The legendary hip-hop group A Tribe Called Quest has recently auctioned off their own NFT(Non-fungible token) that gives the owner royalties from the groups first five studio albums including, People's Instinctive Travels And The Paths Of Rhythm, The Low End Theory, Midnight Marauders, Beats Rhymes And Life, and The Love Movement.
The Tribe Called Quest NFT was auctioned off on the online platform Royalty Exchange. The auction winner will get access to a 1.5% share of the royalties of the albums. This means the NFT holder will receive compensation every time the songs on those timeless albums are streamed, played on the radio, sampled, or appear in television, movies, commercials, or other paid content.
The auction winner was a user on Royalty Exchange named Stephen F. The winning bid was 40.191 ETH, equivalent to $84,765 American dollars. There were over 60 bids for the NFT in total.
According to the auction page, NFT holders would have made $6,000 dollars in royalties over the last year. Also, the group's timeless classic, "Can I Kick It?" was the highest-earning song the previous year, making up 27% of royalties in 2020. Tribes music can be heard in many movies and TV shows, from Radha Blank's, The 40-Year-Old Version to Tom and Jerry.
As the world of cryptocurrency and NFTs evolve, the music industry and art world are likely to take advantage of the virtual currency trend. Artists like A Tribe Called Quest allowing their fans to own partial royalties to their catalog may move in the right direction, making fans, even more, a part of the musical experience.