Greg Oakford, a co-founder of NFT Fest Australia, guides you through the Web3 digital art world from a collector\u2019s perspective.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n Snoop Dogg\u2019s recent announcement<\/a> of the Snoop Passport<\/a> \u2014 an evolving concert tour collectible \u2014 is a trend I believe we\u2019ll see get more and more traction among musicians and entertainers.\u00a0<\/p>\n They tap into those fan moments we\u2019ve all had: whether it\u2019s dusting off an old concert T-shirt, rustling through a shoe box full of ticket stubs from sporting events and concerts you\u2019ve attended or putting your favorite musician\/band poster on your bedroom walls as a kid.<\/p>\n All these examples create feelings of nostalgia; they take you back to a moment in time and act like the timestamps of your life. But they are fragile at best over time, and at least half of my cherished ticket stubs are dog-eared with fading ink.\u00a0<\/p>\n So storing nostalgia on the blockchain in durable digital goods is just the base case for why we\u2019re likely to see more artists after Snoop follow suit. But there are plenty of other reasons for artists and fans to get on board\u00a0<\/p>\n What\u2019s in it for the musician?\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n \u2014 Ability to token gate exclusive and dynamic content to fans.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u2014\u00a0 Open up a new line of digital merch (alongside physical merch).<\/p>\n \u2014\u00a0 Deeper engagement between artists and fans with new experiences and access.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u2014\u00a0 Collaboration with Web3 and digital artists (hip hop is well known for its collaborations over many decades, so this natural extension into a Web3 context makes sense).\u00a0<\/p>\n \u2014\u00a0 Reward fan loyalty and the ability to add additional utility to the holder.<\/p>\n \u2014 New revenue stream from minting. Snoop opted for $42 (approx) or 0.025 ETH, which re you can pay via credit card or via crypto.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u2014 Royalties on secondary sales.\u00a0<\/p>\n What\u2019s in it for the fan?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n \u2014\u00a0 Creates nostalgia through collectibles on the blockchain.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u2014\u00a0 Dynamic content and exclusive behind-the-scenes access.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u2014\u00a0 Exposure to artists and collaborations (i.e., Terrell Jones<\/a> and Coldie<\/a>).\u00a0<\/p>\n \u2014\u00a0 Access to drops, events and experiences.<\/p>\n \u2014\u00a0 The new era of displaying fandom (many collect vinyl when they don\u2019t even have a record player)\u00a0<\/p>\n \u2014\u00a0 Integration with social media, a continuation of social signaling in our digital lives.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u2014\u00a0 Ability to trade it on secondary NFT markets.\u00a0<\/p>\n It\u2019s hard to go past \u201cThe Goose<\/a>\u201d from artist Dmitri Cherniak\u2019s<\/a> Ringers generative art collection. This iconic piece sold as part of Sotheby\u2019s recent Grails II event (an auction of NFT art seized from bankrupt crypto hedge fund Three Arrows Capital) for a whopping $6,215,1000 to Punk6529<\/a>. Going into the auction, the sale price was estimated between $2 million to $3 million.\u00a0<\/p>\n Originally minted in February 2021 for 0.1 ETH (the equivalent to $131 on the date of sale), The Goose\u2019s price appreciation continues to ascend into the stratosphere.\u00a0<\/p>\n The history of the piece includes a sale from TheCryptonite to Pixelpete<\/a> for 1.26 WETH ($2,220) on 4 February 2021; a transfer from Pixelpete to 3AC for 1,800 ETH ($5,896,566) on 27 August 2021; and a new owner in Punk6529 via Sotheby\u2019s auction after 3AC\u2019s demise for 3,237 ETH ($5.4 million), plus a buyers premium in excess of $800,000.\u00a0<\/p>\n Following the successful Grails II<\/a> auction with 37 lots going under the hammer, Cointelegraph sat down with Michael Bouhanna, a Sotheby\u2019s vice president and head of digital and NFTs, to discuss the pivotal auction and why the brand continues to lean in heavily to art on the blockchain.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cGrails II exceeded our expectations in every respect. The total of $11 million from the 37 lots is more than double the high estimate, which was $4.8 million. Every single lot sold in excess of the high estimate, and that data is very impressive,\u201d says Bouhanna.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThere was tremendous excitement in the lead-up to the auction. We ended up having over 1,000 bids across the entire sale and had artists like Beeple and other members of the community take to Twitter to voice their excitement about the sale of The Goose. It was a very important movement, and I think that speaks to not only the importance of the work of The Goose but also to the collection and its significance to the market.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Sotheby\u2019s dates back to 1744 but only started its foray into NFTs in early 2021. Bouhanna believes the move is helping to usher in a new generation of collectors.