MoonDAO is a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) founded in December 2021 with an international collective of around 31,000 members. The DAO’s mission is “decentralizing access to space research and exploration” which includes literally sending people to the moon.
“MoonDAO wants to help create a world where anyone can fly to space regardless of their financial situation” (MoonDAO)
Their initial crowdfunding and $MOONEY governance-only token launch on the JuiceBox platform raised over $8 million (2,623 ETH) despite a modest goal of $450,000. Today, their treasury holds over $21 million (12,560 ETH).
“Every investor, builder, or fren, big or small, has gotten the same terms. No special treatment for anyone … Not VC funded, community organized and led, this is very important to us!” (MoonDAO)
The DAO purchased two tickets for the Blue Origin flight. The first spaceflight ticket was put to community members via a Discord vote. Out of 5000 candidates, popular trick-shot and amateur rocket hobbyist Coby Cotton from the Dude Perfect YouTube channel was chosen, and on August 4, 2022, Coby and a passenger crew of five others successfully launched and completed their suborbital spaceflight.
The second spaceflight ticket purchased by MoonDAO is to be given away via their “Ticket to Space” lottery. A limited number of 9060 promotional NFTs served as one way for individuals to enter the sweepstakes, with the number referencing the “total number of seconds that Neil Armstrong was in EVA on the moon”.
NFT utilities included the chance to win a governance token airdrop and VIP access to the astronaut launch party. The NFTs were free to mint on June 3rd, 2022 with a snapshot subsequently taken and the winners to be chosen at random announced on August 10, 2022.
Blue Origin is Jeff Bezos’ competitor to Elon Musk’s SpaceX program, with both participating in public spats of rivalry in their quests to successfully land and colonize both the Moon, Mars and beyond. It’s quite possible that DAOs like MoonDAO could form part of the foundations of future space colonies.
“One small step for DAO… One giant leap for DAO-Kind” (Pablo Moncada-Larrotiz, MoonDAO Co-Founder)
MTV expands its Video Music Awards with a new “Best Metaverse Performance” category.
Ariana Grade, BLACKPINK, BTS, Charli XCX, Justin Bieber and Twenty One Pilots have been nominated for the Best Metaverse Performance awards for MTV’s upcoming Video Music Awards (VMAs).
“We saw the opportunity to highlight and honour some of the best, most impactful executions of this — and celebrate artists who have found creative ways to use these spaces” (MTV)
This heralds MTV’s recognition of the growing relevance of the metaverse as an entertainment technology and new medium to connect with global fanbases.
“I don’t believe in-person concerts will ever be replaced … But virtual ones will continue to grow in popularity, capability and creativity. And eventually we will see the two blend into something altogether new.” (Matthew Ball, author of The Metaverse)
Metaverse platforms represented include Fortnite, PlayerUnkown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG) Mobile, Minecraft, Roblox and Wave. It’s interesting to note that the majority of these platforms are originally gaming focused and have subsequently branched out to live-streaming virtual concerts in partnership with global pop idols. The convenience of online participation, the direct connection to fans, plus merchandising opportunities for sales of in-game items will continue to be attractive to artists and audiences alike.
BLACKPINK even released a promotional single “Ready For Love” for their collaboration with PUBG Mobile which was their first release in over two years, featuring an animated music video in the style of the video game and hyperrealistic avatars.
BTS released their single Butter via livestream for YouTube’s ESCAPE2021, “a global, interactive livestream that challenged people to play their way through 2021 trends”. In the video, their boxy, Minecraft avatars attempt to reproduce their signature dance moves. A reported 12.8 million viewers tuned in for the release.
Ariane Grande’s collaboration with Epic Games for the Rift Tour held in Fortnite, was watched by millions around the world. The full event video featuring a surreal rollercoaster space theme and a collection of her hit songs is here.
Roblox hosted the metaverse performances of both Charli XCX and Twenty One Pilots, while Justin Bieber’s was hosted by Wave’s Interactive Virtual Experience platform.
“The Show Must Go Beyond” (WaveXR.com)
As more artists host interactive digital performances, the growing connections between music events and the metaverse will be an exciting space to watch. The Expect to see increasingly more music awards created for this new medium.
Online voting for MTV’s VMAs is currently live with the big show scheduled for August 28, 2022.
Grammy Award-winning British rock band Muse to release the first chart-eligible NFT music album.
Muse will release their ninth studio album in August via eco-friendly NFT and digital collectibles platform Serenade, a process they refer to as “digital pressing”.
“What a fan wants is something simple and understandable but that gives them a sense of proximity to an artist and a sense of recognition from other fans” (Max Shand, Serenade founder)
Serenade aims to make the process straightforward for non-crypto savvy users. As such, the purchase will not require a crypto wallet, with one being created for the buyer during the purchase process. Buyers can however bring their own web3 wallet if they so choose and transfer their NFT as they wish. Credit and debit cards may also be used to make their purchase.
Muse’s “Will of the People” will be the first release approved by the UK’s Official Charts Company (OCC) with Serenade as the vendor. This qualifies the album for charts in the UK and Australia — the first new chart-eligible format since album streams in 2015.
“NFTs are a new, exciting format, the potential for which is only just beginning to be explored and I am sure will play a part in the Official Charts for years to come.” (Martin Talbot, CEO OCC)
1000 copies of the album will be available globally as NFTs for 20 GBP each, with 15% of resale prices going to the band and rights owners Warner Music and Universal Music Publishing. Buyers will get a special sleeve to differentiate the NFT release, digital signatures from the band members, a downloadable high-res FLAC version of the album, and their name put on a roster of first buyers to be “etched into the history of a record for all of time.” (Max Shand, Serenade).
The seeming lack of utility is partly to keep within chart rules and partly to keep the focus on the music, for now. Having already collaborated with CryptoKitties to create digital collectibles in 2020, the band have “always been at the forefront of technological innovation in their creativity and artistry” (Sebastian Simone, VP of audience and strategy at Warner Records UK). Future releases could have more utility and rewards to unlock.
“… using this technology to elevate the experience of their new album made a lot of sense” (Max Shand, Serenade)
The album is to be released on August 26, 2022. Teaser tweet and trailer here.
Review written by Quoc Nguyen
