In a historic move, the very first studio recording of a young Michael Jackson, which was kept secret for more than five decades, will be released on December 7 as “digital vinyl” via a blockchain-based platform.
The song, titled “Big Boy (One-Derful Version),” will be published digitally via blockchain music platform Anotherblock and accessible via 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 limited edition.
The recording dates from July 13, 1967 and captures eight-year-old Michael Jackson, along with his brothers, during their first studio session at One-Derful in Chicago.
The release is the result of a collaboration between Recordpool, the recording’s owner, and Swedish blockchain-based music and royalty marketplace Anotherblock.
The ‘digital vinyl’ revolution
Anotherblock has already collaborated with other major artists such as Rihanna, The Weeknd and Justin Bieber. The company’s CEO and co-founder, Michel Traore, told Cointelegraph that:
“Doing this release as a digital vinyl on-chain will allow us to build stories and community around the song and elevate it beyond just a commodity.”
“Some songs, and this one in particular, deserve a special home where they won’t disappear into the sea of hundreds of thousands of songs released every day,” he said. “This new format gives us the opportunity to create more stories around the music.”
Related: Champ Medici talks Web3 communities, NFTs, music and gaming
He said he is excited about the release and sees it as a continuation of “shaking things up in the music industry’s digital property scene.”
Katherine Jackson, Michael’s mother, expressed her excitement about the release, saying: “The recordings of our musical heritage find a new rhythm for the digital age. It’s proof that the Jacksons’ story, like our music, remains timeless.”