sorry if you saw this already....
i just want to add that while i'm basically glad this
release is taking place (because it will mean a little bit
more exposure for Oswald and his work) i have mixed feelings
about it. It appears that Oswald is giving in on and giving
up on exactly the stance so many of us have always admired
since first reading his early 1986 essay, "Plunderphonics,
or Audio Piracy as a Compositional Prerogative".
I also feel as if this is yet another useless last gasp of
the physical art work as fetish object. Many of us will
have already heard most of the content of the package, yet
because of the supposedly "beautiful" booklet and the
product's tangible commoditization, many of us will go out
and buy it, even at what will probably be an outrageous
price. (shall we make bets on what the actual retail
sticker will say? I'll wager something like $49.99.)
sigh.
smh
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Wed, 07 Feb 2001 07:09:44 -0500
From: Ray Brain <pitchATio.org>
Reply-To: plunderphoniaATyahoogroups.com
To: plunderphoniaATyahoogroups.com
Subject: [plunderphonia] PLUNDERPHONICS box set
Some of you have heard rumours about the PLUNDERPHONICS box set. Well it
does exist. We've been working on it at the mLab and fony records in earnest
since early 1999. It was our plan then to release this set on Hallowe'en of
1999 on the 10th anniversary of the publication of the original
PLUNDERPHONIC CD.
Two years have passed and the package is now almost ready. It should be in
stores by late next month.
Yes, in stores. Unlike the original CD which was never for sale, this one
will be a commercial product. Part of the deal John Oswald made with the
major labels, who were upset about PLUNDERPHONIC CD, was that he would not
release those tracks again, unless they agreed to let him do it.
So a big part of the past two years has been devoted to pursuing licensing
deals for each of the 60 tracks in the new package. Some of these deals are
still being negotiated as I write this. A few publishers and record
companies have waived any fees. Others are seeking large block fees based on
each increment of sales of 100,000, so we have to convince them that this
set might not sell one 100th of that amount.
The small sales will be partly influenced by the high retail price of the
package. It's beautiful, and it's full of information and colourful images,
not to mention lots of music. But in some cases the total fees for a single
track are several dollars for each unit manufactured. This will be reflected
in the price you will have to pay.
Of course, in this day and age, we realize that , if you can't afford it,
you will find other ways to hear the music. We consider the licensed retail
package to be an experiment in following the existing model as literally as
those who pursue the business aspect of the music business most assiduously
would wish us to.
It's called "69 PLUNDERPHONICS 96" (the 69 and the 96 are designed to look
like quote marks, but they also represent 1969 and 1996, the years which
bookend the earliest and the latest tracks in the package). It will only be
available on CD (no vinyl) in your more interesting music stores. We will
not be selling it directly. I have no idea at this point what the on-line
sources will be but Forced Exposure is usually a good bet.
* I will leave you to guess, for now, which tracks are included, but you can
bet that any plunderphonics piece that features one particular artist (as
opposed to the PLEXURE concept) is probably there, in newly remastered and
often revised versions. Plus there are some very rare pieces.
- Ray Brain
mLab pr
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