Universal Music Group is capitalizing on the popularity of non-fungible tokens by acquiring one of the cartoon monkeys who took over the world of digital collectibles to lead an all-virtual music group.
On Friday, Universal’s 10:22 PM said it had paid $360,817 to buy Bored Ape #5537 – a female character now known as Manager Noët All, to lead the group it founded in November called Kingship.
Kingship, which exists only in digital form, will have its own website and presence on the messaging platform Discord, eventually producing new music and offering virtual shows in the metaverse, a loose term often used to describe a place where the physical and digital world meet. Like Manager Noët All, all of the band’s members are NFTs – Three Boring Monkeys and a Mutant Ape, on loan from collector Jim McNelis.
“To become a part of the culture, I think, would be a great thing,” McNelis said.
The idea of creating virtual domains of digital characters is not a new one. Gorillaz, a virtual band formed in 1998 by musician Damon Albarn and comedian Jamie Hewlett, has released seven albums on Warner Music Group’s Parlophone label. One of the Japanese pop stars, Hatsune Miku, is a hologram.
For Kingship, Universal’s 10:22 PM brand has sought out one of the most popular NFT groups on the blockchain, the Bored Ape Yacht Club, made up of 10,000 anthropomorphic monkeys, each with distinctive clothing, fur and expressions.
Bored Apes have become a celebrity status symbol, with investors including “The Tonight Show” presenter Jimmy Fallon, pop star Justin Bieber, NBA star Steve Curry and billionaire investor Mark Cuban.
For Universal Music, Kingship presents an opportunity to learn how to create the characters and stories that generate excitement in the metaverse.
“It’s about understanding the spirit of space,” said 10:22 PM founder Celine Joshua, whose label serves as a laboratory for experimenting with new forms of entertainment.
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