by Rubellan » Thu Nov 02, 2017 11:34 am
Thought I'd throw out an update for anyone still interested. I managed to get in contact with the right person at Universal back in September, and I started pursuing one title in particular. That now makes all three of the majors that I have contacts in. The contact thought he should have basic info back from their business affairs department before the end of September. When I checked in per his request, he hadn't heard anything so he sent them a "nudge" email. Another month later, still nothing. But in the interim, I did get their official new project request form and have submitted 2 more titles for review. Universal own a ton of material that I love so it will be great if I can release some. But just like the other labels, it seems even the initial process can be lengthy.
There are several titles still moving through the process at Warners, though I've been warned it will take some time. No surprise there.
I received two more quotes from Sony dating back to requests made more than two months prior. I approved both quotes and they are now in the legal queue for review, but I've been reminded again that titles are reviewed in priority order and that means that my title could be next in line but something else could bump in front of it. The average review time is 3 months, which would make my first release very early in the new year and the next two a couple of months later, at best. I will admit one title is a CD+DVD package and the price quoted indicates that I will be lucky to make my money back if it sells out. I will reserve the CD+DVD packages for very special releases and accept the potential loss for those, and I did have several in mind.
And last, one of the previous labels that I used to work for stated that working directly with artists who own their material is so much easier than dealing with the majors. I have found that to be completely inaccurate. I contacted a band who recently regained control of their material. We went back and forth over a series of weeks/months. I was very clear detailing the whole thing and what I intended to do with the final product. I even sent them some samples of the remastered material. Well, something that was told to me by another record label turned out to be more accurate. That person stated that it's best to avoid having the artist involved because they are going to want to have their hand in the whole thing and have a say in everything, even if they aren't paying a thing. After hearing a few tracks that I've remastered, the band compared it to their vinyl LP and said my tracks sound too improved. They complained that detail was uncovered and the low end boosted and they viewed it as losing the "warmth" of the vinyl. In 20 years of remastering, initially as a hobby out of the bedroom and sharing the CD-R's with traders back in the 90's, people have only had positive comments on how clear I've managed to make things, how it seems that I'm able to scrape away the mud and reveal the treasure beneath, and that was even with primitive skills. My ear is much more trained nowadays.
I initially started contemplating what to write in response but then another band member piped in to agree with the assessment. At that point I decided to drop the prospect because the last thing I'm going to do is make a pristine transfer sound dull and lifeless so it retains the "warmth" of a 35 year old LP played on some unknown equipment. It's funny that one concern was that it was too clear because I never even touched the high end, only the lows and a touch of mid, so what he was hearing was the recording practically as was from higher quality equipment. I asked a friend of mine if he would be offended by such a message and his jaw dropped. He said that I am going out of my way to release the material, create the booklet, master the sound, distribute the product, AND pay the band for the right to do so, and they want to complain because it doesn't sound like an old record? Next...
So, the lesson learned is that I will NOT work directly with artists because if I'm footing the bill then the product will be released the way I want it, which will be clear and dynamic and from the perspective of a music fan.