Universal Music Group says it is creating a “band” called Kingship out of four Bored Ape Yacht Club NFTs and plans to feature them in video games, VR, and more
https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/... AdamDraper.crypto / @adamdraper : #NFTs will turn every hit band into the Gorillaz. https://twitter.com/... @cozomomedici : This is big. For the first time ever, a music industry insider is managing an NFT band @therealkingship! Will these apes make the next Billboard #1? Win a VMA?! Predict what happens next👇🔥⚔ ️ https://twitter.com/... Barry Petchesky / @barry : Yeah OK it's Gorillaz but please stop erasing the lived experience of the Banana Splits https://twitter.com/... Rob Horning / @robhorning : NFTs are less about property than “programability” — i.e. the token locates an NFT “owner” and fixes on them a set of conditions and controls https://hbr.org/... https://twitter.com/... Fiato Steelhands / @drewsthatdude : A bored apes band?? Lol Ight https://www.bloomberg.com/... via @luxury Mark Di Stefano / @markdistef : Please someone reach Damon Albarn for comment. https://twitter.com/... @grrlmusic : This is like the worst possible version of the Gorillaz https://twitter.com/... @jjhlane : We have the venue ready to rock and roll for this historic band!! We built it and they will come. https://twitter.com/... Lucas Shaw / @lucas_shaw : The reactions to this story have split evenly between: > This is the coolest thing ever. > This is the dumbest thing ever. https://twitter.com/... Alexia Bonatsos / @alexia : Wasn't this called Gorillaz? https://twitter.com/... @3lau : music x web3 is just getting started @j1mmyeth : signed 4 of my apes to a major label - LFG @BoredApeYC 🦍🦍🦧🦍 follow: @KINGSHIP_io & @celine_eth for updates. https://www.bloombergquint.com/ ... Martin Sfp Bryant / @martinsfp : Gorillaz, but with chimpanzees and and NFTs instead of Damon Albarn. https://twitter.com/... McKinnon de Kuyper / @mckdekuyper : Thanks to @Lucas_Shaw for these opening sentences at 9am https://www.bloomberg.com/... https://twitter.com/... Simon Owens / @simonowens : No crypto project is too dumb. https://www.bloomberg.com/... Alex Hern / @alexhern : I'm running out of ways to intensify the massive farting noise that is the only valid commentary on 99% of cryptocurrency news https://www.bloomberg.com/... See also Mediagazer
Context & Ripple Effects
Bored Ape Yacht Club had already developed beyond a collectible set into a collector community with substantial trading activity, as documented in a profile of the collection's rapid rise. Universal Music Group is now treating four of its characters as entertainment assets rather than static tokens.
The move also anticipates the licensing path later pursued by Ape holders, including efforts to place owned characters on cannabis packaging. Kingship matters because a major music company is applying that character-rights logic across games and VR.
First-order effects
- Universal Music Group gains a virtual act it can deploy across video games, VR, and other media without tying the project to a human band's physical presence.
- The four Bored Ape characters become the focal point for Kingship's commercial identity, extending their use beyond NFT ownership into entertainment programming.
Second-order effects
- Bored Ape Yacht Club owners seeking licensing deals gain a prominent music-industry example of character-based commercialization, raising the value of recognizable Ape identities for brand partnerships.
- Music companies and game or VR partners have a new template for packaging NFT-linked characters as cross-media acts, rather than treating tokens solely as collectibles.
Third-order effects
- If major rights holders continue to develop NFT characters as media properties, the market shifts toward franchise-building around token-linked IP, with ownership rights becoming central to commercialization.
- The broader test is whether virtual acts built from owned digital characters can sustain audience demand across formats, rather than relying on NFT-market attention alone.
The trend: NFT collections are being repositioned from tradable digital assets into character-IP portfolios for licensing and cross-media entertainment.