John Lennon's son Julian is selling several items of Beatles and John Lennon memorabilia as non-fungible tokens (NFTs)—but the physical items themselves aren't going on sale.
The Lennon Collection series of NFTs includes Paul McCartney's handwritten notes for the Beatles song "Hey Jude," as well as items of clothing worn by John Lennon during his tenure in The Beatles.
Bidding starts at $30,000 for the "Hey Jude" notes, $8,000 for a black cape worn by John Lennon during the filming of the movie "Help!" and $6,000 for an Afghan coat sported by Lennon in "Magical Mystery Tour" has reached $6,000.
Rounding out the Lennon Collection are several guitars owned by John Lennon, with bidding starting at $4,000 for each NFT.
With one eye on the backlash over the environmental impact of NFTs, the Lennon Collection NFTs are being built on Polygon, a layer 2 scaling solution that Lennon's NFT partner YellowHeart describes as "more environmentally friendly."
A portion of the proceeds from the sale are also being donated to the White Feather Foundation to offset carbon using blockchain-based marketplace Nori.
While NFTs are typically used to prove ownership over a digital or physical item, in the case of the Lennon Collection, ownership of the physical items themselves will remain with Julian Lennon.
That's raised eyebrows in some quarters, with fans likening them to "photocopies" of the objects in question.
Exactly what ownership rights NFTs confer remains a thorny issue; and it remains to be seen whether the market will value NFTs that are associated with physical objects but don't actually confer ownership over the object itself.
NFTs, memorabilia and music
The memorabilia industry has, unsurprisingly, seized on the possibilities presented by NFTs.
One of the leading NFT collections is NBA Top Shots, a collection of video clips showcasing iconic basketball moments. NFL star quarterback Tom Brady has launched NFT platform Autograph, which initially focused on digital sports memorabilia before branching out into music, with musician The Weeknd joining its board.
Musicians have become increasingly interested in the possibilities offered by NFT collectibles.
Amid the NFT boom of 2021, musicians including Kings of Leon, Grimes, Weezer, Snoop Dogg, M.I.A, and the Rolling Stones’ Mick Jagger launched their own NFTs, while music collectibles platform OneOf launched in July 2021, offering NFTs from arts including John Legend, Quincy Jones, Doja Cat, and the late Whitney Houston.
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