CD, Vinyl… And NFT! On August 26, 2022, Muse will release their latest album. Will Of The Peopleof which 1000 copies will be sold in NFT. Innovative, the NFT format (for non-fungible token) allows you to buy and sell a digital object, as an image in JPEG or music in MP3. In the case of the Muse album, ce-sales will be charted for the very first time in the UK and Australia. No new format had made it to the charts since streaming in 2015.
According to information from the British newspaper The Guardian (link in English), Muse’s albums will be available for £20 (23 euros) on the Serenade platform, only recognized digital merchant in the field. She had already taken care of the official sale of the songs of the Brit Awards (a sort of British equivalent of the Victoires de la Musique) last February. “We are proud to achieve the first chart-eligible musical NFT with global superstars Muse. This is the latest format to be added to the official UK charts since streaming was added seven years ago,” reacted the Warner record company on Twitter at the beginning of August.
Times are changing, Warner Records are innovating.
We’re proud to be doing the first chart-eligible music NFT with global superstars Muse.
The latest format to be added to the UK Official Chart since streaming seven years ago. https://t.co/Kn6MrZcycY
— Warner Records UK (@warnerrecordsuk) August 1, 2022
To make your purchase, you do not need to have a cryptocurrency wallet. Once the NFT is paid for, a digital wallet is automatically created and the album is added to it. Those who already have cryptocurrency wallets, such as Bitcoin, can also use it for shopping.
For several months, the UK’s Official Charts Company had made NFTs eligible for UK music charts. The rock band The Amazons, for example, sold a digital box set including NFTs to accompany the pre-sales of their album. How Will I Know if Heaven Will Find Me?. With Muse, this is the first time that an NFT album will sell on its own.
The Serenade platform had also been in discussion with Muse for months. The NFT album will feature FLAC (high quality MP3) versions of all ten songs from the album as well as the digital signatures of band members Matthew Bellamy, Dominic Howard, and Christopher Wolstenholme.
In 2020, the group had already taken an interest in other digital formats. For example, he had worked with the blockchain platform CryptoKitties. On the famous cryptocurrency game, the three rock stars were to appear in the form of virtual cats to collect.
MUSE X CRYPTOKITTIES
Excited to announce a world first collaboration with the launch of two limited-edition #SimulationTheory @cryptokitties. Marty and Mibbles are available now https://t.co/2GehiXVEww pic.twitter.com/xO0vGqXUCf— muse (@muse) September 1, 2020