Wexford is minting its first full-length studio album, OK Suburbia, on the Sky Hut NFT marketplace. The album is stored on NeoFS and is the first to be released as an NFT on Neo N3. Minting began at 2:00 p.m. (UTC) on Friday, April 1, 2022. Each album costs 6 GAS to mint, and there is a total supply of 200 that can ever be minted.

Wexford is an alternative rock band based in Huron, Ohio, US. The three members – Dave Mueller, Randon Walter, and Andy Kohlmann – united during the lockdowns that resulted from the coronavirus pandemic in 2020. The band pre-released the song Those Eyes on YouTube, and Less than Alone, which recently aired on 95.3 WLKR, a radio station in Ohio, US.

Source: SkyHut

The band collaborated with Rachele Liba, an artist out of Los Angeles, California, US, to create a piece of unique album art for each of the 12 songs included in the OK Suburbia NFTs. After minting an album, the purchaser will receive one NFT for each song and its associated cover art.

Once all 200 albums are minted, Wexford will airdrop 10 Neo ecosystem NFTs to random wallets. The airdrops will include TOTHEMOON Character types, a ForTheWin RUNE, and Humswap BOWLs, Tigers, ANS, and ANC NFTs.

What are Music NFTs?

An NFT is a unique digital item held by one wallet address at a time. They are minted using smart contracts and typically include metadata, such as a URL that links to a place where content (such as an image or other media file) can be downloaded. NFT prices vary, especially in secondary markets where they can be seen as investments or speculative vehicles.

In recent years, musicians have created NFTs of their songs and sold them directly to their fan base via NFT marketplaces. This process can enable a more exclusive relationship between the musician and their supporters. Instead of listening to a song through a streaming service that will distribute minimal royalties to the artist, the fan can purchase a copy directly from the artist. This can give musicians more control over distribution and sales.

Once the NFT is purchased, the owner can download the song or album, and any other content made available within the metadata of the NFT. If it’s an audio file or a full-length album, downloaded files can then be played in a music player such as iTunes. The NFT can also be put up for sale or auction on a secondary marketplace, but the original owner can still maintain copies of any songs or images on their hard drive after they’ve sold the NFT.

Artists that issue content as NFTs can also bake in royalty fees, which would be paid to the artist upon future sales of the NFT. This can create a new revenue stream for the artist beyond the initial sale.

The music NFT space is nascent, and artists are still exploring potential use cases for their NFTs. Examples of unique uses can include discounted concert tickets, meetups with the artists, access to special events, and other unique perks.

Why Wexford chose Neo

In a conversation with Neo News Today, Mueller noted that he’s been in the Neo ecosystem since 2017, shortly after the rebrand from Antshares. Seeing other musicians release albums as successful NFTs on different blockchain platforms, the band opted to drop their first album as an exclusive series on Neo N3.

After reaching out to developers on Neo’s discord servers, the band connected with Sky, the pseudonymous developer who launched the SkyHut marketplace in Jan. 2022. The band and Sky collaborated to design the smart contract for Wexford’s album NFT.

Mueller believes decentralized file storage will be commonplace in the future, noting that he’d gained interest in NeoFS after first reading about the technology. He said, “I also hope that other artists can look at the platform and think that they would also like to release on Neo.”

To mint the OK Suburbia album, visit the link below:
https://www.wexfordband.com/nft

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