 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| This is a comments thread about Blog Post: Seriously, Are There Too Many CDs? by Lukas Kendall |
| |
|
There are two FSMs due this week. One of them is a reissue of two 1970s WB LPs together on one CD: One of them might be the music-and-dialogue album to KUNG FU, and the other might be Man in the Wilderness.
I like.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Meanwhile, unless I'm reading this thread wrong.
Yep, you are. When has Lukas ever advocated something underhanded like that? Just because you didn't receive a personal memo doesn't mean the licenses weren't acquired.
Earlier on this thread, actually. Nothing to do with personal memos:
Lukas: Um...what if we ALREADY overpressed some titles? And have been chicken to confess for years? Would you forgive us? And by us, I mean me, as this was my fault?
AJHFSM: I think I would forgive anyone for an honest mistake.
Lukas: Oh, it was very deliberate. Every so often there's a thread, how come Logan's Run never sold out?
Yes, but there's no mention of ripping off the people who deserve to be paid for printing more copies, you just weren't informed about it. Your original complaint was that people weren't being paid and Lukas was printing more, when in reality, he just hadn't told you he'd acquired the license to print more.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
SAE would freak if I announced our schedule ahead of time—given how difficult it is to actually stay on schedule. But let's see who is reading this deep into the thread...the following are safe to tell you about as they are already at the pressing plant:
There are two FSMs due this week. One of them is a reissue of two 1970s WB LPs together on one CD: One of them might be the music-and-dialogue album to KUNG FU, and the other might be Man in the Wilderness.
The other FSM is a 3CD set that might be The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T., lovingly and obsessively restored from acetates unearthed over a billion-year period from all over the world.
There is a third FSM due in 2-3 weeks. It is a great John Scott Paramount score that might be North Dallas Forty (1979). I LOVE this score but I am afraid nobody will know what it is!
Lukas
So, four CDs in four weeks, one a three-CD set. Let me just check the title of this thread again 
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
I, like many people, have not posted in years, for a variety of reasons, but I still check out the FSM board almost every day, mostly for news on upcoming releases, looking specifically for threads started by people who actually are in the know (i.e. Lukas Kendall, MMM, haineshisway, lalaland, jamesfitz, Morgan/Stromberg, etc.) and avoid looking too in depth into threads by those who just claim to know what they are talking about and we all know can't really be trusted.
Now having said that, FSM and Intrada probably are my 2 favorite labels, and I used to be excited every month to see what the new releases are, and was always disappointed on the rare occasions when they were of little interest. Now I am happy when they are of medium interest or less, because that means another CD that I don't have to buy. I used to listen to the sample tracks of every new limited edition; not a chance that I do that anymore. Of course there are WAY too many CDs coming out now (and some labels are more guilty of this than others), and over the last 3 years or so I have skipped out on a lot of CDs that I would have bought for sure 5 or 6 years ago. Even if I could afford to buy everything of even medium interest, I woudn't have the time to listen to them. As many of these still sell out, I guess the market is there for them, and I am glad for that if it keeps the labels going and gives them the money to produce titles of more interest to me. (The Ron Jones Project holds no interest for me, but I hope it sells spectacularly well!) It boggles my mind that some titles sell like they do, but it seems that some labels carry more cache with collectors (like Intrada and Varese) and I have often been shocked that certain FSM titles (Logan's Run??) have not sold out when only a few months after their initial release Lukas said they had already sold 1500!
Well, as far as that goes, I am in this for the music. I like to have the physical CD, and have NEVER bought on itunes, but I am not just a "collector." Yeah, it is nice to know that I have CDs like The Towering Inferno and The Omega Man that I have seen sell for hundreds on ebay, but I couldn't care less if they get re-issued on other labels, by the original label, or what have you. I'm not in this to own limited editions, but rather for the love of the music. If you bought the MGM Soundtrack Treasury for ONE title and are now mad that other labels are re-issuing individual titles from it including the one you bought it for, too bad for you. If you bought The Omega Man on ebay for $500 and are mad that Lukas is re-issuing it, why were you so foolish as to buy it for $500? Lukas, repress as many Logan's Runs as you like. Mr. Fake, I have my copy of Inchon, but as far as I am concerned you can go back and press another 5000. It ultimately serves the labels well to bring in the revenue where it is deserved. And I like the obscure title like Eye of the Devil, keep those coming too but I guess in limits like 1000 to make them more economically feasible. Maybe like Bruce Kimmel says this bubble has to burst at some point, but hopefully a happy medium can be found. I just would like to finish by saying that I think all the labels are doing great work and that I hope they keep it up and that all these titles continue to come out on physical CDs for the likes of me to enjoy. I love complete and chronological, but everyone is entitled to their opinion and for those that don't like it their opinions are valid too. Hopefully we can all just get along and do what is best for the greater soundtrack good.
