Half-Price Books stores have begun selling new, sealed vinyl LPs pressed by Wax Time Records, which is apparently based in Spain. I took a gamble and spent $13 on Nat Cole's "After Midnight," and I have to say I like it. That's partly because I wasn't expecting much -- certainly nothing like the Pure Pleasure release from several years ago, or Analogue Productions' 45rpm set. But this disc is flat, centered and very, very quiet. No pressing defects at all. The cover art is quite nice -- with the cover photo and text actually looking cleaner and sharper than my old 1970s-era Capitol pressing. It appears that this label specializes in jazz titles that have fallen into the public domain overseas, so they're probably just using CDs for their source material. But I have to say that for $13, they're putting out some decent product. I'm sure they don't really qualify as "audiophile" releases, despite the claims made on the cover stickers, but based on my own very limited experience, they're not bad at all. (My opinion is also colored by the fact that I've recently paid $23 for some Rainbo-pressed Beatles LPs that are very disappointing...)
Ive seen these as well, though I just don't see the point in them. They have some great titles, but no information on sources.
Yeah, the fact that there's no mention in the liner notes of the material being licensed from a legitimate record label, such as Capitol, tells me Wax Time must be using previous releases -- CDs, I would guess -- as their source material. Just as there's a big market for public-domain CD releases from labels like Proper Records, there must also be a niche market for public-domain vinyl releases. At $13 a pop, I think this label will do OK. A lot of people can't afford Pure Pleasure's 18-track, 2-LP version of "After Midnight," which sells for $45. And the three-disc 45rpm version from Analogue Productions sells for a whopping $75. For just $13, they can get Wax Time's 14-track version, which includes the original LP's 12 tracks plus two bonus selections. The sound quality isn't in the same league as the other two vinyl releases, but for people with modest systems, that's probably not an issue. I kind of like the fact that for fans of this great album, they now have THREE options for in-print vinyl!
I have a stick crammed way, way up there on this issue, and am probably in the minority, but I'm not buying these (and there are many Sinatra titles, as well), because •No $$$ goes to Capitol, holder of the master tapes •No $$$ goes to the Cole estate •It encourages 2nd-rate product •It encourages more skirting of the legal owners of recorded material [EDIT:]•It discourages output of similar material from the actual master-tape holders ....and so on, and so on, and so on. (An argument could be made that if TOP QUALITY releases were the standard offerings by the legit parties, the market for disks such as these would go away, and there's some truth to that, but it's still an exploitation of loopholes and grey areas in the copyright law, and doesn't pass the smell test, regardless of the quality.) If it's cut from the Capitol CD, why not just buy the Capitol CD? It's $4.12 at Amazon.com, and any way you argue around it, it's at least 1 generation closer to the master than your LP is.
Those are all valid arguments, but I think that in SOME cases the availability of European public-domain releases has had the reverse effect and prompted 'legitimate' labels to (1) reissue material they have sat on and ignored for decades, and (2) upgrade the quality of the stuff they've chosen to keep in print, so they can better compete with the public-domain titles. For example, RCA never released on CD many of Sam Cooke's original albums for the label -- leaving dozens of songs out of print for more than 40 years. And then, just as needle-drops of those albums began to be released as public-domain CDs, RCA remastered all of the albums using its own original album master tapes and reissued them in a $40 box set. I don't think those albums -- or the accompanying digital release of Cooke's compete Keen catalogue -- would have EVER been reissued had the copyrights not expired overseas. A plethora of public-domain releases is also what prompted Columbia to release a couple of 50th anniversary packages for Miles Davis' "Kind Of Blue" album. One package includes two CDs, a DVD, a blue-vinyl edition and a hardcover book. Columbia probably realized that the only way to compete with a $6 public-domain CD was to create a value-added product with superior sound, plus a more elaborate set with lots of exclusive content. As for copyright expirations being a 'loophole' in various European laws, I wouldn't agree with that. Those expirations have long been recognized and debated, as have patent expirations for everything from pharmaceuticals to mechanical devices. As for money going to the artists' estates, I'm conflicted. Is an artist's great-great-grandniece legally or morally entitled to royalties on records created by a relative who died decades before she was born? Maybe. I don't know... I certainly don't feel guilty when I purchase of a $5 copy of "Huckleberry Finn" at the book store, even though everything Mark Twain published before 1923 is now in the public domain and is reproduced without permission or royalties. (Twain was never happy about copyright expirations. In fact, he was one of the first Americans to recognize that only by creating new, value-added versions of works that were on the verge of entering the public domain, author and artists could, in one respect, extend their copyright.)
I didn't realize that the "Beat of My Heart" (T. Bennett) I just bought from Soundstage was a Wax Time release and, therefore, likely a copy of a CD. Haven't listened yet but learning this now is disappointing.
I own two records on this label, great sound quality, quality sleeves . The whole thing sounds very audiophile to me. How do you know these are copies of cds? Where was this documented?
