Musician sells NFT of phone demo of song for Rs 1.5 crore

In what is possibly the biggest of its kind in India, an independent Tamil musician Kaber Vasuki has sold a phone demo of his song 'Vasanam' as a non-fungitble token (NFT) for 50 ETH (ETH is the short form of cryptocurrency Ethereum) or approximately Rs 1.5 crore, Moneycontrol reported.

The NFT was purchased by Vignesh Sundaresan, known more popularly as Metakovan on May 11. Metakovan's trust Metapurse Fund was in the news back in March for its purchase of a digital collage called “Everydays: The First 5,000 Days” by an artist named Beeple for nearly $70 million (over Rs 500 crore).

Vasuki told the publication that he got the idea for making an NFT while researching cryptocurrencies and blockchains earlier this year. The musician saw it as another way to "raise funds" for his music.

For the uninitiated, what this is means is that the creator of the digital file, Vasuki, has transferred ownership to Metakovan.

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Speaking about his purchase, Metakovan described Vasuki's music as "powerful" and filled the vacuum that the likes of Pink Floyd and The Beatles couldn't fill. He added that he had known the musician since 2012 and that his lyrics — from the slang to the topics he sings about — was something he could "identify with at every level."

While many musicians have struggled over the past few years, independent artists have had it tougher. Troydon Netto, one such independent artist based in Chennai, told Moneycontrol that the sale was "incredible news" and "opens up an avenue worth exploring."

Watching the bids surge from 1 ETH to 50 ETH, the sale, for Vasuki feels like a "validation" for sticking to his belief for a decade. "It really felt like a payday after a decade of struggles,” he was quoted as saying.

Metakovan feels NFTs, in particular, can now serve as an alternate patronage model for artists looking to serve up high-quality content to a niche audience that "highly resonates with it."