Here Are the Biggest Music NFTs in March as Patrick Moxey’s Label and Grimes Top a Weak Month

March saw the launch of two Web3 record labels, a free non-fungible token (NFT) from Grimes and NFT streaming royalties tied to several viral hits. Overall, the crypto market has bounced back, with Ethereum now 100% higher than its lows of last year, injecting some optimism into the crypto economy.

However, it was a weaker month for music NFTs — a common symptom of the NFT market when crypto prices are trending higher, as many buyers prefer to hold on to their ETH as it gains value. Volume across the 10 biggest projects netted 381 ETH compared with 1,016 ETH in February. In dollar terms, it’s $697,393 compared with February’s $1.6 million. Compiled by tracking music NFT sales across 19 different NFT platforms as well as independent releases — which are then combined with secondary volume on OpenSea to capture a broad picture of trading activity — here are the 10 biggest-selling music NFTs and collections in March 2023.

1/ Helix Records Genesis Pass
Monthly trading volume: 137 ETH ($250,710)
Primary sales (March): ~91 ETH
Secondary sales: 46 ETH
Drop date: March 10

Patrick Moxey, founder of PayDay and Ultra Records, has launched a new label with Web3 at its heart. Helix Records sold 3,333 NFT genesis passes in March, granting access to the inner workings of the label. Holders can pitch their music to Helix Records’ A&R team, get access to free tickets and claim a free NFT of Marshall Jefferson’s iconic house classic “Move Your Body.” Moxey aims to onboard the label’s entire roster of dance artists onto Web3.

View the collection on OpenSea.

2/ Grimes – Gen-1 Avatars
Monthly trading volume: 60.7 ETH ($111,081)
Primary sales (March): 60.7 ETH
Secondary sales: N/A
Drop date: March 24

To celebrate a performance at Ultra Festival, Grimes dropped a free NFT on Web3 platform Zora in March. The Grimes Gen-1 avatars will unlock quests, exclusive music and other digital experiences. Over 78,000 were minted in a seven-day window. Although the NFTs were free, each edition was subject to a 0.000777 platform fee, which generated a total of 60.7 ETH.

View the collection on Zora.

3/ Dreams Never Die – Founders Pass
Monthly trading volume: 46 ETH ($84,180)
Primary sales (March): ~40 ETH
Secondary sales: 6 ETH
Drop date: March 15

Dreams Never Die is a record label founded by Chad Hillard, credited for discovering Billie Eilish and breaking “Ocean Eyes” through his music blog HillyDilly when the track had fewer than 1,000 plays on SoundCloud. Fast forward eight years, and Hillard’s record label Dreams Never Die has established itself deeply in Web3 culture.

The label was the first to release a debut single as an NFT through its flagship artist, Sloe Jack, and in March, it launched 1,000 Founders Passes. The NFT gives holders the opportunity to participate in the label as scouts and other roles, as well as get direct feedback on music.

View the collection on OpenSea.

4/ Kingship – Key Cards
Monthly trading volume: 37 ETH ($67,710)
Primary sales (March): N/A
Secondary sales: 37 ETH
Drop date: July 2022

The Bored Ape supergroup launched a new initiative in March called Crowns. Members of the Kingship community can earn Crowns by helping out new members, retweeting social posts, sharing music and engaging in the Discord server. The Crowns can then be redeemed for items in the upcoming Kingship digital store.

View the collection on OpenSea.

5/ Violetta Zironi – Another Life 
Monthly trading volume: 30 ETH ($54,900)
Primary sales (March): N/A
Secondary sales: 30 ETH
Drop date: Feb. 20

Italian singer-songwriter Zironi recently launched a new collection, Another Life — an EP encompassing five tracks and 5,500 unique profile picture illustrations. Holders get access to virtual shows and live concerts, and can also use the songs for their own projects. The project launched in February but continued to generate strong secondary sales through March.

View the collection on OpenSea.

6/ Maddix – Heute Nacht
Monthly trading volume: $36,990 
Primary sales (March): $36,990
Secondary sales: N/A
Drop date: March 15

Producer Maddix released Heute Nacht in October 2022, and it quickly turned into a viral hit, racking up 20 million Spotify streams in five months. In March, the track was released as a collection of 260 NFTs via Royal, offering a percentage of streaming royalties in the hit song. 250 “Gold” tokens give holders 0.0295% of royalties, while 10 “Diamond” NFTs offer 0.262% ownership.

View the collection on OpenSea.

7/ David Guetta, Martin Garrix, Romy Dya and Jamie Scott – So Far Away
Monthly trading volume: $30,781
Primary sales (March): $28,000
Secondary sales: 1.52 ETH ($2,781)
Drop date: March 28

With 352 million streams, So Far Away dropped as a collection of 200 NFTs in March, each offering 0.01% ownership in the track. The NFT was released via Anotherblock, which unlocks streaming royalties in major hits, usually through a producer or songwriter’s share rather than the lead artist. In this case, the NFT is released through featured artist Romy Dya.

View the collection on OpenSea.

8/ Reo Cragun – Spent
Monthly trading volume: 15.6 ETH ($28,548)
Primary sales (March): ~7.5 ETH
Secondary sales: 7.9 ETH
Drop date: March 28

Rapper-producer Cragun has been at the forefront of independent Web3 music for the last 18 months, previously appearing in this chart for his EP Criteria with Daniel Allan in December. Cragun returned in March with a new single, “Spent.”

The track was the first to use a new drop format on Web3 music platform sound.xyz called Sound Swap. The mechanism begins with a familiar 24-hour mint period where fans can buy as many editions of the song as they want for 0.005 ETH (~$7). However, when the 24-hour period ends, the price rises steadily for each additional purchase. 

If there is sufficient demand and the price rises, existing collectors can instantly sell at the current price — an innovative upgrade from trying to trade or sell NFTs on a secondary market like OpenSea. The track generated 1,500 mints in the first 24 hours and an additional 350 mints using the Sound Swap mechanism.

View the collection on OpenSea.

9/ Illenium – Phoenix Family Founders Pass
Monthly trading volume: $28,000
Primary sales (March): $28,000
Secondary sales: N/A
Drop date: March 29

DJ-producer Illenium launched a Web3 fan club in March called The Phoenix Family, powered by tech platform Medallion. Once inside, fans could mint the Phoenix Family Founders Pass for $25 each, giving them access to a digital jersey, fast-track access to merchandise and exclusive content. Illenium sold 1,132 in a two-day window.

View the collection on OpenSea.

10/ Wes Ghost – Sleepwalking
Monthly trading volume: 12.6 ETH ($23,058)
Primary sales (March): 10.7 ETH
Secondary sales: 1.9 ETH
Drop date: March 16

Wes Ghost exploded onto the Web3 music scene in March with debut single “Sleepwalking” — a pop-punk electronic crossover anthem. Using an NFT character from the “Kid Called Beast” NFT collection to front the project, Wes Ghost sold 2,351 editions of the track by tapping into dozens of different NFT communities through giveaways and cross-collaboration.

View the collection on OpenSea.

Methodology: The chart was compiled by tracking music NFT sales across 19 different NFT platforms as well as independent releases. We then combine those primary sales with secondary volume on OpenSea to capture a broad picture of trading activity. Data was captured between March 1 – March 31, 2023. Conversion rates from crypto to U.S. dollars were calculated on March 31.

Disclaimer: The author owns NFTs from Reo Cragun and Dreams Never Die. However, the above list is based purely on sales data.