MUMBAI: Qyuki Digital Media, home to India’s superstar online creators, has announced the release of an exclusive musical NFT collection in memory of its late Founder, Samir Bangara. At the 2021 edition of the industry’s premier annual conference All About Music, the company has announced that 9 tracks from its inaugural season of “Jammin” and a bonus video of Samir speaking at the event’s finale will “drop” on the WazirX NFT Marketplace over the next few weeks in the run up to the festive season. The entire initial proceeds of this auction will be shared with Cuddles Foundation, the award-winning NGO providing holistic nutritional support to kids fighting cancer.

NFTs, or non-fungible tokens, are unique digital certificates of ownership of art works that are authenticated on a blockchain or similar ‘decentralised ledger’ based digital network. The long term value of an NFT arises from the inherent artistic and historical importance of the asset. Qyuki has chosen to donate its entire Season 1 library of “Jammin” which was a landmark initiative in the recent but exciting history of India’s creator economy. A musical “collab” of a special kind, Jammin was conceived by Qyuki, in collaboration with Youtube, and represented Samir Bangara’s passionate belief in digital creators. It was the very first time in India that a crop of amazing singers such as Arjun Kanungo, Sanam, Shraddha Sharma, JonitaGandhi, Maati Baani, Sanah Moidutty, Raaga Trippin’ and Siddharth Slathia, who’d built their audience and fame entirely online, got the chance to collaborate with leading mainstream composers Salim-Sulaiman, Mithun and Clinton Cerejo. Their tracks were released on Youtube through the second half of 2016 and the season concluded with a massive concert finale in Mumbai where Samir’s impassioned speech fired up the capacity crowd.

The ten NFTs will be exclusively available on the WazirX NFT Marketplace, starting the 15th of October and will reside on the Binance smart chain network. Each will have a reserve price of Rs 1 lakh (in cryptocurrency equivalent on the day) and will represent a unique digital artwork that will be irreplaceable thus immortalizing Samir’s legacy. The ability of the Binancenetwork to incorporate “smart contracts” will also enable 10% of the proceeds of all future secondary sales of these assets to continue being donated to Cuddles Foundation in perpetuity.

Commenting on the tie-up, Abhimayu Radhakrishnan, Managing Director, Qyuki said, “We are thrilled to announce this initiative at All About Music 2021 and to be collaborating with Vishakha and her team from WazirX NFT Marketplace to honour Samir’s memory. We miss him every moment and thus wanted to pay tribute in a way that cemented his legacy of being a visionary at the intersection of creativity and technology. This NFT auction isn’t just a collection of whimsical profile picture jpegs but represents a seminal moment in the evolution of India’s creator ecosystem. We hope that more creators and artists explore the possibilities of new technologies that promote their work in the future, and towards that goal, we are delighted and proud to be contributing our Intellectual Property to a worthy cause administered by our inspirational friends led by Purnota at Cuddles Foundation.”

Speaking about the collaboration, Vishakha Singh, VP WazirXNFT Marketplace said “Samir Bangara was a legend and he was helping and empowering creators with his company Qyukiby challenging the status quo. Since our NFT Marketplace launch, we have been focused on building launchpads for Indian creators. Sharing his vision to empower creators and honouringthe legend himself, this collaboration is personally very close to my heart. What makes this drop even more special is that all the proceeds from this auction will go to a noble cause. We are proud to release these historic NFTs on WazirX. NFTs are a great tool for fan engagement and WazirX has been supporting emerging creators in the passion economy by providing them with a platform to not just show their talent but also celebrate icons in the industry.”

Commenting on the social impact of the initiative, PurnotaDutta Bahl, Founder & CEO, Cuddles Foundation said, “It’s great to see new technologies being used to promote both artists and charities like ours. We’re most grateful to Qyuki, WazirXNFT Marketplace and the artists for allowing us to be a part of this initiative. The money raised here will help us provide nutrition and care to children fighting cancer at SRCC Children’s Hospital in Mumbai. Most cancers in children are curable, and nutrition is crucial in getting children closer to a cure. With 50,000 children being diagnosed with cancer every year in India, that even future secondary sales of these creative assets will be donated to Cuddles Foundation is a big win for the fight against childhood cancer.