An NFT music platform backed by mogul Quincy Jones has secured the support of artists including Doja Cat, John Legend, H.E.R., Jacob Collier and the Kid Laroi to release more environmentally friendly non-fungible tokens, the newly formed company, OneOf, announced Tuesday.
Other musicians joining up with upcoming releases via the “green”-friendly blockchain technology company in the near future include Charlie Puth, G-Easy, TLC, Alesso, Aurora, the estate of Whitney Houston and Jones himself, according to the announcement.
“I cannot wait to release my first Juicy Drops collection,” Doja Cat said in a statement. “However, I want to be mindful of environmental concerns and accessibility to all of my fans before we go live. Happy to now be working with OneOf, who is addressing both of these issues.”
The idea driving oneOf is that NFTs can be a populist, low-cost way of providing fans content that is not necessarily about big-ticket auctions aimed at collectors, like most of the high-profile music NFTs to date.
The announcement made the claim that oneOf will have “$0 minting costs” for artists using the platform, saying that, at this level, NFTs could cost as little as $5 “or even free” for artists using OneOf.
oneOf said it is launching with the $63 million in seed money. The company is co-founded by Lin Dai, Joshua James, and Adam Fell, described as working in partnership with Quincy Jones Productions. Backers including famed VCand environmental activist Bill Tai, Suna Said of Nima Capital, tech investor Jack Herrick, Tezos Foundation, East West Ventures founder Jaeson Ma and others.
The company says its Tezos blockchain protocol mints NFTs using “2 million times less energy than other networks like Ethereum and “requires the same energy as sending out a tweet.”
“Blockchain has the ability to democratize ownership and bring economic empowerment to both artists and fans,” said Dai in a statement “We are building a technology company with an artist-first ethos and eco-conscious mission to help introduce hundreds of millions of non-crypto native users to blockchain through easy and exciting use cases such as NFTs.”
Said Tai, named as one of the key investors, “oneOf is lowering the friction to a more engaging relationship between artists and their communities by leveraging modern technologies. By using Blockchain, meaningful experiences – previously not easy to deliver, can be unlocked on OneOf.”
Dai, the co-founder and CEO, previously was involved in the launch of TAP Network, a blockchain tech company that worked with Warner Music Group, Uber and other clients, and was CMO of Keek, a video social app. James, co-founder and COO, was previously co-founder-CEO of ZIG Media and launched the digital media firm basecamp Productions, known as the home for Pearl Jam’s “bootleg” series, which was sold to Warner Music Group.
Quincy Jones Productions’ investment is being overseen by president Adam Fell, described by the company as the force behind QJP previously having been an early investor in Spotify, Clubhouse, Uber, Wayfair and other startups.
oneOf said it will be donating a percentage of revenue from music releases on the platform to environmental charities or the artists’ own preferred causes.
