Posted by regarding: Decca on January 23, 2000 at 01:44:43:
In Reply to: Re: Re: Re: Re: +Philip Jones+ posted by carnival boy on January 20, 2000 at 22:47:29:
Guess what folks? Decca couldn't possibly care less how mad you get, or any other of the major labels for that matter. Everyday, I hear tons of complaints just like the ones you're all voicing. All of these big classical labels are owned by bigger parent companies, runned by bean counters. There probably isn't one person left at Decca, or any other label who would even know who the PJBE were. Most classical releases sell only 2 or 3 thousand copies in the USA, and any label person will tell you that they need to sell 15 to 20 thousand copies, just to break even. Most opera recordings never do pay for themselves. Yes, things are different in Japan, but also very expensive. Wisely, they do things in limited edition batches, then charge more for the item. That takes a lot of the pressure off of having to sell tons of copies. The most productive thing that could happen would be to convince some young, enterprising label to try to get Decca to liscense the material to them. I know this doesn't help, but it's the truth. Perhaps Naxos will issue the PBJE stuff once it becomes public domain.
Barry Guerrero
Tower Classical Annex, S.F.