Muse launches the world’s first chart-qualified NFT album
It turns out that Napster and Limewire were just the beginning. The music industry has undergone seismic changes over the past 20 years, but it lives on today as a largely digital industry. And since music NFT marketplace Serenade partnered with Warner Records UK, this trend is likely to continue, on a grand scale. Together they have announced a new music format: Digital Pressing. And this will be the first of its kind – an NFT music-eligible music that is explicitly aimed at the most ardent fans, according to a press release shared with nft now.
Digital Pressing is a new chart-eligible music format that hopes to offer music fans worldwide all the benefits of a physical release, along with the convenience of traditional digital downloads. And it comes on the heels of including digital downloads and digital streams as part of Billboard’s methodology for creating music charts that accurately represent popular music of the time.
A new format for music
Speaking about the potential impact of this new music format, Serenade founder Max Shand stated in a press release that “Digital Pressings will be a game changer on the global stage,” expressing that this new format allows artists to “offer their international audiences something truly unique and engaging,” Shand said.
Shand went on to talk about his vision for the Digital Pressing format in a Twitter thread, highlighting it as a means to further democratize the concept of the album release cycle for musicians worldwide. Digital Pressings is positioned as giving musicians the ability to package their work in the same way they would via a traditional vinyl release without any of the drawbacks.
Aside from having a two-week lead time, compared to the six to nine months required for a vinyl release, Digital Pressings can also be far more environmentally friendly. According to Serenade’s press release, “an average 12[-inch] vinyl has the equivalent carbon footprint of 197,100 digital prints.
At the forefront of the launch of this format is the English rock band Muse, who will launch their ninth studio album The will of the people August 26 under this new format. For longtime Muse fans, the move is set to create an interesting parallel with fellow English music group Radiohead, who famously bucked convention when they released their long-awaited 2007 effort In rainbows via a “pay what you want” digital download.
Each digital printing of The will of the people – and all subsequent albums released under this format – will count towards one physical album sale on the charts. For this pilot launch, sales data will be recorded on music charts in the UK and Australian music markets.
