DistroKid enters NFT market with ‘Sellouts’, mints 10,000 collectible NFTs

November 17, 2021

Another day passes, another music company dips its toes into the potentially lucrative world of NFTs.

BTS and Timbaland have already jumped on the NFT train, and NFTs that began life as artworks of cartoon apes are now forming ‘metaverse’ bands.

NFT platforms are raising serious cash too, and this week, NFT platform Opulous announced that Mark Gillespie, the founder and CEO of Three Six Zero, had joined the company as a Senior Advisor.

Now, the $1.3 billion valued DistroKid is collaborating with 10,000 independent musicians to mint 10,000 unique and collectible NFTs that commemorate the music of each artist.

Proceeds from NFT sales and resales will go to each artist.

Each NFT — collectively named ‘Sellouts’ – consists of the DistroKid mascot, personally customized by each musician from more than 300 different traits, from hair, expression and eyewear, to clothes and more.

The company also says it is developing “innovative methods” to make minting the notoriously energy hungry NFT 99% greener.

Part of this, says DistroKid, is through Nifty Gateway’s “commitment” to purchasing carbon offsets for 2x the amount of carbon footprint Nifty Gateway creates from blockchain transactions each month.

Distrokid says that any musician who is a DistroKid member can design their own Sellout NFT and join the waitlist to be part of the initial drop.

It’s also free for musicians, who will earn proceeds from any sales and resales of their NFT.

Nifty Gateway and DistroKid each take a “small” processing fee from each sale, it says.

No intellectual rights to the music come with NFT ownership, but there are perks for collectors that will be announced, says DistroKid.

Early participating musicians include artists such as ILOVEMAKONNEN, Ricky Desktop, Ryan Oakes, Tep No, Emilio Rojas, Janine, and Our Last Night.

All 10,000 Sellouts will become available for purchase on Nifty Gateway via random drawing on December 15, 2021.

“There are many ways blockchain and NFTs can be helpful to musicians.”
Philip Kaplan, DistroKid

Philip Kaplan, DistroKid Founder & CEO, said: “There are many ways blockchain and NFTs can be helpful to musicians.

“Sellouts is a fun first step toward a larger collection of easy-to-use NFT and blockchain services DistroKid is launching, that we hope artists love.”