On August 26, 2021, Kanye West performed his 3rd concert for his upcoming Donda album.
Kanye West's Donda album has changed how albums are released.
Kanye West is the greatest example of a music artist being a Brand. Yes, he produces and creates music, art, and fashion, but the brand of Kanye West has a following unlike very few.
Traditionally an artist will be in the studio, record an album, then go on a concert tour to promote the album, boosting album sales and selling merchandise, the two most common and often profitable revenue streams for a musician. Kanye has done the opposite.
Over the last several weeks, Kanye has hosted listening parties (2 in Atlanta and 1 in Chicago) filling up football stadiums with fans eager to listen to his highly anticipated Donda album, named after his late mother Donda West. Kanye is essentially "building in public", a term made popular in the startup-tech world, making adjustments to his music and his performance.
Between ticket sales for his three shows, streaming revenue, merchandise sales, and STEM Player, Kanye has brought in nearly $15 Million before the album has even been released. Now imagine if Kaye West was selling #NFTs?
Kanye's NFT opportunity
Currently, we see NFTs as pieces of art and avatar collections created by digital artists and minted on a blockchain. No doubt, Kanye could operate in a similar capacity, but Kanye being the businessman he is and the brand he is, affords him the ability to apply business logic to his NFT strategy. The value of NFTs is more than a new means to sell artworks digitally or a means for an artist to create more direct revenue streams. By incorporating commerce mechanics, loyalty, awareness, and one more sale opportunity, Kanye could catapult his merchandise sales by adding NFTs.
Here are some examples as to how Kanye can incorporate NFTs into his Donda album.
Merchandise
Kanye has created a fashion empire and has always done well with selling merchandise at shows. He's already sold over $7 Million worth of merchandise for Donda. Instead of selling an NFT solely an art piece, Kanye could have follow-on sales of any merch item and have an NFT equivalent or NFT enhancement. For example, one could purchase a Donda sweatshirt and then pay separately for the accompanying NFT. NFTs can be a "one more sale" opportunity or a free addition from Kanye.
Ticket Stub
When selling tickets to events, Kanye could issue out NFT ticket stubs as part of the ticket price. This provides proof of attendance and collectability for fans who can say they had attended the event. Adding the ability to purchase an NFT collectible or a ticket that comes with an NFT as an alternative product provides additional revenue opportunities for Kanye, as well as fans to collect and purchase unique digital products relevant to the event. Whether or not these NFTs increase in value is not of most importance, but rather the remembrance of the event just as someone might save a paper ticket stub.
Moments
NBA Top Shot is an NFT collectible where fans can own a moment in NBA history, like a LeBron Jame dunk or a Stephen Curry 3-Pointer. These moments have had tremendous success with collectors consisting of fans, athletes, entertainers, and famous entrepreneurs. For Kanye fans, the opportunity to be the sole owner of a moment in time during a performance would be a dream. Highlights from recent Donda performances include Kanye setting himself on fire, Kim Kardashian West walking in a wedding gown, and Kanye ascending into the sky. Exclusive Rights to Songs
Trey Lorenz recently had his entire album as an NFT, selling 1 million copies at $1 so his fans can resell the album and make a profit while going platinum with the unit sales.
Kanye could allow one of his songs from the album to be owned collectively by his NFT holders, essentially turning the song into a security-like product. He could also consider selling a one-of-one song via an auction, providing the sole owner of that NFT exclusive rights.
Membership
NFTs can be used to provide access to other items, events, products, or anything. Kanye would be able to create an NFT collection or set quantity of NFTs that provide the ability for special access. This NFT could provide member priority for NFTs around the merchandise, ticket stubs, and moments.
Conclusion
NFTs provide new and interesting opportunities for music artists, particularly those who understand their business and brand value to create increase revenue, loyalty, and find new fans. As simple as we see music artists sell physical merch and in-person events, the integration of the digital world will lead to an enhanced fan experience.
Brands looking to add NFTs to their product offering and looking for a turn key solution can visit Niftmint.com.
About Niftmint
Niftmint integrates with Brands to simply mint, sell, and custody NFTs on their websites or apps without needing to manage cryptocurrency or a crypto wallet. The thought of selling NFTs can be overwhelming for brands due to cryptocurrency, minting, and custody, which why Niftmint handles this all on behalf of the Brand and their customer, allowing the transactions to occur via credit card.
If you are a Brand or partner who like to discuss your NFT strategy and begin selling NFTs, please visit Niftmint.com and fill out the Contact Us form.