With mega stars and music concerts, an 'equal' NFT community takes shape

How would you like to own a piece of Chennai’s popular Marina Beach? Although a more imaginative version—with parasailing and clean white sand, along with the trademark chilli bajjis.

Unrealistic? How about something more futuristic? Chennai’s notorious auto-rickshaws taking off like flying cabs outside the iconic British-era Central Railway Station.

These vibrant pieces of art adorn a wall by a road leading to the busy Adyar flyover. Except that these aren’t just any wall art. These are replicas of an NFT collection simply titled ‘Icons of Chennai’. 

“The artworks we have are relatable to everyone. They have been a part of our life and continue with us as memories,” says Manasa Rajan, CEO of Jupiter Meta, a marketplace for NFT collectibles. “There is an emotional connection with cities, places, and moments, and that is what we aim to evoke and capture.”

You can not only buy NFT art and music on the marketplace, but also sell and trade NFTs bought from the Jupiter Meta platform across segments such as music, social, and popular culture.

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Digital art and music that’s original, authentic, and, most importantly, hard to replicate is catching the attention of art connoisseurs and collectors across the world. Sold as NFTs, or non-fungible tokens, these collectibles are steadily creating a space for themselves in the digital marketplace.

Globally, the NFT market witnessed $37 billion in transaction value traded on such marketplaces until May 2022, according to Chainalysis, a blockchain data platform. In India, the market is still nascent, although some platforms are gaining prominence—WazirX, OpenSea, and Colexion, to name a few.

Capturing cityscapes through art

“Art has always been a niche segment—the medium has often existed as exclusive private collections owned by a select few. There’s been a shroud of secrecy around art. We want to demystify that and put art in the public space,” says Manasa.

Currently, Jupiter Meta’s marketplace has art themed around icons, moments and places of Chennai. The price ranges from Rs 10,000 to Rs 48,000. The Marina Beach art, listed at Rs 10 lakh, is being resold by a Jupiter Meta customer.

The Chennai artworks are the result of a collaboration led by artist Karthik S.S. of 108 Collective, a group of artists. “The idea was to bring the past, present and future into a single frame with the landmarks of Chennai,” he says. “We visualised the future with a tinge of humour while keeping the roots intact.”

Karthik and other artists from 108 Collective have put up their art in NFT form on international platforms as well. Jupiter Meta is the first regional platform they have worked with.

The Hyderabad-based Jupiter Meta plans to take this project across India, exposing artists and creators to a wider audience. The next such initiative will come up in Hyderabad and Mumbai.

Music on the metaverse

To popularise music NFTs, Jupiter Meta hosted a music concert on the metaverse, featuring a popular playback singer. The event featured enticing visuals and immersive digital aesthetics. The audience was given exclusive music NFTs (in MP3 format) of tradeable value.

Jupiter Meta is working to give Indian classical and folk music a platform through the metaverse. This, it believes, will help these music forms become more “mainstream” and gain “wider acceptance among younger audiences”.

The company is involved in a few social projects as well.

One such project is a curation of NFT art pieces in collaboration with four artists, priced between Rs 6,000 and Rs 12,000; 50% of sale proceeds from this will go to Akshaya Patra Foundation.

Jupiter Meta is also working with Apollo Foundation for its anniversary celebration next year and projects on sustainability.

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Building value through NFT

“When we work with an artist or a brand, we want to bring some value to their long-term plans and not just offer a notional value of being present in the metaverse or having NFTs,” explains Manasa. “The NFT market is still not stabilised, but it does give artists a chance to go out and publish their work. In the long run, it could be a new way for artists to share their art to the world.”

Helping content creators own value

In the Web2 world, content creators do not own much of the IP in what they produce. Most of the value is held by intermediaries. Jupiter Meta wants to address this challenge by removing intermediaries between the seller and the buyer. For instance, in the concert held in Chennai, two original music compositions were released and issued directly through NFTs, enabling music fans to own original music. The same thing can be done for art too.

Jupiter Meta is working with Ninestars Global Media platform to build a ‘content exchange’ to help content creators own the IP and provide end users with an “optimal experience” that is tailored to their needs. This will also help reduce fake content and build more verified and authenticated content, says Manasa.

Over time, Jupiter Meta believes NFT has the potential to be seen as more than collectibles. Jupiter Meta’s idea, through NFT, is to create digital communities wherein creators and buyers are treated equally.

“The segment has opened up opportunities for artists everywhere to reach a global market with their work, which was not always possible earlier," says Manasa. "Artists can reach out to buyers and enthusiasts of all types and inclinations. This creates a community built on a mix of identities and cultures and thus it is inclusive in nature."

(The story's cover image has been updated.)