Sure the latest initiatives from the Teslas, Apples and Googles of the industry tend to dominate the tech news space — and with good reason. Still, the tech titans aren’t the only ones bringing innovation to the sector.
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Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are often seen as one-of-a-kind digital masterpieces. Hence over the past few years, several works have sold for the crypto equivalent of millions of dollars. However, an LA startup believes that uses for NFTs don’t stop here. Afterparty is trying its hand at using these digital verifiable assets to unlock real-world experiences, and so far, its efforts have resonated with thousands of people.
Afterparty hosts in-person music festivals that fans access by purchasing NFT-based tickets. Having already hosted an NFT art and music festival in Las Vegas back in March, the company is gearing up for its next shindig this October in LA. In order to access the events, party-goers must own one of Afterparty’s NFT tickets. Its first event, where artists like The Kid LAROI and The Chainsmokers performed, saw a turnout of 6,500 people over the two-day experience.
“The vast majority of revenue that the average artist is bringing in is through live touring,” David Fields, Afterparty’s co-founder and CEO, told Built In. “And we think there’s a really exciting opportunity for them to begin to sell their tickets as NFTs … to VIP supporters who want to have some participation in future stuff that this artist is going to do.”
The goal of Afterparty is to foster creativity and a sense of community. Its platform works to highlight the work of NFT artists as well as support other creators and help them build connections with their fans. Offering an NFT marketplace platform, the company will facilitate streaming capabilities that allow direct fan-to-creator connections. This app also encompasses a toolset for creators to launch NFTs of their own.
We’re giving you an NFT that gives you access to a festival or to an event to see your favorite creator, and it gives you additional perks beyond that.”
The company has minted two NFT collections of its own, Utopians and Guardians, the first of which has already launched. Many of its upcoming creator-made NFT collections will tie into Afterparty’s festivals and other events where those artists can appear in person. They’ll also be able to offer fans additional perks like opportunities to get exclusive merch or access to a metaverse space. Famous names including musicians Nile Rodgers and Sia as well as model Heidi Klum and YouTuber David Dobrik are currently members of Afterparty’s creator community.
“We’re giving you an NFT that gives you access to a festival or to an event to see your favorite creator, and it gives you additional perks beyond that,” Fields said. “This asset that you have may go up in value, may be tradable or usable in the future. And I think that’s a really interesting opportunity for more people to come into the ecosystem and start to appreciate what an NFT can mean and why it’s interesting.”
Having worked as an executive at Disney around the time of its Pixar acquisition, Fields became enraptured with the Web3 space after reading the Ethereum Whitepaper. Intrigued by this emerging technology and the ability to organize new systems, Fields went on to found his first company in the Web3 space in 2018. Alongside Intuit engineer Dan Rahmel, Afterparty’s co-founder and CTO, the pair built Wander, a customer experience platform for internet service providers.
Later in 2021, Fields created Afterparty with the help of Rahmel and Eytan Elbaz, the co-founder of Google AdSense.
Fields and Elbaz are both passionate longtime music fans, Fields said. From attending a dozen Coachella festivals over the years, Fields came to recognize music’s ability to bring people together. At the same time, he wanted a way to help fans financially support their favorite artists and then reap rewards for doing so.
“If we continue to build on our belief of creating the kind of Coachella for NFTs, you’re going to be there at the beginning and you’re going to get the benefit of having participated and you’re going to be able to buy this for the cost of [a] VIP ticket,” Fields said. “So you get all of this value upfront and then there’s the opportunity that there’s more value to come over time.”
Users don’t have to own a crypto wallet in order to purchase Afterparty’s NFTs. With its upcoming Guardian collection, the company allows people to purchase one with a credit card. While ownership goes to the buyer, Afterparty will secure the asset if the buyer doesn’t have an existing crypto wallet. From there, the user can do whatever they like with their new NFT, from selling it to using it for other experiences. With this capability, Afterparty hopes to broaden the scope of people entering the NFT collection world.
“I think what’s so exciting about LA is this intersection of all of these different industries. And so seeing now, the two industries that I’m most passionate about in my career — crypto and entertainment [and] creator economy — they’re really coming together. It’s such an exciting time for LA,” Fields said. “I think the future is very bright for LA in the crypto and Web3 space.”
