Most valuable album

Described as the "first ever private music album" and "a piece of contemporary art", a single copy of hip-hop collective Wu-Tang Clan's (USA) Once Upon a Time in Shaolin... album was manufactured at a cost of about $3 million (£1.9 million) and offered exclusively to one buyer, in what was considered a revolutionary new business model for the music industry. As of 2 December 2014, the 31-track, 128-minute double album, six years in the making and featuring a "unique tapestry of guest performers" including Cher, Redman and soccer players from Barcelona FC, had reportedly attracted bids of up to $5 million (£3.1 million), with the sole copy housed "in a box within a box within a box" at a secret location in Marrakesh, Morocco. The album was the first to be released under "The Carmen Clandestine Experience", a "new, luxury business model" billed as "the world's first private music service".

According to the dedicated website http://scluzay.com/, Once Upon a Time in Shaolin... "will only ever have one incarnation" and "will not be made available digitally or in any other existing mass format".

The album was produced in Morocco by Cilvaringz (aka Tarik Azzougarh) "under the tutelage" of Wu-Tang Clan member The RZA (aka Robert Diggs). Presented in a hand-carved nickel-silver box designed by the British-Moroccan artist Yahya, Shaolin... "encapsulates the Clan's legendary dark funk and avant garde sound and is produced in the original Wu-Tang style of the 90s".

In a press release titled "#Norules." on http://scluzay.com/, producers Cilvaringz and The RZA explained the concept behind the album: "History demonstrates that great musicians such as Beethoven, Mozart and Bach are held in the same high esteem as figures like Picasso, Michelangelo and Van Gogh. However, the creative output of today’s artists such as The RZA, Kanye West or Dr Dre is not valued equally to that of artists like Andy Warhol, Damien Hirst or Jean-Michel Basquiat. Is exclusivity versus mass replication really the 50-million-dollar difference between a microphone and a paintbrush? Is contemporary art overvalued in an exclusive market, or are musicians undervalued in a profoundly saturated market? By adopting a 400-year-old Renaissance-style approach to music, offering it as a commissioned commodity and allowing it to take a similar trajectory from creation to exhibition to sale as any other contemporary art piece, we hope to inspire and intensify urgent debates about the future of music. We hope to steer those debates towards more radical solutions and provoke questions about the value and perception of music as a work of art in today's world. While we fully embrace the advancements in music technology, we feel it has contributed to the devaluation of music as an art form. By taking this step, we hope to re-enforce the weight that music once carried alongside a painting or a sculpture. The owner may choose to keep the album as a private possession or put the album on listening display in renowned galleries, museums, venues and exhibition spaces around the world for only the most dedicated to experience. If exhibited, the public will know that what they will hear will be a once-in-a-lifetime experience."

Forbes' Zack O'Malley Greenburg was the "first civilian" to get a taste of the album, travelling to a secret location in Marrakesh to conduct interviews and listen to a 51-second snippet of a song featuring Ghostface Killah and "Bonnie Jo Mason", an alter ego adopted by Cher in the 1960s. "The Wu-Tang Clan staked a claim on immortality, right here, once upon a time in Marrakesh," reported Greenburg.

The single copy of the album will be toured at museums, art galleries and music festivals before being sold to the highest bidder.

In December 2014, it was incorrectly reported that American musician/producer Skrillex (Sonny Moore) had bought Shaolin... for $5 million after the album (or at least the box in which the album is kept) appeared in his "Fuck That" video.

The album is reported to feature the nine surviving member of the Wu-Tang Clan, the critically acclaimed hip-hop collective founded in Staten Island, New York City, USA, in 1992 by Cappadonna (Darryl Hill), Ghostface Killah (Dennis Coles), GZA (Gary Grice), Inspectah Deck (Jason Hunter), Masta Killa (Elgin Turner), Method Man (Clifford Smith), Ol' Dirty Bastard (Russell Jones, 1968-2004), Raekwon (Corey Woods), The RZA (Robert Diggs) and U-God (Lamont Hawkins).

In addition to Cher, Redman and members of Barcelona FC, the album features Game of Thrones actress Carice van Houten (who plays Melisandre in the TV series).

Shaolin... is the Wu-Tang Clan's sixth or seventh studio album, depending on whether or not their long-awaited album A Better Tomorrow, released conventionally on 2 December 2014, is regarded as a predecessor.

Q&A with Wu-Tang leader The RZA and Once Upon a Time in Shaolin... producer Tarik "Cilvaringz" Azzougarh

1. On the album's promotional website (http://scluzay.com/), there are a number of hard-hitting statements: "The music industry is in crisis." "The intrinsic value of music has been reduced to zero." "...advancements in music technology... has contributed to the devaluation of music as an art form". Do you think one album has the power to address such issues?

"The album itself, as a singular work of art, or as an object, does not achieve this purpose. The statement it carries, however, to revive the perception and the artistic, experiential and monetary value of music as a work of art, is something that would not have resonated across the world if our approach had been a standard one. Limiting the album to one copy gave weight to the goals we aimed to achieve."

2. Have you been surprised by the level of interest in Shaolin...?

"Yes and no. We expected a significant amount of press due to the very unusual nature of this unprecedented approach to music, but it was surprising to see it make global headlines and be discussed around the world by so many people and so many media outlets, especially ones like The New York Times and BBC Today."

3. How did the unconventional business model adopted for this album affect your work as producer?

"It was a very challenging way of working due to the secrecy this project was shrouded in. It affected everything from recording to mixing and mastering. Without anyone really knowing what was happening, and the inability to explain it in full to protect the concept from leaking, it just made everything tense and difficult."

4. Some people might argue that the whole concept is nothing more than an elaborate publicity stunt. How would you respond to that?

"Luckily we have become a well-established and globally respected group of artists thanks to one of the most dedicated fan bases known in music. An elaborate publicity stunt is not something we need, especially not with a strong conceptually driven project as this."

5. Shaolin... is said to "encapsulate the Clan's legendary dark funk and avant garde sound and is produced in the original Wu-Tang style of the '90s". What more can you tell us about the music?

"The person who will hold this album in their possession will hold a musical journey through the many chambers the Wu-Tang Clan opened the doors to between 1993 and 1998."