Great albums that need a CD reissue, or just plain issued on CD period

[Mister Triscuits]

a case where you originally made 500 CD and within a few months, those 500 CDs are sold out, and you're seeing on Facebook and places like this that there are people who are bummed they missed out.

Yeah, I like science fiction, too.

[battema]

I suppose that machine just burns CD-Rs, or DVD-Rs, not different from a DVD-burner in my computer.

It's exactly the same thing.

[dropforge]

Hey I used to be a big fan of the 'bunnies. Until they went all commercial...

They were only any good when Jane Wiedlin wrote everything.

[Sputnik]

Yeah, I like science fiction, too.

Cute, but I'm actually thinking of some specific cases where this has happened, like Elds Mark and Vesilinja. They may have repressed their debuts in the end, but there was a period not long after release where the CDs were listed as "sold out" on Bandcamp. I know, because I got one of the last Elds Mark CDs, and then a bunch of people posted they were bummed they'd missed out as word spread about the band. Arkitekture is another band that did a repress when their initial run ran out quickly. It does happen.

Bill

[moecurlythanu]

A cheap CD-print-on-demand-machine is what the world needs. now.

Amazon is doing that with DVDs.

[Dave (in MA)]

How does an artist manage their inventory realistically when something is 7 years old, you originally made 500, you've just run out, the minimum reprint is 300 and you sell 8-12 a year?

Asking for a friend.

Sounds like "your friend" is managing their inventory realistically, just fine.

What I don't fully understand is when they let titles become unavailable even digitally. I can see if it's some title that doesn't sell anything, but every once in a while I'll run across something fairly well-known that I'd like to get and find that there's no option available.

[battema]

Sounds like "your friend" is managing their inventory realistically, just fine.

What I don't fully understand is when they let titles become unavailable even digitally. I can see if it's some title that doesn't sell anything, but every once in a while I'll run across something fairly well-known that I'd like to get and find that there's no option available.

My own impression is that it's either

1 ) No one can figure out or track down the rights owner
2 ) A decided lack of interest on the part of the rights owner to bother with licensing or doing it themselves
3 ) The rights owner wants far too high a $$$$ fee to license the album for distro or simply sell the rights (my best pick for the usual scenario)

[Rarebird]

It's exactly the same thing.

I thought so.

[progmatist]

Amazon is doing that with DVDs.

If I'm not mistaken, Amazon does the same printing books on demand. Hard copy books are also going the way of the Dodo bird. With a small niche market of those who still want to hold a book in their hands.

[NogbadTheBad]

fondle

[Sputnik]

If I'm not mistaken, Amazon does the same printing books on demand.

Amazon does have print on demand. Cost is high for the author and/or publisher (I'm not sure exactly how much because I've never used the service), and you're better off getting 100 of so printed if you plan to sell any at all. I use Lightning Source, and on a run of 100 books, I can break even at sales around 40, and that includes paying my publisher their royalty, postage, and other fees.

Hard copy books are also going the way of the Dodo bird. With a small niche market of those who still want to hold a book in their hands.

Good lord, why don't you at least do a little fact checking before you post?

Hard copy books are still the predominate preference of readers (about 65%) and account for most book sales. Only about 10% of readers read only electronically. That number may change over time, but change has been slow, and hard copy books hardly constitute a "niche market" at this moment.

https://www.pewresearch.org/short-re...-read-e-books/

https://www.storaenso.com/en/newsroo...-physical-book

Bill

[dropforge]

Hard copy books are also going the way of the Dodo bird.

Nope! They aren't.

[Trane]

Cute, but I'm actually thinking of some specific cases where this has happened, like Elds Mark and Vesilinja. They may have repressed their debuts in the end, but there was a period not long after release where the CDs were listed as "sold out" on Bandcamp. I know, because I got one of the last Elds Mark CDs, and then a bunch of people posted they were bummed they'd missed out as word spread about the band. Arkitekture is another band that did a repress when their initial run ran out quickly. It does happen.

Bill

that's good news, didn't know.

Sounds like "your friend" is managing their inventory realistically, just fine.

