Muse is almost certain to scoop the U.K. chart title with Will Of The People (via Warner Recordings) — and create a slice of history in the process.
Will Of The People should become the territory’s first-ever leader using NFT technology.
The British alternative rock trio’s ninth studio set was released with a limited-edition “Digital Pressing,” a pioneering standalone format created through a partnership between Warner Music U.K. and eco-friendly NFT specialist marketplace Serenade.
The chart-eligible digital release was designed by Serenade to “cater for a superfan’s appetite for scarcity, exclusive content and community recognition,” reads a statement from the Australia-headquartered company.
Founder Max Shand explained more on social media.
“Muse’s pioneering ‘Digital Pressing’ is the first of many to come,” he writes on a Twitter thread. “With each release, we will be supporting artists who want to give their fans a deeper experience of their music through engaging, collectible web3 formats that make sense.”
11/ Muse’s pioneering Digital Pressing is the first of many to come. With each release, we will be supporting artists who want to give their fans a deeper experience of their music through engaging, collectible web3 formats that make sense
— Max Shand 🌳,🌴 (@max_shand) August 29, 2022
It’s unlikely that any record can stop Muse from notching a seventh U.K. No. 1.
Will of the People is outselling the rest of the Top 10 combined at the midweek mark, the Official Charts Company reports.
The album isn’t the first to impact the Official U.K. Chart. Aitch’s debut Close To Home last Friday (Sept. 26) came in at No. 2 to become the first NFT project to appear on the chart proper.
Further down the chart blast, veteran indie-rockers Embrace could land its eighth U.K. Top 10 appearance with How To Be A Person Like Other People (Mo’Betta), new at No. 4. Led by brothers Danny and Richard McNamara, the British band got their career away in the best possible way with 1998’s The Good Will Out, which led the U.K. survey, the first of three No. 1s.
DJ Khaled could snag a career best with his latest collab-stacked studio album God Did (Epic/We The Best), new at No. 5 on the chart update. Of his 13 album releases to date, DJ Khaled’s best chart position in the U.K. is No. 6 with 2019’s Father of Asahd.
Finally, Blondie’s first-ever boxed set, Against The Odds 1974-1982, could give the punk era legends a 15th U.K. Top 40 appearance. Debbie Harry and Co. come in at No. 11 on the Official Chart Update with their career retrospective.
All will be revealed when the Official U.K. Albums Chart is published late Friday.
