Future of Classic Records??

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by heimska, Mar 21, 2010.

Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.
  1. Pulseczar

    Pulseczar Member

    Location:
    Winnipeg, MB
    Wow, first Alex Chilton dies and now Classic folds. This is a bad week for music lovers.


    Here's hoping everything gets resolved soon so I can grab The Who Sell Out in mono for a sane price.
     
  2. I'll ask again, how do we know this? I only see that titles are going out of print and they have a new distributor.
     
  3. heimska

    heimska Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Reykjavik, Iceland
    Why would they all go out-of-print at once?
     
  4. rtalwani

    rtalwani Forum Resident

    Try MusicDirect: http://www.musicdirect.com/product/77122
     
  5. Satrus

    Satrus Forum Resident

    Location:
    Cork, Ireland
    This might not be too bad?

    Jim Davis/Music Direct has done a good job with taking over the Mofi brand and I think it is the general consensus that QC is very good with Mofi vinyl. Classic lost it for me in the early 2000s and I found a very steep decline in pressing quality by 2004 and beyond. I have many fine Classic LPs but they are all before 2003 or so. The Led Zeppelin reissues were excellent, I have most of them.

    I stopped purchasing Classic titles after some unsatisfactory buying experiences circa 2004 and beyond. Pity!

    Provided the reputed new owner can preserve the Classic Records character and profile, I think this might be a positive development and could revive the label to its former (for me) greatness? As has been aired here before, it is probably extremely difficult and expensive to license premium product now with some of the major labels preferring to issue their own LPs.
     
  6. Peter K

    Peter K Forum Resident

    Unfortunately they are making a dogs dinner.
     
  7. Don't know, but that doesn't mean Classic Records is folding. Until I hear otherwise from an official source, I am not jumping to any conclusions. Rumors of Classic's demise proved unfounded before. Once bitten, twice shy.
     
  8. Steve Hoffman

    Steve Hoffman Your host Your Host

    Yes, once again, let me remind you, changing a distributer and selling off the old stock is no guarantee that the company is going out of business. True, it looks shaky as hell (shades of the old DCC) but there has been no official statement from CLASSIC (or anyone else, for that matter).

    A few rival companies are hoping to God that CLASSIC does go under for obvious competitive reasons so we have to take what comes from their camps with a grain of salt.

    Mikey Hobson and Chadwick have been working on this deal for almost a year. This is no flash in the pan sudden thing, people.

    Just as a reminder, CLASSIC sent the below message to me back in Feb. I am repeating it here for the record (pun intended). Whether it is blather or not I'll leave you to worry about but let's not have any rumors of the complete demise of a company start with our Forum. That's just bad karma for us.

    Feel free to discuss the Classic Records situation on this thread as much as you want..



    Dear SH Forums Moderator,

    There seems to be a rumor afloat on your site that Classic Records is out of
    business which is not accurate. We have recently instituted a change in
    distribution which may have caused this confusion but we are by NO means out of
    business. These types of rumors can be damaging to a business and as such I would ask that you intercede as appropriate.

    Thank You,
    Michael Hobson
    President - Classic Records Inc.
     
  9. It looks so far, from the message initially sent by Michael, and the wording in the Classic Records email that Joe provided in post #69, that its just a major redistribution move.

    Anything else at this point, until confirmed otherwise, would be speculation.
     
  10. LeeS

    LeeS Music Fan

    Location:
    Atlanta
    Excellent point.
     
  11. OE3

    OE3 Senior Member

    Rent for Classic's warehouse on North Orange Drive in Hollywood is not cheap. Employees for TheMusic.com -- selling gear and second-hand vinyl, in addition to CR stock (lots of competition in all three areas) -- are not cheap. Hobson very well could simply be moving distribution to Kansas and keeping bare-bones A&R and Production up and running in LA. In these economically-shaky and difficult times, it seems logical to me. A firesale is not necessarily 'all you need to know'. Time will tell.
     
  12. John D.

    John D. Senior Member

    Everyone's moving out of California :sigh:
     
  13. MikeT

    MikeT Prior Forum Cretin and Current Impatient Creep

    Location:
    New Jersey, USA
    I will wait for official word to determine if Classic is "gone"... but why would Analogue Productions buy the Classic records name? The already have a name of their own, releasing their own re-mastered product on vinyl and SACD, etc.

