Warner, Quincy Jones platform team up to create music catalog NFTs

Warner Music Group (WMG) is teaming up with the Quincy Jones-backed non-fungible tokens (NFT) platform OneOf to create one-of-a-kind digital tokens for a range of artists across the music label’s song catalog.

The move comes as the music industry is embracing blockchain technology to generate new revenue streams for creators. Labels are looking to use NFTs to help artists offer more opportunities to monetize merchandise, while also creating more buzz and interaction with fans, including around concerts.

“Partnering with OneOf gives our artists an edge in more authentically building one-to-one relationships with their fans and winning in the new Web3 economy,” said Oana Ruxandra, Warner Music’s chief digital officer & EVP of business development.

Created last May and backed by Jones, a legendary music producer, OneOf is an energy efficient NFT platform that mints tokens that are up to two million times more energy efficient than standard NFT platforms.

Built on the Tezos (XTZ-USD) blockchain, minting a OneOf NFT takes about the same amount of electricity as one Twitter post, whereas minting an NFT on a “proof-of-work” platform uses the amount of electricity of the average U.S. household, over a period of 5.3 days. Lower energy prices allow the platform to offer NFTs at lower prices than other platforms.

The partnership with Warner Music comes after OneOf solidified itself as the official NFT platform for the Grammy Awards for the next three years. Since going live in September, OneOf has launched record breaking NFT collections, with major and independent artists from Doja Cat to a never-before heard song by Whitney Houston.

“From collectibles to music royalties, NFTs and Web3 represent the pulse of consumer demand and an exciting future for the music industry,” says Lin Dai, OneOf CEO.

“We are thrilled to partner and innovate together with Warner Music Group and use our cutting edge Web3 technology to bring their iconic labels and world-renowned artists to the next 100 million fans on blockchain,” Dai added.

NFTs are now more than a $40 billion market and off to a record start this year, according to Chainalysis. At that size, the market for digital artwork and collectibles is almost as valuable as the global art market.