Quick take:
- Steve Aoki said he made more money in one NFT drop last year than all of his music advances combined.
- He thinks music NFTs will become a bigger part of how artists are supported.
- He also said labels will have to do more than just add songs on a playlist.
Speaking at a Gala Music – an offshoot of Gala Games – event on Feb 10, DJ and NFT enthusiast Steve Aoki said he has made more money from his NFT drop last year than all of his music advances from the last 10 years combined.
He said that his DJ gigs make up 95% of his income and joked that if he didn’t have DJing, he would have to get a job. While most artists don’t get much in royalties, advances make up a bigger portion of their income.
“But if I was to really break down, OK, in the 10 years I’ve been making music… six albums, and you [combine] all those advances, what I did in one drop last year in NFTs, I made more money. And also, I was way more unhinged with music,” Aoki said.
In March last year, the DJ and music producer dropped his first NFT collection, Dream Catcher, created in collaboration with 3D visual artist Antoni Tudisco. A month later in April, he teamed up with co-founder of Impact Theory Tom Bilyeu, and concept digital artist Maciej Kuciara for another NFT drop titled Neon Future.
Part of the reason why Aoki is so excited about NFTs is because of how projects depend on the support from their communities. As many musicians have a large fanbase, those who release NFTs can have a new way of connecting with their fans and generating income from their support.
“As music NFTs become more of a part of how we integrate and support artists, the labels will have to do more than just add the song on a playlist,” Aoki said.
It’s no news that Aoki is a big believer in NFTs. He has been making headlines for his NFT-related antics in the last year. In January, he famously paused his gig to show off his $859,000 Doodles NFT to his audience. He also owns a number of blue-chip NFTs including Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC).
For the Natively Digital 1.2 curated NFT sale last October on Sotheby’s metaverse, Aoki collaborated with artist Gal Yosef to create the MetaZoo Mothman NFT. On Jan 27, Aoki took a step further into the metaverse as he announced that he’s launching his own NFT membership platform and metaverse called A0K1VERSE.
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