From: dap@predator.vpharm.com (David A. Pearlman)
Newsgroups: rec.music.misc
Subject: Re: Yet another indie label about to bite the dust
Date: 7 Apr 92 15:30:27 GMT
Article-I.D.: predator.1992Apr7.153027.8998
Organization: Vertex Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

In article <1992Apr7.150850.21888@cbnews.cb.att.com> ajw@cbnews.cb.att.com (andrew.j.whitman) writes:
>In article <1992Apr6.202730.29427@predator.vpharm.com> dap@vpharm.com (David A. Pearlman) writes:
>>Rumor has it that Polygram is close to closing a deal to purchase
>>the Fantasy label. Fantasy owns substantial jazz and blues catalogues,
>>including Prestige, Riverside and Milestone. They also own the Stax 
>>catalogue, and the Creedence Clearwater Revival masters...
>>
>>Thus dies yet another of the remaining significant indie labels. Polygram
>>will supposedly be paying a hundred million for the label, mostly
>                                                            ^^^^^^
>>to get access to their vast jazz holdings...
> ^^ ^^^ ^^^^^^ ^^ ^^^^^ ^^^^ ^^^^ ^^^^^^^^
>
>Really?  Any idea just how profitable the jazz labels have been for
>Fantasy?  I'd love to think that the faceless corporate heads at 
>Polygram have some inherent love for the music, but the saner part
>of my nature tells me that it's purely a business decision.  But if 
>that's the case, I still have a hard time believing that the Prestige, 
>Riverside, and Milestone recordings actually made much money for Fantasy.  
>Jazz doesn't sell anyway, unless it's Jazz Lite or ends with the name
>Marsalis, and I would think that the market for the vast catalogues
>of fifties and sixties jazz that Polygram just purchased would be
>fairly small.  Is my thinking off here?

You're right, of course...Jazz doesn't sell very well *compared to pop*.
But a well-run jazz label can still turn a good profit, just as a
reissue label like Rhino can make money reissuing titles that might
only sell in the 10-20K range...

Some things to keep in mind here are the the fact that A) There are probably
a staggering number of jazz masters involved here, including some of the
most precious in the idiom; and B) Fantasy has only touched the surface of
their Stax holdings (e.g. there are apparently all kinds of interesting
as-yet unissued things there). I'd bet this is mostly a straight business
decision (how could it be anything else at the price range?)

NOW...Just because those 10-20K pressings make money for Fantasy doesn't
mean they'll do the same for a conglomerate like Polgram. Maybe they
expect economies of scale...

The most amusing thing to consider is how little Fantasy probably paid
to acquire all these catalogues in the first place. As I recall, they
paid < $1 million for the Stax catalogue, for example, in the late '70's.
You can be sure they paid even less for the jazz catalogues, which were
aquired long before that...

>
>Did you hear anything about how this acquisition might affect the
>price of the music?  One of my great pleasures over the last few
>years has been buying up literally hundreds of new Miles, Coltrane,
>Mingus, Monk, Bill Evans, Sonny Rollins, Clifford Brown, Ornette
>Coleman, Bird, Coleman Hawkins, and Lester Young LP re-issues at $6
>a shot.  I hope that trend can continue because there's just a 
>staggering amount of great jazz on Prestige, Riverside, and 
>Milestone.  
>
>Andy Whitman


Nope. Details were sketchy, and I haven't heard any definitive confirmation
that the deal is done...But Polygram has been reissuing jazz titles as
well (e.g. the Verve stuff), so they'd probably consolidate all the jazz
under one roof and continue puting it out. 

dap

-- 
===============================================================================
    David A. Pearlman

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc.                     email: dap@vpharm.com