In the publishing world, big distributors like Baker & Taylor offer services where they'll custom-print books for you, and I have to wonder why this is not done in the record industry. Take Cecil Taylor's "Conquistador," for example: it's already been issued as a CD, so the digital mastering and artwork files are already done. CEMA could license it to one-stops, who could do one-off CDs as they are ordered by stores. It'd cost an extra couple of bucks, but so what? The label and artist would get moeny they are otherwise not getting, the consumer is happy, the lowly bootlegger goes hungry - it's win-win. This is an ideal scenario, I grant you, and I know one-stops have a long history of doing their own pressings on a unlicensed, criminal basis, but dammit! Of course, we can cry all we want, but the fact is that stuff goes in and out of print all the time, and we're pretty spoiled in terms of what is available nowadays. Except that one thing that I want - how can THAT be out of print? Criminal!
This scenario has been under discussion for a long time in the recording industry, first as a point-of-purchase (read: record store) kiosk system, like a photo booth where you'd buy custom burned CDs with high quality color artwork, and then more recently as some kind of downloadable system to supply same (which I think got as far as consumer testing in San Diego). I'm not sure what the exact issues are that have held this up indefinitely, but to borrow a poetic phrase I just read somewhere, when the record companies do get it together to do this, that tinkling sound you'll hear in the background will be the icicles forming in hell... In another unrelated issue about record companies getting along, apparently the industry has finally united in a front against Clear Channel and other such radio-booking cartels and the "indie radio promoter" racket, which is reportedly headed to Congress as we speak. Of course, Gore tried to do something like this a long time ago and it stalled, but apparently it's serious enough this time that Clear Channel has organized a PAC in Washington... Steve Smith ssmith36@sprynet.com -----Original Message----- From: zorn-list-admin@mailman.xmission.com [mailto:zorn-list-admin@mailman.xmission.com]On Behalf Of selvig@sonic.net Sent: Wednesday, June 05, 2002 6:21 PM To: zorn-list@mailman.xmission.com Subject: Reissues in a slightly more perfect world In the publishing world, big distributors like Baker & Taylor offer services where they'll custom-print books for you, and I have to wonder why this is not done in the record industry. Take Cecil Taylor's "Conquistador," for example: it's already been issued as a CD, so the digital mastering and artwork files are already done. CEMA could license it to one-stops, who could do one-off CDs as they are ordered by stores. It'd cost an extra couple of bucks, but so what? The label and artist would get moeny they are otherwise not getting, the consumer is happy, the lowly bootlegger goes hungry - it's win-win. This is an ideal scenario, I grant you, and I know one-stops have a long history of doing their own pressings on a unlicensed, criminal basis, but dammit! Of course, we can cry all we want, but the fact is that stuff goes in and out of print all the time, and we're pretty spoiled in terms of what is available nowadays. Except that one thing that I want - how can THAT be out of print? Criminal! _______________________________________________ zorn-list mailing list zorn-list@mailman.xmission.com http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/zorn-list
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