In a historic move, the first-ever studio recording of a young Michael Jackson, kept under wraps for over five decades, will be released on Dec. 7 as a “digital vinyl” via a blockchain-based platform.
The track, titled “Big Boy (One-Derful Version),” will be digitally published through the blockchain music platform Anotherblock and accessible through the platform’s player alongside images of the master tape and song stems. It will be available for 48 hours as both an open and a limited edition.
Dating back to July 13, 1967, the recording captures eight-year-old Michael Jackson, along with his brothers, in their inaugural studio session at One-Derful in Chicago.
The release is the result of a collaboration between Recordpool, the owner of the recording, and the Swedish blockchain-based music and royalty marketplace, Anotherblock.
The “digital vinyl” revolution
Anotherblock has already worked with other major artists like Rihanna, The Weeknd and Justin Bieber. The company’s CEO and co-founder Michel Traore told Cointelegraph that:
“Doing this drop as a digital vinyl on-chain makes it possible to build stories and community around the song and elevate it beyond being just a commodity.”
“Some songs, and this one in particular, deserve a special home where they won’t disappear in the sea of hundreds of thousands of tracks released every day,” he said. “This new format gives us a chance to craft more stories around the music.”
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He said he’s excited about the release and sees it as a continuation to “shake things up in the digital ownership scene of the music industry.”
Katherine Jackson, Michael’s mother, expressed her excitement about the release and is quoted as saying, the “recordings of our musical heritage find a new rhythm for the digital age. It is a testament that the Jacksons’ story, just like our music, remains timeless.”
