An unreleased Whitney Houston recording, made when she was 17, has been bought as an NFT for $999,999.
Discovered by Primary Wave Music and her Estate last year, it was auctioned yesterday (December 14) on the Quincy Jones-backed OneOf NFT platform.
Primary Wave acquired a 50% stake in the Whitney Houston Estate in 2019.
OneOf says that the winning bid is now the highest priced NFT auction item on the Tezos(XTZ) blockchain (the blockchain protocol on which OneOf is built).
In total, the full collection, which features rare images and videos, has generated over $1.1 million in sales so far.
According to OneOf, the winner of the auction now has personal access to this recording in their ‘OneOf Vault’ along with a digital video created by breakout 17-year-old artist Diana Sinclair.
Proceeds from the sales of the collection will go to the non-profit Whitney E. Houston Foundation.
The collection also includes thousands of fixed-price NFTs, including archival photos from Houston’s early life and career
OneOf raised $63 million in a seed round in May from prominent tech and music industry veterans.
The platform was co-founded by tech entrepreneur Lin Dai, digital media executive Joshua James, and music industry veteran Adam Fell, in partnership with Quincy Jones and Quincy Jones Productions.
The OneOf platform launched in August with the iHeartRadio Music Festival, and its debut artist collection featured a 26,000 token release from Doja Cat.
An auction for the “one-of-a-kind” item in her collection sold for $188,000, and was previously the single largest auction transaction on Tezos, prior to the sale of the Whitney Houston NFT.
“We look at blockchain technology and the NFT marketplace as a great medium to present and engage with fans.”
Rob Dippold, Primary Wave Music
Rob Dippold, Partner & President of Digital Strategy for Primary Wave Music, said: “This initial NFT drop is one of many Whitney Houston collections as we continue to tell her story, going behind the scenes and using never-before-seen content from the estate’s archives to celebrate her career, music, and talent in new and creative ways.
“We look at blockchain technology and the NFT marketplace as a great medium to present and engage with fans in a more meaningful and profound level to showcase and heighten ‘moments’ in an artist’s career and thus allowing content to continue to be distributed (and protected) amongst fans.”
“We want to continue Whitney’s legacy, and this is a new art form for her music to be displayed. What better way than to do it with Diana and through the NFT.”
Pat Houston, The Estate of Whitney E. Houston
Pat Houston, President and CEO of The Estate of Whitney E. Houston, added: “Being able to work with someone as young as Diana, she’s 17 years old. Whitney was 17 years old when she recorded the song.
“Both come from Newark, both have the same middle name. Whitney had the desire to always help others help themselves, especially young people. She established the Whitney Houston Foundation in 1989 and she had events each year centered around young people, so it was a no brainer when we were introduced to Diana. Timing is everything and it was the right moment.
“We want to continue Whitney’s legacy, and this is a new art form for her music to be displayed. What better way than to do it with Diana and through the NFT.”Music Business Worldwide