Italian musicians Achille Lauro and Mahmood enter NFT market

Italian musicians are increasingly embracing NFTs and blockchain technology. Achille Lauro's management company MK3 S.r.l. Milano has signed an exclusive agreement with Gian Luca Comandini, a leading Italian blockchain expert and co-founder of AssoBit, to develop NFT-based revenue streams for artists. MK3 manages several Italian musicians including Achille Lauro, Boss Doms, Nahaze, and Elenoir, and is active in placement and commercial deals with major brands. Angelo Calculli, manager of Achille Lauro, stated that NFTs are often misunderstood as mere tokenization of copyright, but actually represent financial tools close to investment funds and stock markets. Comandini emphasized that innovation is possible in traditional sectors like music, and that the pandemic revealed the necessity of technology. Separately, Mahmood created an exclusive NFT collection inspired by characters from his album Ghettolimpo, featuring six animated avatars (Inuyasha, Rapide, Dorado, Klan, Kobra, Zero) plus the album logo and cover teaser. The project involved Art Rights, an Italian startup founded by Andrea Concas that certifies physical and digital artworks using blockchain since 2016. Davide 'Boosta' Dileo, who recently opened a gallery in Turin, also collaborated with comic artist Danijel Žeželj on a project of unique NFT artworks combining art and music, noting that cryptocurrency shortens the chain from artist to buyer and could create a virtuous cycle in the music industry.