Grammy Award-winning singer and songwriter The Weeknd has announced that it will be launching its first non-fungible token (NFT) drop. NFT is basically a digital token similar to cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin which is tied to artworks or songs. However, this does not mean that the person buying a song via NFT, can own the intellectual or creative rights to the music as well, as it remains with the artist.
The Weeknd announced that the collection will feature new music and limited edition art developed by The Weeknd and media production company Strange Loop Studios. The drop will take place on Saturday and will be hosted via the NFT marketplace Nifty Gateway. The sale is set to start at 2 PM EST.
Excited to announce that my first NFT drop is taking place on Saturday at 2:00 pm EST on @niftygateway. The collection will feature new music and limited edition art. I developed the artwork with Strange Loop Studios pic.twitter.com/627BO4JekK
— The Weeknd (@theweeknd) March 31, 2021
As per a report in TechCrunch, there will be a flash sale of three different pieces of art which will be available in unlimited quantities, albeit for a limited amount of time. There will also be a 24-hour exclusive auction of a one-of-a-kind piece — accompanied by the song, in-full and unfiltered. To date, the highest-grossing NFT came in the form of artwork created by Beeple. The collection of 5,000 pieces were sold for $69 million.
This announcement by The Weeknd’s comes after the recent House Of Balloons debut mixtape album arrived on streaming platforms in its original form on March 21.