Swedish Indie Band Release Only One Copy Of Their Latest Song Via eBay Art Project

from the it's-the-souvenir dept

Tue, Mar 10th 2009 1:03pm — Mike Masnick

Sweden is home, of course, to the folks who run The Pirate Bay, but it's also the home of numerous indie bands and indie labels that are doing some really interesting experiments that focus on embracing the opportunities and possibilities presented by technology, rather than fighting against it all. Dan Sellberg writes in to alert us to an amusing experiment by the band Bob Hund, who is releasing a new song, called Fantastiskt, but they're doing so by selling the only copy in existence of the song on eBay as an art project:

"Fantastiskt" will be sold and delivered as an art piece comprising; the original master dubplate vinyl (the only existing copy) mounted on a real working turntable with cover art, song lyrics and monogram etched onto the lid by the artist Martin Kann.

The publisher insists that this will be the only release of this single. Talk about taking "scarcity" to a different level... Obviously, this is something of a publicity stunt, but it's not a bad one.

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Filed Under: bob hund, indie, music, sweden
Companies: ebay

21 Comments

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Anonymous Coward, 10 Mar 2009 @ 1:13pm

As of 1:10 Pacific Time on 3/10/2009
the price is $1775

not bad and still some days left
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some old guy, 10 Mar 2009 @ 1:14pm

Thats pretty awesome but...
But.. they should offer a free replacement cover for the record player. That nasty ass scribbling is *NOT* art. It's just nasty.

Other than that one minor detail, this is a pretty neat experiment.
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David T, 10 Mar 2009 @ 1:29pm

Goodwill
Stuff like this do more than just bring in a few bucks on the side and generate buzz (which is does quite well). It also makes people *like* the band. You hear their name and smile.

This is opposed to, say, Metallica whom I loved but now curse. They hate me, a former fan, and am happy to hate them right back (and skip their concerts and CDs).
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curious george (profile), 10 Mar 2009 @ 1:56pm

Is that a USB turntable, so the buyer can easily rip the songe and make it available online? It would be interesting to see how far/fast it spreads via P2P, since it is literally starting with only one copy!
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Haired Weirald, 10 Mar 2009 @ 2:00pm

This would never work for a big artist ..
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uhmno, 10 Mar 2009 @ 2:55pm

so original...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_for_Supermarkets

Hey Swedish band Bob Hund, 1983 called and said hello...
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ehrichweiss, 10 Mar 2009 @ 3:21pm

been done..
An artist by the name of Robert Hampson(formerly of Loop, Main and several other indie bands) has been doing this for years. He sells exactly 1 copy of the song and that's all there is.
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Anonymous Coward, 10 Mar 2009 @ 3:54pm

It will be interesting to see how fast the song becomes available online for free.
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MeMeMe, 10 Mar 2009 @ 4:21pm

Look closely at the handwritten label.... "All Rights Reversed" :-)
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Matt T, 10 Mar 2009 @ 5:10pm

What if...
What if the person who bought it just destroyed it once it arrived?
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bob, 10 Mar 2009 @ 5:26pm

lol
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bob, 10 Mar 2009 @ 5:27pm

Re: lol
All rights reserved not reversed.

LOL @ MeMeMe
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RD, 10 Mar 2009 @ 7:37pm

Radical
But check this out. Here is where you can use "free" to make money. Buy this. Then rip it. Post the rip to all the free/torrent/whatever places you can. Wait a while. Then offer the ONLY EXISTING COPY OF THE MASTER of this song. You've (hopefully) created interest by giving away a digital copy (lower quality, get it anywhere) of a scarce item (the original, and only, master copy). If you feel particularly charitable, share some of the profits back with the band. There can be no copyright violations since you own the original, and there are no "reproduction rights" as there is only a single copy.
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Anonymous Coward, 11 Mar 2009 @ 6:08am

If we find this song on the torrents I suppose the band pretty much knows who to blame.
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Weird Harold, 11 Mar 2009 @ 8:14am

It won't be hard to figure out who shared the song when it shows up in torrentland.
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RD, 11 Mar 2009 @ 8:45am

Yeah and?
"If we find this song on the torrents I suppose the band pretty much knows who to blame."

"It won't be hard to figure out who shared the song when it shows up in torrentland."

And so? You bought AN ORIGINAL. You can do whatever you want with it. There ARE no reproduction rights. What are you going to sue over? Lost revenue? Copy infringement? THERE ARE NO OTHER COPIES! You cant infringe on a right that doesnt exist.
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hegemon13, 11 Mar 2009 @ 8:46am

Re: Radical
Owning the vinyl master does not imply ownership of the copyright. Copyright still belongs to the band.

Now, if they were smart, they would officially grant the buyer the right to rip the track and give it away, as that would further increase interest in the band.
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Weird Harold, 11 Mar 2009 @ 11:13am

Re: Re: Radical
Nice to see someone understand the difference between owning the only copy of a song and owning the rights. You must have missed the last cup of the koolaid ;)
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RD, 11 Mar 2009 @ 11:54am

WRONG!
Sure but since there IS NO OTHER COPIES of the song, it is effectively a moot point. If the band were to release the song in ANY other way then sure, they have the "right" to that. Creating one singular unique copy of something, and selling it on THAT basis, is essentially creating that work FOR the buyer. Anything else is fraud. You cant have it both ways. Copyright and first-sale law does not allow you to misrepresent the conditions of the creation for sale (IE I am creating a unique, one-off item for YOU (the buyer)) and then turn around later and say "I have rights! we are making new copies available of this!" It either is or it isnt, you cant smoke-and-mirrors one way, then retract it all later on.
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Alex, 25 Oct 2009 @ 2:15pm

Re: never work.
I STRONGLY disagree. Think about how much someone would pay for the ONLY EXISTING COPY of a song by Madonna or some other huge superstar. Its the equivalent of Michael Jackson's glove, or Elvis's glasses or something. Scarcity and Supply and Demand.
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Alex, 25 Oct 2009 @ 2:20pm

Re: Re: Re: Radical
The only problem with this is that if they gave the rights to the person that bought it that person could make a profit by selling it... or is that a problem? Now you're not only selling the only recording in existence, but also the rights to reproduce it and sell it. Now its a potential cash cow. The whole time you're getting free publicity on top of whatever outrageous price you sold the original for. BRILLIANT!
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