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Music

A Prince Songwriting Credit Is Going for the Low, Low Price of £350,000

Former studio owner Chris Moon has put his credit on "Soft and Wet" up for sale on eBay because nothing is sacred.
Lauren O'Neill
London, GB
Screenshot via

So far, 2018 has been the year of famous people selling their shit on eBay. Which is a weird thing for it to be the year of, but that's what it is. Here in the UK, we've had two former pop stars selling their BRIT award statuettes on the online auction site, and now it appears that the trend has gone transatlantic.

Chris Moon, a former Minneapolis studio owner, has listed his songwriting credit on Prince's "Soft and Wet," his first solo single, on eBay for $490,000 (about £350,000). There's a 'Buy It Now' option, but Moon is also open to bids. Speaking to The Star Tribune, Moon acknowledged that there were some who might struggle believing in the listing's authenticity: "It's very unusual, but it's completely real. Nobody has ever done anything like this before that I know of, so I understand why some people don't believe it," he said.

The Star Tribune also notes that selling songwriting credits is a fairly common practice in music industry circles. What's less common, however, is selling one on eBay, for all the world to try their luck at. A Prince credit is, of course, especially attractive too. But – and I'll make sure to say this loudly enough for all of you in the back – I do sort of wish Prince would just be allowed to rest in peace without news of his archive, or an auction of his personal effects, every few weeks. When someone as culturally important as Prince was, to so many people, dies an instinctive reaction is to want to resurrect them. That may be with holograms or videos projected onto giant white sheets on a stage or exhibitions in cities miles from that person's home. These things are all… fine, but they feel grimy too.

Anyway, if you think you'd like to own a piece of music history (Moon says he's selling the credit as he's "nearing retirement age, so I'm selling off some of my assets"), and maybe make a little money back in the process, there's this songwriting credit! Just use, you know, that spare £350k you've got lying around. Seems like a good deal to me.

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