Intrada Soundtrack Forum

Bruce Kimmel is one of the good guys. He was the first person to talk Varese Sarabande into releasing a soundtrack album, which forever changed the course of that company's destiny, and, by extension, this entire hobby. His earlier label Bay Cities was instrumental in getting a lot of music out there by David Shire, Jerry Fielding and others, and the label tanked because, as Nicholai pointed out, producing those albums at the time was so prohibitive. And let us not forget that it was his diligence and care that allowed us to have a pristine, legal CD of the original soundtrack recording of Islands in the Stream, among many, many other things!

His current label, Kritzerland is a smaller label often dealing with fringes of what is already a niche market, which is why their print runs are often so low. I enjoy a lot of Kritzerland releases because if they're premiere releases, they're off-the-beaten track stuff that I'm discovering, and if they're reissues they invariably sound much superior. Many of them are clearly labors of love. Promises, Promises is not my thing, but Bruce put a lot of work into the remastered version of this album. Yes, he is trying to turn a profit, but to say that he's just in it for the money is a horrible misrepresentation of what this project meant to him. I don't think that it is too much of a stretch to take what he says at face value given his track record.

As for the price, $19.99 is their regular price point for a single disc. You can argue that's a bit much for a CD, but again, they're a boutique label.

Who the hell cares if a recording goes into a second pressing? I'm sure the labels need to gauge how many copies of a recording will sell in order to not have a warehouse crammed with un-purchased stock. I'm glad CD technology enables the possibility of so many limited edition runs of many choice recordings that would otherwise be completely unavailable to those interested in whatever their particular poison may be.

Jesus Christ. Such petty bickering about nothingness never amazes me.

So where the hell is the promised Kritzerland release of The Last Man On Earth score?

Everytime I turn on the television I automatically analyze and pinpoint numerous example of how the average viewer is being played as cheaply as possible with psychological manipulation directed at the dumbest of the dumb by sheisters who would laughingly reach into your pocket and steal your last nickle... That's the sort of shit that pisses me off. Mass media greed and insanity.

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"I used to worry about losing my mind. Now that I've lost it I don't worry about it anymore." -Wavy Gravy

I personally believe that anyone who complains about an LE not being as limited as "promised" because of another release or even a case like Inchon where Intrada were tempted to press more, doesn't really like music, they just have some sort of collector mentality that makes them think they do.

Or something.

I do not collect score/soundtrack CDs as bottle caps. I am in it for the music.
It is the labels who are releasing them as Limited Edition. So, what is the point
of releasing a CD and putting in the corner on the back statements like "LIMITED
EDITION OF 3000 UNITS" OR "LIMITED EDITION - This CD is limited to 1000 copies"
other than for fast sales? So, are the labels causing the bottle caps collecting of CDs?

So, to be a true listener (in it for the music) I should just go through my score library
(I do not want to call it a collection anymore, so that people will not call it a bottle
cap collection) and blackout any reference to the CDs being a Limited Edition?

I have already defaced quite a few of my CDs inserts for a reason I will not go into
here since it does not involve Intrada. Out of my library, I have only sold or given
away a few over the past 30+ years. Ones that I would never listen to more than
once or ones that were just not my taste (liking the composers other works, but not
that one). The rest are being enjoyed my family, friends and me. I do not own every
single score released (no do I plan to) and I do not buy releases in hope that the value
will increase so that I can sell it at a later date for a profit. I am not one of those speculators!
I am in it for the music.

Guess I need to get my Sharpie out and get to work!

I guess they should print "Limited Edition - This CD is limited to 1000 copies*"




*until we decide that we made a mistake and need to press more, or are re-releasing it since
a previous label released a limited edition which is now sold out, etc...so please do not hold us to the word 'limited'.

Excuse me, I stand corrected, you are right with the stereo masters and I changed
my statement above. We will see this in the next year when Varese releases the stereo
version of Spartacus, but it to will also be limited.

Again, the reason behind these limited editions is not just some sales ploy. It is because of special deals that made with the American Federation of Musicians to especially allow for a particularly small niche market (that would be us) to get affordable CDs. In many cases, if they weren't limited, they wouldn't be able to be produced at all.

Smaller runs are also made when the sales expectations are lower. As I've pointed out, Kritzerland releases are of interest to a minority in the above mentioned niche market. They're not as popular, and they know it, so they keep their runs relatively modest.

In the case of Promises, Promises, the interest in the disc was greater than the original run, so another (modest) run of a different edition (without the original album master) was negotiated and released to satisfy those who couldn't get the original release. The price didn't change, but the original two disc set was priced as a single.

I really don't see what there is to get mad about. If anything, you should laud Bruce for making this album available to more people that appreciated his efforts and wanted it. I really don't see how any other conclusion can be drawn from this event.

I imagine Startracks' next statement will be to the effect that the fact that the labels are doing deals with the musicians' union is INDISPUTABLE PROOF that they're in it for the money. If they weren't, why wouldn't they pay the full amount due instead of screwing musicians out of their rightful earnings so that the labels can afford luxurious residences in Beverly Hills with summer houses in Aspen? Hmmm? Answer THAT, if you can!!!

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Karl Morton IV

"Enjoy every sandwich."
-- Warren Zevon

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Don't ruin your life searching for success. Simply do what you feel like doing. Time is not money. Time is life and life has no price.

Fine. It is just that the post is titled "More proof that some labels are in it for the money!" when the specific example you used demonstrated the exact opposite.