Veteran rock band Our Lady Peace is releasing their new album as a non-fungible token (NFT) on October 30, becoming the first musicians in Canada to do so.
The band, which formed in Toronto in 1992, has had multiple hit songs and is one of the best-selling Canadian acts of all time. Their 10th studio album, named “Spiritual Machines 2,” is a thematic sequel to the double-platinum certified album “Spiritual Machines” released in 2000.
Before the new album is widely released, it will be available exclusively for two months in the form of an NFT — a unique cryptocurrency unit that operates on a transparent blockchain.
However, unlike Bitcoin, it is not interchangeable and is a completely one-of-a-kind digital asset.
NFTs remain a new technology, which saw public interest rise earlier this year. The digital currency can be beneficial for artists because it allows them to give a rightful owner a guaranteed file that can be presented, accessed or resold — with a percentage of any profits able to be set aside for creators as a royalty.
However, like other collectibles such as paintings, the value of an NFT can become subjective and fluctuate much like stocks.
American rock band Kings of Leon was able to generate more than $2 million U.S. in sales when that band became the first global artists to release an album as an NFT earlier this year. Since then, musicians such as Eminem and Lil Pump have dropped singles as NFTs, but no one else has released a complete album in the cryptocurrency format.
The NFT release of Spiritual Machines 2 is limited to 500 copies. And the price is, like most NFTs, negotiable. The album will be released on regular listening formats in January.
