Anti-copying with the popular NFT! Rock opera band Lacroix Despheres, illegally uploaded a week after the CD was released, will release its first NFT art piece at 9am (ET) on February 17th.
Lacroix Despheres, a rock opera band from Office Lacroix, LLC, a company that proposes new ways of doing business in the music industry, will release the band’s first NFT as one of the new methods of expression in the COVID-19 pandemic, the band will release their first NFT artwork, “Lacroix Pixel Art NFT”, on Thursday, February 17, 2022 at 9:00 (ET) on their Spotify profile page and on their own e-commerce site, Lacroix Despheres Online Store.
Lacroix Despheres Spotify profile
Lacroix Despheres Online Store
Background Story
About the rock opera band Lacroix Despheres
Lacroix Despheres has been working to find a new way of the music business that does not rely on CD sales, after experiencing the illegal uploading of a CD album one week after its release.
They have created original stage productions in which the story progresses with the members (male and female twin vocals, flute, oboe, etc.) playing instruments and acting out the characters. They have increased the value of live performances by fusing stage and video, inviting dancers and stage actors as guest performers, and performing beyond the boundaries of a band, with a business model centered on ticket and merchandise sales and subscriptions.
However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, live performances were restricted and sales plummeted. Therefore, Lacroix Despheres focused on NFT as a new method of expression.
What is NFT?
NFT stands for “Non-Fungible Token”. In the past, digital data could be easily duplicated and it was impossible to distinguish between the original and the duplicate. However, because NFTs exist on a blockchain and have a unique identifier, it is possible to prove that they are unique and to prove ownership. In other words, although it is digital data, it can guarantee uniqueness and scarcity, just like a one-of-a-kind painting or a CD with a serial number engraved on it.
Problems of NFT
However, the high threshold for music fans to purchase NFTs, including the need to purchase cryptocurrency, prepare a wallet, and open an account on the NFT platform, as well as the fear of fraud, is a barrier to purchasing NFTs.
In addition, the recent NFT boom has led to an increase in the number of purchases for speculative purposes on the NFT platform, and there is a concern that the original fans may not be able to purchase NFT artworks because they are purchasing them not out of love for the artists or artworks, but only for the profits from trading.
Sold for dollars from Spotify profile and its own e-commerce site
So we decided to sell our first NFT art for US dollars on our Spotify profile page and on our e-commerce site, instead of listing it on the NFT marketplace, by using the NFT selling feature provided by Single, Inc.
This will allow fans of Lacroix Despheres to smoothly purchase NFTs without having to prepare cryptocurrency. Also, new fans who meet us on Spotify and play our songs can purchase NFTs directly on our Spotify profile page, or purchase NFTs at the same time as merchandise or CDs.
Product Overview
About the design of this NFT art
Designed by our soprano singer Saya, this is our first NFT art, featuring six band members and our mascot character “Seshibon” in pixel art. The product is limited to 50 pieces and the price is $25. There is no limit to the number of items you can purchase. There is no plan to resell the product.
About the flow after purchase
- Once you’ve purchased an NFT, you will receive an email containing a button to claim it.
- The “Claim Your NFT” button will take you to a landing page that will guide you through the process.
- First, you will be prompted to either connect your Solana wallet or create one if you don’t already have one. If you don’t have one and click “No,” you will see a prompt to download Phantom Wallet on the next page. You can use any Solana wallet, but we recommend this one Phantom because it’s simple and free.
- If you already have a wallet and click “Yes,” or once you have created one, you will see a section where you can select the type you want to connect. Select which one you have and your wallet address should be automatically imported after you have verified your credentials.
- Verify that your wallet address is correct and then click “Start Transfer.”
NOTE: Once the transfer of an NFT has been initiated, it CANNOT be undone, so make SURE the wallet address is correct.
- From there, you will be taken to a page showing the success of the transfer. This page will also have links to download the JPG of the NFT and shareable links of the image to post on social media if you would like. Additionally, if you would like to sell or trade your NFT, you will see a link to the site Magic Eden, one of the largest secondary Solana NFT markets.
Energy Efficiency
One of our biggest concerns at Single Music before jumping into the web3/NFT space was the environmental impact of the decision. It’s widely publicized how energy-intensive some blockchains can be and we needed a solution that would alleviate those concerns.
Recently the Solana Foundation created an Energy Usage Report ( https://solana.com/news/solana-energy-usage-report-november-2021 ) that really puts things into perspective and helped solidify our decision: “Solana Foundation can report that a transaction on Solana takes less energy than two Google searches and 24 times less energy than charging your phone.”
Future Prospects
The mission of Office Lacroix LLC is to express the power of music to the fullest through our worldview, to connect people across differences, to enjoy life more, and to increase the number of people who are happy to have been born. Starting with the launch of NFT Art, we will continue to consider the conversion of music works, some copyrights, and subscription memberships to NFT, and propose a new form of the music business.
Lacroix Despheres biography
The band’s members, who include male and female twin vocals, flute and oboe, play the roles of characters while performing, creating a stage work in which the story progresses. The band’s live performances are a fusion of stage and video and include dancers and stage actors as guest performers, and they are pursuing further possibilities for visual-kei bands.
The band’s music is characterized by a band sound with male and female twin vocals, a full orchestra including a full-time flute and oboe member, and a large symphonic sound with a mixed chorus.
Lacroix Despheres has performed internationally, including a two-day concert in London (with an audience of about 1,500), recording an album with the Bulgarian National Radio Symphony Orchestra, and participating in the recording of the soundtrack for a Japan-China joint production game. They have also performed with the orchestra at the National Tree Planting Festival in Japan.
In October 2021, they released “Resurrection Symphony,” a rock opera piece with Dolby Atmos spatial audio support.
Office Lacroix, LLC Company Information
Company Address: 7-31-2 Yaho, Kunitachi-shi, Tokyo, JAPAN
Representative: Sho Amano
Establishment: August 6th, 2012
URL: http://officelacroix.com
Business Contents:
- Planning, production, rights acquisition and use of music and video content.
- Planning, manufacturing, sales, and retailing of music and video packages.
- Planning, development, and sales of digital content (websites, home pages, advertisements, etc.) on the Internet.
- Planning, production, and management of live performances, events, and seminars.
- Acquisition, licensing, sale and purchase, management and development of use of intangible property rights (copyrights, neighboring rights, patent rights, utility model rights, design rights, trademark rights, etc.).
- Management, discovery, development, and training of artists and talents.
- Operation of music studios and music education business.
- Operation of fan clubs and planning, production, and sales of artist goods.
- Planning and production of graphic design and transcription business.
- All businesses incidental or related to the above items.