August was a quiet month in the NFT world, with trading volume on OpenSea dropping to its lowest level in 12 months. The slowdown was reflected in music NFTs, resulting in a noticeable decline in new releases and a shift to lower price points. Overall, trading volume across the month’s top 10 music NFTs dropped to $1.3 million, down 83.75% from more than $8 million in July.
All of this makes for an interesting roundup in August, where five of the top 10 projects are returning names, powered by ongoing secondary sales on OpenSea, while primary sales from new projects took a backseat.
Still, August did bring some exciting new products to the market, including the world’s first UK and Australian chart-eligible NFT release from Muse, while two leading EDM artists shared streaming royalties to their music. Based on analysis of sales data from 19 different NFT platforms, independent releases and secondary sales volume on OpenSea, here are the 10 biggest-selling music NFTs and collections in August 2022.
1. Stickmen Toys
Total volume traded: 235 ETH ($364,250 at month-end conversion rate)
Primary sales: 0
Secondary sales: 235 ETH
The NFT project from Warner Records U.K. and Bose was the runner-up in July, but it claimed the top spot in August thanks to continuous sales on secondary markets like OpenSea. Stickmen Toys was free to mint in mid-July and went on to generate a further $360,000 in sales volume in August.
Warner Records U.K. is one of the early leaders in the major label NFT race. They recently teased an upcoming Web3 imprint and scored the U.K.’s first chart-compatible NFT release with Muse’s latest album, Will of the People, featured later in this list.
View collection on OpenSea.
2. KINGSHIP – “Key Cards”
Total volume traded: 188 ETH ($291,400)
Primary sales: 0
Secondary sales: 188 ETH
July’s number one dropped to second place in August, but sales for UMG’s Bored Ape supergroup remain strong on the secondary market with almost $300,000 traded. In August, KINGSHIP kept the promotional momentum going with an M&M’s partnership through which the group sold limited edition boxes of Bored Ape M&M’s (the gold version went on sale for $99 a piece).
The collaboration is a nod to the infamous Van Halen story in which the band was rumored to ask for M&M’s on their concert rider, but with the brown ones taken out to ensure the promoter was paying attention. The KINGSHIPxM&M’s trailer also teased the first glimpse of KINGSHIP’s music.
View collection on OpenSea.
3. PLS&TY – “PLS&TY Collections”
Total volume traded: 173 ETH ($268,150)
Primary sales: 173 ETH
Secondary sales: N/A
PLS&TY made his name as an electronic producer with over 100 million streams across YouTube, Soundcloud and Spotify. In August he dropped a collection of 15 different audiovisual collectibles on Gamestop’s brand new NFT platform. With each priced at a different entry point — from $9 to $620 — PLS&TY quickly racked up more than 170 ETH in sales.
PLS&TY was one of the earliest musicians to experiment with Web3. He first released 1/1 audiovisual art on SuperRare — the leading high-art NFT platform — back in October 2020.
View collection on Gamestop.
4. Shady Comics Concept Art
Total volume traded: $150,000
Primary sales: $150,000
Secondary sales: N/A
Snoop Dogg and Eminem took to the metaverse in August as animated versions of their Bored Apes for their first MTV VMA performance together in two decades. The hip-hop icons performed “From the D 2 The LBC” inside the Otherside metaverse – the virtual world built by Bored Ape creator Yuga Labs.
To commemorate the performance, Eminem and Snoop released a run of limited edition NFTs including physical art prints, skateboard decks and bobblehead figurines. The most popular, however, was a Shady Comics Concept Art magazine. The run of 1,000 sold out almost instantly.
View collection on OpenSea.
5. Hume Collective – “Genesis”
Total volume traded: 50 ETH ($77,500)
Primary sales: 0
Secondary volume: 50 ETH
Hume is a Web3 record label with a roster of “metastars” — artists that perform in the metaverse using an NFT avatar. After dropping its Genesis NFT for free in July, Hume continued to generate sales on secondary markets like OpenSea through August.
The label kept the momentum going by hinting at a new fundraising announcement and news of “The Studio” — an innovative Web3 feature that will allow NFT holders to connect their wallet, listen to new tracks from the label and help decide which songs to release.
View collection on OpenSea.
6. Elephante – “Catching On” ft. Nevve
Total volume traded: $51,385
Primary sales: $49,680
Secondary volume: 1.1 ETH
With hundreds of millions of streams under his belt, EDM artist Elephante made his first foray into Web3 this August. He dropped an NFT of his iconic track “Catching On” through Royal, offering holders a percentage of future streaming royalties. The track has already racked up 40 million streams on Spotify alone, and Royal estimates that holders will earn 10% of the token price for every 3 million additional streams in the future.
View collection on OpenSea.
7. Violetta Zironi – “Moonshot”
Total volume traded: 23 ETH ($35,650)
Primary sales: 0
Secondary volume: 23 ETH
Independent artist Violetta Zironi made it two months in a row in the top 10 thanks to consistently strong secondary sales on OpenSea. Zironi sold out her debut NFT collection earlier in the year, complete with artwork from her father, a former Disney animator. She has since built a loyal and passionate fan base by hosting daily Twitter Spaces and discussions about music NFTs.
View collection on OpenSea.
8. R3HAB & Laidback Luke – “Weekend on a Wednesday”
Total volume traded: $32,230
Primary sales: $22,000
Secondary volume: 6.6 ETH ($10,230)
EDM producers R3HAB and Laidback Luke teamed up to offer streaming royalties for their new track “Weekend on a Tuesday” through a new NFT platform called anotherblock. A total of 250 NFTs sold out within 40 minutes, granting token holders a 0.02% ownership of royalties in the song. The two producers already have a combined 25 million monthly listeners on Spotify, and anotherblock estimates that “Weekend on a Tuesday” will generate 21 million streams in the next year, delivering a 19% return on the initial token price.
Royalty sharing is becoming a bigger trend in the music NFT space. The concept was pioneered by DJ and producer 3LAU through his Royal platform, but more are popping up. The release by R3HAB and Laidback Luke is the debut drop on Europe-based anotherblock.
View collection on OpenSea.
9. Snoop Dogg – B.O.D.R.
Total volume traded: 21 ETH ($32,550)
Primary sales: 0
Secondary volume: 21 ETH
B.O.D.R. is Snoop Dogg’s first album since taking over Death Row Records in February. Alongside the traditional album release on streaming services, Snoop dropped 25,000 NFT “stash boxes,” each containing one of 17 tracks from the album. The NFTs also give holders access to future airdrops including comics, films and gig tickets. Snoop has been a pioneer in the Web3 music space and aims to turn Death Row Records into the world’s first metaverse label, suggesting this is just a taste of more to come.
View collection on OpenSea.
10. Muse – Will of the People
Total volume traded: $30,130
Primary sales: $23,000
Secondary volume: 4.6 ETH ($7,130)
Muse made history in August with the world’s first NFT to enter the British music charts. In collaboration with NFT platform Serenade, the band created a chart-eligible NFT collection to accompany their new album Will of the People. Combined with traditional album sales and streams, it’s looking at a No. 1 debut on the UK album chart.
The NFT collection itself was limited to 1,000 and priced at £20 each (about $23). It was limited in terms of extras in order to remain chart-compatible, but it does include downloadable FLACC files, additional artwork and a digital signature from each band member.
View collection on OpenSea.
Methodology: The chart was compiled using data from primary music NFT sales across 19 different NFT platforms, independent releases and secondary volume data from OpenSea. Data was captured Aug. 1–31, 2022. Conversion rates from Ethereum to US dollars were calculated on Aug. 31.
