The Independent is one of 10 independent venues nationwide participating an an NFT auction fundraiser for the National Independent Venue Association, which includes tickets to all events at the venue for a calendar year.

The “Golden Ticket” auction will also raise money for all of the venues participating, which include Bowery Ballroom in New York, the Troubadour in L.A., 9:30 Club in Washington, D.C., First Avenue in Minneapolis and EXIT/IN in Nashville.

The NFT (non-fungible token) art was created Young & Sick (Nick Van Hofwegen). His NFT art sold for $1 million in March. According to NIVA, this is the first NFT launch by brick and mortar institutions. The art will be available on MakersPlace.

The auction begins Wednesday at 3 p.m. PT and runs for 48 hours. People can bid on a series of NFT crypto art. Each venue’s “1 of 1” NFT piece comes with two tickets to every show at that venue for a calendar year.

In addition to the 10 unique NFTs, depicting each participating venue, there will also be a series of open edition collectible NFT pieces, available for a limited time, allowing a broader audience to support the cause.

“After watching Neon Gold artists Young & Sick and The Knocks recoup a year-plus of lost touring income in mere minutes on their debut NFT drops, we couldn’t help but think of the incredible opportunity to harness the energy of the space to direct some much-needed relief to the sector of the music industry hardest hit by the pandemic: independent venues,” said Derek Davies, co-founder of Neon Gold Records. 

Art can be previewed ahead of time on the MakersPlace website. 

Other participating venues include Mohawk in Austin, The Metro in Chicago, Neumos in Seattle and Tipitina’s in New Orleans.