Blues rock hero Joe Bonamassa is partnering with Heritage Auction House to announce a game-changing NFT collection that stands to reshape the music industry forever by tokenizing the original master and publishing rights to a brand-new song titled “Broken Record.” This lot is truly unprecedented as the chart-topping guitarist is the first artist in music to sell his publishing in an NFT as part of this digital + physical collection, which also features his own “Holy Grail” 1959 Gibson Les Paul Sunburst guitar and 1963 Fender Vibroverb amp that were used to record the song.
Bonamassa calls this lot “the one-song record company” because it totally transforms the way musicians can make a business from their intellectual property. Joe’s business partner Roy Weisman elaborates: “That is what this NFT concept gives artists — the opportunity to raise capital on an independent basis that will allow them to overstep the so-called gatekeepers of the music industry.”
“One of the things that I like about being an independent artist is that Roy and I came up with this idea,” Bonamassa says. “We didn’t have to run it up any sort of chain of command. It was like, let’s do this because it feels right. And it’s the next logical step in how independent artists are going to be on equal footing with major labels.”
Weisman says “we’re now truly in a unique time in the music business where it is completely just supply and demand. People can find artists online anytime, people can buy their music, investors can invest in them with an artist having to go through that typical major label or even large independent label system that is heavily weighted against artists from the start.”
This history-making auction from the music-business revolutionary is far from routine; then, nothing Bonamassa does is ever ordinary.
Bonamassa is breaking new ground in the music industry and playing by his own rules with this lot featuring highly collectible items, including not only some of the most prized musical instruments on the planet, but pairing them with a series of certificates of authenticity as cutting-edge non-fungible tokens (NFTs). The type of guitar has been used by rock royalty such as Keith Richards, Jimmy Page, Eric Clapton, Mike Bloomfield. The instrument with the “unmatched deep, throaty sound,” as David Schiller writes in his book Guitar, was the ax that built rock and roll.
Non-fungible tokens are changing the business world and Bonamassa’s clever use of the new technology is now allowing other artists to build what is their own business. Bonamassa’s auction is unique and stands to reshape how musicians make and sell their art. This incredible lot includes 13 items individually tokenized on the Ethereum blockchain. Each physical item will have a digital NFT component. This lot is a dream come true for any serious collector of vintage gear or NFT investor looking to diversify their portfolio.
It should surprise no one who follows Bonamassa’s career that he’s leading this revolution. No guitarist has ever received as much coverage in the music and business media as the two-time Grammy Award nominee who has topped Billboard’s Blues chart 24 times – at only the age of 44, no less. Only last year, in fact, Forbes heralding the guitarist for “Taking Control Of His Business, Building A Brand And Investing In Himself.”
