Re: [ARSCLIST] Folkways Reissues

["Nelson, James S." <JSNelson@xxxxxxxxx>]

Regarding the Folkways reissues, each of the several custom-dubbed CDs
I've recently purchased from Smithsonian/Folkways has come in a
cardboard sleeve with a reproduction of the original artwork pasted onto
it. The original sleeve notes are viewable/downloadable at their web
site. I believe the price has been reduced about a dollar or so in the
past year. And -- the sound of these CD-Rs, dubbed from the master
tapes, is amazing compared to the original LPs, which sounded like they
were manufactured from old road paving material. I've had no problems
with any of them not playing in any of my CD decks.

Jim Nelson
Cataloging Librarian
Instructional Resources
St. Louis Community College
jsnelson@xxxxxxxxx
314-644-9567 

-----Original Message-----
From: Association for Recorded Sound Discussion List
[mailto:ARSCLIST@xxxxxxx] On Behalf Of John Ross
Sent: Wednesday, December 12, 2007 5:10 PM
To: ARSCLIST@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] Folkways Reissues

Smithsonian has reissued hundreds of Folkways titles as "true" CDs, 
with new notes and so forth, with many more to come. But when you 
want something truly obscure, like most of those Harold Courlander 
field recordings or the "conversation with Al Capp," it's available, 
either on a CD-R, or online through the Global Sounds project. If 
your local library has a subscription to Global Sounds, you listen to 
anything in the Folkways catalog (with one exception) online through 
your home computer at no charge. I'm not recommending that you make 
your own CD's from the Global Sounds downloads, but it could be done.

I don't know the numbers, but I would guess that the charge for 
one-off CDs is about what it costs for the labor need to produce 
them. Seems like a much more efficient method than Moe Asch's keeping 
a physical inventory of every LP he ever made.

John Ross

At  12/12/2007 02:21 PM, Garr Norick wrote:
>"Tradition would be an excellent candidate for inclusion in the 
>Smithsonian/Folkways family of labels, n'est ce pas?"
>
>   "Dear Lord, I hope not... they charge $15-$20 per CD, and all you 
> get is a CD-R that may or may not play on your machine, with 
> photocopied artwork on plain paper!"
>
>   I feel I should add the following to what I just posted, which is 
> quoted above... while I admire what Smithsonian/Folkways is doing, 
> if I pay $15-$20 for a compact disc, I expect it to have the 
> original cover art, to be an actual manufactured CD rather than a 
> burned one, to have extensive liner notes (complete with a "where 
> are they now" about the artist), and to be painstakingly restored 
> and remastered from the original source... Smithsonian could charge 
> $5 or $10 for their custom CD-Rs (which are just straight transfers 
> from a master tape onto a CD-R with no restoration, and photocopied 
> inserts on plain paper) and still make a profit.