GEAR + TECH
Dillon Francis and Lane 8 are Beefing About NFTs
It seems the NFT craze is starting to rear its ugly head. Electronic music producer Lane 8 recently took to Twitter to share his thoughts on the current climate of NFTs, or non-fungible tokens, writing that sales of the digital collectibles are “pandering to the ultra rich while excluding the normal fans who built [him] up in the first place.” Hours after Lane 8 published the tweet, Dillon Francis took a screenshot of it and went on to mint the image as an NFT on the Zora marketplace, dubbing the item “cool story bro.” “[D]on’t worry Lane 8 when you make an NFT we will all remember this,” he wrote in the description, along with a smiley face. Francis then shared his newly minted NFT on Twitter, announcing that he would be donating the pro...
Flume Enters the NFT Space With Trippy “Saccade” Digital Artwork
Flume is the latest major electronic music artist to join the wildly popular NFT space. Flume’s foray into the NFT space, which could be one of its most lucrative, is a stunning collaboration with visual artist Jonathan Zawada. Titled “Saccade,” the trippy artwork depicts a polychromatic eye and pupil, which mutates and dilates in awe-inspiring fashion. It’s one of the most intricate NFT drops to emerge during the non-fungible token craze, which has exploded in the EDM landscape. Flume and Zawada’s “Saccade” NFT is accompanied by a hypnotic ambient song produced by the future bass pioneer, the audio of which the winning bidder will receive in MP3 and WAV formats. The rare 1/1 item is the first in a series of NFTs to be offered by th...
Disclosure Produced a New Song Live on Twitch and Minted It as an NFT
Grammy Award-nominated dance music duo Disclosure has thrown their hat into the red-hot NFT ring. Disclosure recently took to social media to announce their debut NFT release, which was streamed live on Twitch via a music production session. Immediately after the song was created, it was minted and made available for purchase on Zora, a major marketplace to buy, sell, and trade limited edition digital collectibles. Watch Disclosure’s Guy Lawrence explain their debut NFT release below. There’s a good chance you’ve found yourself in a Google rabbit hole recently due to the NFT craze. NFTs, or non-fungible tokens, are digital collectibles whose ownership is verified and protected by blockchain technology, ensuring authenticity. The items—often unique pieces of...
Nifty Gateway Founders on Why Musicians Should Embrace Digital Art: “EDM Artists Are Just the Perfect Fit for NFTs”
As the latest Bitcoin and cryptocurrency hype cycle has gripped investors and driven a whole new wave of adoption to the space, Duncan and Griffin Cock Foster find themselves at the epicenter. The twin brothers and entrepreneurs have helped spearhead a meteoric trend in the digital asset space with their company Nifty Gateway, a marketplace for digital art and collectibles called NFTs, or non-fungible tokens, which are collectible assets authenticated and secured by blockchain technology. A few years ago, the idea of collectors purchasing digitally minted art pieces to the tune of thousands and sometimes even millions of dollars would have seemed ludicrous. However, as public comfort and interest in blockchain technology has only continued to rise, cultural influencers—especially musicians...
Steve Aoki Announces Debut NFT Release
Steve Aoki is the latest dance music producer to join in on the blockchain-powered art craze after announcing his debut NFT release. NFTs, or non-fungible tokens, are digital collectibles that are unable to be replicated or mutually interchanged. The value of NFTs lies in their singularity, since they are truly unique and belong solely to their owner. Hosted on the popular Nifty Gateway marketplace, Aoki’s foray into the NFT space finds the dance music superstar teaming up with renowned visual artist Antoni Tudisco. Known for his beautifully chaotic releases, Tudisco has provided artwork for a litany of major brands, including Apple, Nike, Adidas, Sony, and BMW, among many others. Aoki took to Twitter to share a short preview of the new collection of NFTs, te...
Adventure Club Teases New NFT Release
Famed electronic music production duo Adventure Club has teased a new NFT release. You may have found yourself in a Google rabbit hole recently due to the rise of NFTs, or non-fungible tokens. The digital collectibles, which are stored on a decentralized blockchain and are therefore unable to be replicated, have quickly emerged as an alternate source of revenue for musicians who may be experiencing the pitfalls of COVID-19. Dance music producer and cryptocurrency pundit 3LAU recently sold a collection for a record-breaking $3,666,666, opening the floodgates of the arcane NFT world, which had experienced only lukewarm popularity at the time of Adventure Club’s first release back in December 2020. The duo took to social media yesterday, February 28th,...
