The musical guest Kings of Leon sings on January 18, 2017.
Andrew Lipovsky | NBC | NBCUniversal | Getty Images
The American rock band Kings of Leon is going into a frenzy over non-fungible chips, widely known as NFTs.
The group announced that they will offer their latest album, “When You See Yourself”, in the form of an NFT, making it one of the first bands to do so. Kings of Leon offers their vinyl and digital album download package for a $ 50 symbol. It will be released on Friday on YellowHeart (an NFT ticketing and music platform) and will be open for two weeks starting with ET lunch. After that two-week period, nothing will be done.
Kings of Leon also offers more exclusive articles as part of a series called “NFT Yourself”. People can bid for one of six “golden ticket” experiences, which gives fans four first-place finishes at the show of their choice during each tournament for life.
Crypto collectibles have been exploding in popularity lately. The ownership of these assets is recorded on a blockchain – a digital register similar to the networks that underlie bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. But unlike most virtual currencies, you would not be able to exchange one NFT for another in the same way you would for dollars or gold bars. Each NFT is unique and acts as a collector’s item that cannot be duplicated, making them rare in design.
In the case of music, proponents suggest that NFTs could help artists battling digital piracy, low streaming fees and a lack of tournament revenue from last year’s Covid-19 pandemic restrictions.
– CNBC’s Ryan Browne contributed to this report.
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