    On the other hand, it is strange that a lot of new titles are quickly going out of print, like the new Peter Gabriel Clarity vinyl issues. I guess we won't see any more Peter Gabriel clarity vinyl issues anytime soon?? Luckily I purchased all the PG clarity vinyl when it could be had for "retail" price. :)
     
  14. zakyfarms

    zakyfarms White cane lying in a gutter in the lane.

    Location:
    San Francisco
    Just got this email from Acoustic Sounds:

    Acoustic Sounds, Inc. is very pleased to announce our new position as the exclusive worldwide distributor for Classic Records. From this point forward, all Classic Records inventory will be managed and sold by Acoustic Sounds, Inc.

    It is important to note that some of these Classic Records titles may never be pressed again. That means that what we have may be the last remaining inventory. As such, pricing will be based entirely on supply and demand. We are out of stock already on many titles and very low on many more. For those of you who have waited, now's your chance to get what you're missing. If you're interested, act now. Prices will only go up as the inventory shrinks.

    With this inventory addition, Acoustic Sounds furthers our position as the world's largest supplier of audiophile recordings.
     
  15. John D.

    John D. Senior Member

    I too picked up a few of the Gabriel 45rpm box's, they sounded great, so I ended getting all of them.
    I'm glad I got them when I did, probably gonna be a run on some of these Classic titles. :sigh:
     
  16. karmapolice

    karmapolice Forum Resident

    Location:
    los angeles, ca
    find the titles you want now at a reasonable price or be prepared to grab your ankles later.....

    the odds that classic records will release any new titles or reissue its older titles any time soon is not good.....

    lets hope they come back like mofi but if you want something grab it now while you can at a decent price before its indecent like much of the led zep
     
  17. Jvalvano

    Jvalvano Senior Member

    Location:
    NH
    I hope Classic doesn't go away, I enjoy many of their titles.

    Last night I picked up 2 Peter Gabriel titles that I had been holding out on from Elusive Disc. The PG4 45rpm clarity vinyl was $49.99. Acoustic Sounds is listing it for $74.99 and as a pre-order ??? Which doesn't exactly make since ED shipped my records today. Point being, some of the prices are already going up.
    SO 200g was the same price on both websites.
     
  18. VinylNutz

    VinylNutz Active Member

    The original UK issue of Tubular Bells was put out by Virgin records which is now owned by EMI. My Canadian pressing is on the Virgin label as well.
     
  19. LordThanos1969

    LordThanos1969 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Phoenix, AZ, USA
    It would appear to be a great investment to have five of these. $4000 when released has turned into $20,000+ on the current market. That is a fantastic rate of return.
     
  20. LordThanos1969

    LordThanos1969 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Phoenix, AZ, USA
    How is your copy of the 200 gram Tommy? The Web page on Amazon for that release http://www.amazon.com/Tommy-200-Gram-Who/dp/B000J4OYTU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1269395190&sr=1-1 has three people complaining about QC issues, mainly the spindle hole being punched offset. I bought one a while ago, but I'm keeping it sealed.
     
  21. drbryant

    drbryant Senior Member

    Location:
    Los Angeles, CA
    If anyone is thinking of buying the flight box, I would highly recommend testing the discs. Many of the boxes contain discs that are "dished" (bowl shaped). Some people overlook this because of the sound, but I can't see paying inflated collector prices for what I would regard as defective pressings. There are some boxes where all of the discs are flat, but the only way to find out is to test-spin the discs yourself. I was told that these are from a "later run" at a different pressing plant. Don't know if that's true or not.
     
  22. KLM

    KLM Senior Member

    Wow, those Peter Gabriel clarity vinyl sets are now close to $80 each when a few weeks ago they were $50. Themusic.com still has them at the original price but don't know if they have stock or not. May be worth a try....keeping my fingers crossed.
     
  23. Randy W

    Randy W Original Member

    And that's arguably what it is - an investment. There are reportedly better masterings of all four albums if you do a search. I hope Classic (under AP) will reissue some of their better sounding titles, but I wouldn't hold my breath.
     
  24. butch

    butch Senior Member

    Location:
    ny
    I knew all that. What I was referring to was the US pressing AND American licensing rights!It came out on Epic here and the rights to Tubular Bells reverted back to Oldfield.
     
  25. drbryant

    drbryant Senior Member

    Location:
    Los Angeles, CA
    I hope that themusic.com is still shipping. I just ordered all the Who titles I was missing. I was waiting for 45RPM sets, but I suspect that they will never happen.
     
Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.

Share This Page

molar-endocrine