GEAR + TECH
Elon Musk Isn’t Selling His Techno Song NFT After All
After announcing he’d be selling a new techno song as an NFT, Elon Musk has had a change of heart. Just one week ago, the eccentric billionaire Tesla founder and occasional electronic music producer took to Twitter to announce the NFT drop. The trippy animated digital art was soundtracked by a thumping techno tune, which was thought to be produced by Musk, who famously released a house track called “Don’t Doubt Ur Vibe” back in January 2020. However, Musk went on to reply to his own tweet and pull the plug on the sale. “Actually, doesn’t feel quite right selling this,” Musk wrote, refraining from offering a concrete reason. “Will pass.” Believe it or not, one of the world’s richest individuals has a deep connection to electro...
Calvin Harris, Steve Aoki, More Bid Over $100,000 on Beeple’s Charity NFT
After making headlines for his historic $69 million NFT sale, Beeple is once again drawing immense attention with a new, charitable auction. Seemingly responding to criticism involving the environmental impact of NFTs, eight pieces of art from eight artists, including Beeple, will be sold with 100% of proceeds directed to the Open Earth Foundation. Organizers have also stated that each piece is carbon-negative and promise that carbon offsets will be provided to each artist involved. Naturally, the circumstances surrounding the unique auction have caused many prominent figures in the art and crypto worlds to get involved. Considering the many electronic music crossovers in the NFT realm, two high-profile dance music stars unsurprisingly joined in on the bidding. Both Steve Aoki and Calvin H...
ODESZA and JapaneseDad’s Debut NFT Drop Contains Five Unreleased Tracks
Earlier in the month, ODESZA and their longtime collaborator responsible for the duo’s iconic visuals, JapaneseDad, announced their debut NFT collection. The marketplace they’re being sold on, Nifty Gateway, only makes the product pages available days before the release of the artwork, so fans did not know what to expect other than what was shown in the teasers. Now, since the artwork has been officially released, anyone can go check out what’s for sale. Once you’ve properly processed JapaneseDad’s stunning visuals included in the collection, you can scroll down to the bottom of the page and learn more about the release. After browsing the collection and reading the descriptions, it became known that five of the NFTs contain unreleased music fro...
Kygo Announces His First NFT Release
Earlier in the week, Kygo shared news that he would be joining the now-gargantuan list of dance music producers who’ve released NFTs. Since he simply announced the NFT and gave only its release date, there’s no word on the contents of the collection and whether or not the drop will contain new or unreleased music. Many artists before him have added an exclusive audio element to their drops, so it’s not unreasonable to speculate that Kygo may do the same. On Twitter, the Norwegian producer shared a short teaser video showing some of the visuals from the collection. For those who may not be familiar, NFTs are digital collectibles similar to an in-game item found in a video game. They can be bought, sold, or gifted to others in exchange for real money. There’s cur...
Spotify Launches “Loud & Clear” Initiative Aimed At Increasing Transparency
A new data-driven initiative from Spotify called Loud & Clear aims to provide increased transparency around the economics of streaming. “Questions and concerns about artist income from streaming have been around for over a decade, and in many ways, we feel we’ve been too quiet on the topic,” the streaming site reads. “Our aim with this site is to provide a valuable foundation for a constructive conversation.” The new initiative tackles both the macro- and micro-economic picture, starting first by broadly informing readers on the impact of streaming to the music industry as a whole, and then breaking down the mechanics and stakeholders within Spotify’s business model. In many ways, Loud & Clear reads like a direct rebuttal to music rights holder organiz...
You Can Buy Custom Pokémon Cards of Albums by Skrillex, Flume, Madeon, More
Pokémon cards aren’t quite the generational phenomenon they once were, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Now, each one is a tiny nostalgia machine. After finding himself in need of a new project while under lockdown due to COVID-19, an ingenious Etsy seller decided to tap into the ethos of the 90s and glue it to EDM by producing a series of custom Pokémon cards. Created using holographic foil and recycled cardboard, the cards feature albums from a number of electronic music icons, along with cleverly crafted attack names and descriptions. They also come with an adorable little easel for showcasing. Check out the custom Pokémon cards below, all of which sell for $13 or less. Skrillex As fans continue to wait for Skrillex‘s mythical solo ...
