Merck Mercuriadis: Catalyst for Change Pt. 2 For Change And The Ulterior Motive

Fri Jun 04 2021
Merck, Nile Rogers, Dave Stewart

If you missed Catalyst for Change Pt. 1 here you go:
cashboxcanada.ca/features-cover-story/merck-mercuriadis-catalyst-change/4860

In 2013 The Wu-Tang Clan created the NFT, when they sold the only copy of “Once Upon A Time in Shaolin” for 2 Million. The group wanted it to be a bankable investment like Renaissance Art…

The album was played for 13 minutes at MoMA PS1 for 154 people on March 2, 2015, there were no recordings made of this event, security confiscated attendee's cell phones before the event began. After the event, the album was stored at Royal Mansour Hotel and all backup copies were destroyed. Later on, it was sold at Paddle8 for 2 million dollars to Martin Shkreli. Making it the most expensive record ever sold.  The first NFT.

Hipgnosis is at the right place in the right time.

Merck Mercuriadis - Catalyst for Change

Fri May 28, 2021
Merck Mercuriadis - Catalyst for Change

Merck and I first met by phone, while I was at CHOM-FM Montreal, later face to face backstage at the UB40 gig at Theatre St. Denis.

We became fast long-distance friends.  It was always about music, the music business, and our massive record collections. Merck was Head of Marketing at Virgin Records in Toronto, where he excelled in the music business, born in Schefferville, Quebec.

Much Music launched August 31st 1984. I went. I‘m sure Merck was there, everyone in Canada was there, including Rush, the best party ever! I knew this was my next move to do television in Toronto.  I got the job a week later and couch surfed in Toronto returning to Montreal weekly for a few years. Then I heard Merck needed a roommate.  It was worth it just for the guest list (Leroy Sibbles, Jackie Mittoo, Willi Williams, China Crisis, Simple Minds, Quincy Jones, MoJah, Colin Linden upstairs, and Big Sugar across the hall.)

The music coming out of our apartment was amazing in Arcadia the Artist Co-Op on Bishop Tutu Street and Queens Quay; it was one of the most creative and fun times of my life.