From: owner-shindell-list-digest@smoe.org (shindell-list-digest) To: shindell-list-digest@smoe.org Subject: shindell-list-digest V3 #105 Reply-To: shindell-list@smoe.org Sender: owner-shindell-list-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-shindell-list-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk shindell-list-digest Thursday, March 22 2001 Volume 03 : Number 105 Today's Subjects: ----------------- [RS] the never ending tape trading thread [jcolb ] [RS] Off Topic ["Dupas, Edward (E.M.)" ] [RS] Charlie Pontificates ["Young/Hunter Mgt." ] Re: [RS] Off Topic [Rongrittz@aol.com] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 22 Mar 2001 08:43:45 -0500 From: jcolb Subject: [RS] the never ending tape trading thread > I'm on another list, Quicksilver, as in Messenger Service. You might > remember them if you're old enough. Thier guitarist, Gary Duncan tells us > that the problem he has with tape trading is not that there is a potential > loss of income, but that they're not "on" every night and he doesn't like to > have bad performances or sound quality out there where it can ruin a > listener's impression of them. I can see a bit of logic to this, but i would tend to think for the most part a live, traded tape would be more likely to end up in the hands of a 'completist' or die-hard enthusiast than a first time listener... and the other thing is, if the concert was not up to snuff, although more ephemeral, that also might have colored someone's impression of them. I'm not a big trading fan, as i've mentioned, cause it was more trouble than it was worth to me, but i've only ever sought out live stuff after I've been a fan of the artist. Now lemme axe you all dis, while we're on the subject- anyone got anything with a GOOD version of JD Souther doing faithless love? I don't want it bad enough to really start a diligent search (and i do have it on studio vinyl) but figured I'd ask, knowing the diversity of the list. jpc somewhere near bellefonte pa ... playing a taylor and loving it ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 22 Mar 2001 10:35:07 -0500 From: "Dupas, Edward (E.M.)" Subject: [RS] Off Topic Need a little help here! A friend and I are putting together a group of CDs that feature one song (folk\country\bluegrass) about each of the 50 states. I know, I know...a little weird...but winters get awfully boring in Michigan. Anyway, there are still 25 states left and I am scratching my head. If anyone has suggestions of *good* songs for any of the following states please email them to me (off-line may be best): Alabama (btw - sweet home Alabama is neither folk nor country nor bluegrass) Arizona Arkansas Connecticut Delaware Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Louisiana Maine Minnesota Missouri Nevada New Hampshire New Mexico North Carolina North Dakota Pennsylvania Rhode Island Utah Vermont Virginia Washington Wisconsin ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 22 Mar 2001 11:58:05 -0400 From: "Young/Hunter Mgt." Subject: [RS] Charlie Pontificates Why Is Richard9s Record Not Coming Out Till 2002? Dear Listers, Gee whillikers! I thought we9d be able to avoid criticism from you guys by announcing that we9d be making the new live album available before the Holidays, in advance of the street date, which will be in early 2002, but noooo....... Why, you ask (and How, I wonder, do you punctuate that correctly? - Why? you ask. or Why, you ask? - the second of which seems like I9m trying to talk like Charlie Chan). There are a number of reasons - retail, radio, touring, label schedule, caution. 1. Caution: What if none of the live stuff we have recorded so far had turned out usable? (and there were, indeed, some severe technical problems with the recordings from Montclair). Then we9d have to reschedule recording concerts (dependent on people9s availability). With RS now in Argentina and the band having lots of work as individuals, that can get complicated. So, you want to schedule stuff FAR in advance. Fortunately, by all accounts (I still haven9t heard everything) the Mamaroneck shows recorded wonderfully. But, look, here9s what still has to be done - all the tapes have to be listened to, the best performances selected, the sequence of songs figured out, the bits of applause and banter chosen, the project mixed (and Ben Wisch has a pretty busy schedule), any remixes for radio figured (it is tough to get radio to play a live album, so we may need to do somethign special for them - yes, even non-commercial radio, and yes, even Richard). 2: Label Schedule: Even a small label such as Signature has its calendar year of releases scheduled basically a year in advance. You want to have your new releases in hand a minimum of THREE MONTHS before release date, in order to try to get written up in major media. Taking the scenario from Point #1, above, if the recording had been a disaster but we had a scheduled release date for the summer or fall, it would be a mad scramble to either get SOMETHING out, or else to reschedule the release date, which would leave a hole in Signature9s schedule, and labels depend heavily on cash flow to keep them going. Plus it would make the whole project look like it was in trouble, and word gets out about things like that. And then don9t forget album cover design, photo shoots, new bio, presskits, etc. 3. Touring: To do a good job on the set-up of Richard9s Album Release Tour, one wants as much lead time as possible. Believe it or not, Tim Drake is just now finishing up Richard9s fall tourdates. One wants the record to be new - but already be getting airplay before the tour starts - in order to maximize exposure (and an artist tends to draw best - especially in developing markets - when there9s a lot of press and there9s more press when an album is new). If we had scheduled an album release tour for the fall, and the recording had come out badly, then we9d be back to a mad, undignified and exhausting scramble, perhaps have to reschedule (promoters HATE that), or move dates from larger halls to smaller ones. In short, it could be a mess. 4. Radio: My preference is STRONGLY toward releasing records early in the calendar year. Why? Because the field is less crowded then. For example, REUNION HILL was released in summer of 97 and got to maybe #15 on non-commercial A3 radio. PATERSON was released in February of 00 and got to #2 on the same chart. Of course there are any number of variables, but a HUGE factor is that there are a lot fewer records being released in February than in August. Why? Because conventional wisdom says you shouldn9t release records in Jan/Feb. since a) "no one is in stores" in Jan or Feb., b) Summer/fall release lets you build a record to sell big during Xmas., c) Fall touring is Good ("the kids are at college"). I don9t like conventional music-business wisdom. There is less competition at radio if you release at a time when the Big Guys aren9t putting stuff out. Radio is crowded all fall, then shuts down entirely around Dec. 10, and gets going around Jan. 10. So big stuff tends to get released Sept-Oct-first half of Nov. ...You can release in Aug and get bludgeoned by the Big Guys fall releases. You can release in Nov/Dec, during the pre-Xmas lull at radio, but any momentum you9ve built tends to get utterly swept away over the holidays (plus your record will carry the dreaded previous-year stigma about it). You can release in January, but radio is still trying to digest the stuff from the fall that looked interesting, but it didn9t get to. Nope, Charlie says - you wants to release a record sometime between very late January and the middle of April, preferably Feb. 1. 5. Retail: Buy-In programs at the chains are MUCH cheaper in Jan/Feb than at other times (if they9re even _available_ at other times). If you want a listening post at a store, or display space, well, you have to pay for it (retailers aren9t stupid). These 3buy-in programs2 get snapped up well in advance during peak record buying periods (and they cost a lot more then, too). If we want Richard prominently displayed at every Borders and what have you, we have to release the record at a time when programs are a) affordable and b) available. That means August or Jan/Feb/Mar/April. My record is going to get deluged in the fall - even if it sold well in August, September & October9s programs have all been sold to REM and Marilyn Manson - - so it would disappear from the racks (yes, I know, you say Marilyn Manson won9t be in the FOLK listening area9 but Sinead Lohan - let9s say - doesn9t want to get put up against the contact-wearing-one either, so Sinead will all of a sudden decide that, gosh, she may be a folkie after all, and they9ll do her programs in the folk rack - and Interscope has more money to spend than Signature... so who is going to get the buy-in?). If we put a record out in Jan/Feb, then it has some time to grow without getting utterly destroyed by the competition. So, fellow fans, by releasing the record in Jan/Feb of 02, we do the following: a) Ensure that we have enough time to make a good record. b) Do all the set up in a calm, productive manner. c) Have time to set up a great tour. d) Have a good shot at radio play. e) Are able to do a comprehensive retail program without going totally broke. f) Have time for me to write long notes like this ;-) There you go. Hope that helps. Sorry to go on for so long, but you asked... - - Scheming Charlie ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 22 Mar 2001 11:04:45 EST From: Rongrittz@aol.com Subject: Re: [RS] Off Topic Arizona ("By the Time I Get to Phoenix") Idaho (Cheryl Wheeler's "The Potato Song") Illinois (Dan Fogelberg's "Illinois") Louisiana (Next Train Home's "Louisiana") Missouri (Guess you used "Cold Missouri Waters" for Montana, eh?) Nevada ("Sin City") North Carolina ("Carolina in my Mind" Virginia (Eddie From Ohio's "Old Dominion") RG ------------------------------ End of shindell-list-digest V3 #105 ***********************************