Music Matters Definitive Blue Note 45 RPM and 33 & 1/3 RPM vinyl series (pt7)

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by MilesSmiles, Jun 13, 2014.

  1. mikeyt

    mikeyt Forum Resident

    Location:
    Los Angeles, CA
    Maybe a mistake? I just checked and it's Out of Stock.
     
    AnalogJ likes this.
  2. AnalogJ

    AnalogJ Hearing In Stereo Since 1959

    Location:
    Salem, MA
    And a 33 reissue is scheduled for the 80th Anniversary Blue Note series.
     
  3. Anselmo

    Anselmo Forum Resident

    Location:
    Messina
    We can make a petition to have the 80th Anniversary Blue Note series edition equal to the MM, at least the cover, given the magnificent example tone poet, and the same for the other MM out of print (Basra, Happenings etc ..), so as to send to hell market jungle...
     
  4. AnalogJ

    AnalogJ Hearing In Stereo Since 1959

    Location:
    Salem, MA
    That won't likely happen. They're appealing to the relative masses, while at the same time being high quality enough to satisfy those who want high quality audio.
     
    Anselmo likes this.
  5. Morbius

    Morbius Forum Resident

    Location:
    Brookline, MA
    I went looking for this this morning and wound up buying two records!
     
    Bryce likes this.
  6. The BN80s are what most retailers want. They had been requesting reasonable priced Blue Note reissues at this price point. Upgrading covers won't happen. That's what Tone Poet is For.
     
  7. AshS

    AshS Forum Resident

    Location:
    Seattle, WA
    Visiting the MMJ website nowadays feels like such a waste of time. Flipping through page after page of "out-of-stock" or "out-of-print" releases is not fun. If you are lucky to find something in-stock it is probably very derivative of something better you already have or the in-stock titles are ridiculously priced. I just wish MMJ would decide what they want to do; sell their remaining records or go out of business. I am just looking forward to the Tone Poet releases. That series feels alive, fresh, and it's really cool being able to participate in the conversation about current and upcoming titles. The dynamic pricing on the MMJ website and lack of inventory is a slow-motion depressing ending to something that should be remembered as great. I probably do not have as much experience as the rest of you dealing with a reissue label calling it a wrap but I am curious: Why does MMJ not seem to care more about their legacy?
     
    birchstick and YEX 750-1 like this.
  8. Tom Campbell

    Tom Campbell Forum Resident

    Location:
    Boston, MA
    I think their plan is to 1.) sell their remaining records, then 2.) go out of business. Or, perhaps, move on to something else. Both of which make perfect sense to me.

    It's pretty clear they're in sell-through mode, but I'm actually amazed at the number of titles that are still available after all these years. And quite a few are available at original price or below, a lot more than one would think from reading this thread.
     
    mikeyt likes this.
  9. sunspot

    sunspot Forum Resident

    Location:
    London
    I hope MMJ continue in some form and would gladly welcome another set of the superb SRX sets.
     
  10. AnalogJ

    AnalogJ Hearing In Stereo Since 1959

    Location:
    Salem, MA
    But Joe Harley has mentioned more SRX titles, as well as the possibility of a few select 45s using the SRX vinyl. Who knows?
     
  11. Tom Campbell

    Tom Campbell Forum Resident

    Location:
    Boston, MA
    Yes, but those as kind of modest extensions of the current line. If I recall correctly, the first batch of SRX titles came out in January, and we're sitting here in August with nothing further announced. MMJ used to crank them out almost every month!

    Wasn't there talk of them starting an entirely different (i.e. non-Blue Note) series? I would love to see that.
     
  12. recstar24

    recstar24 Senior Member

    Location:
    Glen Ellyn, IL
    When they cranked them out every month, it was 1-2 per month. MM basically gave you the whole 2019 year of releases...all on January 1st :p
     
    Elofan, Eigenvector and Tom Campbell like this.
  13. Tom Campbell

    Tom Campbell Forum Resident

    Location:
    Boston, MA
    Fair enough! But all of the titles (except for Introducing Johnny Griffin and Blues Walk) had been previously done by MMJ. So to me, it's not nearly as exciting as getting a batch of new titles.
     
  14. recstar24

    recstar24 Senior Member

    Location:
    Glen Ellyn, IL
    Agreed. Unfortunately, with the tone poet series and Blue note's own 80th series, they are going to be more restrictive me thinks with licensing material to reissue outfits like MM. On top of that, Blue Note, understanding truly how valuable their content is, will most likely not even consider licensing material unless it's at a price that may prove cost-prohibitive for most reissue outfits.
     
  15. Anselmo

    Anselmo Forum Resident

    Location:
    Messina
    it was unfortunately a rhetorical question, which already knew this answer that I thank for giving me ... it was in fact an exhortation to Music Matters to throw back into the fray and decide to reprint these blessed titles !!
     
