Entertainment Industry NFT Use Cases: How Music, Film, and Gaming Are Using Blockchain

When Kings of Leon released their album When You See Yourself as NFTs in March 2021, they didn’t just sell music-they sold access. Fans who bought the NFT got exclusive artwork, lifetime VIP concert access, and even a limited-edition vinyl. That album made $2 million in sales. In the same period, streaming the same album on Spotify would’ve earned them about $12,000. This wasn’t magic. It was blockchain doing what traditional music labels couldn’t: giving artists direct control over how their work is sold, owned, and rewarded.

Why NFTs Matter in Entertainment

NFTs-non-fungible tokens-are unique digital certificates stored on a blockchain. Unlike Bitcoin, where every unit is the same, each NFT is one-of-a-kind. In entertainment, that means a song, a movie clip, a character, or even a backstage pass can be turned into a verifiable digital collectible. The real power? Ownership. When you buy an NFT in entertainment, you’re not just downloading a file. You’re getting proof that you own the original version, and often, special rights that come with it.

Before NFTs, artists relied on streaming platforms, record labels, and distributors to reach fans. Each step took a cut. NFTs cut out the middlemen. A musician can sell a track directly to a fan and set a 10% royalty on every future resale. That’s something no Spotify or Apple Music deal can offer.

Music NFTs: The Leader in Adoption

Music is the biggest player in entertainment NFTs, making up 38% of all activity in 2025. Why? Because musicians have always been early adopters of new tech-and they’re desperate for new income streams.

Artists like Grimes, Snoop Dogg, and Nas have all released NFT collections. Nas’s 2021 release, Nasir, wasn’t just an album. It came in three tiers. Each tier gave buyers a different percentage of streaming royalties. The highest tier earned holders 0.0034 cents per stream. That sounds tiny, but when the track hit 180 million streams, the top NFT holders made over $6 million in total. That’s real money, earned just for owning a piece of the song.

Most music NFTs come with extra perks: unreleased tracks, private Discord access, tickets to live shows, or even a say in future releases. A 2025 survey found that 47% of music NFT buyers were drawn by exclusive content, while 32% wanted event access. That’s not just collecting-it’s community building.

Platforms like Yellowheart and Royal make it easier for artists to launch these without coding. Yellowheart, used by Kings of Leon and others, handled $48 million in music NFT sales in 2024. But here’s the catch: most fans still don’t get it. Only 12% of music listeners have ever bought an NFT. The barrier? Wallets, crypto, and confusion. Many fans don’t know how to buy one, or fear losing their NFT if they mess up the transaction.

Film and TV: NFTs as Collectibles and Experiences

Film and TV studios are slower to jump in, but they’re playing the long game. Warner Bros. released NFTs for Space Jam: A New Legacy. Disney experimented with Star Wars collectibles. These aren’t meant to replace streaming. They’re digital trading cards for the 2020s.

Unlike music NFTs, film NFTs focus on rarity and fandom. A single frame from a movie, a digital poster signed by the director, or a virtual prop from the set-these are the kinds of items that sell. Engagement is higher here. Fans interact with film NFTs 23% more often than with music NFTs. But sales volumes are lower. A top-tier film NFT might sell for $500, while a top music NFT can hit $5,000.

Why the difference? Movies are expensive to make, and rights are messy. Who owns the NFT rights to a character? The studio? The actor? The writer? That’s why 78% of failed entertainment NFT projects hit a wall with legal clearance. Studios need lawyers to untangle decades-old contracts before they can tokenize anything.

Still, big names are investing. Bob Iger (former Disney CEO), Reese Witherspoon, and Rupert Murdoch have all backed NFT projects. They see it as the next phase of fan engagement-not a replacement for theaters, but a way to keep fans hooked between releases.

Gaming NFTs: Where Utility Is Real

Gaming is where NFTs actually work best. In games like Axie Infinity or The Sandbox, NFTs aren’t just collectibles-they’re essential to gameplay. You own your character, your weapon, your land. You can sell it. Trade it. Use it across different games, if the devs allow it.

