Since the 19th century, when printmakers realised they could make more money with a smaller print run, there have been industries ready to take advantage of wealthy completists. For the most part, the entertainment industry has done this with expensive “limited edition” box sets, where various scraps of previously released mutton are dressed up with bonus tracks, original artwork, deleted scenes and USB sticks, and sold for a few hundred quid. It’s why Michael Jackson signed for $250m (£165m), the biggest record deal in history, after he died. But now artists themselves are realising that their most devoted fans can bankroll the rest of their careers. Not only are they able to cut out the middle man, but they can make their runs far more limited – the extreme being just one person purchasing their goods. Here are some of the creatives who have cracked 21st-century patronage.
Mailbox Money – Nipsey Hussle
Cost: $1,000
Nipsey Hussle is an LA rapper and a former member of the Crips gang, so you might not single out his street hip-hop as the obvious choice for wealthy benefactors, but in 2013, when he put 1,000 copies of his record Crenshaw on sale at $100 each, the run sold out, with Jay Z buying up 10% of the copies himself. This time, Hussle is going all in, selling 100 copies of his new album at $1,000 a pop. He’s somewhat undermining the rules of supply and demand, by making the album free online, but he’s still sold 60 hard copies.
A 20-page screenplay written about you by Dan Harmon
Cost: $5,000
In a bid to crowdfund their movie and TV projects that have been rejected by everyone else they have tapped up, millionaire Hollywood types often bribe fans with custom-made short films or scripts in return for their cash. This was taken to its narcissistic conclusion by Being John Malkovich writer Charlie Kaufman, who funded a new animation project by offering a script from Community-creator Dan Harmon to be written about whoever won the prize (presumably Kaufman himself couldn’t be arsed). And why not? It’s got everything a good story needs: a person of considerable means using some of their income to successfully obtain something they want. You’ve got to root for them.
Private Vegas by James Patterson
Cost: $294,038
The American novelist James Patterson is offering one fan of schlocky plot twists the chance of a lifetime. Not only do you get the only copy of his latest novel Private Vegas, but, once you have finished reading it, you can watch it being destroyed by a specialised Swat team, and Patterson will fly you first-class to “an undisclosed location”. (I wonder where it will be? The book has a photo of Vegas on the cover.) You’ll also get two nights’ stay in a luxurious hotel, gold-plated binoculars engraved with Patterson’s initials and a five-course dinner with the man himself. Judging by Patterson’s oeuvre, he is probably hoping for a female crime detective who is in the midst of a difficult divorce, but now sees the case differently after something her ex-husband said.
Once Upon a Time in Shaolin – Wu-Tang Clan
Cost: estimated $5m
Last year, legendary hip-hop crew Wu-Tang Clan reunited to make two albums: the first, A Better Tomorrow, was released to the general public and lukewarm reviews. The second, Once Upon a Time in Shaolin, is a double album recorded in secret, of which only one physical copy will be produced and sold to a buyer of the group’s choosing. Don’t try to find out exactly how much it is going for: in the past, members of the press who have approached the Wu-Tang for a comment on the record have been told that Forbes has exclusive rights to coverage.
Total cost to read and listen to it all: $5,300,008.
