Sexbeat

[Jason²]

I'm usually pretty up on my goth, but Sexbeat are one of those elusive bands I just can't seem to find any info on. Of course I know about "Sex Beat" and the Batcave comp (and the sad reality that such an essential '80s nugget hasn't appeared on CD yet!) but beyond that... nada.

Somewhere I managed to download two other songs attributed to Sexbeat ("Sweat" and "Pump") - I suspect they came from this very board.

Was there ever a Sexbeat album? And if so - who put it out, where was it released, what does the cover look like, etc. Are these Sexbeat tracks that turned up on compilations??

FEED MY HEAD!!!

[rewind]

I'm fairly certain Sexbeat never released an album. "Sweat" is available on the "Gothic Rock 3 - Black On Black" compilation.

[Grunch]

Not really anything to do with Sexbeat, just thought I'd ask whatever became of Superfecta - seems no site updates or news in over a year maybe, and nothing else released?? Did it close up shop as a label?? The list of upcomings seemed promisng, but then it seems the label vanished?? Just wondering. I kept it in my favorites to periodically check, but it seems pretty well retired these days. I would thing if even anything was cooking, at least the site would make visitors aware to keep checking.

[Jason²]

I toyed with starting a new topic to give everyone an update, but I'll start here.

Superfecta is basically on-hold for a number of reasons - not in any particular order.

1. I got a job starting a new record label for the Warner Music Group called Cordless Recordings (www.cordless.com) and it's basically taking up all my time.

2. Of the 9 titles Superfecta reissued we BARELY broke even on TWO of them - we lost money on the other seven. Not exactly a bang-up way to get a business off the ground.

3. Chris and I started up The Ideal Copy (as a companion business to Superfecta) which is actually going well (i.e. we're not losing money). The Ideal Copy takes up a ridiculous amount of time and being ran full time without my day-to-day involvement leaves Chris (and Dayna and LeAnn) with no time to focus on anything but updating the site w/new releases and filling orders.

4. The consolidation of BMG and Sony turned the more lenient licensing terms that were offered by BMG into next-to-impossible to meet-your-minimum guarantee terms offered by Sony.

5. There really aren't that many (if any at all) unreissued titles of music that we like that we can realistically forecast at least a break-even release from. I know the minute someone reads that I'll get an email with a list of mega in-demand titles that are surefire ways to make money. I'm telling you, they just don't exist.

In case you're wondering, the reason you see so few reissues in the US (except from labels like Wounded Bird and Collectible/Collectors Choice) is because the licensing terms for out of print masters from the major labels basically insure you have NO way of ever making money on them. Wounded Bird and Collectibles have cut bulk deals with the labels they license from and that's how they are able to get such a great quantity of titles out - it also explains why they skimp on the remastering and the packaging. In England and Canada the licensing terms are much more generous which is why you have Retro Active coming out of Canada and the glut of great reissues coming from UK labels like Cherry Red, Renascent and Captain Oi! Also, many of the reissues coming from the UK are licensed from defunct indie labels that probably don't have any licensing terms or restrictions. Many of the great US new wave albums were on majors in the US but licensed from indies in the UK - so it's much easier to be IN the UK and license from other indies whereas their US releases would have to come from a major.

With all that said, Chris and I are definitely planning future releases on Superfecta - just not likely to be major label licensed reissues. So stay tuned.

Jason

[Rubellan]

Is it possible to be a U.S. based label, like Superfecta, and license from the UK division of some of these labels? I would assume, like with one of the Oglio Men Without Hats titles, that it would not be for sale directly from a U.S. vendor, but available as an import. This could possibly be a way to get titles into print without outrageous licensing fees, if any of this makes any sense.

[Jason²]

Possible? Maybe.
A major headache that isn't worth the effort? Definitely!

The work it would take to liase with an overseas indie or major for licensing and release in their local territory - and then import to the US (and risk getting sued by the US label that has exclusive domestic licensing rights) renders this sort of approach impossible. Moreover, I stand by the fact that 99.9% of the stuff that, in this era of iTunes and p2p, has even a snowballs chance in hell of selling enough copies on CD to justify the time and expense has either already been done, is too expensive (The Colourfield), impossible to track down the repertoire owner (Secession) or just plain not available for licensing (Ministry - With Sympathy).

So, yes... but no.