Photo Credit: Kobalt
Kobalt says its the first global music publisher to release a set of fully licensed direct-to-fan NFTs. The collaboration comes with Ghanaian visual artist, Afroscope. Each of the digital art pieces were inspired by and include lyrics from the song “Le Petite Morte (a lude)” by singer-songwriter Dawn Richard.
The art blends Afroscope’s previous work of futuristic expression of African culture and fashion with Richard’s portrayal of a powerful, Black female superhero, emblematic of the song’s lyrical themes. Together, the digital set contains three individual NFTs to be offered at reserve auctions on the Foundation platform – Foundation.app. The reserve price is set at 1 ETH on August 25. Once the reserve price is met, a 24 auction countdown will begin.
“Dawn and I have a strong mutual respect for each other’s work, and there was a synergy between some of our recent, individual visual explorations,” adds Afroscope about the project. “This NFT is special for several reasons. Firstly it is based on truly moving lyrics by an extremely gifted and inspiring artist. Plus, it brought together creators from different sides of the globe, epitomizing the power of connection and community in web3.”
“I believe the artist will be able to create their own ecosystem through spaces like NFTs and the metaverse. I chose Afroscope because I feel his work resonates with my music. Together, we are both pushing for the essence of culture and the power of black excellence through our art,” Richard concludes.
“Kobalt is always looking for opportunities to explore and embrace new technologies, particularly where they can benefit our clients,” says Dan Smith, Senior Manager, Product, Kobalt. “Creative expression is a step into the unknown, and we believe there is great benefit in mirroring this expression in our technology. This collaboration has been rewarding on so many fronts and provides a great learning experience that will help us further explore and scale potential web3 opportunities with our clients.”
Kobalt has more than 13 global offices and the company serves over 700,000 songs, 30,000 songwriters, and 500 publishers. On average, Kobalt represents around 40% of the top 100 songs and albums in the US and the UK.
