Web3 music company Hume acquires NFT project Blocktones

Hume, a Los Angeles-based web3 music company that creates digital artists, has acquired music startup Blocktones, the company tells Axios.

Why it matters: Hume is trying to create a music label for the web3 world and is among the companies that see a chance to upend the music industry and build a new compensation model that circumvents the traditional labels.

Context: The excitement and investor dollars behind the NFT market collapsed last year as quickly as it had surged.

• NFT makers that survived the crash are seeking to grow beyond the fad label and dive deep into the web3 space.

Details: The deal brings Blocktone’s open-sourced generative audio collections to Hume’s platform.

• Blocktones’ co-founder Gino Borri will join Hume as president of Blocktones and Hume’s A&R division. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Catch up quick: Blocktones, launched as an NFT project in 2022, combines generative audio and 3D images of the industry’s biggest producers and digital artists, including Grammy-winning producer Federico Vindver and Timbaland, Illmind, and Trap Money Benny.

• Blocktones’ first collection was featured in Billboard as a top 10 music NFT.

Of note: Hume and Blocktones last month hosted a songwriting camp during Art Basel in Miami Beach that featured web3 artists Reo Cragun and Hume’s angelbaby.

• The two collaborated on two new songs that utilized OP3N IP Blocktones beats that they own — allowing them to split the master recording and publishing shares evenly. The songs will debut on a web3 platform this year.