FANDOM to Tokenize Khalid, Ahn Hyo-seop Track, Letting Fans Share in Royalties

Global music franchise FANDOM said June 17 it will tokenize “Something Special,” a new track featuring singer Khalid and actor-artist Ahn Hyo-seop, on a blockchain network.

The project will be carried out on Injective, a layer-1 blockchain. Fans will be able to hold on-chain rights to part of the song’s royalty income. FANDOM said it aims to build a new music ecosystem in which fans participate directly in the revenue structure.

“Something Special” is Khalid’s first single with a Korean artist and Ahn’s first solo single. Khalid is known for hits including “Young Dumb & Broke,” “Location” and “Talk.” Ahn gained attention for playing Jinu of SAJA BOYS in the Netflix film “K-Pop Demon Hunters.”

Fans who hold the tokenized product will receive contractual rights to part of the royalty income tied to the single’s master rights. Revenue from the song will be distributed based on each holder’s ownership stake. Those rights can be traded on the Injective network or used with decentralized finance, or DeFi, services.

“We created a way for fans to own a real piece of the songs they love,” Injective co-founder Eric Chen said. Regulated music rights that fans can hold, transfer and use across Injective did not exist before, he added.

“FANDOM is built on a simple idea that fans should be more than just listeners,” Marcus Sanchez, chief executive officer for intellectual property at Musicow, said. “Something Special” by Khalid and Ahn Hyo-seop is the first track to bring that idea to life, he said. “Now fans can join the journey of this song as it moves out into the world.”

Injective is a finance-focused layer-1 blockchain that has recorded more than $77 billion in on-chain trading volume and more than 2 billion transactions to date. Its cumulative real-world asset, or RWA, trading volume has surpassed $6.5 billion, and it supports trading in tokenized assets including stocks, foreign exchange, commodities and pre-IPO assets.