p.s. I can't wait for the 5000 Fingers of Dr. T!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
I only hope one thing. When the time comes that the music is only available via iTunes it will be available in all countries and not just in the US, because it's impossible to buy music from an other country with iTunes. If the music is only available in the US I can only do one thing: illegally download the music.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
These are the CDs (post-2001) that we have grossly overproduced:
Logan's Run (6500 pressed)
Man From U.N.C.L.E. Vol 1 (6000 pressed)
Ice Station Zebra (3500 pressed)
Knights of the Round Table (3500 pressed)
Man From U.N.C.L.E. Vol 2 (5000 pressed)
Where Eagles Dare (6500 pressed)
Big Wednesday (I think 4000 pressed...we need to do an inventory count to be sure)
Man From U.N.C.L.E. Vol 3 (4000 pressed)
Mutiny on the Bounty (4500 pressed)
Kelly's Heroes (7500 pressed! who'da thunk?)
The Thing From Another World (4000 pressed)
CHiPs Vol 1 (3500)
Twilight Zone The Movie (5000)
Bullitt (4000)
we made a ton of these too but I don't think we called them limited in the first place (no AFM issues):
Born Free (5000)
King Kong (5000)
Goodbye Mr. Chips (4000)
I have to explain what was going on and why things got out of hand.
At the beginning, the AFM would only grant the limited archival rates for pressings of 3000 or fewer.
But when we did The Omega Man and it sold out (actually we went to 4000 first, then I finally said I can't keep living this lie -- we settled up with the studio and the AFM after the fact), it was a hassle beyond belief. They sold on ebay for $200 and people would call every day if not week begging for copies.
Not to mention, we needed the money! Seriously, we were living hand-to-mouth. It was madness to cut off the cash flow that came from the popular titles!
But what happens when you overpress one title is that you can't let anything else sell out or it looks fishy. Why would the obvious sort of popular title sell out, but not the obvious super-popular? And people have slowly if tacitly figured out something strange was going on, what with Logan's Run remaining in print for ages while Intrada sold out of some of their limited edition CDs of comparable scores in weeks.
So it was easiest just to shut up and hope no one noticed, and quietly press everything as long as they would sell.
Ah, the life of crime. Sorry.
So in recent years, we asked the union to allow the limited rate to extend to 10,000 copies, and they kindly agreed. So at least everything is being paid for.
The only other shoe to drop has been what collectors would think if titles that they were led to believe were limited to 3,000 were in fact being pressed and pressed and pressed. And I'm hoping you guys forgive us.
As we get inventory straightened out we'll announce where sales are for other titles too.
Lukas
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Lukas
As far as deliberate overpressings, there will always be protractors, as there are in every single aspect of limited edition score releases, but we -- the general score loving fan base -- will of course forgive you. Faster than warp 9.998.
The real question is: will the studios and SFM forgive you? I'm sure in some cases the deal with the studio specifically stated you only press a certain amount of copies for sale, and you purposefully ignored then and did what you wanted. I'm not coming down on you, but they might (we can't lose these ties you have in various studios, after all).
And AFM no doubt kept the re-use fees down and re-worked deals with you to change the normal amount, just so you could press certain amounts of certain scores. Can you even legally sell the purposefully over done amount? I would say add a few dollars, if "yes", to the original price. Some for profit on slacking titles, and some to wet the mouths of the studios and AFM with, just to make them happy and cooperative in the future.
Overpress? Will the studios (does the AFM have a say?) allow you a "kill" point? If for example you press 10,000 of something, but only 4,568 have sold, can you "kill" it at a certain amount (for example 6,000) without hurting yourself financially?
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
But what happens when you overpress one title is that you can't let anything else sell out or it looks fishy. Why would the obvious sort of popular title sell out, but not the obvious super-popular? And people have slowly if tacitly figured out something strange was going on, what with Logan's Run remaining in print for ages while Intrada sold out of some of their limited edition CDs of comparable scores in weeks.
