This is how much people paid for lifetime Coachella NFT festival passes – Press Enterprise

At least two sets of lifetime passes to the Coachella Valley Arts and Music Festival sold for more than a quarter of a million dollars in the festival’s NFT auction, which closed Friday, Feb. 11.

The long-running music festival, which happens at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, first announced a venture into the NFT market via its social media accounts on Feb. 1. NFTs stand for a non-fungible token, a digital one-of-a-kind token that can be bought and sold. It can take shape in the forms of images, songs or GIFs. Coachella’s NFT collections included items such as photos that could be redeemed for physical prints and a collectible poster series.

However, the most notable of the festival’s initial NFT offerings was the Coachella Keys Collection. The 10 individual and unique NFTs include lifetime passes to Coachella for one weekend in April every year as well as varying amenities such as luxury camping, gourmet meals and more. Bidding for the lifetime passes began Friday, Feb. 4, and closed Friday, Feb. 11, at 5 p.m. For every bid after 5 p.m. the auction was extended by 10 minutes. The Key to the Dinner in the Garden was the last one sold at 6:05 p.m. according to the FTX.US website. Collectively, the collection sold for $1,474,000.

The Infinity Key, which features lifetime Coachella guest passes, all-inclusive culinary experiences and private transportation, sold for $270,000. The Key to the Safari sold for $256,000 and comes with a luxury, air-conditioned tent for accommodations.

While it’s still early in the NFT world, showing buyers that their NFTs can be utilized in the real world can help boost engagement for everyone involved, according to Reid Robinson, co-founder and CEO of cocoNFT, a company that helps artists and Instagram users create NFTs.

“As technology becomes easier to use, more creators think of different ways to innovate ideas like offering access to Coachella,” Robinson said in a phone interview. “It starts to get interesting with people who have never bought NFTs and are buying some for Coachella.”

When the collection first went on sale, some keys had bids as low as $4,000, but a spot check at 11:05 a.m. on Feb. 4 showed all keys had already reached a minimum of $25,000.

Here’s the list of the Coachella Keys Collection, with perks listed from the Coachella NFT Marketplace as well as how much they sold for in the initial offering on FTX. All except for one include a minimum of two guest passes for the festival for one weekend every year. All of the key packages include access to private key holder events and virtual events as well as two free merchandise items. Key holders can also purchase two additional guest level passes.

Coachella Key 1: The Infinity Key

Selling Price: $270,000

Unique perks: Front of house views for one act at the Coachella Stage for two people; transportation to and from the festival; a meal in the Rose Garden for you and one other guest cooked by a professional chef on the day of your choosing during your festival weekend; $500 in food and beverage vouchers.

Coachella Key 2: Key to the Safari

Selling Price: $256,000

Unique perks: Lifetime Safari camping accommodations for one festival weekend each year that come with a furnished and air-conditioned tent, concierge service and more.

Coachella Key 3: Key to Coachella (Guest)

Selling Price: $121,000

Unique perks: This is the most bare-bones package of the guest pass-level NFTs. It includes two lifetime guest passes and the other perks offered to all, such as two free merch items.

Coachella Key 4: Key to Coachella (VIP)

Selling Price: $110,000

Unique perks: This is the only package that doesn’t include the high-end guest passes, but rather lifetime VIP passes, which do not allow access into the special viewing areas. However, the perks page notes that two guest passes can be purchased.

Coachella Key 5: Key to the Secret Party

Selling Price: $111,000

Unique perks: A private two-hour party with an open bar and up to 50 guests featuring a surprise host in a secret festival location for the 2022 festival. However, all party guests must have festival passes.

Coachella Key 6: Key to the Sahara

Selling Price: $115,000

Unique perks: A chance for two people to go on stage in the Sahara tent during one performance at the 2022 festival.

Coachella Key 7: Key to the Coachella Stage

Selling Price: $125,000

Unique perks: Front of House access for two people for one act at the main Coachella Stage at the 2022 festival.

Coachella Key 8: Key to the Producer Tour

Selling Price: $121,000

Unique perks: A one hour tour of the entire festival site with a Coachella producer for two people at the 2022 festival.

Coachella Key 9: Key to the Dinner in the Garden

Selling Price: $140,000

Unique perks: A meal in the Rose Garden cooked by a professional chef for four people and two additional VIP festival passes at the 2022 festival.

Coachella Key 10: Key to the VIP Compound

Selling Price: $105,000

Unique perks: Eight additional guest festival passes and a fully-stocked trailer in the VIP compound for 10 people during weekend 2 of the 2022 festival.

Unlocking more NFTS

Beyond the exclusive keys, Coachella also offered two other NFT collections on Feb. 4, which included the Desert Reflections Collection and the Sights and Sounds Collection, both of which sold out later that day

The Desert Reflections Collection was limited to 1,000 and consisted of 10 digital versions of festival posters across Coachella’s history from the artist Emek. It can also be redeemed for the photo book “Coachella | The Photographs: 1999-2019.”

The initial price for the Desert Reflections Collection went for $180 and sold out within three minutes. Resell prices for this collection at Coachella’s NFT marketplace ranged from $105-$30,000, according to a price check at 11 a.m. Feb. 11.

The Sights and Sounds Collection was limited to 10,000 and included a random selection of one of 10 festival photos and soundscapes from the Empire Polo Club. It can also be redeemed for a physical art print of the photo.

The initial cost for the Sights and Sounds Collection started at $60 but resell prices at Coachella’s NFT marketplace range from $50-$975 according to a spot check at 11:15 a.m. Feb. 11.

In an emailed statement last week, Sam Schoonover, Coachella’s Innovative Lead, said that the NFT incorporation was successful. He said the festival plans to use more NFTs in the next couple of years.

“One year ago, NFTs were just starting to take off,” Schoonover said. “Can you imagine where we might find ourselves two years from now?”

On Feb. 3, the Coachella Twitter account hosted a Space with FTX.US where it announced that the festival will give every attendee an NFT with on-site activation.

The festival, which will feature headliners Harry Styles, Billie Eilish and Ye (formerly Kanye West), will happen at the Empire Polo Club in Indio April 15-17 and April 22-24. It’s unclear if Ye will stay on the bill given his threat to drop if Eilish doesn’t apologize for an alleged disrespectful comment against Travis Scott.

For more information on the Coachella NFTs, visit nft.coachella.com or tune into Coachella’s Discord server.