June was among the worst months on record for crypto, with the price of Ethereum dropping 47%. But how is the music NFT market holding up? Amid the volatile prices, the top 10 music NFTs generated more than 1,000 ETH ($1.1 million at June 30 conversion rates) in trade volume across primary sales and secondary markets, with notable collections from Snoop Dogg, OMGKirby and Chaos among the month’s top projects. Compared to June 1, however — before cryptocurrencies’ latest crash — that same 1,000 ETH would be worth nearly $2 million. And it remains a stark contrast to the multi-million dollar drops that grabbed headlines in early 2021.

Still, Web3 enthusiasts remain bullish with many in the space focused on reimagining the music industry — with a focus on independent artists (among the month’s top music NFTs, none of the artists are signed to major labels). “Whether the market’s up or down, we’re in the business of how do we help artists reach the most amount of people and how do we help artists make money from their music?” David Greenstein, founder of NFT platform Sound.xyz and former A&R at Atlantic Records, recently told Billboard. “The mission transcends a bull or a bear market.”

While many artists have pushed their NFT drops to later dates in hopes the market rebounds, others have pushed ahead. And in the meanwhile, secondary sales continue on platforms like OpenSea. Based on analysis of sales data from 14 different NFT platforms, here are the 10 biggest-selling music NFTs and collections in Web3 in June 2022.

1. Chaos – “Chaos Packs”
Volume traded: 484.8 ETH ($492,000 at month-end conversion rates)

Only in Web3 can a group of independent artists outsell legends like Eminem and Snoop Dogg. Chaos is a collective of 80 independent musicians and artists that came together in a digital songcamp. The musicians rotated into different bands every two weeks and produced a total of 45 songs, before packaging them up into 5,000 NFT “packs.” Holders can choose whether or not to reveal them, like opening a pack of Pokemon cards. Chaos is one of the most ambitious music NFT projects so far (even Diplo took notice and picked one up).

View collection on OpenSea.

2. DEAFBEEF
Volume traded: 148 ETH ($150,072)

Deafbeef is a vintage synth project with a twist. The entire collection is ‘generative’, which means the music was created by an algorithm, and coded into existence on a 10-year old computer by musician Deafbeef.

The collection was released back in March 2021 but it’s enjoying a resurgence as the crypto winter sets in. Generative collections like Deafbeef are considered culturally important in crypto collector circles, as they represent a new artform not possible without blockchain technology. These rare items are often referred to as ‘grails.’ As the price of ETH drops, big art collectors are swooping in. There were only four Deafbeef sales in June, but each one changed hands for more than 32 ETH ($32,448).

View collection on OpenSea.

3. Royce da 5’9” – “Caterpillar (featuring Eminem and King Green)”
Volume traded: $124,911

Released in 2018, “Caterpillar” by Royce da 5’9” with Eminiem and King Green has already racked up 46 million streams on Spotify, making it the Detroit rapper’s top track. Now fans can get a piece of future royalties through a limited edition NFT. Royce da 5’9” dropped the NFT with Royal, a platform that gives NFT holders a percentage of streaming royalties. Three exclusive ‘Diamond-tier’ holders also get to book a studio session with Royce da 5’9”.

View collection on OpenSea.

4. OMGKirby + OMGKirby Genesis
Volume traded: 114 ETH ($115,596)

OMGKirby is a lo-fi music YouTube channel-turned-NFT project. The ‘Genesis’ collection, launched in January is a series of generative lofi beats paired with hazy, cartoon images. In early June, OMGKirby dropped a second collection as a free mint. This time, it’s a series of profile picture (pfp) NFTs designed to be your avatar for the metaverse. Holders also get access to new music NFT drops in the future. The hype sent trading volume on both collections to a combined 114 ETH in June.

View collection on OpenSea.

5. WVRPS by Warpsound
Volume traded: 62.38 ETH ($63,253)

WRVPs is a collection of 9,999 profile picture NFTs, each with a unique music soundtrack created by AI. Launched in January, it is consistently one of the most-traded music NFT collections.