"D. Stephen Heersink" wrote:

>I suspect that the enormous recording costs borne by the recording
>studios makes classical repertoire too expensive for anything but the
>instrumentalist, chamber works, and some vocal.

These costs are not borne by the studios, rather the labels making the
recordings.  They are sometimes borne by the artists themselves.  I would
rather defer, however, John Deacon in this matter as he is truly an expert,
and could perhaps shed some light on the subject.

>Orchestral and choral works have become too expensive, especially given
>the salaries and honoraria the bigger orchestras charge.

The big orchestras do not charge large large salaries and honoraria by
any standard.  Yes, the major artists get substantial fees, but compared
to salaries in the corporate world, and in the realm of popular music,
classical musicians are paid in pennies!

>Indeed, word has it that to pad their pockets even further, some of the
>larger orchestras are going to record for their own label and cut out the
>recording artisans altogether.  No longer will we buy DG, Collins, Naxos,
>but the NYP, the CSO, the SFSO, etc., all as their own label.

Who can blame them.  Orchestral musicians do not make huge fees or
royalties from their recordings.  Again, I defer to Mr. Deacon for further
details, but none of the orchestral musicians I know (Dallas Symphony
Orchestra members, to be specific) are becoming millionaires off their
record royalties.

>Retailers, Tower among them, realize that the merchandize in the
>'classical' section doesn't turnover like other genres.  I'd certainly
>be interested in knowing if Tower has done an inventory turnover ratio for
>its classical recordings.  I suspect it is terribly long.  All other things
>being equal, this would dramatically increase overhead and the cost of
>particular merchandize. ...

You are exactly correct, Stephen, and this is why many of us are returning
large quantities of cds to the vendors and cutting back on our stock.  The
stuff simply doesn't sell, and as sad as it makes me to see it happen,
there is really no alternative!

>CD-sales via the Internet and via other off-site vendors, like Compact
>Disc World in New Jersey, will become more common, if not the norm.  ...

Again, you are right on target.  I don't think that in the long run, that
we will see a diminished supply of recordings available to us, but we will
certainly have to change the way we think about shopping!

>Given Tower's "sale's price" as still 27% higher than Zipidee's everyday
>prices, it won't be long before Tower will need to reconsider its market
>and marketing strategies.

I dare say it will be the other way around.  If the prices you quote
for Zipedee's are correct, and I have no reason to assume otherwise, they
are selling at barely above cost.  The folks who really need to do some
thinking are the wholesalers who make it impossible for us retailers to
sell at a fair price.

>When one walks into a music store and finds 90% of its clientele in the
>rock and similar genres, and only 10% of its clientele in the classical
>bins, it doesn't take an expert to recognize that the way classical music
>will be distributed is in for some significantly and fundamentally
>different means from the past.

I think you make the mistaken assumption that classical sales have been
huge in some previous golden age.  Mr. Lampson proved that classical sales
are actually on the increase in a fine set of statistics he posted some
weeks ago.  It is just that there is more product available at one time now
that ever before, and there is a finite interest and available expendable
cash for it all.  You can't buy everything no matter how good your
intentions are.

Kevin