tl;dr
Sony's blockchain platform Soneium has released its first music NFT collection, featuring unreleased tracks from producer NUU$HI in collaboration with Web3 label Coop Records. The NFTs are priced at 0.000777 ETH ($2.11) and are available on Sonova, Soneium's NFT marketplace. Soneium, an Ethereum Lay...
Sony's Soneium has launched its first music NFT collection, featuring unreleased tracks from NUU$HI and Coop Records on the Sonova platform. The NFTs are priced at 0.000777 ETH ($2.11) and are available on Sonova, Soneium's NFT marketplace. While Soneium aims to be a digital content distribution platform, the music NFT market faces challenges in creator monetization and sustained mainstream adoption. Sony's experimental blockchain platform Soneium's expansion remains uncertain in the long term, with no announced plans for integration into Sony's wider entertainment or music business.
The collection, hosted on Sonova, is priced at 0.000777 ETH ($2.11), with approximately 124 out of 999,999 NFTs minted so far. Soneium, an Ethereum Layer-2 blockchain developed by Sony Block Solutions Labs, has positioned itself as a platform for digital content distribution, though adoption remains in its early stages. Meanwhile, Coop Records has previously brought over 600 songs on-chain, working with artists such as Zeds Dead, San Holo, and Barry Can’t Swim. The label promotes NFT-based music ownership as an alternative to traditional industry models despite Web3 music monetization failing to reach sustained mainstream adoption.
Cooper Turley, the founder of Coop Records, has acknowledged the challenges of creator monetization in crypto, particularly in tokenized ecosystems. Music NFTs saw notable early successes in 2021, including Kings of Leon’s $2 million NFT album release, but the sector has since struggled to achieve consistent growth amid a broader NFT market downturn.
While Sony has been expanding its presence in blockchain infrastructure, Soneium’s focus remains largely experimental. The platform officially launched its mainnet on January 14, 2025, following a four-month testnet phase that began in August 2024. During the test period, Soneium recorded over 14 million user accounts and processed 47 million transactions, though its long-term adoption remains uncertain. The company has not yet announced plans to integrate the platform into its wider entertainment or music business. It remains unclear whether Sony will scale its involvement in blockchain-based music distribution. A Soneium representative did not immediately respond to Decrypt's request for comment on those points.