New Google Arts & Culture Exhibit Explores 126 Years of Electronic Music History
A new exhibit from Google and YouTube titled “Music, Makers & Machines,” takes viewers on a walk through the history of electronic music from genesis to present day. Over 50 industry experts, festivals, labels, and power players from the electronic music world were consulted in order to bring the project to fruition. The multimedia endeavor combines photography, video, 360° tours, and augmented interactive objects to create an immersive user experience. The totality of the exhibition aims to cover 126 years of dance music history, highlighting the genre’s icons, landmarks, and watershed moments that took place since the invention of the world’s first electromechanical musical instrument in 1895. One function of the exhibit utilizes Google Street View, putting fa...
Clubhouse and the Music Industry: Tips and Tricks for Utilizing the App to Elevate Your Career
Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, it wasn’t uncommon to find music industry executives, artists, and other key players in the business hanging out at bars, music venues, and industry conferences. However, with the unprecedented closure of most live entertainment spaces, the industry has been forced to find a new hangout spot. Launched in April 2020, Clubhouse was there to save the day, providing a safe space for professionals to get together and continue their conversations. What is Clubhouse? Clubhouse is a social networking platform that allows users to host and join real-time, audio-only conversations. The app features the communal interaction of social media apps like Instagram and combines it with the informational aspects of digital seminars often found on Zoom. Users can ju...
Destructo is Offering Guest List Access to His Shows for Life to the Buyer of His Debut NFT
As the NFT mania rages on, famed house music producer and FriendShip founder Destructo has tossed his sailor’s cap into the ring. The renowned music entrepreneur’s foray into the NFT space is an unconventional one. He has minted his music video for “Bassface,” a single released back in 2017, into a trippy 3D visualizer designed by visual artist Shin. According to the artwork’s bidding microsite, the owner of the rare 1/1 NFT “will have guest list access to all Destructo’s land based shows for life.” Destructo also confirmed the unique prize in a recent tweet. Destructo’s “Bassface” auction will conclude at 9:30PM PT (12:30AM ET) today, March 16th. You can place your bids via Foundation, a popular marketplace for NFT...
Aphex Twin’s Debut NFT Sold for $127,000 in 24 Hours
Aphex Twin has recruited the help of his longtime collaborator and world-class visual artist, Weirdcore, for the release of his debut NFT. Minted on the Foundation digital marketplace and shared on social media minutes later, fans and collectors only had 24 hours to bid on the piece. Despite being a short auction with even shorter notice, the item sold for 72 Ethereum, or just shy of $127,000. As shown in the official listing for the artwork, the visuals depict Aphex Twin’s iconic smile that’s graced several of his album covers and much of his live performance visuals. As one would expect, the sound provided in the near-minute-long video is from the producer himself. Haunting and madcap like many of his releases, the dark, grinding synth perfectly accompanie...
NGHTMRE Reveals Debut NFT Collection With Visual Artist GREG MIKE
NGHTMRE is the latest artist to explore the digital frontier of the NFT world. In collaboration with visual artist GREG MIKE, he will soon release a number of pieces later this week. Across both artists’ social media pages, a teaser video of the new collection was shared. Giving fans just an eight-second look at what’s to come, viewers can see some of the visual artist’s signature designs. While none of the sounds have been teased just yet, both NGHTMRE and GREG MIKE promise “unreleased visuals, music, and a few special items.” Considering GREG MIKE’s past NFT collections have featured physical accompaniments, some have speculated that the aforementioned “special items” will be physical pieces of art. The shop page for the collectio...
Elon Musk is Selling a Song About NFTs as an NFT
Considering the rapidly growing hype surrounding NFTs, it’s no surprise that business mogul and one-time electronic music producer Elon Musk has entered the digital art space with his own contribution. Musk tweeted earlier today that his own NFT will soon be up for sale, complete with a trippy animated video showing a golden “vanity trophy” engraved with the phrase “computers never sleep.” The piece is also soundtracked by a catchy house song ostensibly produced by the eccentric Tesla founder, who famously released an electronic track called “Don’t Doubt Ur Vibe” in early 2020. Check out Musk’s announcement below. Grammy Award-nominated dance music duo Disclosure was quick to respond, noting that they offered a similar NFT sale two weeks ago. NFTs, o...
