Back in March, Wu-Tang Clan announced a secret album called Once Upon a Time in Shaolin. Unlike a traditional commercial album release, however, only one copy would be sold.
The group's hope was that this marketing strategy would allow music to become reestablished as a form of highly praised and sought-after art, similar to a Monet or a Picasso. Like a piece of treasured art, it would also come with a multi-million dollar price tag. The sole copy would be toured through museums and galleries before being sold to the highest bidder.
RZA claims that they've already received a $5 million bid. Now, two Wu-Tang fans named Russell Meyer and Calvin Okoth-Obbo have started fundraiser via Kickstarter in hopes of placing the highest bid and making the album's 31 songs available to other fans for free online.
"I can't imagine RZA being upset if enough Wu-Tang fans get together and raise enough money to purchase [the album]," Meyer said in an interview with DNAinfo. "We don't want some guy in Dubai who literally has money to burn to buy it as a collector item that only six people will get to listen to."
The pair admit that raising the money will be an "uphill battle," but they believe they are sending the music industry a strong message with their campaign.
"We're all for changing times," Meyer told them. "But when you make the content exclusive and only able to be accessed by a select few, the fans suffer and it's an elitist stance that doesn't really jive with hip-hop culture."
If they were to emerge as the highest bidder, they would distribute the album digitally. As for the physical copy, they have a few ideas on what they might do.
"We could rock-paper-scissors to see who gets to hold it," Okoth-Obbo told them. "Or we could do a vote or raffle of all backers to see who keeps it. It's not about ownership, it's about getting it out there. We'd rather just get the musical content and be able to share that with the people who want to be able to appreciate it."
The "Risks and Challenges" section of the Kickstarter reads:
"The risk is some Saudi oil baron's kid spending his dad's money to collect a trophy and then he'll keep the album to himself and fans the world over will suffer.
If for some reason we are unable to purchase the album to distribute it to all fans or we are outbid, there will be a vote to either refund all money to backers or use the money to fund a Wu Tang related project such as a free concert for backers.
The founder of this group will not profit by even a single penny of backers' contributions, nor will a cent be spent until the auction date when the entirety of funds raised will be bid in an attempt to win the album."
The two fans only have one rewards tier on their Kickstarter campaign. It gives the backer a digital copy of the album when he or she donates a minimum of $1. At press time, the campaign had 329 backers pledging a total of $2,153. They have 51 more days to reach their $5 million goal.
Learn more about the campaign or donate to the cause here. Let us know what you think in the comments section below!
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