Steve Aoki has made more money with non-fungible tokens (NFTs) than in his 10-year music career.
Eand the legendary EDM DJ has been one of NFT’s biggest advocates over the past 12 months.
In April 2021, for example, the sale of Aoki’s NFT Dream Catcher art collection brought in over $4 million. Former T-Mobile boss John Legere shelled out $888,888 for a single work.
“But if I really had to break it down, in the 10 years I’ve been making music…six albums, and you [combine] all these advances. What I did in a drop last year in NFTs, I made more money,” Aoki said at a private event in California.
He claims that nowadays royalties are minimal, with 95% of his income coming from live gigs.
Steve Aoki: NFTs will transform the music industry
Aoki called himself a “visionary”. He said he believed NFTs will truly transform the music industry. Part of the reason NFTs are so exciting, he says, is that they depend on the communities that form and support them.
For Aoki, this is a good thing, because many musicians have a large and passionate following.
“As musical NFTs become an integral part of how we onboard and support artists, labels will need to offer more than music.”
For the DJ, Web 3.0 means ownership, and that includes ownership of your data. He said that in the future, as technology improves, the days of hoarding user data on Facebook and Instagram will come to an end. And that the Internet will become something that empowers users.
Last month, Aoki interrupted one of his own sets, pulling out his phone to show a picture of a pink NFT alien which cost him nearly 270 ETH.
In the videowhich he posted on Twitter, he told the crowd, “Check out this gorgeous little alien. Had to stop the music because I’m so excited. NFTs make me feel like a kid again!
