Kings of Leon Will Be The First Artist To Release an Album as an NFT (WTF Does That Even Mean?)3/3/2021 On Friday, Kings of Leon will release their new album, titled When You See Yourself, in the form of a non-fungible token (NFT) — becoming the first band to ever do so. The band is actually dropping three types of tokens as part of a series called “NFT Yourself,” people involved in the project tells Rolling Stone. 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. A quick rundown: NFTs are a type of cryptocurrency, but instead of holding money, they can hold assets like art, tickets, and music. NFTs operate on a blockchain, which is a publicly accessible and transparent network — meaning anyone can see the details of any NFT transaction. Computers involved in the transactions become part of the network, which keeps updating and can’t be hacked due its nature as many-headed hydra. In the case of NFTs, their value becomes subjective and therefore fluctuates, kind of like stocks. (To learn more about the subject, read Rolling Stone‘s guide to crypto in music.) I referenced NFTs without using their proper name in yesterday's Song of Day post, but essentially these are a new form of cryptocurrency that my couldn't pass pre-calc ass is having a hard time grasping.
NFT stands for "non-fungible tokens". What does that mean? According to The Verge: “Non-fungible” more or less means that it’s unique and can’t be replaced with something else. For example, a bitcoin is fungible — trade one for another bitcoin, and you’ll have exactly the same thing. A one-of-a-kind trading card, however, is non-fungible. If you traded it for a different card, you’d have something completely different. So basically, people are selling and trading highlights of bounce passes for thousands of dollars since there's only one copy? Idk bro, it makes zero sense to me, but that doesn't mean it's not going to be some sort of legitimate currency in the upcoming future. I guess the whole point is that they're unique and limited which makes them valuable? I don't know and I'm writing like a 6th grader because I'm so confused, but I provided plenty of links if you want to do more research. As someone trying to make it in the internet game, I'm very intrigued by this concept. NFTs are still new enough where there's time to figure it out; unlike TikTok. Plus who doesn't love a good ole fashioned get rich quick scheme? What if this is the new bitcoin and this is our chance? You don't want to be the person who missed out on Apple stock in the early 80s. Just because this is new and most people don't understand it doesn't mean it's not going to be huge. I still don't get how electricity works and outside of Texas, big electricity seem to be doing just fine. There's people who thought the internet would be a fad and now you couldn't drive to your grandma's house without it. Are Kings of Leon going to become the Buggles of NFTs where in 10 years they're a trivia answer to who was first to this new frontier? Are NFTs the future of music? My guess is yes, only because all aspects of life seem to getting more and more digital. But again, I don't fucking get it. I was just saying in class today to the Special-Ed teacher I have in my room how the days of paper in school are likely over even after COVID is gone/things return to "normal". With the exception of classic video games, vinyl records and polaroids being cool again, technology doesn't move backwards. Google Classroom isn't going anywhere and neither are NFTs (I thiiink). Crypto is the future, just ask Russell Okung. P.S. As for King of Leon, good for them for being the Buggles of NFTs. I love KOL, they're one of my favorite bands; I saw them live twice in 2017 during their WALLS tour. I hope this works out for the Followill boys. I just read earlier that this is their first album where punches weren't thrown during its creation. If what the Rolling Stone article said is true and these can help bring some "value" back to music aka help artists make money & create a better fan connection with artists then I am 1000% on board. I'm down with anything that brings power back to the artists over the labels.
2 Comments
Connor Fisher
3/4/2021 02:03:37 am
Verrry interesting! Thanks for breaking it down! Seems like we are grasping at straws to put money back in musicians pockets these days..props to them for innovating and hopefully finding a new way for artists everywhere to be profitable! ..interested to see how this unfolds, the whole crypto world is lost on me haha
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Doz
3/7/2021 07:56:10 pm
Thanks for the comment, Connor!! I don’t get crypto at all but I think this has the potential to be huge for musicians
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