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Date: Fri, 2 Jun 1995 11:02:48 -0400 (EDT)
From: Grade D but Edible <RKARR[at]-remove-npr.org>
Subject: Promos & Cut-outs
You write:
> Ed posited that the flood of UK promos now in the London Used
> CD bins was a conspiracy by Creation to do Pat harm, inasmuch as
> no London fan need buy a copy new.
>
> This may well be the case... I wouldn't put much past record
> company weasels, though I have no real beef with Creation in
> particular. The funny thing is, the net effect may well be to
> help Pat.
Huh? Why would a label waste money on scuttling an artist? I'd like an
explanation fo what motive they'd possibly have. I mean, if they wanted to
botch the release, they'd merely press 500 copies and ship them all to
Billings, Montana.
> CD prices are even more unconscionable in the US. (Remember how
> the prices were going to come *down* once the economies of
> scale took hold in the manufacture of CDs? Seems the labels
> forgot about that promise.)
Funny... prices here in Chi have dropped 20 percent or so in the last two
years. The reason: Megastores like Best Buy -- which actually have decent,
decentralized buying -- have an 11.99 base price for new releases. Is this
anomalous?
> So buy those used copies with a clear conscience and
> while you're at it, tape a copy for a friend. Home
> taping is *saving* music, not killing it, despite what
> Garth Brooks and the big 6 labels would have you believe.
> In fact, you are doing free advertising for them, even
> after they've been gouging you for money all these years!
So we should all tape Pat's back catalog for our friends, stalling his miserly
income? Or is this a judgement call?
I'm a "professional" musician who has yet to see a dime's profit from my
releases, and while I'm certainly in support of the "sampler" theory of taping
have costs to recoup, as do majors (event the evil majors do, on occasion,
release highly worthy music)... musicians have salaries to earn... etc. Saving
music? Hardly. It's a deeply mixed bag.
Onward,
Rick G. Karr npr chicago +1 (312) 516-3367