Topic: Paramount Box set volume two

[David Kaatz]

Just saw this on FB.

[Stuart]

Thanks for the post, Dave. I saw something about Vol. 2 last week in the Fretboard Journal newsletter, but didn't follow up on it as time was tight. Here's another link or two or three:

http://www.thirdmanrecords.com/news/the-rise-and-fall-of-paramount-records-volume-2-1928-1932/

http://thirdmanstore.com/the-rise-and-fall-of-paramount-records-volume-2

http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/19889-the-rise-fall-of-paramount-records-volume-two-1928-1932/

A PDF file of the track list is attached.

Now all I need is next week's winning lottery numbers and it's all mine!

[hms]

Gosh, looks wonderful.
Trouble is by the time you get it to the UK it's an additonal 50% on top.
Would be nice if they could release an economy version without the fripperies.
h

[wreid75]

at that price it should come with a gift card for a steak dinner and complementary bottle of KY jelly

[tinpanallygurl]

Would be nice if they could release an economy version without the fripperies

See that is the thing.  The fripperies are the low cost items that allow the price to swell to 400 dollars making a dandy lil profit.  If it was done stripped down (economy model if you will) then it wouldn't be such a money maker.  Kind of like Nike Air Jordans cost less than 2 bucks to make but sell for $200.  They aren't in the business of selling a discount model.  The display and other materials that can be produced inexpensively are added to fluff the price up.  If it was just a normal looking flash drive filled with the music there wouldn't be enough value added stuff to sell to the small population of people who love this music.  If it were Lady Ga Ga then yes.  So if we want the goods we have to relax, take a deep breath and reach for our ankles.

[hms]

But then one has to ask if all the work to produce the recordings is then only made available to 5,000 people who can afford it, how will the music be heard and appreciated?

Yes, produce sets with fripperies to cover costs, I believe Vol 2 is limited to 5,000 so I assume that covers costs. Then produce affordable sets for everyone else. With the costs covered by the 5,000 boxed sets, anything above that would be profit. 8 boxed sets of 4 CD's should do it, sell them by subscription to ensure people buy the complete set maximising profit.
 
The music was meant to be heard not locked up in boxes!

h

[tinpanallygurl]

The devils advocate would say that the music is already available spread out in many sources other than the box set.  However I what you are saying and I agree.

But then one has to ask if all the work to produce the recordings is then only made available to 5,000 people who can afford it, how will the music be heard and appreciated

This is marketed to people that have a National and a Stella on the wall that they never play, and a collection of other expensive guitars they do.  This is marketed to those that will drop $2000 or more on a 78 record without batting an eye.  This is marketed to those who can easily fly to any global blues convention to mingle.  This is marketed to those who have been making royalties long dead country blues player.  This is marketed to those who have written books, articles, and liner notes.  This is marketed to those who will drop $200 on the Calt and Wardlow and $500 on Faheys Patton book just to have it in a collection.  This book is written for those who sell very expensive prints of photographs from the 1960s-80s.  This book is written for those who have produced very expensive works of art where even the prints are expensive.

This isn't for those who just love the music and are not financially well off.  Like the Charley Patton set that now retails on amazon for over $600 or the centennial edition Johnson set that retails for $700, this isn't meant for everyone.  That leaves a lot of people in the shadows but no one involved is concerned about that.  This is a Lexus, and Lexus never makes their products available to the other 93%.  It is a great product but it obviously wasn't made for the majority of country blues fans. 

This was made for the elite.

[alyoung]

Ummm... I've written books, articles and liner notes. I've also got a Stella and a National, and I've got Calt/Wardlow and Fahey. So I guess I'm in your sights, but please, ma'am ... don't shoot! I can offer no excuse for the writing -- I just went right on and did it. But I DO play the guitars (rather a lot), and I bought the books new at standard bookshop prices. And I'm not elite, and I'm truly cross-my-heart-and-hope-to-die not never ever gonna buy the Paramount set. Honest!

[TonyGilroy]

The bizarre thing for me is downloads in a big expensive box.

[Lastfirstface]

This is a Lexus, and Lexus never makes their products available to the other 93%. 

They do actually, they're called Toyotas.

[harriet]

IMHO they missed including either a layered commemorative regional "sand art" bottle of soil from different regions representing the artists or a pendant from some still available material from the old Paramount archives - on a chain made from railroad ties from that era. And a complimentary bottle of snake oil tonic.

[tinpanallygurl]

Didn't know that the word elite would ruffle feathers so much.  Usually in the presence of men I come across thicker skin.  I really don't have a bulls eye out for anyone, hell I don't even have a gun , but anywho.  I would have loved the bottle of soil, sand art, chain made from railroad ties and the rest.  Especially the snake oil, it might help alleviate a headache I just got.  I am sure the cost per song isn't nearly as expensive since no one paid to have it recorded and the artists are not being compensated for their contributions.  If you have done any of the activities that I listed that struck such a sensitive chord then good for you.  Hell this is the 21st century and anyone upset please don't be.  You made the most of your opportunities, interests, collections, and what not.  Keep it up.  Some have even figured out how to make a buck off of this music which is there is no shortage of ways to make buck.  I am just saying that this collection isn't intended for all of us who love this music.  It is intended for the collectors who will pay a premium. 

Those of us that have a 78 collection from found at thrift stores, cheap guitars, Walmart art and family photos that were free on our walls are not the people that this box is targeted for.  I never said the word rich and if you read my paragraph I pointed out peoples success.  Are we at the point in history where pointing out where people have been successful is cause for being defensive?  Really?  And I am a woman.  I am an expert on becoming defensive about things I shouldn't be defensive about.  That is one of the things women like me enjoy escaping by hanging with the boys, thin skin.  Scott, I do I hope you get that Bentley.  Who wouldn't look good behind the wheel of a Bentley.

[Stuart]

I wonder if the set had been packaged differently would there be as much negative reaction against it. Scott makes a good point regarding the cost per song. 800 songs / 25 songs per CD = 32, and 32 X $15 per CD = $480--even at $10 per CD that's $320. Add $25 each for the books and we're close to the sticker price. I was lucky enough to be able to download the PDF files of the books that go with Vol. 1 when they were still available, and they do add value to the set, IMHO.

I'm also curious as to the production cost(s), and the details of the individual purchasers, but these are things I'll never know--or will lose any sleep over.

Perhaps if Smithsonian-Folkways had brought it out in several individual volumes with the books offered separately, it would be more acceptable to some of us and wouldn't come off as overpriced gimcrack--although the content (actual music and original art, ads, etc.) certainly doesn't meet the definition of such.

Live and let live. To each his or her own. (--Opinions, as well as music.)
 

[alyoung]

Oh dear. Didn't know that a small piece of flippancy would attract such a petulant response. No ruffled feathers, Tinpanalleygurl. It was humor, a little joke, irony .... oh yeah.  Ah well ... you have a Happy Christmas.

[harriet]

I hope no one took my remarks as more than humor as well- it seems a very well thought as to what they put in the package and a well assembled labor of love. I hope its well received, read and listened to by those who are gifted with it or choose to buy it.