It's a real balancing act: Trying to meet the demands of an unpredictable marketplace AND sustain a successful business model. We understand the nature of limited edition soundtracks. We helped establish the very concept back when LPs were king and most of the labels you now currently know and love weren't yet even born.
But if something sells out in a matter of hours, even though that's considered having a big hit in our industry... well, I just think we mis-fired as poorly as if we had invested in a project that tanks. Literally.
Early this morning we saw what was happening on EXPLORERS. And Jeff - rightly so - pointed out to me how frustrated he would be as sales manager to get a call later in the day from Joe Dante - excitedly wanting to order an expanded edition soundtrack from his own picture!! - only to be told they were already gone. WTF?!
So, yes, it's tough trying to get this down pat. For every person that might be frustrated if they purchased a copy of some CD only because it was limited, we recall letters from people saying they were frustrated because they missed out on something that sold out in 24 hours.
And I think 24 hours is just too darn quick. Yeah, I love the income. But I don't enjoy going home to play a CD of SPACECAMP or EXPLORERS or ONE LITTLE INDIAN or BABY or whatever and realize many other fans can't. That sucks the joy out of it, success be damned.
A lot of soundtracks are limited by nature of the beast. If they don't sell, they get deleted no matter what the pressing run. It's always been that way, long before we were here... which in itself goes back 26 years now. And this will continue. And by the same token, we'll continue to license and release soundtracks that really should not go out of print. My personal feeling is that THE GREAT ESCAPE and PATTON should be around for a long long time. They're genuine landmarks. They should always be in someone's catalog. However, things like EXPLORERS or ONE LITTLE INDIAN are a bit less "famous", for lack of a better word. On those, it makes sense to try and find out the right quantity for the marketplace, deliver it, and then let the title disappear.
We can still announce when a title is limited, based on our new policy. We'll anticipate the demand. If we're on the money, it'll get around to the people who want it and then we can quietly retire it and move on. If we under-estimate the demand, we can make it possible for people to still obtain copies at reasonable prices. And if we over-estimate... well, the title will get the axe. How quickly is too fast for a sell-out? I don't know for sure but 12 hours or 24 hours certainly is too fast!! As Roger and Jeff have discussed, after a few days, perhaps a week or two, if things linger on a release we'll bail on it. And speculators and fans only wanting those words "limited edition" on their releases will have their day. BUT... hopefully, we can better meet our market needs on the first day or two of the release itself.
There are still AFM and licensing restrictions that will necessarily guide our overall decisions. But we're trying to be the good guys here, not the bad guys. And that's one heck of a slippery slope. We know some people will be unhappy no matter what happens. But, maybe, just maybe, you fans who love this music and support it will finally get to have a big say in just how limited the title will be.
--Doug
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