New Wave Outpost Forum

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Rubellan wrote:Ugh, patience is becoming brutal. I think once I get a title out then I will feel the start of something. Still nothing from Sony regarding legal clearance or my second submission. Not sure how long that could take. I did start a correspondence with Domino music, who now own Oval recordings and Lene Lovich in particular. I wanted to give her catalog a revisit and my initial proposal was for a 2 CD set of 'Stateless' that would include the long lost original mix of the album (before many songs were remixed and resung on the the version people know best). A couple of messages have been exchanged and I provided requested info. I tried to check in recently but no response yet. Perhaps I should just put out 20 applications at a time because 1 or 2 means sitting around hoping to hear something.

I'm all for Lene Lovich re-issues!!

So, I ran into my first roadblock. Regarding the indie label I contacted about the Lene reissues. After a couple of inquiries after I submitted (at their request) the proposed track listing and distribution plan, I finally got a response that they are going to decline my license request for now because they didn't care for my idea of using CD Baby for distribution. They said they are willing to re-evaluate when I have a few titles released and can show them some of my label's exposure. Money was never even discussed. This is bewildering to me because the labels usually license for a fee and how you distribute is your decision because they have their money. To basically tell me that my idea of distribution for a lesser known artist from 35-40 years ago is not adequate to even consider licensing is pretty surprising.

Even Lena's former keyboardist, Thomas Dolby, uses CDBaby as the sole US source at which to buy some of his smaller independent releases - a live EP a few years back, and then a live CD meant primarily for Japan.

The model works when selling niche product to existing fans.

At least they invited you to come back around once you've established that for yourself.

Dear Rubellan,

Have you by any chance considered giving Shriekback remasters wider release opportunity?
The remasters issused by the band themslves a couple of years ago were very limited and highly sought by the collectors. I suppose 500 copies of each could have been working - I don't think the band shall ask a lot for licencing and the discs had been remastered already by the band (not of high quality though).

Rubellan wrote:So, I ran into my first roadblock. Regarding the indie label I contacted about the Lene reissues. After a couple of inquiries after I submitted (at their request) the proposed track listing and distribution plan, I finally got a response that they are going to decline my license request for now because they didn't care for my idea of using CD Baby for distribution. They said they are willing to re-evaluate when I have a few titles released and can show them some of my label's exposure. Money was never even discussed. This is bewildering to me because the labels usually license for a fee and how you distribute is your decision because they have their money. To basically tell me that my idea of distribution for a lesser known artist from 35-40 years ago is not adequate to even consider licensing is pretty surprising.

I wonder (pure supposition) if, as Lene released her last album via CD Baby, she didn't have a good experience with them and so maybe wants to stay away?

Well, here's the thing that I don't think the indie label understands. CD Baby is partnered with Alliance Entertainment, which is the largest media distributor in the U.S. All of the majors use Alliance, and my CD's will be listed on all of the same websites. But I wasn't going to explain that to him at this time because I suspect his main concern is that I haven't established myself with even a single release yet, and got the impression the conversation was done for now. Though I could have provided him the links to my remastering work on Discogs to show I have been in "the biz" to some degree for years (I did tell him of my remastering work in my initial email), I think I will save that until I next make contact with him after I have a few titles out.

A friend of mine read the email the indie label sent me and was immediately offended. I suppose it could be viewed as a little snotty but I'm not going to take it personally. This is the quote that bugged my friend: "I am a little concerned about your distribution plan involving CD Baby. With all due respect to them, the fact that their business is based upon smaller artists might not be the best way to showcase the first re-issues of Lene's catalogue for well over a decade. So, right now I don’t think we can enter into a licence with you."

Oh, I got a message from Sony that it can take up to 14 weeks for my title to clear legal, and it has only been 4 weeks so far.

Your proposed releases, namely AI, and others. Why? The existing AI CDs are OK. I won't be buying then again. Lene Lovich was a mediocrity who botched her rereleases, but her original CDs are OK. Others are throwing out Shriekback (great band--subscribe to them to get their CDs) and other hardly obscure bands. The Russian and other pseudo-legit CD sources are providing quality CDs of bands that have never had CD releases. Maybe not profitable in your program. I am only interested in CDs by bands that don't have any previous CD releases. Innumerable.

