[78-L] marketing CD's

[Cary Ginell]

I've worked for Bear Family on a number of occasions. Richard Weize has his heart in the right place and knows it's a losing battle to issue these things, but does it anyway. He produces limited quantities - some of the boxes have only a couple of hundred pressings. He doesn't pay annotators well, considering the volume of material they put out, but it's prestigious to have your name on a BF product so we do it. He's been at it now for some 40 years, since the original Folk Variety LPs came out in the 1970s (these were those odd-looking black-and-yellow albums with photographs printed in negative on the cover). The sound quality he gets is hit and miss (mostly hit), depending on what he gets to work with. What I don't understand is how he gets such easy access to all of the metal parts when many others are turned away. Bear Family has easily the most astounding track record of issuing complete runs of recordings in a wide breadth of genres. He probably has an amazing private collection. Nothing I ever showed him ever impressed him, except for rare test pressings of unissued titles. 

Cary Ginell

> Date: Thu, 11 Aug 2011 22:37:07 +0000
> To: 78-l at klickitat.78online.com
> From: agp2176 at verizon.net
> Subject: Re: [78-L] marketing CD's
> 
> At 21:34 11/08/2011, you wrote:
> >   Do BEAR family productions make money?  Anyone know how many 
> > copies they sell?
> 
> Bear Family has always intrigued me. They issue some really 
> interesting stuff, but I have to wonder how in heaven's name they 
> ever sell any of it. Take for example Out of New Orleans- the 8 disc 
> collection of Fats Domino's Imperial output. It has everything from 
> 1949 to 1962. The retail is $250. That's over $30 a disk. Granted I'm 
> sure it has great book with it and all but still -- $250! Some places 
> are selling it for around $190, but even as such, that's a chunk o' change.
> 
> The I see Hip-O-Select doing a 6 disc Buddy Holly for about $105. Hmm 
> -- what gives. What would expect that Buddy Holly would be somewhat 
> cheaper as Hip-O is a part on Universell (ex MCA/ Decca), but by over half!
> 
> I wish that Bear Family would make their stuff available in single 
> disc offerings. That way one could build it up. Then as aftermarket 
> they could sell a slipcase or something for the set. Its just weird to me.
> 
> T
> 
> 
> I guess I see most of their stuff as being out of reach of many collectors 
> 
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