The ongoing controversy and chaos surrounding the Wu Tang Clan’s one-copy only album, Once Upon A Time In Shaolin hasn’t deterred another artist from perusing an equally crazy strategy in terms of album delivery.
That individual is Vinnie Vincent, one-time guitarist with Kiss. Just before Christmas, Vincent announced the idea for his brilliantly-titled new album Guitarmageddon. He would sell the lead single Ride The Serpent for $200 each – all 1,000 copies, on CD. Then once those had gone, he would sell the other tracks from the album in the same manner, again on $200 CDs.
However, Vincent seems to have somewhat overestimated his popularity. Clearly not enough of his fans are the sort of maniacs willing to shell out a couple of hundred for a CD. Come January, and the ex-Kiss man was threatening to take his ball home with him.
Article continues below"There's no money releasing a record like this with bootlegging thieves at my door. Unless I get compensated for my work, the album stays unheard," he moaned on Facebook. "It comes down to this; if the fan support is not there, which it does not appear to be, this record will not be released.”
"Am I fine with that? Absolutely. 100%. It will be the greatest album of all time, never to be heard, never to be released. If people want my music, and think they're punishing me by not buying it because of the price, it matters not to me. They're the ones who will lose out."
Now Vincent has had another rethink. His current plan is that if you pay him $2 million you can manufacture, release and sell the album yourself. On the Facebook post announcing the wheeze, he said the lucky purchaser will get: "10 songs mixed in master, final product format, all the master files of the artwork, related posters, and 10 separate vinyl and CD packaging art for each individual song, should the buyer choose to release the album on a per-song basis.”
“The buyer can choose to release the entire album in any format they desire ... vinyl, CD, or any other configuration, in whole or in part, at their discretion. ... The price will also include a perpetual license to use the brand name 'Vinnie Vincent Invasion' and 'Vinnie Vincent' for the life of the album."
However, one scan at the small print reveals that: “All marketing plans and ideas require approval by Vinnie Vincent.” Neither does it specify if the buyer will be granted exclusive distribution rights, or how long "the life of the album" is. Or what kind of marketing plans and ideas will or won't be approved by Vincent.
Is there a fan crackers enough to give the Kiss guitarist $2 million for an album with – let’s face it – fairly marginal appeal? Vincent is convinced he’s recorded a masterpiece. In his January Facebook post he stated: “Guitarmageddon is one of the greatest rock albums of all time. I lived thru Meet The Beatles, Led Zeppelin II, (Jimi) Hendrix Are You Experienced, Pink Floyd etc... The only difference is these albums are generation tested and have the benefit of fermentation of time. But as for impact and perfection from the first song to last, Guitarmaggedon is a classic."
So is Vincent some sort of mad marketing genius? Or rock’s most deluded man? Watch this space...
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