Kingship partnership is the latest collaboration between the NFT band Kingship and Mars. The partnership will facilitate the sale of limited-edition M&M packs that feature images of the band members. The four musicians, Captain, KING, Arnell, and Hud, are also represented by NFTs, three of which are Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) NFTs, and one is a Mutant Ape. This is in addition to the Mars deal. KINGSHIP is the brainchild of Universal Music’s record label 10:22PM. 

Holders of KINGSHIP Key Card NFTs were among the first to learn about this exclusive partnership and were given an early chance to access the goods on M&M’S website.

According to Universal, the KINGSHIP team now consists of renowned NFT collector Jimmy McNelis, also known as J1mmy.eth, Grammy Award-winning music producers, and “famous animator” Jack Lanza.

The partnership brings the metaverse band into the real world

The partnership sees the release of a set of collectible M&M boxes in the US starting on August 24th for a short period of time to expand Universal’s metaverse band initiative into the real world.

According to Universal, only 4,000 collectible physical M&M boxes have been produced.

The “rarest version,” the Gold edition, comprises specially printed candies featuring Captain, KING, Arnell, and Hud from the KINGSHIP group in individually numbered boxes ranging from 1 to 100. It comes in a white and gold foil gift box.

Additionally, M&M’s will only make 3,900 limited-edition gift boxes in Brown. There will also be 6,000 gift jars of the candy available.

NFT, the metaverse and music explained

Non-fungible tokens, or NFTs, are a class of digital assets that exist on a blockchain. They are perfect for storing artwork, films, and music because they are distinct and inimitable. An artist can set the selling price for an NFT of their work when they make it.

These kinds of virtual bands will be prevalent as the metaverse grows. The metaverse can be a marketplace for music and other products and services.  In the metaverse:

• Musicians can provide a full musical experience
• Fans can virtually attend performances anywhere in the world
• Buyers can acquire NFTs (non-fungible tokens), such as record covers in the metaverse.

Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC)

Last November, Grammy-winning musician Timbaland announced the Ape-In Productions music label devoted to Bored and Mutant Apes. Its debut single, ApeSh!t, was released in March this year.

While non-fungible token (NFT) collections have been quite popular this year, Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC), a particular collection, has made many sales and popularity waves.

Because of BAYC’s success, Universal Music Group (UMG), one of the biggest music companies in the world, created the metaverse supergroup KINGSHIP. According to reports, Jimmy McNeils and Celine Joshua, the co-founder of the “10:22PM” project, launched the KINGSHIP venture.

Label 10:22PM contribution to the Kingship Deal 

In November 2021, Universal’s Web3 label 10:22PM introduced KINGSHIP, and since then, it has been expanding the KINGSHIP brand.

To act as the band’s “manager,” 10:22PM paid $350,000 for a Bored Ape NFT in March. Subsequently, the company filed a flurry of other trademark applications showing its cryptocurrency and merchandising ambitions.

10.22 PM doesn’t completely own the rights to the NFTs but is licensed by  Jimmy McNelis (J1mmy.eth). And that’s one of the most daring features of the KINGSHIP organization. 

The Promo narrative in the Kingship partnership

After landing the deal with Mars, Kingship had to create a narrative to go along with the promo.

The narrative was that KINGSHIP found a stash of abandoned M&Ms in several venues. The team understood that inclusivity and bringing people from different backgrounds together were essential. As a result, they resisted the need to eat the candy and instead adopted all the colors of the M&M’s family’s according.

Kingship developed this story in response to the conduct of a famous band, Van Halen. Whenever Van Halen got a booking to perform a concert, they gave the promoter a contract. Van Halen’s contract contained a strange requirement that there be no brown M&M’s candies in the backstage area, buried among dozens of other issues. The band would be free to call off the entire performance at the promoter’s complete expense if any brown M&Ms were discovered backstage.

KINGSHIP, a group dedicated to the art of storytelling. They saw a great opportunity to pay homage to rock’n’roll history and create a fan experience for their fans.

Celine Joshua, founder of 10:22PM and the creator of KINGSHIP, said, “We are grateful to Mars and team at M&M’S for this incredible partnership to help introduce KINGSHIP and NFT culture to the masses, alongside M&M’S, a true icon of pop culture.”