Donald Satz wrote:

>Peter Varley wrote:
>
>Companies which expect me to pay full price for recordings of standard
>repertoire are either stupid or think I am.
>
>Color me stupid.  I expect to pay full price for new recordings, and
>I have no problem with this concept as long as I very much want the
>particular recording.  The Mosaiques have a new Mozart string quartet
>recording, I wanted it, and I bought it.  It's great and worth every
>penny.  I work hard, make good money, and have every intention of enjoying
>the proceeds.  If I was poor, then I'd be looking for every bargain.

Where you live, are full-price recordings more expensive than cheaper
recordings by a factor of _three_?

I'm glad that you weren't disappointed with the Mosaiques recording,
but as I'm not into Mozart quartets enough to tell good recordings from
indifferent, I'll have to pick a different example to reinforce my point.

The last time I paid full price for a recording of standard repertoire, it
was for the Kovacevic performance of Brahms 1st Piano Concerto.  I enjoyed
it very much on first hearing, but my current opinion is that it isn't a
performance that improves with repeated listening.  In retrospect, I'd have
done better to get two or three cheaper recordings, many of which also get
good reviews.  (As you noticed, I'm obsessive, so in fact I've done that
_too_ rather than _instead_.)

I expect to (and do) pay full price for rare repertoire.  Supply and demand
operates here.  If I want to hear a piece, and there's only one recording
of it, the company can charge whatever it likes (I presume it likes to
optimise its profits).  Getting back to DG, they do some rare repertoire,
but it seems that whoever chooses it doesn't share my tastes.

With standard repertoire, it's different.  DG and the other "majors",
if they aren't stupid, must be aware that any new recording of standard
repertoire is competing not only with Naxos, Arte Nova, CFP, et al, but
with their own back catalogue (and others have noted earlier in the thread
that DG have a particularly good back catalogue).  To whom do they expect
to sell in large enough numbers to make a profit? Also, in the UK (it's
probably different elsewhere) there is competition from BBC Radio 3, which
is quite good for standard repertoire.  Why buy _any_ recordings of
Beethoven symphonies? They'll probably all be broadcast within the month.

Not everyone who works hard makes good money.  There are those who work
hard for very little financial reward.  There are also people who don't
do much and get paid a lot for it.  In my experience (I've been in both
positions in the last decade) there isn't much correlation.  I don't expect
there to be much correlation between the price of a CD and the quality of
the performance, either.

Peter Varley
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