Kings Of Leon is releasing their eighth studio album, When You See Yourself, this Friday (March 5.) The album will be available as an NFT, which is a unique first in the music world.
An NFT, or non-fungible token, is a type of cryptocurrency. Rolling Stone explains, “…Instead of holding money, [NFTs] can hold assets like art, tickets, and music.”
Rolling Stone details Kings of Leon’s new album with the following:
“The band is actually dropping three types of tokens as part of a series called ‘NFT Yourself’…One type is a special album package, while a second type offers live show perks like front-row seats for life, and a third type is just for exclusive audiovisual art. All three types of tokens offer art designed by the band’s longtime creative partner Night After Night; the smart contracts and intelligence within the tokens were developed by YellowHeart, a company that wants to use blockchain technology to bring value back to music and better direct-to-fan relationships.”
NFTs will allow artists to offer fans various exclusive goods in a new way. However, what makes these NFTs additionally unique is how their technology, or “smart contracts,” will allow for the resale of the NFTs to potentially benefit an artist or another organization. Rolling Stone explains how NFT technology could benefit concert ticket sales:
“YellowHeart wants to show people how much control can be put into the ticket with smart contracts. Going forward, [YellowHeart CEO Josh Katz] says this same tech can be used for general tickets, which could be a huge advancement in the secondary market. Every time an NFT is resold, a percentage of money earned could go to the artist — or whoever is included in the contract, perhaps even a charity. (In such instances, YellowHeart can also set a maximum price that the NFT can be resold at, eradicating scalpers.)”
Whatever the future for NFTs looks like in the music industry is not currently known right now, but it’s certainly promising, especially if it’s able to transition to the concert ticket world and help stop scalpers from price gouging.