NFTs Take To The Stage

If so, you likely heard about the immensely powerful feeling of watching a performance live—a feeling that comes from the special knowledge that no two performances are the same. Those specific moments in that specific place in time can never be replicated. Theatergoers treasure those moments and the feelings they conjure.

With the help of Loeb & Loeb, multimedia company Seaview Productions has launched a new venture—called Bway.io—that provides a platform for collecting the ethereal moments within the live stage space in a more permanent way. 

Bway.io facilitates the minting, curating and selling of Broadway and Broadway-adjacent digital memorabilia and collectibles through the use of non-fungible tokens (NFTs). 

NFTs are units of data—or “tokens”—that use blockchain technology to give ownership of digital content that doesn’t physically exist in the real world. “Non-fungible” means that each NFT is unique and cannot be copied or substituted. In the theater context, NFTs may represent archival photos or recordings, digital playbills with limited-edition art, or other digital keepsakes from favorite performances. The possibilities are endless.

How did live theater—one of the oldest and purest forms of entertainment—get on board with blockchain technology? Let’s back up a step.

As one of the most entrepreneurial live stage producers in the business, Loeb & Loeb’s client Seaview is known for finding new and creative ways to exploit and engage with theatrical content across multiple mediums.

When the COVID-19 pandemic forced a near complete shutdown of the live stage industry, Seaview’s penchant for thinking outside the traditional Broadway box went into overdrive. The company set its sights on leading Broadway’s entry into the digital asset ecosystem and harnessing blockchain technology to increase revenue streams for creatives across the business.

Fresh off the heels of structuring Seaview’s joint venture with Sony Music Masterworks—a transaction that provided the company with the support to launch new verticals in film, TV and digital media—Loeb & Loeb’s team was eager to help bring Seaview’s vision for Bway.io to life.

Our lawyers guided Seaview through a maze of complex IP, licensing, corporate and technology issues. We handled the corporate formation for Bway.io and negotiated a partnership with Nifty’s, the first social marketplace for NFTs. We also negotiated content agreements with legendary theater brands that will be the first to build and launch NFT collections on the Bway.io platform.

The nature of live theater is fleeting. But Bway.io and NFTs hold the promise of eternalizing moments and experiences from the live stage within the digital world.

It’s an exciting time for us true fans. And we couldn’t be more thrilled about our part in it.