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Date: | Sat, 26 Jul 2003 15:56:15 +0100 |
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I was saving the pennies for the upcomming DG release of Mahler 2
(Kaplan/VPO) when I started to question what I was doing. Is it worth
paying full price for any CD again?
Pros
- You get the CD you want now.
Cons
- The chances are it'll be in a sale within 6 to 12 months.
- Major companies have regular promotions marking stock to the next price
bracket.
- The 'critical dust' settles and that overexcited review in Gramophone
or BBC Music is tempered by more even voices.
- Record companies are repackaging and reissuing stock so quickly these
days it'll probably be cheaper sooner than you might think. There are
some astonishing DDD CDs out there at superbargain prices: Chailly's
Stravinksy ballets, Weil's Schubert and Haydn masses, Tilson Thomas'
Ives cyle, Herreweghe Bach canatas ... The quality and prices of these
CDs make Naxos look expensive by comparison (watch out Klauss!).
Why is this happening?
- The market is saturated with multiple recordings of staple reptoire.
- it's illegal, but people have easy access to CDR and burn their own copies.
- again illegal, but with digital radio people make perfect copies
from the airwaves.
- older LPs are losing their 50 year European copyright and are freely
available for transfer by other companies, again putting pressure on
the market.
Provided the reviews are good, and I am happy with what I hear myself,
I will buy the Kaplan M2. However, I will wait until the price falls
in a sale, which I'm betting will be in the second half of 2004.
Kind regards,
David Harbin
Nottingham, UK
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