Digital Artist Creates Daft Punk Music Video by Programming His Own Artificial Intelligence
After last week’s announcement by Daft Punk that legendary electronic music duo have split up after 28 years together, a flurry of tributes have been shared. One digital artist, however, took an appropriately high-tech route in his homage to the fabled French robots. Award-winning Irish computer artist Glenn Marshall has shared an artificial intelligence-generated music video for Daft Punk’s 2001 single “Voyager.” Without getting too technical, Marshall essentially trained a computer to create visuals inspired by Daft Punk. As Marshall explains in the description of the video, he used the phrases “robot headgear,” “robot heads,” “robot disco,” and “Tron” to guide the AI’s creation. The result ...
Lindsay Lohan is Selling a Daft Punk NFT for $15,000
NFTs have been taking the dance music world by storm as of late. Many artists are finding that the digital collectibles are a great way to recoup some of the revenue lost due to the pandemic. Now, a recent story from Decrypt reports that a seller named “Daft Punk” has been gifting NFTs to a number of celebrities on the online marketplace Rarible. While the artwork featuring images of the duo was transferred to Mark Cuban, Soulja Boy, and Tyga, among other celebrities, only one has put theirs up for sale—Lindsay Lohan. The report shared that the listing was set to 8.8 ETH, which converted to around $15,000 when posted. However, at the time of this article’s publication, the listing for Lohan’s sale has been restricted from public viewing. Decrypt Simi...
3LAU Sells Record-Breaking $3.6 Million NFT in First-Ever Tokenized Album Sale
Tonight, in record-setting and groundbreaking fashion, electronic music producer 3LAU sold a collection of limited edition NFTs for $3,666,666. The dance music vet and cryptocurrency pundit also broke the record in non-fungible token sales by selling 33 unique items for a total of $11,684,101. NFTs are unique digital collectibles that are truly one-of-a-kind and unable to be replicated. Stored on a decentralized blockchain, each item is exclusive to its owner and cannot be deleted or duplicated. NFTs have been a major boon in the COVID-19 era for music producers, who are actively seeking ways to recoup revenues lost from touring due to the impact of the virus. deadmau5, Feed Me, and 3LAU are a few of the many electronic music artists capitalizing on the NFT boom. The sa...
Ableton 11 Live’s Demo Track Was Created by Rising Star Ninajirachi
Producers were delighted when Ableton 11 Live, the latest incarnation of the Ableton digital audio workstation software, dropped on Tuesday. The latest edition has a slew of newly introduced features, like comping and MPE, tools for new devices, and a host of others. Also included in 11 Live is a demo track from none other than Australian producer, DJ, and songwriter Ninajirachi, who created the track to allow users to explore her processes and utilize working stems within the project file. Music producers can find it within their version of Ableton and use it as inspiration. “It’s such an honor to work on a project like this and I’m really grateful for the opportunity,” said Ninajirachi in a statement on her track for Ableton. “Getting to know all of Ableton’s...
Spotify Launches New Snapchat-Like Clips Feature
Spotify hosted their version of an Apple-style product launch this week during their Steam On event. During the virtual program, which livestreamed on Monday, they broke down the power that audio has, the journey of music creation, and all the opportunities they have planned for both creators and the billions of fans who use their platform. One of those new features is the introduction of Spotify Clips. The format will look familiar because, just like Instagram, Spotify is drawing influence from Snapchat with the implementation of an ephemeral video format. The feature has been in the works since last year, when it was tentatively titled “Storyline,” but its beta testing phase was designated only for a few big names, like Kelly Clarkson and Jennifer Lopez....
Feed Me Announces Debut NFT Release
Joining the growing list of electronic artists entering the world of non-fungible tokens, or NFT, is Feed Me. The announcement comes just hours after the famed British electronic music producer teased his next album. For those unfamiliar with the art phenomenon, NFTs are essentially crypto-powered digital collectibles that you can buy and sell. Feed Me took to Twitter to announce the upcoming release and share his excitement, since he’s been creating digital art for decades. The artwork will be sold on the SuperRare digital marketplace. On other marketplaces, many copies of each piece can be minted and multiple people can purchase one. SuperRare, on the other hand, sells only single-release content, so the purchaser will be the sole owner of the rare NFT. Feed Me’s de...