I have two albums on this label - a Wanda Jackson LP ("Rockin' With Wanda") and a Bo Diddley reissue ("Go Bo Diddley"). They're certainly better than the product that other budget reissue labels put out, like Scorpio and such. If the labels with the 'legit' masters don't like it, all they have to do is release their own superior product - right? As much as I'd like to give Capitol or Universal more of my money, they at least have to show some interest in taking it in the first place. Why should I care if they don't?
I was at Half Price Books last night and they had not one, not two, but THREE different public domain LPs of Coltrane's My Favorite Things. There were two versions each of Time Out and Kind of Blue. Why? I'm in the camp that doesn't see the point of these issues, but I guess my biggest complaint is that all these public domain LPs are clogging their jazz bins and it's disappointing to walk in and see the jazz section bulging at the seams only to find that 90% of what's there is this public domain crap.
Well, they don't hold the master recordings, so they are made from digital files (CD?) of some sort, or theoretically they could be 100% analog, made from analog tape dubs (I'd say this is highly unlikely). Heck, in theory, these could even be dubs of LPs! To be fair, major labels have cut CDs (or at least digital files) to LP, and IIRC, if you have PAST MASTERS on vinyl, "Love Me Do" is sourced from a 45, so you have a case of a major label dubbing a 45 to digital then cutting that to vinyl, so few companies' hands are totally clean in this deal. Sure, but now they have the added dis-incentive of having to compete with highly-discounted product. I'm not referring to these LPs, necessarily, as many of these are quite high-priced (as much as $29 at my local Half-Price Books), but to the flood of uber-cheap CDs that are out there. For instance, due to copyright-expiration CD releases, I can get these NINE Sinatra albums, 2 from Capitol, 7 from Reprise, in one package for $11.50 total: Speaking strictly in terms of sale price, how is the copyright holder supposed to compete with that and still turn any sort of profit, especially if they take the time to "do it right" in terms of mastering/sonics? It's a pretty tough sell, and it's a "new reality" that didn't used to exist. Even if UMG were to release these albums at "budget" prices -- say, $6/disc -- if the casual fan were to spot those UMG releases at $6 each, then they spot this package at $11.50, the "typical" buyer is going to see that for basically the same $$$, they can get two albums on UMG CD, or they can get NINE albums in this "really cool set" (which is mastered from who-knows-what, but the average consumer simply doesn't care about that).
Speaking of dubs from LPs, one of the versions had a stereo and mono copy of Kind of Blue. The mono copy would have to be a needle drop as the digital mono remix just now came out.
I am a bit confused about how the term "copyright" is being thrown around here. How can there be "copyright-expiration" CD releases if there still is a "copyright holder"?
Different terms of copyright expiration in the US vs. UK/EU. Those Sinatra bootlegs issues that Matt pictured above are all 50+ years old and hence in the public domain in Europe. In the US, they are still under copyright to the owners of the masters.
When I bought these titles I didn't know they were not official releases from the original label. The quality wasn't bad, it was heavyweight, flat, and haven't seen a bad pressing yet. I'm trying to get rid of them now and replace them with official releases.
I hear you, but remember the public domain crap typically isn't replacing the officially licensed stuff. For the most part, the public domain stuff is simply expanding the number of titles out there because the big labels refuse to put this stuff out themselves.
Let me know if you are selling them, i would buy some depending what you have! I own a Illinois Jacquet and Chet Baker album... I haven't compared them to other releases but to me they sound just as good as other audiophile pressings ie: RTI , Speaker's Corner and so on...
That would be a bad choice for the Bo Diddley title I have on Wax Time. The original, if in playable condition, sells for ridiculous money and the pressing quality (Chess Records - never known for quality pressings or mastering) ranges from mediocre to horrible. Even the '80s reissues on MCA, which are very good, are rare and expensive now. Any time Universal (they have the Chess/MCA masters?) wants to get into the game and reissue some of these titles, I'll be happy to give them a try.
Ha I just traded them in to my local record store. I still have a Clifford Brown x Max Roach I need to sell off...Maybe Ella and Louis and Ella and Louis Again... It's been a pain trying to get the originals in listenable condition..
Can anyone comment on this Sinatra-Basie Wax Time release? http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sinatra-Basie-bonus-track-180g-VINYL/dp/B00CSQMBQU/ref=ntt_mus_dp_dpt_7 Or this Wax Time version of In the Wee Small Hours? http://www.amazon.co.uk/In-Wee-Small-Hours-VINYL/dp/B002LBGBF4/ref=ntt_mus_ep_dpi_2
^ Come Fly With Me and Songs For Swingin' Lovers are also available fro Wax Time. Curious about these...
Just picked up Wax Time's 2013 180 gram re-issue of Elvis Is Back! Excellent fidelity, beautiful packaging. Original 12 track LP with 4 bonus tracks from same sessions. I have several of their other recent releases. Have been pleased with all of them.
I haven't have quality issues with any of them. The packaging is nice too. I just don't feel right that it's grey-area release. Am I being stubborn/snobby?
I know what you mean. But while I think we'd all be happier if these were big-label, "legit" releases, few of these Wax Time titles are currently available that way. (There are exceptions.) I recently bought Wax Time's version of Ray Charles' "Modern Sounds In Country Music." Nice, quiet pressing with very good sound quality. Nice packaging. Just $14.
