The nft sector is yet to return to the glory of its heyday in 2022, but that hasn't stopped the technology from evolving.
For example, OpenSea has partnered with music and arts festival conglomerate Coachella to launch three nft collections that offer both virtual and tangible real-life VIP experiences and products.
The partnership will eventually produce three collections that will offer different benefits and different levels of exclusivity (as well as costs). The first is called The VIP Pass + Oasis Lounge Keepsake and launched on Tuesday for $1,499 each, capped at 1,000 NFTs. This tier includes access to a VIP 2024 Festival Pass and their new lounge with “exclusive bar benefits” including “limited” complimentary drinks.
The next two collections will launch in late March and mid-April, with details on costs and services to be shared later, the companies say.
The nft collections will be powered by Avalanche, the layer 1 blockchain, which is the eighth largest blockchain by nft sales volume in the last 30 days, according to CryptoSlam. data. Coachella partnered with Avalanche because they are “aligned with the product” the festival wants to build, but is withholding additional details until later this month, Coachella innovation leader Sam Schoonover told TechCrunch.
There has been a batch of nft collections announced since the term was even adopted. OpenSea alone has more than 2 million collections and 80 million NFTs on its marketplace, according to its website.
So, it's safe to say that this is not the first music-related project to offer real-life use cases. But it's a notable example of how utility-powered NFTs are changing the way outsiders view the web3 sector. The word nft used to evoke digital profile pictures (PFPs), sometimes overpriced. Now we are beginning to refer to digital photographs that are also useful on and offline. And this is one of the most hopeful signs that nft markets, as their believers say, will find new users and increase sales.
nft-based music and ticketed collections are one of the “best ways” for the cryptocurrency subsector to gain widespread adoption, said Devin Finzer, CEO and co-founder of OpenSea. Tickets can hold special memories for fans and he believes there is potential for them to not just be souvenirs or collectibles, but also provide utility. “So it's the perfect hybrid for NFTs.”
While OpenSea has done “smaller music-related nft projects” in the past, this one focuses on ticket sales and VIP access, something Finzer (and others) have been eyeing for a long time.
“Coachella has the audience and distribution to take it to another level,” Finzer added. “The willingness to make this an nft that is useful and valuable and something that people are excited about, compared to some of the things in previous nft projects, maybe more half-assed, this is something sophisticated and exciting with value in the real world. .”
This partnership could be seen as another push by OpenSea to regain dominance in a saturated market. On January 1, 2022, global nft sales volume peaked in $23.7 billion. Last month, nft markets recorded a volume of $2.21 billion, according to Tiexo analysis.
That said, since 2017, OpenSea has transacted over $20 billion in volume. But even with so much total volume, OpenSea is not the largest nft marketplace today. Last month, OpenSea ranked fourth largest by volume with 10% of market share, or $222.65 million, behind Blur, Magic Eden and OKX, in that order, Tiexo data showed .
This project also makes it easier to purchase NFTs by using a simple email registration, rather than requiring newbies to get a crypto wallet, purchase cryptocurrencies, etc. Email sign-ups and credit card usage are growing trends in a typically inaccessible industry.
“For a long time, web3 had a usability problem,” Finzer said. But in the last three or four years, there has been a lot of development to make it easier for those who are not yet well versed in everything related to cryptocurrencies. “We're making it part of the Coachella experience, so you can easily sign up and get the nft easily.”
Schoonover believes that many other companies will begin to recognize that NFTs can be more than just collectible images. By thinking of them more as unique, collectible digital tickets, he hopes others will want to “experiment with NFTs and real-world access, benefits, and experiences.”
Finzer echoes that sentiment. Overall, the topic of NFTs in recent years has been expanding beyond collectibles and PFPs toward “real utility.” Only a subset of people are interested in staying in the PFP world, but there is a whole audience of people who may not care as much about crypto sentiment, but see the value in the technology, he added.
“I don't think the public cares about technology, whether it's nft or virtual reality,” Schoonover added. “They just want a fun and entertaining experience… (and) nft technology is a unique way to achieve that.”