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cSince early 2021, we\u2019ve been committed to digital art and NFTs as an important part of our overall fine art strategy. We really see digital art and NFTs as a natural outgrowth for us,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n He points out that 61% of the buyers in the Grails II auction were new to Sotheby\u2019s, and most were under 40, well below the average age of its usual clientele.<\/p>\n \u201cWith so many new collectors coming through our digital art sales, I think that is definitely opening up the world to many people who would have otherwise felt intimidated by participating in a sale at Sotheby\u2019s.\u201d<\/p>\n Read also<\/p>\n Blockchain and the world\u2019s growing plastic problem<\/p>\n <\/a>\n <\/div>\n 4 out of 10 NFT sales are fake: Learn to spot the signs of wash trading<\/p>\n <\/a>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Sotheby\u2019s is getting good at drawing attention to the NFT and crypto space via high-tension live streams. In November 2021, it was host to the sale of a first edition of the U.S. Constitution, with Constitution DAO drawing international headlines with its narrowly thwarted attempt to secure the highly sought-after artifact.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWhen Constitution DAO attempted to purchase the first printing, that really demonstrated how excited the community was about live auctions. Even today, it remains one of the most viewed live streams<\/a> of all time. It also shows how the crypto community, the NFT and digital art community is excited about how auctions are run and how very new they are to many people in this community,\u201d says Bouhanna.\u00a0<\/p>\n Sotheby\u2019s applies the same traditional buyer\u2019s premium revenue model to their digital art auctions as their physical art auctions. But Bouhanna points out the Sotheby\u2019s brand helps artists attract premium prices too.<\/p>\n \u201cWe play the same role in the market in bringing carefully created selections of our art to sale,\u201d he explains. \u201cOn Twitter, there was a poll<\/a> following the auction asking the question if The Goose would have achieved the same price if sold elsewhere. A significant percentage of respondents agreed that it would never have achieved as much as that amount had it been auctioned off on OpenSea or another on-chain NFT marketplace.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n On 28 June, Sotheby\u2019s announced its new generative art program, which will be fuelled by the ArtBlocks engine.\u00a0<\/p>\n The program will be headlined and launched with generative and computer art pioneer Vera Moln\u00e1r<\/a>. <\/p>\n The 99-year-old Hungarian artist\u2019s groundbreaking on-chain generative art project, titled \u201cThemes and Variations<\/a>,\u201d will feature 500 unique artworks.\u00a0<\/p>\n They will be sold in a Dutch auction, for the first time in Sotheby\u2019s history.\u00a0<\/p>\n Coldie dropped NFT Collector a link to his \u201cInspired whispers only you can hear<\/a>\u201d Spotify playlist:<\/p>\n Subscribe<\/p>\n The most engaging reads in blockchain. Delivered once aTurning concert merchandise and memories digital\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n
![\"Snoop](\"https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/Snoop-Dogg-Passport-Series.jpeg\")
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What\u2019s hot in NFT art markets\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n
![\"\u201cThe](\"https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/Dmitri-Cherniak-Ringers-879-The-Goose.png\")
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<\/figure>\nOther notable Sotheby\u2019s Grails II sales<\/strong><\/h2>\n
![\"Chromie](\"https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/Chromie-Squiggle-1780.png\")
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![\"Autoglyph](\"https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/Larva-Labs-Autoglyph-218.png\")
Sotheby\u2019s moves from museum pieces to the metaverse\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n
![\"Sotheby\u2019s](\"https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/Sotheby_s-Auction-Room-for-GRAILS-Collection-Sale-Large.jpeg\")
\n Features<\/span><\/p>\n
\n Features<\/span><\/p>\nConstitution DAO<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Prestige at a price<\/strong><\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/Tweet-2.png\")
<\/figure>\nSotheby\u2019s <\/strong>and the 99-year-old art pioneer<\/h2>\n
![\"Vera](\"https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/Vera-Molnar.png\")
Tweet of the week\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/Tweet-3.png\")
<\/figure>\nWhat Coldie listens to when creating art<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\n week.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n![\"Subscribe](\"https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/reading-copy.png\")
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