“Baby Shark,” which is the No. 1 most viewed video on YouTube, is swimming to the non-fungible token (NFT) world.
SmartStudy, the creator of Baby Shark and brand Pinkfong, announced that it will launch the first official Baby Shark NFT collection in December in partnership with MakersPlace, a marketplace for digital art.
“Baby Shark Dance” is the most watched video on YouTube with 9.66 billion views as of writing. “Baby Shark” has been certified Diamond (11x Platinum) by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and recorded a 20-week streak on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
The “Baby Shark” NFT will offer an exclusive opportunity for fans and collectors to own the first-ever official NFT pieces from the viral sensation.
“Baby Shark: Collection No. 1” on MakersPlace will offer both unique (1/1) and limited edition pieces, featuring iconic “Baby Shark” and his family in original, loopable animations, all accompanied by audio that references the genre-defining song.
The preview is available on MakersPlace and goes on offer on Dec. 2 at 3:30 p.m. PT (7:30 a.m. on Dec. 3 in the Philippines).
"Having witnessed the massive cultural impact that ‘Baby Shark’ had on the world and its ability to connect people, we are thrilled to offer collectors and fans an opportunity to own a piece of the cultural icon through digital art and share equity in our journey. As a sensation born on the internet, it is a natural progression for Baby Shark to embrace NFTs, which will be a significant step of the next chapter of Baby Shark's stamp on the digital landscape,” said Bin Jeong, CEO of Pinkfong USA.
According to Dannie Chu, MakersPlace co-founder and CEO, “Over the last year we have seen strong demand from our community for music-inspired NFTs. We want to expand our offerings in this space by providing the platform, tools and curatorial support to help bring great audio-visual works to life on the blockchain. We are thrilled to partner with Pinkfong to bring the world of Baby Shark to the digital arts space.”
Visually, Pinkfong aimed to create eye-catching digital art that remixes the Baby Shark aesthetic for the digital art audience. The journey into this new reimagined dream-like world of Baby Shark was inspired by holographic collectors’ playing cards and stickers familiar to the NFT generation, as Baby Shark forays into the world of digital collectible art.
The loopable animation is loyal to the design principles of Pinkfong’s Baby Shark while showcasing the characters like never before; collage techniques, repetition, geometric symmetry, and a trance-like artistic edge.
The accompanying music is a classically composed, bespoke, electronic movement built around the unmistakable melody, and flashes of the iconic vocal. It evolves in perfect synchronicity, layering melodic sounds into subtle crescendo moments throughout.