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I think the problem is that while it is certainly POSSIBLE for Varese to license out a score to another label, they simply have to date shown absolutely no interest in doing so.
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It would be great to have ANY kind of expansion on the "28 minute" CDs of those years. Many of those scores just aren't well represented because of the running times. Some great scores are being shortchanged. But, whatcha gonna do?
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I've seen a few mentions of Varese "beating [other labels] to the punch" when it came to acquiring certain ones, though personally I can't see that happening for the entirety of their huge catalogue. Maybe they're the first label offered the rights in some cases? Maybe someone who knows for sure will come around, although it is a shame that the company most unwilling to give full treatment to the more modern fan-favourites in their catalogue also seems to be the best label at actually acquiring so many of those titles. This is one reason why perpetuity rights in general kind of irk me, even if it's simply (as it is in this case) perpetuity rights to said album on a specific media; in this case, CD. It's not like we're going to get a physical replacement for CDs in the near future (or perhaps ever) given what happened to the last 2 contenders for that spot, so we're pretty much stuck with Varese.
Perhaps when those scores are a few decades older they'll get better treatment, lol.
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Varese is a business and should definitely listen to their customers (all 20 of them here, apparently). But, just to repeat — they are a BUSINESS. Why it makes sense to anyone here for them to release an expanded EXECUTIVE DECISION when the first album probably sold 500 copies, I can't explain.
On the other hand, if we're making suggestions for how to put Varese out of business (and this thread sure seems like it!), why not a complete 5-disc U.S. MARSHALLS?
Besides, Varese is also in the business of releasing NEW scores. 20 years ago they were all a film score freak could count on. Don't believe me? Look at those CDs piled up on the shelves — how many of those burgundy spines seem like major moneymakers?
Now they're being painted as pure evil soundtrack overlords, sitting on a cache of gems. I don't think that's fair.
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I do find it odd that Varese are sitting on all these scores and seemingly want to do nothing with them. Look at how well the 80s scores are selling from Intrada, La-La Land, and others do; Varese have some big name scores they are holding on to.
It's a great irony I guess that if Intrada put out some of these things, they'd sell a thousand copies overnight from their website, but when Varese actually did release them, in retail shops all over the world, for a lower price, they sold less than a thousand copies.
You want to know how much money they made on Starship Troopers? Google an old interview with Robert Townson about it. It was extremely expensive to make (recorded with two entirely different orchestras or something, so two lots of reuse were payable) and barely anyone bought it.
The soundtrack market is already so saturated. Varese flooding it with a load of expanded versions of things that already have perfectly adequate albums could only happen if it came at the expense of some other albums. I'd rather they continued their practice of releasing a lot of brand new scores (which is an incredibly risky business!) and through their Club releases, continue to offer a mixture of previously-unreleased gems (and on the whole they do release riskier titles there than most of the labels, the soon-departing FSM excepted) and expanded versions of things that actually need it.
Without extending too far into hyperbole, I think it's fair to say that without Varese Sarabande, we'd all have a hell of a lot less film music to enjoy - not only through the releases they have put out that nobody else would ever have gambled on (it's staggering just what a high proportion of my soundtrack collection has those maroon spines Ryan mentioned), but also because they paved the way for all the others who have come (and in some cases gone) since.
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I'd love for any number of their releases to be longer, but given the conditions at the time it wasn't possible, and they were the only ones willing to release a lot of great scores. Who knows what kind of convoluted agreements went on behind the scenes?
I think everyone can accept that. But "at the time" is the key phrase there. Times change, and so do markets; and I think this thread is more about the present than Varese's history. And what James Southall said is true; if Intrada or LLL were to release expanded or complete versions of quite a few of the scores mentioned so far in this thread, they'd probably sell very well. The original Varese releases may've been more widely available and cheaper, but for better or worse, thanks to the present "golden age" of extensive film music releases, those kind of discs are no longer what a lot of soundtrack aficionados really expect (of those which are still easily available).
If Varese is unwilling, then perhaps they can still benefit from it, but let another label do the bulk of the work. There's certainly nothing wrong with doing business with Intrada or LLL, both of which have proven themselves willing and able to tackle things that Varese probably wouldn't touch with a 10 foot pole right now. If Varese really isn't planning to make use of those things they own perpetuity rights to, why not license some of them out and make something off them, while letting another label take the chance? Even if just as an experiment to start, they could do this with 2 or 3 scores and see what happens.
The recent thread someone started here complaining of how "dull" modern movie music was comes to mind, as well. There's certainly a lot of people who disagree with that sentiment, but a lot do seem to feel that way and the releases of older film scores are the only reason they're still in the game at all. Varese's current strategy of focusing primarily on new scores certainly isn't going to entice any of them to be very regular customers.
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Dunno if it would do any good, but what if every single one of us signed a petition and sent it to Varese asking that they sub license their catalogue to other labels so that the music may go into the hands of people who would really value it and that they could profit from it as Sony and Warner has thus far. If there's enough voice and money to back it up, Varese will cave. Let it begin now!
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Posted: |
Jan 19, 2012 - 12:18 AM
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By: |
SchiffyM
(Member)
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But what is MOST important to me on this subject is the fact that Varese does NOT own Psycho II in perpetuity, and that pleases me. 
Bear in mind that during the early '90s, Varese licensed many MCA LPs and premiered them on CD: "Psycho II," "Masada," "Explorers," "Dracula," "The Eiger Sanction," "Ghost Story," "Conan the Barbarian," "Conan the Destroyer," and many others. Eventually, this license expired, and these CDs became rare. But Varese does not own these in perpetuity, as evidenced by the "Explorers" CD from Intrada, the upcoming "Conans," and "Masada" (granted, a different recording, but in some cases those rights are tied up together regardless).
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