Ex-Oasis rocker Noel Gallagher turns NFTs to Top Foo Fighters in UK Chart Race
This week, Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds – the current band of the famous Oasis rocker – have found themselves locked in a battle with the Foo Fighters in a bid to top the official UK album charts. And now Gallagher is turning to music NFTs to potentially help close the gap between them.
Noel Gallagher released ‘Council Skies’, his fourth studio album with High Flying Birds, last Friday 2 June – the same day Foo Fighters released ‘But Here We Are’, their first album since the tragic death of drummer Taylor Hawkins. .
In a midweek update shared yesterday by the Official Charts Company, just 200 units – which equates to 200 actual album sales or roughly 200,000 album streams – separated the acts at the top of the charts. Today it was confirmed that the Foo Fighters had took the lead with less than 500 units.
Over the past few days, Foo Fighters have promised access to advance sales for an as yet unannounced 2024 UK headline tour for anyone who buys ‘But Here We Are’, while Gallagher has announced an ‘In Conversation’ evening session at the record store Banquet Recordswith tickets bundled together with copies of the album.
Now Gallagher has a new tactic to gain an edge in the chart showdown: he’s turning to NFTs to try to close the gap, according to a report from Music week.
Gallagher has teamed up with Web3 startup Serenade for a limited NFT pressing of “Council Skies,” which will be made available Thursday morning — the last day sales count toward the next chart ranking.
Owners of the “Council Skies” NFT will be able to unlock high-quality WAV files of the record, the first two parts of a four-part documentary tracking the production of the record, and a digitally signed lyrics sheet. The pressing will also contain a limited edition, signed and colored artwork.
Described by Serenade as “modern versions of limited edition vinyl”, each digital pressing is backed by blockchain technology, which the firm says also has environmental benefits compared to a physical product. Serenade’s NFTs are minted on the Ethereum scaling network, Polygon.
“You would need to produce 1.2 million digital presses to match the carbon footprint of an average 12” record, the firm said. Users can purchase the NFT-based pressing using crypto or with a credit or debit card, in an effort to make the pressing as accessible as possible.
“It concludes an exciting week in the UK charts, and a brilliant campaign from Noel and team,” said a statement announcing the partnership. “This latest digital press release from Serenade continues to prove the value of the future-proof format, connecting fan and artist like never before.”
Last year, rock bad Muse released a digital version of their album “Will of the People” via Serenade, becoming the first chart-eligible NFT release ever. Around 1,000 digital copies were available worldwide and the album went on to top the UK Album Charts. The Wombats, Kota Banks and Confidence Man have also released digital pressings via Serenade in recent months.
