Rap Artists Wu-Tang Clan Fight Infinite Goods By Selling One Copy Of Their Next Album... For $1 Million
from the if-you've-got-the-front-rent,-who-cares-about-the-back? dept
There's a lot of discussion at this site about new business models for artists to combat the tendency of infinite goods (digital files) to bring the market price down to as near zero as possible. Seminal rap act Wu-Tang Clan has gone in the opposite direction. Instead of operating around infinite goods, the group is opting to release its next album in an extremely finite quantity.
Somewhere on the outskirts of Marrakech, Morocco, inside a vault housed beneath the shadow of the Atlas Mountains, there sits an engraved silver-and-nickel box with the potential to spawn a shift in the way music is consumed and monetized.Rather than allow the market to decide how much the album is worth, the Wu-Tang Clan has circumvented that process by predetermining its going price (which eliminates a whole lot of the "market"). But it's not a terrible idea, provided it's able to sell this literally one-of-a-kind album. Securing $1 million up front (and without a label) for an unheard album will allow the group to recoup its costs in short order, rather than having to rely on a slower flow of income. It may work for a group that has achieved nearly legendary status over the course of its career, but it obviously isn't the sort of thing that would work for many recording artists.
The lustrous container was handcrafted over the course of three months by British-Moroccan artist Yahya, whose works have been commissioned by royal families and business leaders around the world. Soon, it will contain a different sort of art piece: the Wu-Tang Clan’s double-album The Wu – Once Upon A Time In Shaolin, recorded in secret over the past few years.
Like the work of a master Impressionist, it will truly be one-of-a-kind—in lieu of a traditional major label or independent launch, the iconic hip-hop collective will make and sell just one copy of the album. And similar to a Monet or a Degas, the price tag will be a multimillion-dollar figure.
But this isn't the only revenue stream. The Clan has another offering that will put even more money in its pockets, but it's also one that could possibly undermine the million-dollar sale.
According to RZA and the album’s main producer Tarik “Cilvaringz” Azzougarh, a Morocco-based part of Wu-Tang’s extended family, the plan is to first take Once Upon A Time In Shaolin on a “tour” through museums, galleries, festivals and the like. Just like a high-profile exhibit at a major institution, there will be a cost to attend, likely in the $30-$50 range.
Visitors will go through heavy security to ensure that recording devices aren’t smuggled in; as an extra precaution, they’ll likely have to listen to the 128-minute album’s 31 songs on headphones provided by the venue. As Cilvaringz puts it: “One leak of this thing nullifies the entire concept.”The group says this is an attempt at "reconsidering music as art." That's the kind of statement that punches the right buttons for creators who feel the internet has robbed them of the ability to make a living, but it's ultimately as substance-free as any other justification for charging a steep price for infinite goods. This is the sort of statement you can make when a $1 million payoff assures you of success even without album sales. This won't force a reconsideration of music by the general public. This will only put the new album into the realm of the unattainable, which makes it a luxury good, rather than an artistic statement.
But all in all, it's not a terrible plan. If the album leaks beforehand, some well-heeled fan may still pick up the tab to get the only legitimate copy of this album, along with its handcrafted storage case. If, by some miracle, the album is purchased and never leaks, someone out there will own the best-kept musical secret of all time. But chances are, the album will make its way to the internet eventually, even if leaks are prevented. People love sharing art, even if they paid $1 million for it.
Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
Filed Under: art, music, scarcity, wu-tang clan
Reader Comments
Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
'Twill leak
Brilliant from a marketing standpoint though. I'll buy the *bootleg* [in air quotes] when it's available...
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: 'Twill leak
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: 'Twill leak
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: 'Twill leak
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
"robbed of ability to make a living"?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
not thinking this through. ..
Also hearing aids can record, good luck preventing ppl from recording this from earphones-only
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: not thinking this through. ..
I see nothing wrong with such a business model.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: not thinking this through. ..
I'll sell the first album for a million dollars or whatever I can get. For at least a month you will be the first buyer to hear it unless you yourself leak it. If you don't leak it then I will sell/auction another album for a million dollars or whatever and there is no guarantee on this second one. If that doesn't leak then I will auction a third one, etc...
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Re: not thinking this through. ..
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Re: not thinking this through. ..
They can optionally tell the first buyer that they will give them a year or so to decide what they want to do and if it doesn't leak they will sell a second ten copies or whatever release it to the public or whatever. Or they can just sell the first ten albums and let the buyer decide what to do. If it does leak it leaks, it's under a CC license or whatever.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Re: Re: not thinking this through. ..
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Re: not thinking this through. ..
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Re: Re: not thinking this through. ..
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: not thinking this through. ..
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Not to mention I don't like rap music..
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Missed it by that much
Or the album is good. In which case they are better off letting the songs leak. The value is in the physical one of a kind album. Not in the music itself.
They should sell usb sticks with mp3s of the songs at the showings. Enough people would buy them even if all the songs are available on the net to make it worth while.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
, if WuTang opens the doors to record companies and offer it to them first it could be a brilliant move if they are allowed to make copys of the work that is, If not it'll be leaked because the major studios need it to fail to keep the dated business model they love so much.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Does that $1 million come with distribution rights?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Does that $1 million come with distribution rights?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Does that $1 million come with distribution rights?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Does that $1 million come with distribution rights?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
FTFY.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
:)
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: :)
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: :)
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Re: :)
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
As has been said here many, many times - when making an album, it's the first copy that is the expensive one. These guys just had the balls/smarts to charge what it's worth.
This just shifts the risk from some faceless record company you are going to hate no matter what to one or more fans. Hell, it might be a good investment if you can figure out how to make $1 million redistributing an album these days.
If people still paid for music instead of pirating it, everybody could get this album for 15 bucks at Best Buy. And the artist would be compensated roughly in proportion to actual sales. But thanks to this wonderful new world it's possible nobody will ever hear it and the artist will get compensated some arbitrary figure not at all related to how many people like their album. What a tremendous optimization and improvement in the market. Good work everybody!
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
This is a sad day for fans and a sad day for music, but whon can blame them when they have enough money in the bank to play games like this.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re:
How do you know this? Have you heard it already?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
There is no way a single album could ever be worth that much, no could it have cost anywhere near that much to produce.
Piss off back to cuckoo land!
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re:
If someone pays it, then it was worth that much by definition. It just isn't worth that much to you.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re:
A lot of it depends on who the entertainer is. Is Wu Tang Clan really that popular? If you had this kind of deal for someone like Elton John, it would be a no-brainer.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
Wait, let me scroll up and read the article again. Nope, I still don't see where it shits on them. What are you talking about?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
I assume the new owner can devise her own scheme for marketing and selling (and getting paid for) songs off the album to whomever wishes to pay that new owner's chosen price.
This nicely lays off the Infinite Goods risk onto a distributor, in exchange for throwing a hard cap (of $1,000,000.00) on the artist's net price.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Brilliant
I guess what I'm saying is that a future public leak may in fact be an intentional feature & not just left up to the buyer's whim...
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Burying it in the outskirts of Marrakech is the best thing you can do with it.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
You might as well as replace WTC with Mikey Cyrus and it would have the same effect...
Just a tiny blip in the history of music...
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Where the price came from..
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Still the marketing campaign seems just about right. I would release the content on the net if I went nuts and bought that.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
the best-kept musical secret of all time....
Second best. I still don't know who Carly Simon sang about in "You're So Vain"
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
haha
hip hop instrumentals
[ link to this | view in chronology ]