I do not seek to justify the high level of CD prices but on a few points I
am afraid Bob Draper <[log in to unmask]> is out of line attacking the
majors over CD prices by saying:-

>Their re-issuing of 20+ year old material, where the artists are often
>dead, at full price has been scandalous.

Unless one is fully aware of the contractual and royalty structure of
a particular recording this remark has no relevance to the discussion.
I know of one living artist who has forced his record company to reissue
his old recordings at full rate and I suspect (by the absence of reissues)
that there is another very famous North American female singer currently
doing something similar.  Was the British Leyland "Mini" car ever sold at
a discount during its 30+ year's history? I think not.

>Remember that it costs only around 60 cents inclusive to produce each cd
>these days.

What is meant by "inclusive"? - that 60 cents is simply the cost of the
plastic disc, assuming the manufacturing run has written off the USD
400/600 of mastering charges to make them insigificant.  But artwork
charges for the booklet of a CD (reissued or otherwise) can vary from
USD7000 up to goodness knows what.  Some booklets still contain over
300 pages even at reissue and cost more than 5 times the cost of the
disc itself.  When it comes to manufacturing a CD the cost price varies
according to the length of a piece of string.  Certainly the bootlegger
will give you 62 cents of value.

>Another moan is their policy of issuing material at full price then
>re-issuing at medium price a year later then re-issuing at budget later
>still.

Here Mr.Draper is on firmer ground and the circle is a "vicious" one for,
like him, I believe many of us look at a new release and say to ourselves
not "I don't need this" but rather "I don't need this NOW" - and simply
wait until a reissue appears.  And as the majority of new classical
releases sell less that 5000 copies worldwide the financial return towards
recording costs (of, in most cases, over USD 75,000) means the recording
contains an inherent loss potential which will continue for over 7 years
(i.e.  break even point is delayed).

Mr. Draper goes on to comment:

>Great for their shareholders bad for classical music.

If one looks at the break even point of 98% of classical CDs you'd never
make such a comment.  All of us have to be extremely grateful for the
patience of shareholders for I can think of no other business where the
returns are as painfully slow, unattractive and risky.  The vicious circle
is, as he suggests, actually making things worse for shareholders but to
suggest that paradise is around the corner when all we will be offered is:

>Naxos, Brilliant, MP3, recordable CD and bootlegs ......(which will) force
>a price war ... from which we will all benefit.

....seems to me quite ludicrous even though a modest reduction in prices
may arise.  All but Naxos (Brilliant, MP3, recordable CD and bootlegs)
are trying to make money either illegally or with the minimum investment
possible which will benefit nobody but their operators (and shareholders!)
with, more importantly, little or no investment being made back into the
world of music.

In this regard the NYT published an article on January 5th (it was far
too long and repetitive - never use 5 words where 25 will do) which it
introduced by saying:-

During the era of long-playing records, a major soprano in her prime
who enjoyed success in a role in the opera house assumed that a studio
recording of the complete opera would be made.  With the introduction
of compact discs, the business of recording operas has changed.

   http://www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/news/arts/opera-recordings.html

The business of recording operas has changed for the worst for numerous
additional reasons to those mentioned in the article but it is worth a
quick read.

So one wonders from whence new recordings may come when Mr.Draper's market
paradise comes to us? In the book world it might be the equivalent of all
books being published on toilet paper or cars made of cardboard (come back
the Trabant, your day is yet to come - and in the public domain, too, no
doubt!).

John G. Deacon
Home page: www.ctv.es/USERS/j.deacon