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| Robert Fitzgerald Diggs, aka RZA (left), and Clifford Smith, aka Method Man, of Wu-Tang Clan. The group revealed they have been working on a secret album for the past six years. |
The 31-track album is currently hidden and locked away in a vault in Morocco, RZA told Forbes magazine.
Want to own the new album from Wu-Tang Clan? Prepare to fork over millions.
The band announced on its web site Thursday that it has pressed just
one copy of its new 31-song set double set, “Once Upon A Time In
Shoalin” — and it goes to the highest bidder at an auction later this
year.
“(It’s) a piece of art like nobody else has done in the history of
music,” group member RZA told Forbes Magazine. “We’re making a
single-sale collector’s item. This is like somebody having the scepter
of an Egyptian king.”
In terms of art, it’s more like DaVinci’s “Mona Lisa,” another one-of-a-kind creation.
The notion of selling a single copy of a record flips the script on the
entire history of popular music. Since the start of recorded sound, in
the late 1800s, artists and record companies have adopted a populist
business model, churning out as many recordings as possible and offering
them at a low price so millions could enjoy the product. But
file-sharing in the internet age laid waste to that, allowing fans to
download music without paying, screwing the artists in the process.
Wu-Tang’s scheme exacts the ultimate revenge — in the process shunning
the fans in favor of the band and its lone well-heeled patron.
It’s anti-democracy in action.
Wu’s move also rates as the most revolutionary approach to
music-marketing since Radiohead created a “pay what you want” model for
its “In Rainbows” album in 2007. That disc reportedly moved 1.2 million
copies on the day of release alone, but the band never disclosed profits
from the virtual tip jar idea.
Wu-Tang’s plan — cooked up by the album’s producer Tarik Cilvaringz —
co-opts a model created hundreds of years ago in the art world, where
wealthy patrons commissioned works for private collections.
“The intrinsic value of music has been reduced to zero,” explains a
statement on Wu’s website. “Art is worth millions by virtue of its
exclusivity.”
Shirley Halperin, music editor of the Hollywood Reporter and Billboard,
says the well-heeled winner will be “someone who doesn’t just want a
unique piece of art but who wants to become part of the story.”
After all, that person will be inundated with interview requests from around the world.
For now, the album itself sits in a container, hand-crafted by the
British-Moroccan artist Yahya, in a secret location on the outskirts of
Marrakech, Morocco. Before it’s auctioned off, the album will “tour”
museums and galleries, with tickets going for $30 to $50 for a one-time
listing.
Clearly, there’ll be no recording allowed. “One leak of this thing nullifies the entire concept,” Cilvaringz told Forbes.
The “single collector” idea could also fall apart if a media company
turns out to be the winning bidder. Last summer, Samsung paid Jay-Z $5
million for the first million downloads of his latest album, which the
company then offered for free to its subscribers.
The music behind the Clan’s nutty notion has been in the works for five
years. It brings together all surviving members of the group, including
Redman and Method Man, along with unnamed special guests. Formed in
Staten Island 20 years ago, Wu-Tang has always worked by its own plan,
using shifting identities for its members, and high-concepts behind its
projects. Its songs also pioneered their own language and mythology. The
band’s website promises the new music “encapsulates the Clan’s
legendary dark funk and avant-garde sound of the ’90s.”
As uber-exclusive as the disc is, the group may be undermining itself
by promising to release another album this year called “A Better
Tomorrow.”
Anyone can buy that one.
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