What I don't fully understand is when they let titles become unavailable even digitally. I can see if it's some title that doesn't sell anything, but every once in a while I'll run across something fairly well-known that I'd like to get and find that there's no option available.

How is that even possible for digital files? The master file exists and you just sell electronic copies endlessly?

If I'm not mistaken, Amazon does the same printing books on demand. Hard copy books are also going the way of the Dodo bird. With a small niche market of those who still want to hold a book in their hands.

I can't even imagine the quality compared to a real editor-made book.
This could be interesting for some authors, but can hardly imagine the reader would be enthralled withcheap copies
I suppose it doesn't work for comics or illustrated books (B&W or colour)

It's exactly the same thing.

Mmmmhhh!!!... Something is different IMHO.

Me & buddies have had numerous computer-engraved CDr fuck-up, either directly (high-speed dubbing going wrong, for ex) or slowly rotting away afterwards.

Never had that problem from my Hi-fi burner, who only accepts music-only CDr, but it doesn't mean the engraving is ternal on some CDr brands.

[Sputnik]

I can't even imagine the quality compared to a real editor-made book.
This could be interesting for some authors, but can hardly imagine the reader would be enthralled withcheap copies
I suppose it doesn't work for comics or illustrated books (B&W or colour)

Print on demand books are not as bad as you might think. You can definitely tell a difference, but they're not that bad. I helped a friend with her novel, and she got a few printed by KDP. I was surprised how nice it was. You can do color, and you can do comics or illustrated books. I was a also surprised how inexpensive it is, not out of line with what I'm paying for a larger run, but my cost/book includes publisher royalties, postage, and a few other things. When you factor that in, I'm getting them for about 30% less than KNP, but still, for print on demand, KDP isn't a terrible option.

Bill

[progmatist]

Good lord, why don't you at least do a little fact checking before you post?

Hard copy books are still the predominate preference of readers (about 65%) and account for most book sales. Only about 10% of readers read only electronically. That number may change over time, but change has been slow, and hard copy books hardly constitute a "niche market" at this moment.

https://www.pewresearch.org/short-re...-read-e-books/

https://www.storaenso.com/en/newsroo...-physical-book

Bill

And yet Border Books went under years ago.

[Mister Triscuits]

And yet Border Books went under years ago.

Ironically, one of the main reasons Borders failed was that they were concentrating less on books and devoting more store space to CDs at exactly the wrong time, just as streaming was about to take a huge bite out of that side of the business. Barnes and Noble didn't make the same mistakes Borders made, and they are still around.

[Dave (in MA)]

How is that even possible for digital files? The master file exists and you just sell electronic copies endlessly?

There's a cost involved for making the files available on the network, renting server/cloud space, etc.

[progmatist]

Ironically, one of the main reasons Borders failed was that they were concentrating less on books and devoting more store space to CDs at exactly the wrong time, just as streaming was about to take a huge bite out of that side of the business. Barnes and Noble didn't make the same mistakes Borders made, and they are still around.

I recall them thinning out the music and movies section before going bankrupt. Best Buy was hurting at least as much as Borders. Best Buy thinned out their music and movies section, and they're still around.

There's a cost involved for making the files available on the network, renting server/cloud space, etc.

The most expensive of which would be the bandwidth used for the actual delivery.

[dropforge]

And yet Border Books went under years ago.

Straw man. Borders filed Chapter 7 thirteen years ago, for reasons stated. B&N and Books-A-Million are still rolling, and Japan's Book-Off continues to expand.

Ironically, one of the main reasons Borders failed was that they were concentrating less on books and devoting more store space to CDs at exactly the wrong time, just as streaming was about to take a huge bite out of that side of the business. Barnes and Noble didn't make the same mistakes Borders made, and they are still around.

That, and Borders tried to expand too quickly, opening stores too close to B&N as well as other Borders locations. The void suddenly left by Borders thus helped indie bookstores plenty.

[dropforge]

I recall them thinning out the music and movies section before going bankrupt. Best Buy was hurting at least as much as Borders. Best Buy thinned out their music and movies section, and they're still around.

