Quick take:
- The company purchased the NFT for 125 ETH.
- Kingship will produce new music and perform in the metaverse.
- All the band members are Ape characters.
Universal Music Group (UMG) has acquired a Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) NFT for 125 ETH ($360,817 at the time of purchase), the company’s label, 10:22PM, announced today. Bored Ape #5537, a female character who has been given the name Manager Noët All will manage the label’s virtual band, Kingship.
The band is made up of three Bored Apes and one Mutant Ape. Besides the Bored Ape NFT that 10:22PM bought, the rest of the NFTs that the band members are based on are loaned by collector Jim McNelis.
10.22PM is a Web3 label owned by UMG, founded in 2018 by former Sony exec Celine Joshua. According to UMG, 10.22PM utilises new technology and platforms, alongside first-of-a-kind strategies and execution, to manage its talent and IP.
Even though bands based on virtual characters aren’t new, Kingship is the label’s first virtual band. Unlike English virtual band, Gorillaz, who have performed live shows in their animated and as the band members’ physical form, Kingship will only exist digitally. It will have a website and a presence on Discord, where it hopes to build a community. Both the website and Discord were launched today.
10:22PM will guide the band in producing and releasing new music as well as performances, activations and community-based experiences in the metaverse.
“We have been incredibly busy developing KINGSHIP since our initial announcement and I’m so excited to introduce Manager Noët All, one of many new characters that will be joining the KINGSHIP universe,” said Celine Joshua. “As the manager of the group, Manager Noët All will help drive the storyline and allow us to communicate with the community.”
Since launching in April 2021, BAYC has seen a meteoric rise to its current blue-chip NFT status. It counts rapper Snoop Dogg, billionaire investor Mark Cuban, The Tonight Show host Jimmy Fallon, pro footballer Neymar and NBA basketballer Stephen Curry amongst some of the most famous owners of Bored Ape NFTs.
Late Wednesday, ApeDAO announced the launch of ApeCoin, which began listing on several major cryptocurrency exchanges on Thursday. According to Decrypt, the token’s launch has caused the floor price of BAYC to surge, going from 91.9 ETH on Wednesday morning to 105.9 ETH after the announcement.
ApeCoin will be the primary token for all new products and services by BAYC parent company, Yuga Labs.
Following the listing, ApeCoin hit a peak of $39.40 before dumping to $7. Seeing a rebound, ApeCoin is currently trading at $12.98 as of this article.
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