Re: [ARSCLIST] Mercury co-founder Irving Green passes

[steven c <stevenc@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

see end...
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Don Cox" <doncox@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> On 07/07/06, Tom Fine wrote:
> > You are correct. There were probably 50 more CD's that could have been
> > done (perhaps more if one considered being completist on the mono
> > stuff, which was an unlikely track because there was specific and
> > limited interest in the pre-1956 catalog and that interest was
> > addressed with the handful of mono reissues). Universal decided to
> > discontinue the reissues in 2000 after scaling back the previous two
> > releases. Many of the titles are still in print in the US but seem to
> > be taken out of print in most other markets, which is pretty idiotic
> > since they sold extremely well in the Orient and Europe. A good
> > classical issue is like an annuity -- keep it in print and it will
> > keep sending checks to the home office.
> >
> > While there are probably some on this list who are passionate about
> > small-group and chamber music, in Mercury's case it never sold as well
> > as the orchestral and band recordings, so it was considered at the
> > bottom of the pile for reissues. Solo and concerto stuff like Janos
> > Starker and Byron Janis were big sellers originally and were big
> > sellers on CD. Point is, the reissue was a commercial undertaking (and
> > was very profitable), so what was reissued and in what order was
> > considered very carefully.
====
> It seems to me it is time some of the classic recordings (in all genres)
> were recognised as cultural treasures, so that reissues like these could
> be subsidised by UNESCO, the big Foundations, or Governments in various
> countries, just as art galleries and opera houses are subsidised.
>
> While there may sometimes be a profit to be made from reissues, often
> there is not. Or only enough to support a one-man-and-dog record company,
> with consequent poor distribution.
>
> There are many recordings that should be permanently available to all,
> in the highest possible engineering quality, for the same reason that
> anyone can walk into the National Gallery and look at the pictures.
>
Well, to be honest my knowledge of classical music is considerably
less than encyclopedic!

However, I suspect it works like popular music, in that about 1% (if
that) of the back catalog generates any significant interest...and thus
profit...for those who try and sell the reissue product. For example,
BMG/Sony/Gawdknowswhoelse can probably sell Caruso retrospectives...
but when it comes to obscure artists doing equally obscure works,
one might expect sales figures in single digits? Of course, should
one be an aficianado of that artist or composer, one would want
any reissue (but that's one copy out of the six or eight that would
be sold?)...

So, from the fan's viewpoint, it is important to get and keep that
recording into someone's catalog...but from the multinational-
commerce viewpoint, only reissues that produce significant amounts
of profit will ever see "the light of day." This means that IF the
"one-man-and-dog" (would you settle for "one-man-&-cat?") firm is
either satisfied with the miniscule profit figures that accompany
reissues of obscurities (or, better yet, the man...and possibly
the pet are devotees of artist, composer or whatever, and thus
willing to put out reissues at a dead loss) or have other reasons
to justify the project.

Sadly, the US copyright laws (soon to become the prototype for
ALL copyright laws?) make it totally illegal for the chap-&-pet
operation to reissue material without the (very expensive)
permission of the multinational conglomerate who own the copyright
on the original recording!

Just cross your fingers that Canada's currently US-ophilic Federal
gummint is slow in extending the copyright term to reach back far
enough to cover Edison's recitation of "Mary Had a Little Lamb"
(or any sound recordings made in the Roman Empire or ancient
Greece should same be discovered by archaeologists...)! I have
some 40,000-odd (some VERY odd) sound recordings, about 99.5%
of which I could legally reissue from here in Oshawa, Ont'o.,
Canada...

Steven C. Barr