Dance music star Deadmau5 and Grammy award-winning indie rock band Portugal The Man have teamed up to release 1 million copies of their new single “This is fine” as nonfungible tokens (NFT).
The single was released on Deadmau5’s (whose real name is Joel Zimmerman) label, Mau5trap, with the aim to have the single be the first NFT to go platinum.
The artists minted 1 million units on the Near Protocol blockchain and released them on marketplace Mintbase. A quarter of a million units were available for purchase during Art Basel’s “Miami Beach” art show on Thursday.
We are excited to welcome @deadmau5 @portugaltheman to Miami for #ArtBasel and the exciting launch of their "platinum" #NFT music project on @Mintbase with @nearprotocol
— Mayor Francis Suarez (@FrancisSuarez) December 2, 2021
The remaining singles will be sold as a mix of single units and bundled units, which will have unique attributes. The bundled unit prices are still undetermined.
The announcement promised “multiple metaverse integrations and rewards coming for collectors of this NFT” but provided no additional details.
mau5 x @portugaltheman “this is fine” now available at @mintbase :D https://t.co/qvfGeLAWVC pic.twitter.com/EXPXIONcbl
— Goat lord (@deadmau5) December 2, 2021
According to The Recording Industry Association of America, a certified platinum sale is 1 million units. It remains unclear whether the song will go platinum even if all 1 million copies sell out due to its unconventional release method.
Each NFT is being sold for 0.25 NEAR per piece, or around $2.20 — similar to the price of an iTunes download in the pre-stream years.
In addition to the single, each NFT also features unique artwork by Wooden Cyclops, the art director of Portugal The Man. He collaborated on the artwork with Smearballs, the artist behind Deadmau5’s characters in his music videos “Monophobia,” “Drama Free” and “Pomegranate.”
NFT + Poster To celebrate the NFT song collab drop from @portugaltheman x @deadmau5 get instructions to get an 18x24 poster signed by John Gourley from Portugal the Man and myself #woodencyclops #portugaltheman #deadmau5 #OpenSeaNFT https://t.co/P7RsWBGT14 pic.twitter.com/gNFw0LnIlh
— Wooden Cyclops (@WoodenCyclops) December 2, 2021
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Deadmau5 is not new to the NFT game. In December 2020, Zimmerman partnered with augmented reality artist Sutu to create NFT “In Titan’s Light,” a 30-second audio-reactive artwork loop paired with a section of the Deadmau5 track “Satrn.”
A month later, in January 2021, he partnered with digital artist Mad Dog Jones to release two NFT art collections on the Winklevoss-owned Nifty Gateway.
In the same month, Portugal The Man launched its crypto token, PTM Coin, on the Ethereum-based Rally Network. The token grants fans exclusive access to events and perks.