Instead of the regular royalties, LookRare aims to pay creators/sellers 25% of its 2% platform fee. Along with this, the platform has upgraded its Trading Rewards distribution ratio to further favor sellers. The move aims to tackle the general “zero-royalty” fever spreading across the NFT space.
🧵 Starting today, #LooksRare will no longer support creator royalties by default, and instead, share 25% of the LooksRare Protocol fee with creators/collection owners.https://t.co/roNvv1q30R
— LooksRare (@LooksRare) October 27, 2022
As the NFT space leans towards zero royalties, a long-standing controversy between creators and collectors has followed. LooksRare is the latest to adopt the zero-royalty trend. Although it isn’t the first marketplace to offer an “opt-in” zero-royalty trading fee, it is the first to support creators via protocol fees.
“It’s not our place to say who deserves royalties or how much, but if you want artists and creators to be able to go all out, do cool sh*t, and give back, they probably need your support.” – stated the NFT marketplace on Twitter.
Although this would seem a good look, creators have lost the right to set their royalty percentages on each sale. Crypto Twitter reacted with mixed reviews following the announcement. Some state it to be a unique solution while others downplay the effects of the decision.
Some users also believe this could be a potential long-term solution for marketplaces to allow creator royalties. The overall sentiment during the bear market has shifted against royalties, whereas royalties were not a controversial subject during the bull market.
Buyers can still pay royalties should they choose to do so. In addition to the purchase price, the royalties custom set by collectors during checkout helps creators.
By tackling the long-time arguments about creator royalty fees, LooksRare takes a competitive edge. The move puts creator needs on priority. Furthermore, by paying a portion of platform fees, LooksRare is one-upping completely zero-royalty platforms like Magic Eden and X2Y2. As a creator on LooksRare, if you have already set your royalty, you need not do it again! Your 25% share of the LooksRare protocol fee goes to the receiver address you set, each time one of your creations is sold on LooksRare.
For clarity, LooksRare is distributing 25% of the 2% fee on the sales price of each NFT. This means 0.5% of the NFT sales fees will go to the seller, replacing royalty fees. Although many web3 creators have called the new trend the “race to the bottom”, it is good to see LooksRare providing what could be the foundation of web3’s royalty problem.
