The blockchain group that sued Martin Shkreli to prevent him from releasing the Wu-Tang Clan's Once upon a time in Shaolin is now selling the acclaimed one-of-a-kind album to the public. But the deal comes with a small catch: buyers can't actually hear most of it.
Days after being sued by the infamous Pharma Bro, PleasrDAO announced on Thursday (June 13) that Shaolin “finally made available to the public” for just $1 — something of a sensational deal considering the album's famous contractual restrictions say it can't be widely released until the year 2103.
But the fine print was slightly less exciting: Buyers will only get an “encrypted” version Shaolin that they can't really hear. Instead, the deal will unlock exclusive access to a five-minute audio “sampler” made up of five tracks. the rest of the album will remain sealed.
In a telephone interview with Advertising sign On Thursday, PleasrDAO members confirmed these restrictions: “What people are being offered is the ability to own the encrypted album that they can't listen to,” said Pleasr's Leighton Cusack. “This will instantly unlock a never-before-heard sampler from the album created by the album's co-producer.”
Instead of the restrictions, Pleasr highlighted the other unique element of its sale: Each time someone buys the album, the group says it will reduce the waiting period for the full album to be released by 88 seconds. “It creates that ability for people to decide how much they value music and whether they want that music out there faster or not,” Cusack said.
The sale of any amount Shaolin, an album famous (and expensive) for its exclusivity, raises big questions. Even if Pleasr's sale only allows buyers to listen to five minutes of the album's material, wouldn't widespread digital release violate Wu-Tang's famous restrictions? How is that possible?
One possibility is that Pleasr, who bought the album from federal prosecutors after Shkreli forfeited it as part of his 2017 securities fraud convictions, was never subject to those same crazy restrictions in the first place. Another explanation could be that the people who imposed these rules – Wu-Tang rapper RZA and producer Cilvaringz – consented to the project. In social media posts, Pleasr said it was “working with the original artists and producer” on the sale, suggesting Wu-Tang greenlighted the project.
Representatives for the Wu-Tang Clan did not respond to requests for comment about their involvement in the project. A press release from Pleasr on Thursday included a quote from RZA and Cilvaringz, but it was taken from a statement the duo issued a decade ago.
When asked directly if ShaolinThe terms of the company were still valid or if the sale met these requirements, Pleasr agent Camilla McFarland declined to elaborate: “We can't necessarily discuss the specifics of these deals and where they all stand, but we can assure you that all of our activities and releases are fully compliant with the consent and blessing of the artists and the right holders involved,” he said.
The legendary Wu-Tang album was recorded in secret and released only once, on a CD secured in an engraved nickel and silver box. Although the band intended the odd embellishments as a protest against the commercialization of music, Shaolin later it became the ultimate commodity. In 2015, Shkreli — already infamous as the man who deliberately raised the price of critical AIDS drugs — bought it at auction for $2 million.
After Shkreli was convicted of securities fraud in 2017, he forfeited the album to federal prosecutors to help him pay his multimillion-dollar restitution sentence. Pleasr then bought the album from the government in 2021 for $4 million, and in 2024 acquired the copyright and other rights to the album for another $750,000.
When originally sold, Shaolin it came with much-discussed conditions — namely that the one-of-a-kind album could not be released to the general public until 2103. While the deal allowed for profit listening events in museums and other small venues, it strictly prohibited copying or other exploitation Shaolin “for any commercial or other non-commercial purposes by any means now known or to be known during the said time period”.
While Shkreli was certainly bound by those terms, it's less clear whether Pleasr was subject to them when she bought the album from prosecutors. The original 2015 deal contained a specific provision that, should the album be resold, the same restrictions would be passed on to the new buyer. But it's unclear whether that claim survived the album's forfeiture as part of a criminal case.
Until Thursday's digital sale, Pleasr's use of the album had seemingly remained within the confines of Wu-Tang's restrictions, with only a series of small personal appearances. Last month, the band announced an exhibit at an Australian museum where fans could “experience” some of the songs. And last weekend, he held a private listening event at the Angel Orensanz Foundation in New York.
But the new sale appears to clearly go beyond those original rules. Copying the original CD to digital format and then selling copies over the Internet does not seem to fit the original authorized venues of the contract: “Buyer's home, museums, art galleries, restaurants, bars, exhibition spaces or other similar venues that they are not usually used as venues for large music concerts.'
An obvious way for Pleasr to avoid the restrictions would be for the seller who reached the deal with Shkreli to simply waive his rights to enforce the contract. In a copy of the original agreement attached to the recent lawsuit, the agreement was signed by RZA (Robert Diggs) as the founder/CEO of Wu-Tang Productions, Inc. and by Cilvaringz (Tarik Azzougarh).
When asked if such consent had been given, Pleasr's McFarland said: “At the end of the day, I'll let [RZA] comment on any of them. But of course, we've worked with them to be able to bring it to life.”
