The Daily Swarm

Primary Wave, the music publishing company that spent a reported $50 million for the rights to some of Kurt Cobain’s Nirvana compositions and has the much-maligned task of placing his songs in commercials, television shows, films, and anywhere else music can be monetized, has created a limited edition promo item that may turn out to be one of the most collectible bits of Nirvana-Miscellanea ever: the solid wood Heart Shaped Box music box.

The handmade 5-Cd box set was created as a giveaway for music supervisors and advertising execs who may have the power, and budget, to license one of Cobain’s rarefied tracks. The hard-wood cover has the Nirvana logo burned onto its top, and comes packaged in a white cake-box with the Nirvana smiley-face printed on it. Upon opening the box, a small speaker plays a Nirvana classic (HSB, natch). The music encased inside is 3 discs of 50 songs performed by Nirvana, plus another 2 discs of covers, including renditions of “Smells Like Teen Spirit” by Paul Anka, Scala, Tori Amos, Patti Smith, and Desmond Williams; tracks by Charlie Hunter Trio, Steve Earle, Herbie Hancock, Sinead O’Connor, and Stereophonics; and multi-song sets of Nirvana songs done as lullabies and orchestral scores. 500 numbered boxes were made.

So what’s a rare yet totally commercialized Nirvana item like this worth? The market will soon set its price, as one lucky recipient in Detroit (automobile advertiser perhaps) has put #64/500 up on eBay. Seems like at least some of the early versions were sent out without the music box part attached.

UPDATE: Ebay auction has been pulled.

You are bidding on “The Songs Of Kurt Cobain” Heart Shaped Box Set. Just to start off I’ve seen a lot of box sets and this one would be by far the coolest well designed ones. And probably one of the rarest box sets because it is limited to 500. These were distributed to top executives in the Music and Advertising business and were not sold in stores or online. The producer of this awesome piece is Primary Wave Music Publishing. This box set was just released a couple weeks ago. This is the ultimate rare piece for a Nirvana collector or Fan.

The Heart Shaped Box is made of distressed hardwood and every box is distressed differently which makes each “One Of A Kind.” On the top of the box is the Nirvana Smiley Face that is wood burned in the surface and the inside lid has the Nirvana logo and the Publishing company burned and carved into the wood. Inside the box it is lined with a plaid shirt pattern reminiscent of Kurt Cobain’s wardrobe. There are 5 cd’s with one disc has never produced remake songs of Nirvana. I listed all the songs on each disc. There is a round booklet that accompanies the cd’s. Also, there is a card that reads, “We are proud to present you with this very special, limited edition collection of music from one of the greatest figures in Rock & Roll history. 64/500.” On the back of the box it has 64/500 burned and carved into the wood. The heart shape box comes in a white cake style box with the Nirvana smiley printed on it. There is a little indent on top of the box which you can see in the pictures. This box is missing the music box that was missing when I received it. Good luck on this rare piece.

PayPal only please. The buyer is responsible for a $12.00 handling and shipping cost which includes delivery confirmation.

Disc #1— 1.Smells Like Teen Spirit 2. In Bloom 3.Come as You Are 4. Breed 5.Lithium 6. On A Plain 7. Pennyroyal Tea 8. Heart Shaped Box 9. About A Girl 10. Polly 11. Something In The Way 12. Dumb 13. All Apologies 14. You Know You’re Right 15. Something In The Way (unplugged) 16. Pennyroyal Tea (unplugged)

Disc#2 -1. Blew 2. Floyd The Barber 3. School 4. Mr. Moustache 5. Negative Creep 6. Dive 7. Silver 8. Been A Son 9. (New Wave) Polly 10.Territorial Pissing 11. Drain You 12. Lounge Act 13. Stay Away 14. Serve The Servants 15. Sappy

Disc#3 – 1.Swap Meet 2. Downer 3. Aero Zeppelin 4. Big Long Now 5. Aneurysm 6. Scentless Apprentice 7. Rape Me 8. Frances Farmer Will Have Her Revenge On Seattle 9. Very Ape 10. Milk It 11. Radio Friendly Unit Shifter 12. Tourettes 13. Come As You Are (unplugged) 14. Dumb

Disc #4 – 1. Lithium – The Polyphonic Spree 2. Smells Like Teen Spirit-Paul Anka 3. Smells Like Teen Spirit-Scala 4. Smells Like Teen Spirit-Tori Amos 5.Smells Like Teen Spirit- Patti Smith 6. Smells Like Teen Spirit-Desmond Williams 7. Come As You Are- Charlie Hunter Trio 8. Breed-Steve Earle 9. All Apologies- Herbie Hancock 10. All Apologies- Sinead O’Connor 11. Something In The Way-Stereophonics

Disc #5 – 1.Come as You Are (Lullaby Rendition) 2. In Bloom (Lullaby Rendition) 3. Lithium (Lullaby Rendition) 4. Something In The Way (Lullaby Rendition) 5. About A Girl (Lullaby Rendition) 6. Heart Shaped Box (Lullaby Rendition) 7. All Apologies (Lullaby Rendition) 8. Smells Like Teen Spirit – The Tallywood Strings 9. Come As You Are – The Tallywood Strings 10. In Bloom – The Tallywood Strings 11. Lounge Act -The Tallywood Strings 12. Polly – The Tallywood Strings 13. Something In The Way -The Tallywood Strings