So it was easiest just to shut up and hope no one noticed, and quietly press everything as long as they would sell.
I've often suspected as much! For all I know every label is pressing more copies than they say but if that's what it takes to get people to buy, I for one really don't care.
|
|
|
|
|
|
What would people think about us converting 3000-unit limited editions into 5000, 8000 or 10000-copy editions?
Lukas
That means nothing for me, I buy a title cause I want it, whether there is 2000 or 1000 or 10000, I could care less, so if pressing more is good, go for it.
Um...what if we ALREADY overpressed some titles?
And have been chicken to confess for years?
Would you forgive us? And by us, I mean me, as this was my fault?
Lukas
The amount of work you guys do, and I mean all of the labels, all the deadlines and putting up with us, the fans, some are cool others will drive you to drink, if you've made some extras, who gives a crap. I mean in the grand scheme of things, I could care less. Saying that, if there was a 3000 unit, and you sold 10000, now that's a bit much, but I HIGHLY doubt it was anything like that. I can't imagine doing these CD's and saying, okay, well make 2000, then those 2000 sell out pretty darn quick and your like, DAMN I wish we could have or leased an agreement thingy for 3000. Again, I buy the CD cause of the music, not because of the value, ohh, this one is worth this much money, I'll get that one. That means nothing to me.
Would people really not care? I'd love to give everyone the complete sales list. It's all the obvious titles that we've oversold, like The Man From U.N.C.L.E. releases and Where Eagles Dare. Those we'd "come clean" about, while the majority of the titles would be cut off at 1500, 2000 or 2500 -- we'd tell you how many are left, and that's it. I've been itching to confess for years but we were terrified that people would go nuclear on us for breaking our word as far as the ltd. #s on the marketing.
Lukas
You certainly do know your customer base, yes many would want to kill you, just anothing thing they can complain about. To me, my opinion, good they made a few extras and a few more folks got a copy, great! DO NOT give us sales list, that is NONE of our business, this is YOUR business. You are a true pioneer in the film music world, you have made your mark and have done so much good for so many areas of film music, that the majority of us, tip our hat to you and appreciate all that you do LK. Your a very hard worker, who I hope is not at his computer EVERY single day and you can occasionally get out and enjoy life!
Would people really not care? I'd love to give everyone the complete sales list. It's all the obvious titles that we've oversold, like The Man From U.N.C.L.E. releases and Where Eagles Dare. Those we'd "come clean" about, while the majority of the titles would be cut off at 1500, 2000 or 2500 -- we'd tell you how many are left, and that's it. I've been itching to confess for years but we were terrified that people would go nuclear on us for breaking our word as far as the ltd. #s on the marketing.
Lukas
About the discounting. I understand this as well, but in the world of everything ELECTRONIC, this is a WAY of life. You really want the iphone first day it's out, it's very expensive. Now if you wait a bit the price would go down. Same thing with blu-ray players, they were horribly expensive, but people wanted them when they came out, like us, and we shoveled out $400-500 for it. Now you can get them, I think for like $200 or less. Those folks aren't saying, damn it, not fair. They paid a lot for it upfront, but they were enjoying blu-ray discs a LONG time before folks were enjoying them who paid $200. I think you should discount them and get some money back, the titles that I already own, I wouldn't be mad at all, I would be happy that some collectors were now able to get a few copies they wouldn't have been able to get a while ago. Course, I'm horribly optimistic and just want all these discs in the hands of the fans that want them.
I also like knowing the CD's in advance, but I'm one of the few that DOES not bother you with, hey when is it ready, where is it, I want it and I also don't keep emailing Lukas or SAE about all of that. When a titles names has been out, I think, okay, it's coming, no matter if I email or not, it will not get out sooner and all I'm doing is keeping them from getting their work done to get it to us. I know many folks as soon as a title is known, they bother Lukas and SAE and keep at it, where is it, when, etc. etc. I'd love to know the titles, but I can keep from bothering you guys in email and phone calls.
My two cents, will anyone read this, probably not, oh well. Great topic LK!!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
>>>>>>>>So far none of the FSM titles sold out within two weeks or something crazy like that>>>>>>>>
That's because they just kept pressing more copies lol !!!!!!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
