smoe.org mailing lists
ivan@stellysee.de
| From | Wizface@aol.com |
| Subject | LP Re-Releases on Sony? Could be-if there is enuff Interest. |
| Date | Mon, 3 Mar 2003 00:42:02 EST |
[Part 1 text/plain US-ASCII (3.6 kilobytes)]
(View Text in a separate window)
I've noticed the discussions on the list recently about rare LP
re-releases, and have a few things to add into the mesh. I co-teach audio
engineering at a local college along with the co-inventor of the NTI EQ3
unit, (one of the worlds best EQ units for mastering). He works with a
fellow that has his own label under Sony, that produces some of those
collectable LPs-to-CD re-issues, that perhaps some of you have seen (We
finished remastering in-class the Airkraft LP just last summer for release).
If Sony owns the masters (And believe me, they own ALOT, from all those
buyouts), he simply asks his superiors if Sony wishes to re-release the LP on
CD. If they decide they don't, then he has full blessing to release it on
his own label, under Sony. It's a numbers issue really. Bruce can tell
ya'll 'bout that. Bruce can turn a profit on 1,000 CD's 'cause he's small
and efficient. Rhino, in the 90's reported they had to sell 10,000 to make a
profit on a release. Other labels with big promoting budgets and high-priced
PR execs have to clear 50,000 - 100,000 to turn a profit. (Things that ring
in hard with the Owsley discussions earlier (Q: does Sony own WB yet??)).
Anyway, the point being, Sony usually passes on most of his requests, so
then he fetches the masters, and off they come to here in little ol' provo,
utah, where they get mounted and transfererred to Vegas 4.0, where they get
remixed, EQ'd, and compression-mastered for re-release.
Anyway, last time I talked to him, he said if I came up with a list of
LP's that might have sales potential, that he'd be glad to take a look at
them. I've not taken him up on his offer yet, since I've done no research on
saleabilities of them.
Unfortunately I'm preparing a big lecture right now on digital audio
restoration techniqes, and I'm freakin' out on presentation materials right
now (anybody know how to do powerpoint well?- I've been reluctant to learn
-It's a Bill Gates thing), and I don't have time to host a poll right now.
SO, if someone is willing to undertake initial pollings (or already has on
this latest thread), then we'll present, say the best 10 or so to the list
(ANY LP, not limited to power pop) and see how many of us would pay $ to buy
them by vote-ins. Then I'd be happy to present that list to him.
If he doesn't want to do them, perhaps Bruce would undertake it, if
there's enuff votes, huh? Sounds like a great thread to me no matter....
In the mean-time, I'm happy to do digital restorations of rare vinyl
for cheap if anybody wants 1-zie, 2-zie's. I've got a 72-pass algorithm that
hunts down crackles and pops like no other. (I have a current gentleman's
bet with the National Radio Archives that I can outdo those damn $50,000
CEDAR noise reduction units. I'm still working on that bet so, we'll
see...but their algo's don't remove turntable rumble and tonearm resonance...
:) It's not a bragging-rights thing - we're just a group of idiots bent on
the preservation of ... ummm... cool stuff....any way we can. If you have
similar interests, I'd love to hear from ya, fershur. Me? I'm currently
working on Fools Face's LP's, and The Kings 2nd and third...just for fun. and
a rare 40 year-old tape of 2 never-before-heard Tom Lehrer songs recorded
impromptu-live on MIT's student radio station... dang funny dude. He claims
he never recorded them. And in Rhino's box set notes, there's NO mention of
them anywhere. I guess Tom forgot about this appearance. Good thing the
kids had a reel2reel tape deck running :-) Damn, this can be a fun bizness
to be in!!
-Mike Wisland
For assistance, please contact
the smoe.org administrators.