> If The Police are so eager to cash in, why haven't they released all the
> unreleased material in the vaults?
Because the Police do not control the master recordings - A&M Records does. It's up to A&M's product management people as to whether they can and want to make that sort of investment in (and have the budget for such) new product.
Then comes all the other fun stuff involved - legal/BA, licensing, manufacturing, etc.
Believe me, I'd buy it in a heartbeat - it would be nice to have remastered B-sides that only exist in my collection on vinyl (and adequate digital transfers). But it still all boils down to basic economics - supply & demand, capital, expected returns, etc.
One reason why the Killers have gotten my respect (and cash) in recent times. They convinced their label reps at Universal to release a CD of B-sides and rarities ("Sawdust"), dedicated to "our fans" as written in the inside liner notes.
> but it just seems like it would be easy for them to
> releasing the current tour shows to fans for $10-$15 each
Genesis recently did this with both their entire European and North American legs of the tour, for about $25 per show.
The best souvenir from attending a band's live show, in my opinion. I think I have recordings of every DMB show I've been to. And unlike rarities compilations, this one is in the hands of the band (and their tour management).
The Police shows are being recorded (for what exactly, though, I'm not sure). My friend was stationed next to the soundboard at one of our MSG shows last August, and he watched the board guys transfer the DAT recordings onto CD-R.
Back to lurking for another several years...
Steve
