Photo Credit: Sony Music Publishing / Soneium
Sony Music Publishing taps its Soneium blockchain to create NFTs for J-pop group Sandal Telephone.
NFTs aren’t quite the source of hype in 2025 that they hoped to be in 2021. But pushing content for superfans definitely is, and Sony Music Publishing Japan is counting on that for its latest blockchain-based project. Tapping its parent company’s Soneium blockchain, Sony Music Publishing is creating exclusive NFTs for J-pop girl group Sandal Telephone.
“NFTs filled with memories of the members’ activities will be distributed at events, and fans will be able to receive NFTs with the purchase of merchandise,” says Soneium on Twitter. “The NFT will be distributed using Fan Marketing Platform, a NFT issuance platform provided by Sony Group Global.”
Sandal Telephone’s website explains a bit more in Japanese: fans who spent the equivalent of $33.46 on the band’s merch will receive items from their digital collection. This extends into a partnership with retailer Entaba Akihara, enabling fans who own three or more NFTs from the project to get “exclusive videos” as a reward.
Sandal Telephone initially formed in July 2017 as the idol group, Shuuengo Buppan, before the founding members withdrew just five months later. The group returned in 2018 with a new lineup, which continued into 2019. On April 21, 2019, the group changed its name to Sandal Telephone, and resumed its activities with yet another new lineup. This lineup has been active ever since, but the group announced it would disband on April 30 this year.
Despite the majority of web3 startups working to scrub any mention of NFTs after projects like Bored Ape Yacht Club left a bad taste in consumers’ mouths—we definitely don’t hear about blockchain-based collectibles like we used to. But in Japan, at least, projects like Sony Music Publishing’s are still gaining some traction among the most devoted superfans.
Whether the pivot to focus heavily on superfans will continue to drive exclusive content like NFT projects, at least in Japan, remains to be seen. But one thing is certain: big companies like Sony are still interested in investing in such technologies if it means securing more money from devoted superfans.
Content shared from www.digitalmusicnews.com.