Rare out-of-print CDs, as legal downloads?
A few years ago I read an article somewhere that said record labels were preparing to make a lot of their out-of-print albums available for sale as mp3 downloads. This was exciting news to me, and visions of the Iron City Houserockers, Payola$, and Fleshtones catalogs were dancing in my head.
I don’t know the legal ramifications of such a thing (would the labels need to have the approval of each individual artist, for instance?), but it seemed like a can’t-lose proposition to me: no inventory, no warehouses, no handling, no freight costs…
Heck, after royalties, and whatever fees they’d have to pay to iTunes or whatever, every cent would be company profit. Right? I couldn’t see a downside, and prepared for the coming data dump.
And nothing happened…
Every once in a while I checked the sites, and didn’t find much. What the hell, man? Where were my promised rarities? I know a person can obtain almost anything illegally, but I was/am willing and eager to do it on the up and up.
So, what gives? What happened to the plans detailed in the article I read? Why aren’t labels offering every single album they own the rights to, as mp3s? Even if they only sell fifty copies of each per year, it would be found money.
I’d pretty much given up on it, figuring some shitbox in a suit ruined all our fun (yet again). But a few days ago I happened upon something that gives me hope.
One of the most sought-after CDs on my various want-lists is The Right to Be Italian by Holly and the Italians. It’s a semi-obscure gem from the early-’80s New Wave/punk era, and was only available on CD for roughly fifteen minutes. As I type this, a used copy is available through Amazon – for $179.98.
But check this out. Has the dump finally begun?! I still don’t see any of the old Fleshtones albums from the IRS years, but this is undeniably a good sign.
My nipples are exploding with delight.
