NFT space

Sony Music files trademark application for NFT-authenticated music

The new trademark application covers video recordings, text, artwork and audio featuring live music authenticated by NFTs.

American music giant Sony Music Entertainment has signaled intentions to utilize nonfungible tokens (NFTs) after filing a trademark application covering music and artists under the Columbia Records logo. 

According to an Aug. 30 trademark application to the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) shared by trademark attorney Mike Kondoudis on Tuesday, the application covers “audio and video recordings featuring live musical performances authenticated by NFTs.”

The application also covers marketing services, promotion, distribution, marketing, advertising and online entertainment, including podcasts and audiovisual recordings.

The new trademark application comes in the wake of several other Sony Music-backed NFT projects.

In August, MakersPlace, an NFT market dedicated to digital art, secured $30 million in Series A financing from several notable companies, including Pantera Capital, Bessemer Venture Partners, Coinbase Ventures and Sony Music Entertainment.

March saw the music company partner with Solana-based NFT marketplace Snowcrash and fellow music behemoth Universal Music Group to release Bob Dylan and Miles Davis NFT collections at some point in 2022, with plans for more in the future.

NFTs and the Metaverse are slowly becoming more prominent in the music and entertainment industry.

MTV’s Video Music Awards on Aug. 29 heavily featured online and virtual performances, including Eminem and Snoop Dogg performing their new single in a Metaverse created by Yuga Labs, the same company behind the Bored Ape Yacht Club.

Related: There’s more to NFTs than just PFPs — 5 ways nonfungible tokens will transform society

The song From the D to the LBC was released in June and features two Bored Ape Yacht Club avatars owned by Eminem and Snoop Dogg.

MTV’s Video Music Awards also debuted a new award category, Best Metaverse Performance, which featured nominations for six different acts in its inaugural year, Ariana Grande, Justin Bieber, Charli XCX, Twenty One Pilots, BTS and Blackpink, who eventually won.

Nifty Newsletter: Mastercard to enable direct NFT purchase, NFT floor prices collapse and more

Last week, Apocalyptic Apes founder Bill Starkov told Cointelegraph that NFT holders can earn millions by licensing their NFTs.

This week’s newsletter highlights Mattel signing a multi-year partnership with an NFT marketplace, Mastercard planning to let cardholders purchase NFTs directly with their cards, and NFT holders being able to earn millions of dollars through intellectual property rights for their NFTs. 

Those investing in NFTs can also learn more about the drop in floor prices for prominent collections like Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) and CryptoPunks, while this week’s Nifty News roundup features Kraft Food’s patent filing and Seth Green reuniting with his BAYC NFT. 

Barbie-verse: Mattel inks multi-year deal with Cryptoys NFT marketplace

Mattel, a prominent toy brand, partnered with NFT marketplace Cryptoys to feature its brands such as Barbie and Hot Wheels as playable NFTs within a metaverse. Richard Dickson, the toy company’s president, believes that there are opportunities for the brand within the metaverse space. The toys will be featured on a Cryptoys metaverse created by OnChain Studios as well as in other games developed by the company.

In the summer of 2022, the studio will be launching the Cryptoys NFT marketplace on top of Flow’s blockchain. In the past, Mattel has also dipped its toes in the NFT space by securing a partnership with the Wax blockchain in 2021 to release a Hot Wheels NFT collection. 

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Mastercard to allow 2.9B cardholders to make direct NFT purchases

To purchase NFTs, fiat holders first need to convert their money into crypto. Financial services company Mastercard aims to change this by letting its 2.9 billion cardholders purchase NFTs directly without the hassle of buying crypto first.

The finance giant partnered with various leading NFT marketplaces like Immutable X, Candy Digital, The Sandbox, Mintable, Spring and NFT Gateway to integrate a payment method that lets users purchase NFTs directly. Apart from the marketplaces, Mastercard has also formed a partnership with MoonPay, a provider of crypto on and off-ramp services. 

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NFT holders can earn millions through IP rights, says Apocalyptic Apes founder

Cointelegraph interviewed Bill Starkov, the founder of Apocalyptic Apes and a member of BAYC. According to Starkov, there is a way to generate income using NFTs apart from flipping, rather through licensing the intellectual property rights of NFTs.

Starkov explained that BAYC holders are able to get profits by “licensing their apes for commercial use.” Similarly, the Apocalyptic Apes executive noted that other collections can also do this. Before this, Starkov said that people must first hold and wait for the project behind their NFTs to mature.

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Related: NFT trading volume surges amid market and floor price crash

Floor price of popular NFT collections collapse due to bear market

Amid the current bear market, floor prices of prominent NFT collections BAYC and CryptoPunks have taken a nosedive. BAYC has gone from its all-time high floor price of 153.7 Ether (ETH) to 74 ETH. On the other hand, CryptoPunks also fell from its ATH floor price of 123 ETH to 48 ETH, as seen on the tracking site NFT Price Floor.

The drop in NFT prices came amid the large sell-off within the broader crypto market. Before the price drop, Yuga Labs co-founder Gordon Goner also warned about an incoming attack on the company’s social media accounts.

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Nifty News: Kraft Foods files for NFT and metaverse patents, Seth Green gets his ape back and more

Manufacturing bigwig Kraft Foods Group has recently filed NFT and metaverse patents. The company filed trademark applications for Kraft, Jell-O, Kool-Aid and other brands under its umbrella. Meanwhile, actor Seth Green received his BAYC NFT that had been stolen and sold to another person. The actor paid 165 ETH to buy back the NFT.

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Thanks for reading this digest of the week’s most notable developments in the NFT space. Come again next Wednesday for more reports and insights in this actively evolving space.