Re: [ARSCLIST] CD versus Download was "All hail the analogue revolution..."

[Mike Richter <mrichter@xxxxxxx>]

Bob Olhsson wrote:
> Don Cox wrote:
> > ... Naxos' 3000 is less, but they are still releasing 150 titles per
> > year.
>
> True however my understanding of how they are managing to accomplish this is somewhat akin to vanity publishing.
>
> The orchestra has to finance the entire recording cost, Naxos receives all rights for any licensing purpose and nobody gets paid any royalties ever. I understand Naxos sometimes helps locate foundation support for a particular recording however that's hardly the level of investment typical of a traditional label. Last time I went in a Borders, the Naxos CDs were also selling for a dollar ABOVE list price.

Your understanding differs from mine; since some of the following is 
from private conversation with Klaus Heymann, I'm confident of that 
portion at least.

There are projects with outstide funding, notably from the Milken 
Foundation. Otherwise, Naxos contracts with the artists a fixed fee for 
the recording. They record with Naxos engineers and are paid. There are 
no royalties. If Naxos's judgement is wrong, the recording won't sell 
and he eats the cost.

A few years ago Klaus ventured into a sub-genre he had not covered 
before. He sent preliminary copies of his first recording to a friend in 
Northern California and to me for our opinions. We both expressed 
horror, but he went ahead to his regret. The baritone and the pianist 
received full payment (though no more such contracts).

Whether some orchestras record on a different basis, I do not know; I am 
sure that some follow the track above.

Mike
--
mrichter@xxxxxxx
http://www.mrichter.com/