From the days of the Muntz 4track, later 8 track until the CD, the record
business was running at least two and, often, three "successful" formats and
inventories simultaneously, an extra expense to all..

One point, often overlooked, is that the CD offered high quality and
portablilty. The financially beneficial advantage of the CD was that it
streamlined the entire distribution chain, cutting costs significantly.

Now 4G allows higher quality downoads much more quickly than 3G.

Downloading, to the rights owner, means the need to manufacture a phyiscal
object is remeved, hence the closing of the Sony facility.

These business folks are in it to make money. We depend on them for our
recorded music. We'd all be a lot poorer (and this list would be much less
active) without them.

Steve Smolian






----- Original Message -----
From: "Tom Fine" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Thursday, January 13, 2011 12:59 PM
Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] DATs DELETED but not LPs (was: 15/16 Recording
Speed)


>I don't see any great "conspiracy" in the practices described by Schwann
>regarding LPs. The record companies had invested a great deal of money in
>CD production and manufacturing, and the simple fact was the CDs could be
>replicated in a manner where very few were returned for quality defects
>(unlike late-era LPs, especially when sold to picky buyers in the remaining
>small stores), and also everyone saw the advantage to getting the consumers
>to buy CD players and CDs so they would move away from cassettes as soon as
>cheap/plentiful car and portable CD players hit the market. Again, tape
>duplication was not a great business. The CD plants could, with some good
>training and QC procedures, turn out reliably uniform copies millions of
>times if needed. No more fussy ancient stamping equipment, messy vinyl
>compounds and, even worse than that, tape duplicating nightmares. The
>win-win that made all of this inevitable was that consumers could be
>re-sold their entire music collection in this fab new format. If the
>industry had been this business-minded earlier this century, they might
>have gotten yet another bite at the consumers when the masses started
>moving to downloads. Instead, they stupidly left a void where Napster
>filled in and it's been downhill ever since. The worst is, it was clear
>where all of this was going as soon as the first "ripping" software appear
>in the 90's, and definitely as soon as CD copier burners because
>ubiquitous.
>
> Anyway, the initial CD rollout was a time of phat and happy profits for
> the record biz.
>
> -- Tom Fine
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Michael Biel" <[log in to unmask]>
> To: <[log in to unmask]>
> Sent: Wednesday, January 12, 2011 7:14 PM
> Subject: [ARSCLIST] DATs DELETED but not LPs (was: 15/16 Recording Speed)
>
>
>> John -- apology accepted, especially since I am a fan of Chance!
>>
>> On 1/12/2011 6:17 PM, Scott wrote:
>>> I have often wondered if modern technology might recover some of the
>>> lost
>>> audio.... Scott
>>
>> You're not the only one, and I think they had another look at the tapes a
>> couple of years ago, but the "Rose Mary Woods Stretch" was a bit too
>> efficient. By the way, that famous photo had an amusing use on the cover
>> of the August 1989 Schwann CD catalog under the headline "EXTRA! DATs
>> DELETED!!!" They had decided to give up on the viability of the
>> pre-recorded DAT and CD-3 formats, and the editor said in removing the
>> listings this position was no less awkward than was Ms. Woods'. The also
>> printed a 1971 letter she had written them on White House stationery
>> giving Nixon's thanks for a copy of the catalog.
>>
>> Of added interest they next included a commentary "Vanishing Vinyl (...
>> or the short run prospects of the long-playing record)". With insider
>> evidence, they accuse the industry of market manipulation by deleting
>> popular LP series that were selling well and instituting disadvantageous
>> non-return policies for retailers. "Although the CD revolution has
>> been -- to some extent -- consumer-driven, the LP decline has been, to a
>> degree, industry manipulated." They pledged to continue listing LPs and
>> cassettes in their quarterly Schwann guide.
>>
>> Mike Biel [log in to unmask]
>>
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: Association for Recorded Sound Discussion List
>>> [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of John Spencer
>>> Sent: Wednesday, January 12, 2011 5:12 PM
>>> To: [log in to unmask]
>>> Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] 15/16 Recording Speed
>>>
>>> Mike,
>>>
>>> I truly value your contribution to this list and your long-standing
>>> knowledge of recorded history, and I have enjoyed reading your posts for
>>> years. I felt as the last paragraph in your post was somewhat off topic
>>> and
>>> that prompted my post.
>>>
>>> In retrospect it was most likely a knee-jerk response, because to this
>>> day I
>>> still can't understand all of the reasoning/ logic (or lack of therein)
>>> and
>>> other motives that created these recordings - it simply baffles my mind
>>> (and
>>> even though I'm old, I wasn't old enough to vote for Nixon, so there is
>>> no
>>> love lost...).
>>>
>>> I too know several individuals involved with the playback/ recovery of
>>> the
>>> Nixon tapes and find the work (and their work environment) a case study
>>> in
>>> archival education.
>>>
>>> My sincere apologies to you, I had no idea that you also played a hand
>>> in
>>> the recording/ playback/ restoration of these tapes. As they begin to
>>> come
>>> to light in the Nixon Library, I'm hugely interested in what is
>>> presented to
>>> the public.
>>>
>>> Best regards,
>>> John
>>>
>>> John Spencer
>>> www.bmschace.com
>>>
>>> On Jan 12, 2011, at 3:10 PM, Michael Biel wrote:
>>>
>>>> On 1/12/2011 2:23 PM, George Brock-Nannestad wrote:
>>>>> From: Patent Tactics, George Brock-Nannestad
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> Hello,
>>>>>
>>>>> beauty is in the eye of the beholder as is the experience of
>>>>> politically loaded information.
>>>>>
>>>>> Mike mentioned these tapes, because they are some of the technically
>>>>> best documented in modern history. This is pure documentation, and no
>>>>> mention of the need to obtain it.
>>>>>
>>>>> Kind regards,
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> George
>>>> Thank you, George. John, I RESENT your implication that there was
>>> ANYTHING political in my mentioning the Nixon tapes because a close
>>> friend
>>> designed and installed the replay equipment used on these tapes, I have
>>> seen
>>> that set-up (George might have been there too), a number of other
>>> friends of
>>> mine have been involved over the years in the technical analysis of the
>>> tapes AND SOME OF THEM ARE ON THIS LIST.
>>>> Mike Biel [log in to unmask]
>>>>> John Spencer wrote (why?):
>>>>>
>>>>>> Perhaps you could google for an answer to your question below
>>>>>> without inserting a political slant to the list-serve that has
>>>>>> nothing to do with what the original question was posed about?
>>>>>>
>>>>>> John Spencer
>>>>>> www.bmschace.com
>>>>>>
>>>>>> On Jan 12, 2011, at 12:31 PM, Michael Biel wrote:
>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Did the Nixon White House tapes use it?
>>>
>>
>