Dick and I worked on a proposed reissue several years ago, and the stumbling block was the re-licensing of the commercial material. It would have been possible, and relatively cheap, to simply use the analog lp masters, but we hoped to retransfer the original recordings wherever possible, and add some additional material, though it never got to the point where that decision had to be made.

Rounder did release about twenty of the Library's AFS album on compact disc, but that was a different series that consisted entirely of field recordings, which could be cleared with artists or their estates directly. FMIA was different in that it combined field recordings with commercial recordings.

The original lps did not get a wide distribution, though I believe that one could always order them from the Library of Congress itself in the 70s and 80s. A bit later, I remember that the mail order company Roundup Records sold sealed copies of the whole series for a while, and later still, sealed copies of some volumes turned up at the Tower Records Annex in Manhattan. For awhile, they were fetching a good price on Ebay.


Matthew Barton
Library of Congress

-----Original Message-----
From: Association for Recorded Sound Discussion List [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Thomas Stern
Sent: Sunday, July 07, 2013 1:57 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] Folk Music in America

FWIW -as mentioned in my earlier note, I think the problem is obtaining licenses for the commercial discs included in the series. Due to the inane copyright of sound recordings, these discs can NOT simply be reissued. Permission and (probably a ridiculously excessive) royalty payment is required to be paid to the majors who "own" the 78's, even though they have done NOTHING to preserve these recording, nor even have copies in any form.
  The archival recordings from the AFS also require clearance, which may also present some difficulties such as determining who is the rightful heir.
  Certainly financing the project is an obstacle. How much work, at what cost is needed to make these albums available vs. how much income will they generate in sales of CD's or downloads ????
  Would anyone on this list purchase a set if they were available? Did anyone purchase the set when it was available decades ago ??
  Thomas.

-----Original Message-----
From: Association for Recorded Sound Discussion List [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf Of Paul Stamler
Sent: Sunday, July 07, 2013 1:06 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] Folk Music in America


On 7/1/2013 8:18 PM, Tom Fine wrote:
> One thing I don't understand -- assuming the master tapes for these
> LPs still exist (you'd think they would if they were always in the
> possession of the LOC), then why can't they be reissued as FLAC and
> MP3 downloads via Smithsonian Folkways. It seems it wouldn't cost very
> much to digitize 1970s vintage master tapes given the vast resources
> of the LOC. They'd probably make back their digitization costs in a
> few years, sooner if they also sold downloads via iTunes and Amazon.
I was told a few years ago that such a reissue was in progress, but it seems to have been put off, probably due to budget problems. There was a licensing agreement with Rounder for other LoC records, but I haven't seen any new issues of those for a while.

Peace,
Paul