1 week ago
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The new Vinnie Vincent album will cost $2 million.
Vincent was a guitarist in KISS from 1982 to 1984, which means he was part of the band when they took off their makeup and costumes for the first time. He's played with a bunch of other artists over the years too, but he's also led his own band, the Vinnie Vincent Invasion. Their first album since 1996, Guitarmageddon, is available for purchase via Vincent's website for a mere $2,000,000.
That's pretty expensive, so some of you may be thinking you have a workaround: You'll simply buy each track individually for the standard iTunes rate, thereby sidestepping the seven-digit price point. That's not going to work for you; each of the 10 tracks, such as "HEAVY METAL POONTANG" and "COCKTEAZER," can be acquired as a digital file on a thumb drive for $200,000. You may say that's outrageous, but it's just math. If you wanted to avoid spending so many dollars to hear new Vinnie Vincent songs, you should have jumped at the opportunity to buy lead single "RIDE THE SERPENT" for a mere $300. The price of the brick going up.
The good news is that if you do buy Guitarmageddon, you're also buying the right to distribute the music, pending Vincert's approval of your marketing plan. Though he hasn't specified that there is only one copy of the album, his language around the release suggests this situation is on par with Wu-Tang Clan's one-of-a-kind Once Upon A Time In Shaolin.
"If the buyer wishes to purchase any associated rights in the compositions, a separate agreement can be arranged and negotiated," Vincent explains in a statement. "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."
Per his Facebook comments, Vincent seems to think this a good way for a record label or other company to shoulder the exorbitant cost for his music, then distribute it to his fans for a more reasonable price. “I'm offering the album to a third party whatever entity that may be,” he writes on Facebook. “If it's an investment group, they may have plans that do not include release and distribution. It's the discretion of the buyer whether it remains an asset or is an income stream as a record that is distributed and released to the public.”
Vincent’s site says payment must be made through PayPal, and there will be no refunds. If any of you has Martin Shkreli's number, Vinnie Vincent would presumably love to get him on the line.
English (US) · 