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DJ Danger Mouse releases blank CD-R, tells fans to pirate the tracks

17 May 2009 13:19 by Andre "DVDBack23" Yoskowitz | 22 comments

DJ Danger Mouse, famous for being one half of Gnarls Barkley, and for his 2004 mashup CD They Grey Album (mixing the Beatles 'White Album' with Jay-Z's 'the Black Album') is releasing a new album this week, however there is one catch; there wont actually be any music on it.

In the case of the 'Grey Album,' record label EMI sent out cease-and-desist letters to all fans who posted the album anywhere online and even threatened those who protested the label's actions. The label and the DJ are still in an ongoing dispute and therefore Danger Mouse is not allowed to release any music under his own name.

The new album, Dark Night Of The Soul, as a way to get around EMI, will simply be cover art and a blank recordable CD-R. Burn the tracks (however you find them) to the CD-R and enjoy the music, says the DJ.

His official statement reads:

Danger Mouse's new project Dark Night Of The Soul consists of an album length piece of music by Danger Mouse, Sparklehorse and a host of guest vocalists, along with a collection of original David Lynch photography inspired by and based on the music.

The photographs, which provide a visual narrative for the music, are compiled in a limited edition, hand numbered 100+ page book which will now come with a blank, recordable CD-R. All copies will be clearly labeled: 'For Legal Reasons, enclosed CD-R contains no music. Use it as you will.'

Due to an ongoing dispute with EMI, Danger Mouse is unable to release the recorded music for Dark Night Of The Soul without fear of being sued by EMI.

Danger Mouse remains hugely proud of Dark Night Of The Soul and hopes that people lucky enough to hear the music, by whatever means, are as excited by it as he is.

Should be interesting to say the least.

Permalink to this article

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Discuss this article!
bam431 (Junior Member) 17 May 2009 13:28
wow this blank CD idea is great except for the CD that's so 90's [ + quote]
blueroad (Newbie) 17 May 2009 14:19
never herd his works..but after this imma try n find this new album n check it out..kudos to u danger mouse [ + quote]
nintenut (Senior Member) 17 May 2009 15:58
This is brilliant! [ + quote]
olyteddy (Senior Member) 17 May 2009 20:16
The blank CD is probably better than his music.... [ + quote]
bam431 (Junior Member) 17 May 2009 22:04
*Originally posted by olyteddy:* The blank CD is probably better than his music.... never heard it but your probably right. Im more Dead Kennedys or Black Flag [ + quote]
grkblood (Senior Member) 17 May 2009 22:28
the grey album was pretty cool. [ + quote]
Pop_Smith (Senior Member) 18 May 2009 0:02
Whether or not his music is any good is irrelevant in my opinion. The artist is standing up for himself and others who disagree with the "big labels" outdated and dying ways of doing business. I will be "obtaining" his CD just to have a listen, if it's good I might drop the cash for the blank CD he has "provided" so I can listen to it in my car. Peace [ + quote]
KillerBug (Senior Member) 18 May 2009 1:07
I kept saying it...they will eventualy control piracy by releasing blank media; then there is nothing to pirate. [ + quote]
B33rdrnkr (Newbie) 18 May 2009 1:38
That rocks!! LoL [ + quote]
emugamer (Member) 18 May 2009 12:17
Good for him. I'd be infuriated too if, as a artist, a Label told me that I can't release music under my own name. [ + quote]
locobrown (Senior Member) 18 May 2009 21:42
The blank-CDR may not be like an ordinary blank disc. It might be a professionally pressed blank disc with a metal foil recording surface. If this is the case, I guess the label approves the distribution of such music in that fashion. I would be something for the record books. [ + quote]
ExogenBoy (Member) 19 May 2009 3:30
The album is being streamed here: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=104129585 Looks more like guerilla-marketing than a real legal dispute, the streaming is sponsored by Virgin Records... [ + quote]
blueboy09 (Newbie) 19 May 2009 8:48
Hahahaha! LOL! and to think that I JUST payed x-amount of dollars to get a blank CD-R! Wow, isn't America wonderful? We buy just about anything these days!!!! - BLUEBOY [ + quote]
atomicxl (Junior Member) 19 May 2009 17:08
*Originally posted by ExogenBoy:* Looks more like guerilla-marketing than a real legal dispute, the streaming is sponsored by Virgin Records... Yeah, that's what it sounds like to me. Basically this guy is selling a photobook that comes with some free music downloads as a bonus. Seems like more of, "If i'm a musician and people don't believe in buying music, how do I survive?" and the answer he came up with was by releasing photobooks and treating the music like some bonus content thrown in. It's an idea thats as cool as it is unsettling imo. [ + quote]
babysatan (Newbie) 21 May 2009 15:08
How gimmicky is this? [ + quote]
Chroma45 (Member) 21 May 2009 17:48
Lynch photography and poster will make it worth while. This is something artists have done before by basically giving something with the CD that unique to the CD. This way purchasing the CD becomes more attractive as it's more than just the music you are buying. It's an idea the music companies need to push much more like when many people collected vinyl because of the cool large art on the sleeves. You can't computer pirate physical items. [ + quote]
imnomyth (Junior Member) 21 May 2009 18:56
He will ABSOLUTELY sell more blank CD's than he would have with his tracks on them. Great marketing move. [ + quote]
varnull (Inactive) 21 May 2009 20:01
Until the scans of the cover art hit the torrents XD hahahahahahahaha Free open source software = made by end users who want an application to work. I would rather you hate me for who I am than love me for what I am not. �It is poor civic hygiene to install technologies that could someday facilitate a police state.� - Bruce Schneier [ + quote]
APropheto (Inactive) 22 May 2009 0:24
*Quote:* *Originally posted by olyteddy:* The blank CD is probably better than his music.... never heard it but your probably right. Im more Dead Kennedys or Black Flag I listen to that stuff too, but his music isn't actually that bad. The Grey Album was kind of genius imo. All in all this is clever marketing move (or a gimmick if you prefer that term). Embracing new/novel ways of selling your content is the future. If this takes off, watch how quickly others will embrace similar things. [ + quote]
Thamiel (Newbie) 22 May 2009 9:22
Just a scan of it huh?, Well to a 'collector' a scanned version of them wouldn't be worth squat [ + quote]
Tarsellis (Newbie) 22 May 2009 14:15
This sounds exactly like the kind of music I wouldn't like. However, 'cos of his chutzpah and interesting marketing trick, I'll check out his music that I never would have even considered before. [ + quote]
Ransack (Newbie) 24 May 2009 14:00
It's sounds like a good method to get off of a major record label contract and actual makes sense showing the labels that CD's just don't sell anymore. [ + quote]