World of Women and Billboard have teamed up to create an exclusive NFT drop in honor of Billboard Women in Music. The series of NFTs feature WOW founder Yam Karkai’s portraits of music icons Christina Aguilera, Madonna, and Mariah Carey gracing the cover of Billboard. The NFTs were dropped during the 2022 Billboard Women in Music event and summit, where this year’s honorees included legends like Bonnie Raitt, marquee artists like Doja Cat, Karol G, and Phoebe Bridgers, and industry trailblazers like Golnar Khosrowshahi.
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Karkai and World of Women have struck a chord in the NFT community, where things can often feel like a boy’s club. The project sold out almost immediately when it launched in July 2021, generating more than $40 million in just under two weeks. Hollywood luminaries like Reese Witherspoon, Shonda Rhimes, and Eva Longoria have proudly displayed their WOW avatars on social media platforms, and with those endorsements the floor prices for each NFT have risen meteorically; each digital portrait now commands hundreds of thousands of dollars each.
Karkai wants WOW to even the playing field and advocate for female artists around the world, which is why she teamed up with Billboard to create a first-of-its-kind series of magazine covers inspired by some of the most influential female artists. The unique NFTs that Karkai has created are now being sold at auction on the FTX US NFT marketplace, and portions of the proceeds will benefit a non-profit chosen by each of the music icons: Madonna will be supporting City of Joy, Mariah Carey the Fresh Air Fund, and Christina Aguilera the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence.
Brett Harrison, President of FTX US, said, “We’re excited to support a talented artist like Karkai by giving her the tools necessary through our partnership with Billboard to share this first of its kind artwork series. We hope this series of artworks of some of the most influential female artists will be both enjoyed by art fans around the globe and hopefully empower more female artists to enter the NFT space.”
FTX US is a regulated cryptocurrency exchange, purpose-built to grow the digital economy and give everyone access to the booming crypto ecosystem. Billboard, World of Women, and FTX US are proud to be partnering to create these one-of-a-kind NFTs that pay homage to some of the most legendary women in music.
World of Women is also an NFT project with a purpose, as women have increasingly been left behind by the digital boom. As of the end of 2021, female artists made up just a fraction of all NFT sales since the boom began two years earlier. That’s a continuation of a troubling trend in the wider art market, where women accounted for only 17.6% of sales across the major art auction houses like Phillips, Sotheby’s, and Christie’s.
Karkai is still working towards her mission of equal representation in the NFT space for all women, and the World of Women community is putting the boy’s club of digital art on notice. The road to equality still has a ways to go, but Karkai has already picked up some iconic fellow travelers along the way—and more are just on the horizon.
Billboard is also selecting three lucky World of Women NFT holders to receive an all-expenses paid trip to attend this year’s Women in Music event, further cementing Karkai and the WOW community’s relationship with the music industry. Karkai recently collaborated with Universal Music Group’s 10:22PM imprint, where she created a limited run of NFTs of emerging music star and 10:22PM signee Kendra Jae.