The AI reissues were all botched in one way or another, and it's time to correct that. The Lene reissues from the 90s were ok but far from complete and the bonus tracks were chronologically scattered. None of her excellent 12" mixes (yes, I like them) had even been included and neither have the live B sides and all the alternate versions. In fact, my proposal to Oval/Domino was a 2 CD set of Stateless including the original mix/recording of the album on CD one with a couple of bonus tracks, then the standard mix/version of the album on CD two with more bonus tracks. About half of the proposed track listing had never been on CD before.

I wouldn't touch Shriekback reissues unless I remastered them myself, especially since they were all mastered from vinyl. I will never trust anyone else's vinyl transfers.

With respect, your target audience seems to be people who are sensitive to sound quality. I think that CD audience is very small. The CD audience period is small.

Any AI reissues will be lost among innumerable AI reissues. I will not buy them again no matter what.

Personally I am done with CD reissues, excepting bands new to CD.

The average punter doesn't track these details. They don't know that the Cocteau Twins reissues were worse than the originals. They don't know the term "brickwall".

I appreciate all the work you have done, but I really feel that you are dealing with a dead format (although one I still cling to, rather hopelessly).

Regards.

I don't even know why anyone is banging their heads against the proverbial wall trying to be legit. The record companies aren't really interested in releasing the masters or working on the reissues of New Wave music. Work directly with the artists themselves (Obtain rarities and unreleased recordings and bootleg the CD) With all of the torrent uploads I really don't think the record companies are cracking down on a hundred or so bootleg CDs of a music/genre they no longer care about. God forbid you download or upload a Katy Perry or Lady Gaga or a Wizzy G (Whatever Rap star is popular this week) they'll prosecute you to the fullest. No one except us are looking for a Fiat Lux release/reissue on CD.
I wish Sc**t would go back to his humble beginnings and pretend it was the late 90s again. I used to have/buy some great CD-Rs back then.

Wow, what a supportive bunch. I will make sure to include a special Thank You to the Nwoutpost in the credits. I'm sure it won't be too hard to sell 1000 cds in a world of billions. But i guess we will find out soon enough. I'm willing to accept what ever happens.

I agree with what telekon3 says. Moreover, not only record companies, but artists themselves usually don't care about their past music (understandable in a way). So why go through all this hassle which is time-consuming, intimidating and generally unpleasant? The legitimacy of a label won't make much difference to anyone anyway and I think lots of people are clinging to the past with this "legit reissue" fetish. Music is what really matters, not barcodes or license agreements. Time to make a clean break and do the stuff yourself. Otherwise we can wait another five or ten years - by which time lots of people will lose interest. Besides we all know how short human life can be - so what's the reasoning in wasting it dealing with arrogant shits so full of themselves sitting on the master tapes of half-forgotten performers and seemingly having an immense satisfaction not letting it out in the world? With your talent, Scott, you'd be much better off selling CD-Rs directly to interested people instead of "hoping for the best".

I'm still waiting for Cee Farrow and the people at Rocshire Records to release a CD version of 'Red And Blue'!

(The foundation of my statement is Cee Farrow died in 1993 and the owners of Rocshire Records owner Clyde L. 'Rocky' Davis and his wife Shirley went to jail after an investigation of insurance fraud. The label suffered legal problems and all its assets, including master tapes were seized. Needless to say, the label collapsed.)

Hello Lost 80s Record Company?, Dawn Music? , Tenterra?, Lost Wave Records? Anyone? Bueller. Anyone?

Rubellan wrote:Wow, what a supportive bunch. I will make sure to include a special Thank You to the Nwoutpost in the credits. I'm sure it won't be too hard to sell 1000 cds in a world of billions. But i guess we will find out soon enough. I'm willing to accept what ever happens.

Well, I'm going to break the negativity here and wish you the best of luck with whatever happens! I'm really looking forward to the material that you can put out.