Def Jam launches virtual band “The Whales” with a Solana-based project
Def Jam Recordings announced its collaboration with Solana-based project Catalina Whale Mixer to launch a virtual band on 8th Feb 2023.
Creation of “The Whales”
The legendary hip-hop music label, backed by an all-star cast of artists and producers, has signed the NFT band, The Whale, through a deal with Web3 tech studio WAGMI Beach. The band consists of cartoon NFT whale characters, pairing colorful whale avatars from the Solana profile picture (PFP) collection with music from producers and artists backing the project.
The project consists of 5,555 NFT avatars on the Solana blockchain created in December 2022 by WAGMI Beach tech studio. Ben Willis and Joshua Andriano developed and pitched the idea of a community-grown avatar group to Def Jam’s DJ Mormile and Ryan Rodriguez.
The partners have yet to announce the artists and producers working on the project, but they promised that the involved fellas are the big fish in the entertainment industry. The Whale’s first project will be a full-length LP album. The producers and artists are expected to interact deeply with the Catalina Whales Mixer community and strengthen the relationship between web3 culture and music.
Adoption of Web 3 in the music industry
Def Jam Recordings is among the latest well-established brands that have dipped their feet into the murky waters of the NFT world through the band. Other companies that pioneered the adoption of web3 into the music industry include the Warner Records and Probably Nothing partnership and the 10:22 PM and BATC from Yuga Labs partnership.
The same NFT playbook was adopted by 10:22 PM, a Universal Music Group’s next-gen Web3 label, that licensed the Bored Ape Yacht Club characters to form a virtual band, KINGSHIP. The KINGSHIP project was labeled a “landmark, first-ever exclusive agreement to create a metaverse group.” In the project, the team behind 10:22 PM is mandated to develop and release new KINGSHIP music and products. KINGSHIP will be a front-facing digital performer to develop and maintain a community and fanbase around the music produced by 10:22 PM
In addition, Warner Records and Probably Nothing launched a web3 music record label named Probably A Label. The virtual label recorded 5,555 passes selling out in the first 7 minutes after its launch. The pass holders are set to receive exclusive music from Diddy and Jason Martin.
The WAGMI Beach comprises music industry veterans, previous Indie Pop management, technology strategist, and full-stack software engineers. The team believes that NFT playbooks and the adoption of web3 into music are a sure way to help how labels, producers, and artists relate with consumers and fans. Alec Lykken noted that NFTs and web 3 are fundamental technologies that alter how future generations consume music and art. Lykken also says that this is the perfect time to dive into the NFT culture, a new and incredible wave for the music industry.
