DIGITAL PIONEERS BLOCKPLAY ANNOUNCE CRYPTO-BASED RECORD LABEL ALONGSIDE FIRST OFFICIAL SIGNING H3RIZON WITH NEW SINGLE SERIOUS
BlockPlay have today launched their digital record label with integrated music NFT studio and distribution capabilities, and announced their first official signing H3RIZON, the uber-talented Aussie girl group taking over the TikTok pop scene. Released today, their impressive new single Serious is a total bop, accompanied by a vibrant, 2000s-inspired music video directed by Rowena Rasmussen of JTown Creative (Katy Perry, Taylor Swift, Jessica Mauboy).
Pop superstars H3RIZON consists of Bernadette Marquez (Bernie), Taylah Albert (Taya) and Gabrielle Montalbo (Gabby). With 1.7 million followers on TikTok, fans are eagerly anticipating the BlockPlay-backed EP and associated music NFT collection. Serious is a cheeky little pop explosion – bouncing synths and irresistible vocal hooks abound, inviting the listener to press play again and again. In the colourful, joyous and playful video for the track, the H3RIZON girls are television stars – Gabby is a weatherwoman, Bernie is a workout instructor and Taya is a chef – amongst a vivid set of neon colours and flashing lights. It’s a slick production, sweet and the perfect introduction to H3RIZON on the precipice of their pop music world domination, as the girls explain why H3RIZON just works so well, “With Tay’s RnB background, Gabby’s classical music influences and Bernie’s production skills, we found ourselves ultimately drawn to each other to form a ‘new’ girl group that follows in the footsteps of Destiny’s Child, TLC, Chloe x Halle, and Little Mix.” The upcoming H3RIZON NFT collection will consist of a set of crypto-fashion digital collectibles laced with the pop songs lifted from the EP.
BlockPlay is transforming how independent artists connect directly with their fans thru NFTs, as the digital label’s founder, Wilson Olegasegarem (artist name Wilsonn) outlines, “After the success of my own music NFT, we received an enormous amount of outreach from the music industry to do the same. We now have the capital to back up to twenty-five or so independent artists to produce and release exciting new independent music and innovative NFT collections.” Olegasegarem’s vision for the next evolution of the direct-to-fan music industry is for artists to retain control of their own masters and for the digital label to provide the capital and cutting-edge technology to help support their career paths.
Offering further insight on why artists will be interested to jump in on BlockPlay, H3RIZON’s managers Phil Anquetil and Kelvon Avon comment, “H3RIZON will be one of the first-ever artists completely powered by the blockchain… We’re no longer relying on the major labels to take a risk on our amazing artists – we’re allowing savvy fans and followers the opportunity to invest in digital collectibles …the merging of music, tech, NFT/Crypto can be the new model for artists success, and H3RIZON are set to pioneer it!”
BlockPlay is powered by the NFT marketplace technology software provider, Monegraph, the inventors of NFTs and providers of the industry’s most powerful enterprise platform for minting, auctioning and marketing digital collectibles. Olegasegarem stressed, “Our partnership with Monegraph is fundamental. It is the only NFT platform in the world that offers the digital media rights contract baked directly in the blockchain protecting both the NFT buyer and the artist/label. It enables the artist to issue NFTs while explicitly protecting their copyright and associated commercial rights to their music.” He further explains, “Once your NFT has been auctioned, you can be paid instantaneously into your crypto wallet which sure beats having to wait a long time to collect your royalty payments.”
BlockPlay is architecting a label-musician relationship that is aligned with artist’s financial interests and maximises their creative potential. Describing BlockPlay’s mission, Olegasegarem says, “BlockPlay is flipping the traditional record contract as you know it on its head! The new frontier of what a label looks like is here, and the model looks very different and promising for the future generation of talent to make an income straight away from digital collectibles! We are a group of artists and innovators in the tech realm and we are looking for innovators alike. We are calling out for artists, creatives, labels, fashion houses, designers, execs… you name it. The possibilities are endless with BlockPlay.”
For more information, visit https://blockplay.art
H3RIZON’s first single with BlockPlay Serious is out today