I’ve made it through New Jazz Conceptions - which sounds really, really good, Everybody Digs, and Portrait. Unfortunately, Everybody Digs has a hairline scratch resulting in an intrusive clicking throughout the whole of Lucky to be Me. Portrait has a few scuffs on side D - it’s only faintly audible, but disappointing because it is so visible and obvious: it does make me wonder about the efficacy of the AP QC. Were it not for the issue with Everybody Digs (which is really intrusive), I’d probably live with that second disk of Portrait - but, in for a penny…. And, of course, I’m an international customer and so, no doubt, the exchange will be tricky and expensive. I’m going to make may way through the rest of the set this week so that I can deal with any issues on Monday. It’s a pity about the poor QC, because, defects aside, it sounds fantastic. Portrait in particularly is just lovely.
I hate to hear that you are having a few issues. One of my fears was that a box this big would present some possible issues. Being international makes it more frustrating. I wonder if they will be more relaxed with their 30-day return policy on a set this big. This is a lot of music to listen to on vinyl in 30 days. I did inquire when I called but they didn't have a solid answer. I put my order on hold when I took a 2-week+holiday to Portugal. I haven't released the hold yet. My order for the Lester Young Sam Records release just came in stock (I think) as did Pet Sound 45 RPM mono. Wishing you the best in your pursuit of replacements.
Companies like Concord (Craft) are not in the game to release more physical product. A lot of companies have been gobbling up music catalogues in recent years - Concord, Hipgnosis Songs, Round Hill, Primary Wave, to name a few. These are large companies that basically operate like private equity funds. Concord, for example, had raised well over $1 billion dollars to acquire catalogues, and they are owned by financial investors, like pension funds, who expect large returns on their investments. Physical media sales have been dropping by double digit percentages each year, and is projected to drop by double digit percentages each year in the foreseeable future. On top of that, selling physical media is hard work -- dealing with manufacturing, distribution and retailers. These huge music rights companies exist because they are betting on monetizing where music is headed. Streaming, of course, is where all the money is now for rights owners. They also see future opportunities in licensing music for new formats like short-form videos (like TikTok or Reels), connected fitness (like Peloton, which connects your exercise to a screen) or video games. Streaming libraries and these new formats are leading to people consuming more back catalogue music, which is why these companies are amassing their war chests of music catalogues. All of this streaming and licensing is potentially more profitable, and easier to do, for the the rights owners than pushing out physical media. Here's one way to look at this. In New York City, a lot of small smoke shops have popped up everywhere. They sell few items. People wonder why they don't just open a bodega, that also sells groceries and sundries and makes sandwiches. Surely they could make money by selling all those other things. That is true, but to open a bodega, you'd need to invest $500,000 on inventory and upfront costs, have a large enough store (rent), and staff each shift with multiple workers to cover the cash register, sandwich station, storage room, etc. The smart guys have figured out that by selling just the few products that these stores make the most money on, they can open a closet sized storefront (less rent), and need only one employee each shift. And they're putting their money into opening three other smoke shops, so they own a chain of four smoke shops around town, instead of just one bodega.
Interesting and a great detailed explanation. Even if some people think of boutique labels as greedy or opportunistic, it seems we still owe some gratitude to the these labels (AP, Tone Poet/Blue Note, Classic, Music Matters, etc.). Kind of similar to that small independent sandwich shop, market or restaurant, someone in there cares. You have to possess passion for many of these smaller businesses. That's the essence of life, passion. We owe it to the artists first of course, their passion lives on as we listen, smile and dance.
The used aftermarket sale of existing physical products by private individuals may boom, perhaps. But in the USA, the Internal Revenue Service (the tax agency for non-Americans) will be suppressing that. It has started tracking and documenting all on-line sales and all sales are considered 100% income unless you can thoroughly document all expenses as a business might. Most private collectors cannot do that. The net effect of this tax ruling will substantially reduce sales by private collectors. Most just do not want the hassle, and will not like how their sales affect taxes, especially when they cannot document all past purchases. That record that you paid $25 for may still only fetch about $25, but now you pay taxes on $25, both federal and state taxes. The corporate owners of recordings like that situation very, very much.
