Grime’s gamble on non-fungible tokens (NFTs) in 2021 paid off, as she revealed in a recent interview with Wired magazine that she made more money from NFTs than her entire music career. During the 2021 hype cycle, Grimes sold her War Nymph NFTs on Nifty Gateway, earning a whopping $6 million in revenue. The collection included digital artworks set to her music, as well as a one-of-one music video that sold for almost $400,000.
Although NFTs have since taken a backseat in pop culture, with trading volume dropping nearly 50% since the beginning of the year, Grimes remains hopeful that they can help artists earn profits on their work. I’m sad about what happened to NFTs and crypto, because it got polluted fast with people trying to make as much money as possible, she said. But I do want to think about compensating artists, especially digital artists. And I hope when the aggro niche dies down, we can come back.
Grimes is also bullish on Web3, having contributed to TikTok’s Top Moments NFT collection in October 2021 and speaking at the Avalanche Summit in March 2022 about her plans to create a metaverse children’s book with support from Web3 AI platform OP3N. Additionally, she invited fans to use an AI version of her voice to make new music, offering a 50/50 split on any royalties.