Today, we are excited to announce a $1.1M round co-led by Coop Records and Palm Tree Crew Crypto
We collected a group of investors who all believe in the future of licensed music in the metaverse.
Co-led by Coop Records and Palm Tree Crew Crypto, the round saw participation from, LongHash Ventures, Noise DAO, DegenDaVinci, DAO Jones, 2 Punks Capital, Mark Manginelli and a handful of prominent collectors and angel investors.
But this story includes more than just an investment announcement. It is the beginning of an ecosystem of music.
Here’s what you need to know.
RELICSxyz origins
RELICSxyz was born out of the desire to support art and culture…
The story begins inside Monstercat, a label renowned for its electronic catalog and innovative musician-first model. In mid-2021, as the cultural hype of NFTs began to bubble, Monstercat began releasing audiovisual NFTs on Nifty Gateway.
These collections included the first-ever Metaverse-ready music player, and a season of fully-licensed RELICS. Over the course of the past eighteen months, this Monstercat experiment included:
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4300 NFTs
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39 Collections
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$1M+ in Primary Sales
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$1.3M+ in Secondary Sales
Quickly, it was apparent the project required special focus and attention, and RELICSxyz was born in March of 2022.
The Metaverse music thesis
We believe that a musical atmosphere is needed in the Metaverse. While there are many companies and collections focused on releasing new music and redesigning music releases, there are very few tackling the problem of providing copyright-licensed music and music players for Metaverse worlds.
The RELICSxyz company focus is a simple, two-tiered strategy. RELICSxyz enables audiences to represent themselves with a theme song, and fill virtual spaces with song mixes. We do this with the release of two unique product types: RELICS and IDOLS.
What are RELICS and IDOLS?
RELICS are our music NFTs, playable visual music records.
RELICS upgrade over time using a dynamic property that represents a song’s performance - the equivalent of a “Platinum record” in Web3.
RELICS Season 1 was released in February 2022 with 50 unique RELICS, each with 30 total editions. 1,500 RELICS were sold at 0.08 ETH per NFT. View the collection here.
IDOLS are virtual record players.
RELICS play on IDOLS. This is similar to a song being played on a virtual iPod.
RELICS can also be played on their own, but for the full experience - we hope they will be experienced through an IDOL.
IDOLS are 3D virtual hardware.
264 GENESIS IDOLS were sold for $199 USD each, with some of the most renowned collectors in the space holding this utility token. View the collection here.
The next edition of the IDOL has yet to be released, and was designed by celebrated digital artist Raf Grassetti.
Where we’re headed
The $1.1M pre-seed round is our way of making RELICSxyz fully independent and further developing the ecosystem and world around it.
This financing will contribute to:
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The expansion of the RELICSxyz team up to a total of 7 full-time employees, expanding the core developer team.
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Redeveloping the RELICSxyz brand.
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Further developing the dynamic rarity system for music NFTs.
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Building a deeper catalog of full licensed music and art for use in Web3.
As it stands RELICSxyz is currently one of the only Music NFT brands that has an entirely fully licensed ecosystem, covering both the artwork and music. This is what allows RELICS to integrate so seamlessly into Metaverses that already exist.
The next phases of RELICSxyz will include additional (already confirmed) Seasons featuring some of the biggest names in Web3, along with special 1/1 mixes. These artists will bring a fresh feel to the brand, and will help diversify the genres that are already prominent within the RELICSxyz ecosystem.
We’ve also developed a pricing structure to make RELICS more accessible. It’s our hope that this will allow music NFTs to be collected by those who are not currently in the space.
Finally, RELICSxyz will officially be spinning out into its own independent company, breaking away from Monstercat.
RELICSxyz was founded within the innovation program at Monstercat, and will continue to be overseen by its co-founders Mike Darlington & Ari Paunonen.
To get involved with RELICxyz, follow us on Twitter or join the Discord.
We’ll soon be sharing more around Season 2, and look forward to getting feedback from all our holders.
Get to know our public investors
We are honoured to welcome a number of high profile Web3 investors to growing RELICSxyz including but not limited to:
Coop Records (@cooprecordsxyz) - Coop Records is an early-stage fund investing in the next generation of music. It’s led by Cooper Turley (aka Coopahtroopa) - a leading Music NFT collector, operator and investor. RELICS is the first formal investment made by Coop Records.
Palm Tree Crew (@PalmTreeCrypto) - PTC Crypto is an early stage venture fund managed by BlockchainBrett - a leading Music NFT and Crypto Art collector. The fund was launched in collaboration with Kygo and invests in the Creator Economy. PTC Crypto bridges crypto native relationships and thought leadership with mainstream cultural icons.
Noise DAO (@NoiseDao) - Noise DAO is a collective of artists, music industry vets, and investors with a shared belief that web3 can be used as a force to positively impact the future of music. The group invests in music NFTs, innovation projects, and supporting infrastructure companies started by creative founders + artists
LongHash Ventures (@LongHashVC) - LongHash Ventures is Asia’s leading Web3 investment fund and accelerator collaborating with founders to build their Web3 model and tap into the vast potential of Asia.
2 Punks Capital (@2PunksCapital) - 2 Punks Capital is a seed stage venture firm managed by Stephen Sullivan & Jacob Martin, focused on the companies building the next generation of blockchain technologies and applications.
DAO Jones (@TheRealDAOJones) - A collection of DJs and degens who invest in companies, protocols and projects that unlock new frontiers in finance, Web3 and creator economy.
AB (@ABBBBBB_NFT) - AB is an NFT Collector, with focus on Epic, beautiful, historical, blue and utility/gaming.
Mark Manginelli (@MarkyMetaverse) - Mark is a Co-Founder of Ready Player DAO, North America's largest and most reputable Web3/Blockchain Gaming DAO in the space. He is also the Head of Growth at LandVault, the largest builder and developer of the Metaverse where they work with brands, companies and all Intellectual Property to create immersive businesses and experiences in Sandbox, Decentraland, Somnium Space, Cryptovoxels etc.
DegenDaVinci (@DegenDaVinci) - Web3 Angel Investor. Long-Term Games with Long-Term People.
Arben Kane (@Arben) - An arbiter in the world of technology and a relentless challenger against the limitations of the human condition. A serial founder and experienced entrepreneur with over 20 years of experience in technology & venture.
Andre Benz (@Benz) - CEO / Co-Founder of SoundMint, builder of Trap Nation & Lowly.
Brandon Kang (@BrandonKangFilms) - NFT Collector and event/travel videographer.
James Basnett (@jamesbasnett) - CEO of Shape Immersive, a metaverse studio that was acquired in 2022. Shape is an award-winning group that has worked with web3 leaders RTFKT (acquired by Nike), Star Atlas, Red Bull, and the Olympics. James is a co-founder of the Metaverse Museum and has been building metaverse technology since 2016.
Narcissus Ventures - Narcissus Ventures is a blockchain venture investment firm, focusing on the broad Web3 sector with a particular focus on infrastructure, interoperability, NFT and DAO.
Naveen Jain (@sparkart) - Founder and CEO of SparkArt. Y Combinator alumnus. Recently launched a Web3 company (y.at) and is an established leader in cryptocurrency and blockchain technology.
Sven (@sven_nft) - Sven is an avid NFT collector and investor, as well as being both a project founder and advisor. He is also a founding member of The Mad Pups along with other art-focused DAOs.