According to DappRadar, 67% of blockchain games now use NFTs for in-game items. That’s not optional. It’s the core of the experience. A sword you bought in 2023 might still be valuable in 2025 because it’s rare, or because it’s been upgraded by other players.

But there’s a dark side. In Belgium and the Netherlands, NFTs in games are classified as gambling. Regulators say if you can buy a random loot box with real money and hope to get something valuable, it’s a lottery. That’s led to bans and fines.

Still, the model is growing. Game studios are now letting players earn NFTs just by playing-not just buying them. That’s a shift from speculation to participation. And it’s working. Players who own NFTs in games spend 3x more time in them than those who don’t.

The Tech Behind the Scenes

Most entertainment NFTs run on Ethereum, which accounts for 68% of the market. But Ethereum is expensive and slow. That’s why more creators are switching to Polygon and Solana. They’re faster and cost pennies per transaction. For a fan buying a $5 digital poster, that matters.

Smart contracts handle the rules automatically. If you buy an NFT with a 10% royalty, the contract pays you that 10% every time it’s resold-no lawyer needed. The standard is ERC-721 or ERC-1155, which are technical codes that tell the blockchain how the NFT behaves. Over 87% of entertainment NFTs use these standards.

But here’s the problem: 83% of entertainment NFTs are locked inside their own platforms. You can’t take your movie NFT from Veve and use it on OpenSea. That’s because studios want control. They don’t want fans selling their NFTs on a public marketplace where the studio loses oversight. This limits growth. True interoperability-where your NFT works everywhere-is still rare.

Who’s Buying and Why

The typical entertainment NFT buyer is male, 25-34 years old, and already into crypto. Average spend? $147.50 per transaction. That’s not a luxury item-it’s a passion purchase. People aren’t buying to flip. They’re buying because they love the artist, the movie, or the game.

On Trustpilot, platforms like Notables (backed by talent agencies CAA and UTA) get 3.7 out of 5 stars. Positive reviews say things like, “I got to talk to my favorite band on a private Zoom call.” Negative ones say, “I couldn’t figure out how to connect my wallet.” The biggest pain point? Onboarding. If you don’t already have MetaMask or know what a seed phrase is, you’re lost.

That’s why successful NFT projects now include step-by-step video guides, live Q&As, and 24/7 Discord support. One music label spent $200,000 on tutorials just to help fans get started. It paid off-NFT sales jumped 40% after the guide launched.

The Challenges: Regulation, Environment, and Trust

NFTs aren’t without problems. The biggest? Energy use. A single Ethereum NFT transaction used to consume 87 kWh-enough to power a US home for three days. That’s changed. Ethereum switched to proof-of-stake in 2022, cutting energy use by 99.95%. Today, most entertainment NFTs use far less power than a single Google search.

But the damage is done. Critics still point to old stats. That’s why many new NFTs are built on Polygon, which uses almost zero energy.

Legally, things are messy. The US SEC has filed 17 lawsuits against entertainment NFTs, claiming they’re unregistered securities. If an NFT promises profits-like royalties or future revenue-it might be considered an investment. That’s why some artists now avoid saying “you’ll earn money” and instead say “you’ll get access.”

The EU’s MiCA law, which took effect in June 2024, gives clearer rules. NFTs that don’t promise financial returns are treated like collectibles. That’s a win for creators who want to stay legal.

The Future: AI, Royalties, and Real Value

The next wave isn’t just about selling NFTs. It’s about what they unlock.

AI is already being used to generate personalized NFTs. Imagine buying a NFT of your favorite actor-and the video message inside is tailored to your name, your favorite movie, and even your birthday. That’s already happening in 41% of new projects in 2025.

More artists are letting NFT holders share in the profits. If a song goes viral, the NFT owners get a cut. If a movie hits $100 million at the box office, NFT holders get a bonus. That’s not fantasy. It’s being tested now.

Long-term, only 22% of today’s entertainment NFT projects will survive, according to Forrester. But the ones that do? They’ll be the ones that focus on real utility-not hype. The ones that make fans feel like they’re part of something bigger.

The NFT boom may have cooled, but the idea is here to stay. It’s not about selling digital art. It’s about giving creators power, and fans a real stake in what they love.