Uzair Merchant Releases World's First NFT Music Video

By Noor Anand Chawla The music video of Stardust produced and directed by UAE-based award-winning Hollywood filmmaker and producer Uzair Merchant, is set to become the world’s first ever music video to be marketed as an NFT. Merchant says, “Till now no music video has gone through a legal securities channel to be made into an NFT. This music video was shot on an iPhone and has already won eight international awards at film festivals. We believe it is the uniqueness of the track that has got us attention worldwide.” Stardust was released in July 2021 by the group known as Kri8.labs. This group consists of many artists from Vancouver and Dubai. Hence, the collaboration is truly international in scope – it consists of Indians, Arabs, and Canadian artists who have collectively worked on a unique bilingual rap. Stardust has been directed by Uzair Merchant, who is a renowned Hollywood production designer and director. The music video of Stardust won the ‘Best Music Video’ title and the ‘Best Original Song’ at the New York Movie Awards 2021 and the Milan Gold Awards 2021 respectively. Additionally, Stardust also won an honourable mention at the Los Angeles Film Awards 2021. The song is also being used as the original soundtrack to the upcoming sci-fi show Black Rose, written and created by Uzair Merchant and directed by James Bamford who is best known as the Producer and Director of the TV show Arrow. Stardust details Uzair’s heart-breaking journey during the pandemic when his father was in a state of immobility after a cardiac arrest. Uzair shares, “Stardust is a tussle between two worlds where the character is desperate to find answers, only to learn that life has a flow of its own. It is to be observed, not fought with - the idea that we all come from Stardust and to Stardust we shall return.” The Stardust music video will be minted as an NFT and be offered for fractional NFTs at Finhaven Private Markets. Fractional NFTs are deemed securities and Finhaven Private Markets is a security token marketplace based in Canada, which offers a regulated trading environment for investors. This novel security-NFT offering by Finhaven and Uzair promises to bring innovation and health to the NFT space by bridging the worlds of NFT, traditional finance, and art in a way that is sustainable and robust.