It all started with the disgraced former pharmaceutical executive, Martin Shkreli. In 2015, Pharma Bro bought Wu-Tang Clan‘s one-of-a-kind album Once Upon a Time in Shaolin for $2 million. It was the only copy ever made, and the album was never made available to stream. It is considered the most expensive album ever sold, and now, apparently, you can listen to a portion of it for $1.
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In 2017, Shkreli was arrested and convicted of securities fraud, for which he spent seven years in federal prison. He was also ordered to forfeit $7.4 million in assets. This included the Wu-Tang album, which PleasrDAO bought while he was incarcerated. The digital art collective—made up of artists, collectors, and leaders in decentralized finance—purchased the album for a whopping $4 million from the U.S. Department of Justice.
PleasrDAO bought the album with the idea to make it more widely accessible. They scheduled an exhibition of the album at the Museum of Old and New Art in Australia for June 15 to 24. Before that, though, Shkreli livestreamed the album on Twitter/X to approximately five thousand people n June 9. In response, PleasrDAO filed a lawsuit against Shkreli, claiming he devalued the album as well as played it without permission.
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NFT Collective Sues Pharma Bro Martin Shkreli After He Livestreamed Rare Wu-Tang Clan Album Without Permission
According to a report from Pitchfork, the lawsuit states that Shkreli violated the forfeiture order. Under the order, Shkreli must “take all reasonable steps, and bear all costs necessary, to ensure that all the Substitute Assets [i.e., Once Upon a Time in Shaolin] are preserved and maintained in good and marketable condition, and are not damaged, diluted or diminished in value as a result of any actions taken or not taken by the defendant and his representatives.”
By livestreaming the album, he diminished its value, claims PleasrDAO. Additionally, Shkreli publicly and remorselessly admitted on social media to making copies of the album and playing it. According to the lawsuit, PleasrDAO is demanding an inventory and seizure of Shkreli’s files, as well as damages.
As part of the initial contract on Once Upon a Time in Shaolin, the album cannot be commercially exploited until 2103. However, it can be played at private listening parties and exhibitions.
Once Upon a Time in Shaolin Now Available as a $1 Sample, Plus What’s the Story of the Album?
Taking this whole thing further, PleasrDAO has now made five minutes of the album available to the public for $1. The sample is available at thealbum.com, which includes a countdown to 2103. For $1 plus tax, fans can get a taste of the 31-track album, which no one (except Wu-Tang Clan and Pharma Bro, unfortunately) has ever heard.
The website claims that every sale of the encrypted sample lowers the countdown by 88 seconds. By turning the sample into an NFT, PleasrDAO has found a workaround for the contractual limitations.
So, what is the story behind Once Upon a Time in Shaolin? That all starts in the early 2000s, when Wu-Tang Clan producer Cilvaringz was discouraged by streaming and online pirating. He felt that the music industry had ruined the artistry of music, and sought to bring value back to music production. Cilvaringz, along with co-producer RZA, wrote a message on their website detailing the project.
“The music industry is in crisis,” the message read, per a 2014 report from The Guardian. “The intrinsic value of music has been reduced to zero. Contemporary art is worth millions by virtue of its exclusivity … By adopting a 400 year old Renaissance-style approach to music, offering it as a commissioned commodity and allowing it to take a similar trajectory from creation to exhibition to sale … we hope to inspire and intensify urgent debates about the future of music.”
The album, contained in a jewel-encrusted silver box with leather-bound liner notes, was exhibited in Queens only one time for around 150 art collectors in 2015. The exhibition only played 13 minutes of the album. It was put up for auction that same year, where Martin Shkreli was the winning bid.
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