Re: [ARSCLIST] Some questions on long-term storage of audio CDs

[Don Cox <doncox@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On 27/10/07, Tom Fine wrote:

> I bet there were more than 40,000 released 1982-present BUT I would
> also bet there are fewer than 40,000 still in print. It's amazing how
> many classical titles have been taken out of print in the last few
> years. Jazz too, for that matter.
> 
Many have gone out of print and then been reissued later, perhaps in
bargain packages. 

Once a company has a digital file, the cost of a straight reissue is
quite low, especially if the booklet is reduced to a single sheet. 

> The one likely-profitable commercial venture I know of that makes some
> of this out-of-print classical material available in full CD
> resolution (as opposed to junk formats like lossy iTunes) is ArkivCD:
> http://www.arkivmusic.com/classical/AlbumGroup;jsessionid=DB9430E149BE60523CFAF6CA8BF3CB61?album_group=8
> as of this AM, 4245 formerly out of print titles available there.
> 
> If anyone is _really_ interested, the head buyer at Arkiv or Amazon's
> head buyer for classical can probably provide a good estimate as to
> the number of SKU's (individual barcode CD's) now in print.
> 
I guessed the number from a sample count I did of the new (really new)
releases last August, which was just over 100. The number of releases
was much lower for the first few years. 

So I thought around 1200 new recordings per year over nearly 30 years
might be as many as 40,000. Could be fewer.

The bar codes would count every reissue as a separate product.

Regards
-- 
Don Cox
doncox@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx