Don't buy my new £210 box set - Elvis Costello Elvis Costello wants fans to shun a limited edition box-set of his music priced at over £200 when it goes on sale next month. “Unfortunately, we at www.elviscostello.com find ourselves unable to recommend this lovely item to you as the price appears to be either a misprint or a satire,” wrote Costello on the aforementioned …
That last paragraph did look a bit sceptical - but that's not to say it's not true. As much as I like Costello I certainly wouldn't stump up over £200 for a bleedin' box set. I suppose the question is: does he get a percentage of the profits, or a flat-rate per unit sale? Or does he get a 'wage' for the whole deal?
Either way, I can't imagine he actually *needs* the money....
"well-heeled completists and traders will fork out, knowing the items will be even more expensive in the secondary market."
You mean they are hoping prices will be higher on the secondary market. There have been cases where this limitted edition stuff has turned out not to be limitted enough. As a result retaillers have been left with stock which has gradually been discounted, leaving traders in a postion where their "valuable collectors item" can be bought much cheaper new than they paid for it, let alone what they are trying to sell it for.
> Roy Orbison - fat, cloying warbler.
He was a bloody good singer, I wasn't too impressed with the songs he chose to sing though.
> Paul McCartney - Wings and the Frog Chorus, need I say more?
The Frog Chorus Rocks.
> Bruce Springsteen - pub singer who made it because they're are no pubs in the US
I have to give you that one.
no idea how you judge relevancy, but if you truly believe ole brucie (who I, punk/skin I am at heart still quite like) is the pinnacle of political lyrics coming out of the USA within the last -whatever- years: My heart weeps for you.
Even the 'merkin charts have had more on offer, let alone stuff that doesn't hit mtv or clear channel...
NP: Agnostic Front - Something's Gotta Give
What a load of bollocks.
Here is how the music business works (which is more about BUSINESS than it is about MUSIC) :
Most of the revenues go to the record company. By "most" I mean vast majority, although their profit may not be huge, depending upon production costs (yes, even for a box set), marketing (yes even for a box set). logistics and distribution (yes etc) and so on.
The (small) percentage to the artiste (who is not necessarily the songwriter, so he gets performance income not songwriting royalties) may be clawed back by the record company because when they fork over dollops of cash to sign an artiste and pay for time in the studio (and the producer, engineer)(and the music video etc) that is either all or a large portion an ADVANCE to the artiste.
Now you now why so many performers are permanently teetering on the edge of bankruptcy. As soon as they get the advance they spend it on ... well you don't need me to tell you that... so when their first album flops they are deeply in debt,
Welcome to the music biz.
This is merely conformation that the copyright mafiaa view music as a commodity to be traded, this is the equivalent of Goodman Sachs short selling a product into the market what is going to be speculated on by short term investors looking to make a profit. The only consolation I take from this cynical marketing scam is that this music will be ripped and downloaded.
Did he have any hits beside "Oliver’s Army" and "A good day for the Roses", because I can’t remember any of them.
I've got a real problem with these high priced box sets. But that's the smaller part of this story caused by me being cheap.
Here's the bigger story:
Amazon UK sells it for £210. Amazon US sells it for $202. Why does this box set cost over $180 more in the UK? That's a 90% mark-up from the outrageous US Price.
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