  16. mpayan

    mpayan A Tad Rolled Off

    Dude, this started what over ten years ago? What do you mean they dont care? That site is basically to sell remaining stock not to promote a legacy. The legacy is firmly in place with the many many many titles they did of some great BN titles. In fact Music Matters Jazz is now legendary to a vast majority of jazz fans.

    They arent going to redo the entire site in order to not hurt someones eyes when they see out of stock etc. The Music Matters campaign for all intent and purposes has been over for a while now. They had a great run. Long live Music Matters Blue Note Jazz. But, yeah, they are done except for leftovers.

    And for anyone who is pissed about left overs Im not sure how long you wanted the opportunity to exist. It went on for TEN years nearly.
     
  17. birchstick

    birchstick Forum Resident

    Location:
    Rocky Mountains
    I can see validity in both @AshS 's and @mpayan 's posts.

    Going to their website is akin to visiting an old retail store that's somehow still open - there's dust on the shelves and the owner should have packed up years ago even though they are still behind the counter. There's not a price on some items, and you're shocked when you ask how much something costs if it is in stock.

    I also don't deny that a legacy is in place, however this dynamic pricing game and some titles being in stock under/over retail/OOP/OOS serves as a head scratcher and has tarnished some of the mystique behind MM to newcomers like me - it comes across as sloppy. It would have been better to just liquidate their old stock at original retail to close out that era, and start again with SRX titles. I haven't seen a post that whole-hardheartedly agrees with how MM is handling their current old stock (see last 10 pages or so). Sure, there's been demand vs supply, algorithm, capitalism, etc debates, but I don't recall actual support for it.

    Yes, it's been around for ten years and they have a legacy from that time. Not everyone has been there since the beginning so kind of a moot point as we're discussing today's site and MM today. That being said, I've collected about 50 tiles over the last two years or so and have only ordered directly from MM twice for less than 10 titles (7 being SRX), so I don't really interact with them (or frankly care) that much.
     
    AshS likes this.
  18. recstar24

    recstar24 Senior Member

    Location:
    Glen Ellyn, IL
    It’s easy to say Ron should just liquidate everything at original retail cost...when its not your money we are talking about :laugh:

    The startup costs and expenses to license/insure tape/press every title are directly from Ron’s pocket - he can do whatever he wants, and for better or for worse let the market decide on his assessment
     
  19. birchstick

    birchstick Forum Resident

    Location:
    Rocky Mountains
    I respect your points @recstar24 , but I'm going to disagree. The startup costs/licenses/etc are fixed costs and should have been built into the retail costs to begin with at year one, and as each new title was introduced. My guess is that letting this thing drag on with rising overhead costs (rent, continued staff cost, etc) this venture will lose money depending on how long it drags on compared to if they collected the cash at retail and moved on to something else.

    Personally, if it was my money/business, I would have sold everything years ago at original retail, got my investment back based on my assumed return which was modeled up front, and reinvested the cash in the next thing, SRX or other. But it's not my money or business to your point, so I'll voice my opinion in an internet message board haha.

    And regarding letting the market decide his choice is fine, I just personally wouldn't want to wait it out for years unless I had a financial model whereby I saw a really high return in the future on the last pieces of my inventory.
     
    Last edited: Aug 16, 2019
    Greenmonster2420 likes this.
  20. recstar24

    recstar24 Senior Member

    Location:
    Glen Ellyn, IL
    From a business perspective you make a valid point. I guess I am speaking from the belief that a man is free to do with their money as they please, and if MM feels this is the best course of action, well then I salute him and say “God speed”.

    The only business value question I would have is how high overhead costs truly are, like it is possible that 1000’s of records are just in his garage or basement, or he’s got some scandalous pictures of the RTI owners and thus forcing them to hold his stock for free :shh:
     
    birchstick and mikeyt like this.
  21. birchstick

    birchstick Forum Resident

    Location:
    Rocky Mountains
    Yeah, they are clearly doing what they want, have made an amazing product, so cheers to”God speed”! You also make a great point about the scandalous photos haha!
     
  22. Cervelo

    Cervelo Forum Resident

    Location:
    Upstate, NY
    I would be willing to bet that most of the titles would be long gone if they would have continued to sell through the normal distribution chain at the original pricing structure.
     
    alarickc, katywu, Mazzy and 1 other person like this.
  23. Admerr

    Admerr Forum Resident

    .

    I can’t imagine the cost of storage is an issue at this point. Unless they’re more concerned with making that extra profit up front without taking into consideration the extended cost of housing their stock. Most companies cut prices to offload old inventory.

    I’d love to see how much more stock MMJ, AS and ED would immediately sell if they pushed all prices back down to retail. I know I’d most likely scoop up my final 10-12 on my want list in one order.
     
    recstar24 and birchstick like this.
  24. Francisx

    Francisx Forum Resident

    New batch of 33 rpm SRX’s this January....just like last year.....12 more!
     
    AnalogJ likes this.
  25. Cervelo

    Cervelo Forum Resident

    Location:
    Upstate, NY
    Is that a wish or fact?
     

Share This Page

molar-endocrine