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Posted: |
Oct 15, 2017 - 8:23 AM
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By: |
johnbijl
(Member)
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As a community of enthousiasts, we're rather spoiled. Our boutique labels continue to provide us with carefully produced discs of with music from our beloved corner of the fine arts.
Every once in a while we are grounded again with how the evolution of recorded music is going. The release of two recent scores are more than a hint of the trend: cd's are being pressed less and less.
In the days of yore, buying a film score for a recent movie hit was easy as getting bread. CD shops had popular movie titles always stocked, even if it was in small numbers (or even one copy). But if an average moviegoer tries to look for the soundtrack one of two notable recent movies, disappointment will be his faith.
Take It. The horror film is quite a succes at the box office. Andy Muschietti's new rendition of Stephen King's most famous story keeps luring people to the cinema. Box-office Mojo estimates that the film already gathered 600 million dollar worldwide. A well deserved succes -- the film is excellent.
Notable in the film is composer Benjamin Wallfisch' contribution. I was pleasantly surprised that Wallfisch' score wasn't the usual grinding and grating most modern horror scores marginalised themselves to. Not to downplay the excellent performances of the actors, the top notch direction and exquisite storytelling, the film owes a lot to the score. It is quite conceivable that some of the lesser music conscious filmgoers would be inclined to buy the album.
Still, a disc is not easy to be found. Not surprising when there are hardly soundtracks produced on disc. According to MV only 3,500 discs of Wallfisch' score were pressed. A number hardly enough for one of the obscurer titles in Goldsmith's oeuvre.
The reality of this gets even tougher with the release of the same composers' music for Blade Runner 2049. In this case the Brit collaborated with no one less than Hans Zimmer. Unarguably the most successful film composer of our time, able to sell thousand of tickets for a film music concert in the otherwise film music behind handed Netherlands.
All though the film isn't a hit, it was eagerly expected. Added that Vangelis' score for the original film has gained a almost mythical status, it was no gamble that there would be a market for this disc.
Still, only 4,098 discs of this score were pressed. With that, Blade Runner 2049 got less releases than a expansion of a Star Trek classic. Not only that, the producing company decided to only sell the score online, and only through their own outlet. Not making it available for popular music point of sale such as Amazon or, in case of the Netherlands, BOL.com.
Of course the music is readily available (and way more affordable, especially when you're not living in the US) via virtual releases, but small number cd's for a highly anticipated science fiction film, with music from the most popular composer of out time might be baffling.
These two summer releases are nothing less than the shape of things to come. Or rather, the shape of things already here. It is not hard to imagine that for a summer blockbuster of 2018 no one even bothers to put the score on disc.
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There is certainly something to take away from your observations (though I know you're a download guy and express views that favor them). I think the crossroads - less enthusiasm for new music among the general public, but rabid enthusiasm for high profile titles among our base - still exists. It will certainly contract more as there are fewer holy grails to be released, but it's still there.
Based on your numbers, here's the situation: two current blockbusters have fewer pressings than a much older title like E.T., which sold more than half its run before release date. At the same time, in another corner of the castle, Watertower (a mainstream label) released the two most recent DC Comics films on pressed CD when La-La Land (the boutique label who did E.T.) said those properties weren't making enough on returns.
What does this mean? It means labels are trying to make money and satisfy customers in a challenging environment. Does it say anything about the popularity of CDs, pressed or not, versus legal downloads? I would guess no. It seems like the factors are probably whether or not the music is good and whether or not people will pay for it.
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Not sure if things are worse nowadays. 1989 Batman....special order, got the Prince lp instead.....1992 Batman returns, took a couple of months before I even noticed this had a cd release, only saw a copy in Amsterdam.....1995 Batman returns, special order at the local store and it took a month to arrive...1998 Batman and robin....sorry, no score release.
At least information is readily available and cd's are much easier to obtain. Shipping costs are worse than ever though.
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.... I realise I'm not a native speaker....
You sure write like you're a native speaker. I've always been astonished at the language facility of people I've met from Europe, Africa, Asia, etc. who speak and write idiomatic English as their second, third, fourth language. The best I can do having minored in French is remember pretty much how to spell things like "comme nous disons aujhourd'hui"*. I love reading your stuff.
On the thread topic, I've got nothing much to say except: things change. Frankly, my reaction these days tends to be the last words of that immortal classic, Buckaroo Banzai - "So what? Big deal".
*AND I still had to look it up to get it right.
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Posted: |
Oct 15, 2017 - 1:21 PM
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By: |
SchiffyM
(Member)
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I'm listening to "It" right now. On Apple Music. ("It" is interesting, by the way. Didn't see the movie, but was inspired by this thread to give it a listen.) "Blade Runner 2049" is also there for me (but I haven't listened to it).
So really, the issue isn't whether fans of the music can get the discs, but rather whether they can get the music. This isn't about the "hipsters" we love to mock for their affection for vinyl. For millions of music listeners, streaming is the dominant form. Apple Music has 30 million subscribers, Spotify has double that.
People may go see Zimmer in concert, because that is a live event that cannot be experienced any other way. But many of those fans probably listen to Zimmer largely by streaming.
Okay, streaming may not be one's preferred means of listening to music. Happily, the CD still exists for you. But the low pressings are very easily understood when you factor in how widely the music is available, just not on pressed CDs.
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If the right titles reach the proper audience I think the market will support them. MV also said he's had some of his most profitable years recently. There's a million reasons why we're getting fewer and fewer pressings. It's not just because "demand" is low. Less expendable income, over saturation, postage rates, a business model that doesn't really advertise outside our little community, licensing costs, printing costs, etc. Some labels are turning towards "schemes" as well, which lead to shorter runs and faster sell outs. I also think some practices are turning some off, like releasing digital first then a CD 12 months later. Or releasing an OST then an expanded version a few months after that.
If they can make CD play surfaces of the same kind of scratch-resistant material these new phones are using, and can get them to store double the amount of music, it might actually gain a little in sales.
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Posted: |
Oct 16, 2017 - 4:17 PM
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By: |
johnbijl
(Member)
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Thanks, all, for your reactions so far.
You might have noticed I didn't mention any reasons of the number of pressings is likely going down so fast for releases of new scores. I'm sure there's more than one, and you have named most of them, if not all.
And thanks, Sean, for the very nice words. I loved writing this -- not just because it was very welcome change of my usual writings, but it was a nice exercise for my English.
And Matt, I wouldn't consider myself a 'download guy', rather a 'music guy' who cares a little less about the format of the release than some other fellows on this board. The fact is, I loved buying cd's for all the artwork and the tangibility everyone of us enjoys. But. Consinsidering price an convenience, right now, virtual releases win.
It doesn't;t mean I don't know the value of physical objects. But perhaps that should be the pointe of another – perhaps next week's? – post.
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The answers lie within the AFM and their newer rules. Its about economics, downloads and physical product.
MV
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