Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab has been cutting vinyl from digital since a long, long time ago...

I don’t know that I call that the cynical take. The cynical take would be DSD became a solution because it allowed them to maximize profits. Some of that is being able to put out albums these otherwise couldn’t (as you indicate), but it also allowed them to do it more cheaply (arguably) and, perhaps most importantly, to maximize the number of copies they could produce.

Remember, not only does the gross revenue increase with each additional unit sold, but the marginal revenue almost certainly increases with each additional unit sold, i.e. the profit margin increases with each additional sold.

 

Indeed. And it did make it seem like David-Goliath-- I was impressed that despite his early life, Mike did good.

 

100% agreed, I was commenting on his behavior on Twitter and other online sites like Youtube. Dude just can't let things go, its sad.

 

Fremer's issue seems to be that every time he tries to explain why he said what he said, he can't help making his case even worse...

 

Bingo
Mike E does not need content, he needs product.
Mike F needs industry for content. Stereophile is 80% ads, subscriptions are at a loss, ads pay the bills.

Do the math.

 

Excellent post. This really gets to the heart of the Fremer issue.

 

Because his comments are transparently about his own self-interest - not the vinyl community’s - throughout this episode.

 

I did say soon, but maybe Davis will keep him around. Either way, I don't envy being in his hot seat right now.

 

Yeah. "VP" can mean a lot.... or very little. At small companies it usually means more. At larger companies less, unless one is an "Executive" VP.

 

That is where I suspected they would be heading too.

However, from experience, companies are typically large ships that take a long time to switch course. Add to that the cancelled One-Step orders, the $9M/year revenue, and the advances paid for 40K of Thriller (and large amounts of VH catalogue as well) and it wouldn't surprise me if after 1-2 years of losing money, they find themselves in dire straits and announce a brand new super-duper top-shelf ultra-fantastic honest-to-goodness fully analog series called "AAA yeah..", designed to get the same people who were lied to back into the fold.

It frankly also seems unwise to put the nail in the coffin and state "all future releases will be feature DSD". You'd think if anything they wouldn't want to dismiss the AAA fans by essentially telling them "Don't bother ever thinking of buying our stuff in the future - we don't care to provide what you want." In a way, I'm glad they were that direct but it nevertheless seems odd to

I'll wait until after all of the previously announced One-Steps have come out to see what their next move will be. Whatever they opt to do, it'll be an interesting next couple of years for MFSL.

Of course additional questions could've been asked but anyone who's watched the video can attest to, there were tense moments and there was clearly an air of "you're on thin ice so watch what you say". Really not a stretch to imagine how quickly they'd shut down the interview if the questions became to pointed.

As it stands, he was able to get them to admit a number of fundamental truths they had been lying about all these years. That caused the first domino to fall. What has transpired since then has been the result of this and wouldn't have happened had accusatory questions been used in the interview.

It was far wiser to ease them into casually admitting this stuff and not to press matters with follow-up questions such as "But *why* did you lie???!!!?" Obviously, I'm exaggerating but Fremer is a perfect example of an unstable emotionally overreactive personality who we can easily imagine would not have been the calming passive presence that 3 guilty/defensive people cornered in a small studio on their own turf needed to divulge anything of substance to.

 

Firing him for allowing the truth to come out would be a very stupid thing to do at this point.

 

I will watch again and pay more attention for that.

 

Was the Washington Post article digital only or did it get an analog pressing?

 

He has a lot of content.
Look at all, video and written, since this 'broke'.

 

Maybe to some degree. But I think MFSL will mostly double-down on DSD and do what they do best - which is marketing.

I would be at all surprised if they’re already working on a campaign to not only convince us using DSD files is not only as good as AAA, but is actually better...much better...unsurpassed.

If people will fall for half-speed nonsense (albeit fairly successful nonsense), they’ll certainly fall for this.

 

I think it's unlikely that any of the higher-ups spilled the beans as there would be too much of a vested interest in staying under the radar.

 

Well a writer like Fremer really needs to have concrete verified evidence before he tells the world definitely. Mike at the In Groove probably had some of the same sources but didn't require the same journalistic rules before he broke the real story. Michael 45 heard from similar sources about it and took a very different approach. He questioned the creation of 40,000 Thrillers as One Steps. He didn't out MoFi as almost always taking a digital approach. His questions connected the dots.

Fremer in fact reached out to MoFi early on and got strung along as the said they were preparing a video or an announcement...which never happened. As a journalist no way would he break the story without all the facts and confirmations. Mike Ingroove only had some of sauces tell him, so he broke the story. .

 

He's their marketing guy. He hid the truth for years.

 

Yeah, so why exactly would you fire that guy now?

 

This whole drama has been quite an expose of the industry, even if high-ticket LP reissues are a very small slice of that industry-- business practices, to some degree, the attitude toward consumers, the perspective of the long-time industry voices, Fremer being one of the more visible and outspoken characters and ultimately, where the analog die-hards now stand in an age when tapes of these "classic rock" records are aging and too valuable to be used much.

I'm glad for The Washington Post article- not because I want MoFi to be shamed, but it shows that its a big enough deal to make mainstream news. (And, I'm glad the author got it right-- a lot of times, MSM doesn't really present the details correctly in things I'm familiar with).

I think almost all of us have learned something too- though that may be different for each person- whether it is a question of trust (of manufacturers or the audio press), the quality of digital reproduction in 2022, or value, given the inflation in record prices in the last couple years.

I want to digest this more-but the whole thing has been fascinating. (And no schadenfreude on my part).

 

Is there a chance Fremer is really saying this: "Hey MoFi.....you picked the wrong guy.....I'm a professional Journalist.......I can play a big role in how you shape the narrative so you come out looking like a winner...........people listen to me...I can help soften the blow big time thru my positive support of your process"

 

Before anyone knew. Maybe different now. They should be revising their 'formula' in line with market trends.

 

Not for lying, but for the way the whole thing was handled, and not consulting with his boss (the owner) before bringing someone in to answer questions.

That's a big black eye for the company.

 

No.

 

As if no one has 'fallen for this' already. LMAO!