What I love as a fan of music and a collector is that many of these discount-priced reissues are 
less costly, shipping included, than buying lossy and no-booklet downloads. Amazon has been reducing 
some download pricing to keep up with the trend, but iTunes still generally charges $10 per "album," 
which I would never pay for a lossy product with no booklet.

I'm not sure about this, but the reduced pricing and wide variety offered in these latest reissue 
programs may keep the CD medium alive longer than some pundits predict. I think the whole 
download-accumulation process is very dissatisfying for those who love a variety and long timeline 
of music. I think many of us love the convenience of iPods, we generally crunch most of our CD's 
into our iTunes library and maybe the majority of listening is done that way, but we like to have 
the full-resolution CD and booklet so we may enjoy them if we have time to concentrate and enjoy. On 
the other hand, I might be an old fart who is using his iPod the same as he used to use his Walkman 
back in the day.

-- Tom Fine

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Don Cox" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Wednesday, February 01, 2012 3:05 PM
Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] more old jazz comes back into print


> On 31/01/2012, Tom Fine wrote:
>
>> http://dougpayne.blogspot.com/2011/07/impulse-2-on-1-series-celebrating-50.html
>>
>> these bargain-priced 2-for-1 CD's are another smart way to get more
>> music back in print for prices akin to iTunes downloads. I can't say
>> for sure, but I think the majors may be having a change of mind about
>> back-catalog stuff (ie they may be realizing that when something is
>> out of print, there is no chance of making any money from it, whereas
>> if you can figure out how to keep it in print for a very low cost, it
>> will pay off over time).
>>
>> Remastering and production on the Impulse reissues I just bought is
>> all from Germany, where I think the master tapes are now stored. Sound
>> quality is good, lively but not over-crunched on the Chico Hamilton
>> and Coleman Hawkins CDs. I have three of the four total albums on
>> original LPs so I'll compare tonight.
>>
> EMI has had a 2-LPs-on-one-CD series for Capitol records from the 50s
> and early 60s for several years. These are mostly singers with dance
> band backing - Peggy Lee, for instance.
>
> In the UK, records from before 1962 are still out of copyright, and Avid
> records are running a successful series of 2-CD packs containing either
> "Four Classic Albums" or "Three Classic Albums Plus". Mostly 1950s mono
> jazz, some popular (Eartha Kitt, for instance). The transfers from vinyl are
> good, in my opinion.
>
> The Mercury box is one of many big sets issued over the past few years.
> The jump was the move to card sleeves rather than jewel boxes, and the
> use of PDF files rather than printed booklets. Clearly there is a market
> for such boxes, if the price is right.
>
> Regards
> -- 
> Don Cox
> [log in to unmask]
>