When Best Buy added music and movies (and I bought tons there throughout the years), they were loss-leaders, to pull in customers who could also look at computers and appliances. Best Buy phased out music but they've no shortage of movies. If you can't find it in the store, you'll find it on the website. Their exclusive Steelbook editions are hot sellers.

[Sputnik]

And yet Border Books went under years ago.

Borders went out of business for a variety of reasons, one being that they had invested heavily in CD sales, another being that they inexplicably and stupidly outsourced their online bookselling to their competitor... Amazon! Borders also carried way too much debt and had far too many stores in already saturated markets.

Though it's true that Borders did not get into the e-book game like Amazon and B&N did, they didn't go out of business because e-books suddenly started outselling print books. Printed books still account for ~ $22 billion out of a $26 billion industry. It was their own faulty business decisions that led to their demise.

It is also true that many brick and mortar bookstores have struggled to compete with online sales, but that also does not mean that e-books are dominant. It just means people are buying print books in different ways than they were 12 - 15 yeas ago. Interestingly, what goes around seems to be coming around. Independent bookstores have been thriving over the past three years, after admittedly a fairly bleak period. Unlike the CD, the printed book is far from dead, and still enjoys tremendous popularity.

All of this information is a simple Google search away. The entire corpus of human knowledge is available at your fingertips, but I guess facts spoil the fun of spouting half-cocked opinions.

Bill

[progmatist]

All of this information is a simple Google search away. The entire corpus of human knowledge is available at your fingertips, but I guess facts spoil the fun of spouting half-cocked opinions.

Bill

Says a man who made proclamations about the cost of CD duplication. Based on his own limited, 18 year old experience. Which in the digital age is ancient history. As you say, "All of this information is a simple Google search away. The entire corpus of human knowledge is available at your fingertips, but I guess facts spoil the fun of spouting half-cocked opinions. "

[Sputnik]

Says a man who made proclamations about the cost of CD duplication. Based on his own limited, 18 year old experience. Which in the digital age is ancient history. As you say, "All of this information is a simple Google search away. The entire corpus of human knowledge is available at your fingertips, but I guess facts spoil the fun of spouting half-cocked opinions. "

CD replication, not duplication. And I didn't base it on my old experience. I got the numbers I posted above from Disc Makers on the day I posted. They have an easy calculation tool to get a basic rough cut of costs, and that's what I used. Plus, I did a CD run just a couple of years ago. Not totally up to date, but hardly 18 years out of date, and the costs haven't actually changed all that much at least since the run we did in 2014. Where in the hell are you getting the idea I'm not using up to date numbers?

[auxfnx]

This brings up something I've been wondering about. I jumped on the Rascal Reporters CD release and was fortunate enough to get one before they sold out. But I had never heard of a micro run of 100 before. Are the minimums lower to press a disc these days than what you quoted?

Is a run of 100 profitable at $18 retail? Might such micro-runs represent a valid future approach for bands who want to put out physical product but don't want to be stuck with boxes filled with their CD in the basement, nor do they want to have to leave their CD in public rest rooms (like one PE member once claimed to have done with his overstock).

I got them made by pure-music.co.uk who did a run of 100 for me. it was expensive and not very profitable but I did not anticipate to sell so many physical copies and did it just so that there was some sort of physical edition for those who like them.
I would have preferred vinyl personally but that is too prohibitively expensive when there's no guarantee of sales!

Were I to guess, the CD you mention is a CDR, duplicated, not replicated. You can get very small runs of CDRs, or even print on demand.

It is a proper glass mastered CD

[Sputnik]

pure-music.co.uk did a run of 100 for us. it was expensive and not very profitable but we did not anticipate to sell many copies and did it just so that there was some sort of physical edition for those who like them. I would have preferred vinyl personally but that is too prohibitively expensive when there's no guarantee of sales!

It is a proper glass mastered CD

OK. None of the US vendors I looked at had replicated options under 300 units. Ken has said the same thing, so this seems to be the general norm. Some manufacturers may be willing to go lower, but as you say, they get expensive and not very profitable. It still seems to me a run of 300 makes more sense, especially for something like that Rascal Reporters CD where you could reasonably expect to sell more than 100.

Bill