One of Gorillaz fans launched a petition to stop the band from releasing the NFT. As part of their 20th-anniversary celebration, the band planned the release of an NFT.
Twenty years ago, animated alternative music band Gorillaz released their first album. To celebrate their anniversary, they announced several projects including the launch of a non-fungible token (NFT). Criticism about this news arose among his fans due to the impact that these digital items have on the environment.
Their projects also include vinyl figures, a new G Foot clothing collection, and the reissue of some of their albums. The first album that they will reissue will be Gorillaz from 2001, which they will release later this year, according to music weekly NME (New Musical Express).
The other projects did not attract any negative comments, but the announcement of the creation of an NFT did. The band will work together with toy company Superplastic, which released their first NFT in February.
This upset some of their fans mainly due to the environmental impact of the electricity consumption and carbon footprints that NFTs have. In 2010, Gorillaz released the album entitled Plastic Beach, where they spoke precisely about environmental awareness and the dangers of excessive consumption and waste.
Fans Classify the Band as Hypocrites and the NFT Launch as a Treason
The fans did not like the opposition between the creation of NFTs and the position of Gorillaz on the Plastic Beach album. Some of them even classified them as Hypocrites and Traitors, as is the case of Twitter users woodpecker (@PeachyKneeSock), Lars (@larsaddams), and Kaiju (@Kaijukings).
Lars commented that Gorillaz getting into “NFTs is really the treason of the millennium. I cannot even muster the words to express myself.”
Fans have been so offended that a Gorillaz fan named Jamie Bradner even launched a petition on petition platform change.org. There, people will sign and contact the band and their team to stop the NFT launch process.
“The decision of Eleven Mgmt (its manager) and Warner Music (its record-label company) to create an NFT based on Gorillaz art is misinformed. It goes against what Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett [the band’s founders] originally created,” according to Jamie Brander himself.
At the time of writing this article, the petition for 2,500 signatures has already raised more than 1,899.
Other Artists have Launched Their NFTs
The NFT rush has led many music artists to release the non-fungible tokens of their previously unreleased albums or other material. Among them is the rock band, King of Leon and DJ 3LAU. So far, they have not had any problem with their fans in this regard, at least not like Gorillaz. Actually, the tokens have had a good reception in both cases.
So far, neither Gorillaz nor their creative and administrative teams have offered statements about the criticisms on their NFT project. They have also given no details about the tentative date for its launch.
By Alexander Salazar
