Zora, an NFT creation platform, started a revenue share to help creators earn more money.
Popular NFT creators Bobby Kim and Latashá will release new mints on Zora this week.
Zora, the popular non-fungible token (NFT) coin platform, is updating its revenue-sharing model to put more money in creators’ pockets as the debate over artist royalties continues.
The maker-focused platform charges collectors a flat coin fee of 0.000777 ETH (approximately $1.40) per NFT minted. Starting Thursday, Zora will automatically share the money earned from the coins with creators, giving them a bigger slice of the pie in hopes of encouraging more creators to release projects on her site.
Creators now receive a minimum of 42.9% of the coins earned from free mints, while 100% of the revenue generated from paid mints goes back to creators. Developers are also rewarded for building on the Zora protocol, expanding the pool of who gets paid for their role in an NFT drop.
Zora has continued to iterate on its revenue model as attitudes toward creator royalties have shifted. Prior to February, the platform charged creators a 5% fee for each primary sale of an NFT made using the creator toolkit. The platform does not charge any listing fees and no longer charges creation fees.
“We didn’t want to keep taking money out of makers’ pockets,” Dee Goens, co-founder and COO of Zora, told CoinDesk. “It’s hard enough for creators to make money in NFTs and in Web3.”
A number of well-known creators will release free mints on Zora this week, including Bobby Kim and Latashá, in honor of the platform’s fee updates.
Goens explained that the changes are intended to expand his market as platforms such as OpenSea continue to dominate. “We are moving from extractive to expansive,” he explained.
Maker royalties have come under the spotlight in recent months as platforms like Blur began adopting “royalty-optional” models tailored for fast traders. These changes, fueled by declining mainstream interest in NFTs, created tension between platforms and creators, who claimed they were the ones most hurt. Earlier this month, Nansen reported that NFT royalty payments hit a two-year low, suggesting that collectors have opted not to pay optional fees.
“I think platforms and collectors want creators to make more money,” he said. “We should all be incentivized to figure out how to do that.”
Goens said platforms need to do more to right these wrongs by making their policies more transparent and more chain-focused, even if it means taking a financial hit.
“Ultimately it’s a trade-off, but it’s one Zora is willing to make,” he concluded.
Also see: NFT Creation Platform Zora Launches Creator-Focused Layer 2