[78-L] marketing CD's

[warren moorman]

The cost of BF is higher in the US because it is an imported product, but mostly because it is designed to be a collector's comprehensive, deluxe package of music and book/notes. There have been some BF samplers and single disc items that are priced like other premium single disc releases. Not unlike Mosiac, who have supplemented their usual collector's box sets with the Mosaic Select line. For BF, access to the masters is often obtained through the German subsidiaries of the major companies, despite the fact that Richard got his start issuing some material in a gray area of copyright, if not outright bootleg.

If you consider the actual cost to Universal of issuing the Hip-O-Select releases-wherin they already own the rights, don't come close to the research, photos and notes of BF, and may use existing masters of an earlier release rather than work from the original masters for optimal sound-then the per cd markup by Universal is far greater than on a typical BF release. As Cary said, it's because Richard (like the Mosaic team) have a vision of creating definitive legacy issues.

Many of us can certainly relate to regret at not being able to afford certain Bear Family or Mosaic sets, but I'd rather know that they've been created and exist than to think that they never will be.

Warren             

--- On Thu, 8/11/11, Cary Ginell <soundthink at live.com> wrote:

> From: Cary Ginell <soundthink at live.com>
> Subject: Re: [78-L] marketing CD's
> To: 78-l at klickitat.78online.com
> Date: Thursday, August 11, 2011, 4:13 PM
> 
> 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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