American pop star Rihanna is entering Web3 with a bang. Her hit song “Bitch better have my money” has been turned into non-fungible tokens that give holders the chance to earn streaming royalties for life.
The collection, which consisted of 300 NFTs at the price of $210 each, sold out within minutes of the announcement. The track was officially released by the song’s producer Jamil “Deputy” Pierre, who collaborated with European Web3 startup AnotherBlock to sell a fraction of his own streaming rights.
Fans who purchased the NFT track will receive 0.0033% streaming royalties, giving them a chance to invest in the song’s success. According to a Tweet by AnotherBlock, who made $63,000 from primary sales of the NFTs, the first royalty payouts will be made to holders on February 16th.
AnotherBlock released its first NFT in August, with a track by dance music masters R3hab and Laidback Luke. Since launch, the value of AnotherBlock’s music rights catalog has risen 16%.
The head of community and growth at AnotherBlock, Andreas Bigert, said that he owns an NFT for the Rihanna track and will enjoy steaming royalties “for life.”
So far, Rihanna’s hit song has streamed over 670 million times on Spotify. According to AnotherBlock’s website, holders could expect returns on their investment between 6.1% and 6.8% in the first year.
The NFT drop comes just before Rihanna is set to perform at the Super Bowl half-time show on Sunday. The singer says she hasn’t been on stage in seven years, so the performance should be a big deal for her fans.
NFTs Could Change the Music Industry
The NFT drop of Rihanna’s hit song is exciting for fans, especially those lucky enough to snag an NFT and get in on the royalties. But Rihanna isn’t the first artist to drop an NFT song linked to streaming royalties. At Rarity Sniper, we’ve seen several artists taking advantage of NFT technology to release music. Here are some of the top stories.
First, early last year, Grammy-winning musician Diplo partnered with Web3 platform Royal to release an NFT of the track “Don’t Forget My Love.” The NFTs were sold in three tiers, with holders receiving .004%, .05%, and 0.7% of streaming royalties depending on which NFT they purchased.
Next, The Chainsmokers, a Web3 music group, gave away royalties to their latest album So Far So Good to 5,000 lucky fans. The giveaway also occurred on Royal, and each token gives holders .0002% percent ownership of the track.
Finally, crypto and NFT advocate Snoop Dogg teamed up with Method Man to drop a new song on the Web3 music platform TuneGo. Although fans don’t receive royalties through the NFT, the NFTs unlock exclusive artwork and other perks and rewards.
NFT technology opens the door for artists to connect directly with their fans, and many musicians are taking advantage of it. Only time will tell if Rihanna’s first NFT track will be a valuable investment for fans. But regardless, it does appear to present a new business model to an industry that’s notorious for giving artists the short end of the stick. We’ll be following up on any new developments in the story.