Keeping albums in print

As an ex record label owner myself, I will explain.

The manufacturing of CDs are prohibitive expensive. The market is less than certain with all this piracy around. All my titles are either available from piracy websites (without my approval) and/or re-released by other labels. The prohibitive level of costs and manpower to repress these albums does not make it worthwhile. I also have friends sitting with huge stocks of CDs they cannot sell. 1000 CDs requires a lot of storage facilities.

The manufacturing itself is very expensive, even in Bulgaria or Asia. You need the mastering, the glass master, the art-work and the boxes. Add postage, packing and not at least; promotion. At the top of that, royalties and mechanical royalties. Then some want promotional copies, storage facilities and some office space and equipment.

In my view; you will only break even if you press 1500 x. If the product is inferior and if the band refuse to tour and promote the album; you are in deep sh*t. Well, several of my friends are up to their ears in in unsold CDs.

The music market these days............ there is hardly any market left. The record shops will not take your album. Same with Amazon. Ebay rips you off with their fees for both Paypal and the website itself. CD Baby......... not known to many. You can only sell through networks and to maintain the network and to be polite towards everyone who ask you about everything from fox-hunts in Siberia to the American presidency in addition to questions about the album, require an obscene amount of man-hours.

In short; there is many good reasons why the albums goes out of print. It can be summoned into one word though: Sanity.

When it comes to books and art-works; most of them becomes open-source and free after 40 years. I personally think this will also happens with records. But I am now 10-30 years ahead of myself.