{"id":9197,"date":"2022-03-11T23:02:30","date_gmt":"2022-03-11T23:02:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nftandcrypto-news.com\/music\/this-15-year-old-has-a-record-deal-justin-bieber-as-a-fan-and-his-own-nfts\/"},"modified":"2022-03-11T23:02:32","modified_gmt":"2022-03-11T23:02:32","slug":"this-15-year-old-has-a-record-deal-justin-bieber-as-a-fan-and-his-own-nfts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nftandcrypto-news.com\/music\/this-15-year-old-has-a-record-deal-justin-bieber-as-a-fan-and-his-own-nfts\/","title":{"rendered":"This 15-Year-Old Has a Record Deal, Justin Bieber as a Fan, and His Own NFTs"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Prentiss is a 15-year-old pop singer from Jackson, Mississippi who seems to be the next big internet sensation. Thanks to his mellifluous high pitched voice, he has brought in more than 2 million streams on Spotify and secured a signed record contract with Sony Music-owned Cinematic Music Group. <\/p>\n

But that\u2019s not all. On March 12, 2022, he\u2019ll release a music video for his single \u2018running back\u2019 as an NFT. <\/p>\n

Aidan Cullen,\u00a0filmmaker, and director of\u00a0The Heart Project,\u00a0has\u00a0teamed up with Prentiss to create the unique music video experience. It\u2019s releasing on\u00a0Glass.xyz\u00a0as a collection of 125 editions, each priced at .125 Ethereum.<\/p>\n

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Art that lasts<\/h2>\n

Prentiss started creating his own music when he was only 11. Within a span of four years, his songs \u201cOctober\u201d and \u201cWhy Should I Care\u201d had managed to catch the attention of audiences as well as fellow musicians like Skrillex, Meghan Trainor, and Mark Hoppus of Blink 182. Justin Bieber even shared his music video \u201cHazel Eyes\u201d on Instagram. It is an impressive list of achievements for anyone, but especially for a 15-year-old.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Like music, Prentiss was also into NFTs from a young age. \u201cBeing a kid of the internet, I found out about NFTs pretty early on,\u201d he told nft now. When NFTs began to intersect with the world of music, he revisited the technology, and recognized the opportunity they offered musicians. <\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like really NFTs are going to change the way any art is consumed.\u201d he explained. \u201cStreaming services have taken the artist away from their music and their fans, where web3 and NFTs are going to be incredible for an artist because each fan is a piece of you, and not just a random stream that made you .0004 cents.\u201d <\/p>\n

This was one of the main reasons he wanted to work with The Heart Project. \u201cThese music videos are pieces of art, not just some random video that\u2019s viewed for five-to-six seconds on TikTok and forgotten. These pieces will last.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Heart Project<\/h2>\n

Founded by artists Stefen Meier and Cullen, The Heart Project is a community-run art studio that manages a collection of 10,000 unique heart-shaped non-fungible tokens. Each of these NFTs run on an Ethereum blockchain and serve as a pass to the Heart Project membership, which allows an artist to not only contribute to the studio\u2019s creative endeavors but also share ownership and make money.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Heart Project breaks down a lot of barriers to entry for struggling artists and creatives,\u201d Cullen told nft now. \u201cIt was born from a place of frustration with the current creative landscape, where artists are often at the mercy of larger corporations and don\u2019t have ownership of their own work. We really wanted to disrupt that model.\u201d<\/p>\n

For their first music video, the team wanted to work with a young up-and coming-artist who would really dive into the collaborative spirit of the Heart Project. Prentiss was the perfect choice. <\/p>\n

\u201cPrentiss was awesome to work with,\u201d Cullen told nft now. \u201cI think as a young person he really gets the web3 ethos and he was super quick to get behind what we\u2019re trying to accomplish. I think part of this project is about investing in artists who are also willing to invest in us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cullen and Prentiss came up with the video treatment for \u201crunning back\u201d in a Discord live streaming session. In the session, \u201cHeart NFT holders could bounce ideas off each other and contribute to a ground-up creative project that wasn\u2019t dictated by a label or traditional industry player,\u201d explained Cullen. \u201cFor some, it\u2019s a life-changing opportunity, or at least a very fun one to get exposure to the industries they\u2019re interested in and get an inside look at the creative process.\u201d The production itself was also totally reliant on the Hearts community for filming, editing, VFX, and creative direction. <\/p>\n

Transforming the creative industry<\/h2>\n

While talking about the future plans, Cullen said in an interview with HYPEBEAST<\/em>, \u201cwe\u2019re releasing our first community-made made music video with Prentiss. Then, we\u2019re doing our first community song with Benny Blanco and Lil Dicky where Heart holders will submit parts of a beat and be selected to make a song with them, giving them masters and publishing on the song via a smart contract.\u201d<\/p>\n

Currently, there are more than 5,900 Heart NFT holders on OpenSea, and the trade volume for the Heart Project has reached over $31 million. The rise of blockchain-powered art communities like the Heart Project is a good sign for the web3 landscape, as well as for talented indie artists like Prentiss, who now no longer depend on corporate music labels for reaching their audience. <\/p>\n

Cullen believes that an NFT is much more than \u201ca pixelated jpeg selling for millions\u201d \u2013\u00a0these digital tokens are transforming the way creative industries function.\u00a0 <\/p>\n

\u201cI think a big part of breaking down barriers is working with not only artists but also labels to change the previous dynamics of creating music videos. This process was a special one and I think this could really add a cool new dimension to music video production and many other creative endeavors.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n