2015 single "B**** Better Have My Money," is granting a portion of his streaming royalties to collectors through anotherblock.
The track initially went triple platinum in the U.S. when it was initially released and has racked up almost 1 billion streams across music sharing platforms, according to a press release.
The 300 royalty-linked NFTs were available for purchase beginning at 5 p.m. GMT/12 p.m. EST on Thursday at $210 a piece. Each holder will receive "a portion of 0.0033 % of the streaming royalties" for the song, the company said.
The collection sold out in minutes, the company tweeted.
Holders are expected to receive their first royalty payout on Feb. 16, the company said, and will receive payments every six months based on streaming revenue.
Collectors of the NFT will receive unique artwork created by an NFT artist, as well as a custom music track and "a real-world legal contract specifying the terms of the streaming royalties and guaranteeing real-world ownership for the NFT holder."
Holders can also access a gated Discord community, real-world events and priority access for upcoming NFT releases.
The NFT drop comes ahead of Rihanna's Super Bowl LVII performance on Sunday.
Several other music NFT services have gained popularity in recent months, including Catalog, a primary marketplace for single-edition music NFTs, Sound.xyz, a music NFT minting platform and Royal, a music tokenization platform founded by DJ and entrepreneur Justin “3LAU” Blau.