Can someone familiar with the older set released by Chad tell me if he released the individual albums before doing the set? At least some of them were released individually. And, I guess this requires speculation, but is it likely that he will offer the individual albums separately? I know when I bought that SRV box a number of years ago, the only way at the time to get those pressings was to buy the whole set. Eventually, though, he did start selling the albums individually (dunno if that was because the boxes were selling, given the price or whether he made separate arrangements for the individual releases). TIA and for those of you who received the box and are happy, en-joy.
All my covers look good but the first disk I took out to play (Waltz) was badly warped. So I spent the last hour going through them all and 5 disks in total were badly warped.
It actually isn't that hard. If you can work an Excel spreadsheet, save your receipts from when you buy things in a physical store and periodically update your spreadsheet as you go, it's fairly straightforward to keep track of what titles you bought at what price and what you sold it for down the line. As for past purchases, the seller is allowed to make a reasonable estimation if they no longer have the receipt for 1998 or thereabouts. I've had to plug in some estimates for the prices I paid for records I bought five years back. If you're anything like me, you'll find the occasional big sale is more than offset by the "bought it for $25, sold it for $20 plus shipping" transactions. Shoot, I may actually be able to write off a part of my hobby on my taxes because of this. The other option is old fashioned - sell it for cash, check or PayPal friends & family. Don't even need to record those transactions.
I've noticed very slight warps on Sides 1 and 3 of New Conception. So far nothing that would make me seek an exchange. I've eyeballed half the album so far and no scratches, thank Dawg. That's what I'm really anxious about. And then I get anxious about my possibly inadvertently scratching a record while looking for scratches.
New jazz conception was two of the warped disks. I had a few others with mild warps but not worth returning. It’ll take awhile to listen to them all but the warps were glaring. Here were my problematic ones: 1. Waltz for Debbie - Side 1/2 2. Moon Beams - Side 1/2 3. At Shelly’s Manne-Hole - Side 1/2 4. New jazz conceptions - Both Side 1/2 and Side 3/4
Got my box, hell yeah!!! Had to tell the Fed Ex guy to leave it on my doorstep and then texted a neighbor to grab it as I wasn’t gonna be home for a few hours. Playing Everybody Digs first and a small warp but doesn’t seem to affect playing. First time through and I did have quite a ****load of noise though so did a thorough needle cleaning and replaying side one. Fingers crossed!!
Second time playing side one and noise greatly reduced, basically gone. I think I hopefully dodged a bullet.
That is annoying and just seems the norm. I’m expecting to have to run 3-4 of these through the Vinyl Flat. Maybe they can send you a few replacements so you don’t have to do a full box return.
I may do the same...but I'll let you go first. The good thing about Vinyl Flat is that you stop fretting over whether a warps should lead to a return. The bad part is that you feel you should fix every little warp you encounter.
I don’t always do it unless it’s a significant annoyance but the good thing is the success rate on 180g vinyl is pretty solid. Those pesky edge ripple warps can be tough though or lead to wooshing during playback depending on how severe they are.
Yes, the Bill Evans titles from the boxset were first released as part of the "Fantasy 100" series, There were 4 batches of 25 titles between 2002 and 2008. can see the catalog here, page 72-73 for set 3 and 4. Acoustic Sounds Catalogue. They were all released individually, and the New Conceptions of Jazz was the 1 title not released in the Fantasy series, came out in 2010 on 33 and 45 individually. Many of the classic titles in the 45 Fantasy series were also reissued on 33rpm, like most of the Prestige Stereo and Mono series, and now Craft is doing a number of the Contemporary Records. Lots of recycling of the same titles. Fantasy 45 Series
Everybody Digs sounds very good, for sure better than the OJC. The drums really stand out on this one. The jackets aren't the be-all, end-all in this set. But I will say the cover art representation is quite good. The photo of Evans on Portrait In Jazz is crisp to the point it's almost spooky.
I'm usually not a 45rpm guy, but I'm not minding it for this set as much as I had expected. Having said that, if Craft did some version of this on 33 I'd keep abreast of developments.
Keep us posted on that. I'm curious if they'll tell people to ship back the entire box or just problem albums individually.