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Where will be Mosaic be in 20 years?


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since we're on the 22nd year of the company... and I'm sure they've done better than they could even dream... Where will this lead??? What will it/they be in 2025???? Which box sets will we be seeing???

I for one... suspect similar to the Leibman/Barach, Tolliver sets... they will start focusing more and more on unreleased live stuff.... (How about a live unreleased Stanley Turrentine set???:)

What do you think??? And I'm sure this thread will eventually get hijacked toward the inevitable "Best of.... Gomer Pyle/The REALLY Complete Bitches Brew thread again.... :blink::blink::angry::angry: but in the inital phase of this thread, I am curious what you SERIOUSLY think will happen to the company????

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Yes, but that's Sonny Rollins of 4 years ago being issued by the label to which he was signed then (and now), a label that has 30-some years of history with him. Mosaic doesn't have such a position - with anyone. The Benedetti stuff is the only thing they actually own. I don't know the ins and outs of that particular deal.

Mike

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Too hard to say because the product itself will be totally different.

I suspect that everything will be downloaded in some way by that point. I would also think that the labels will have made their entire catalogs available since there won't be a warehousing issue anymore. So, boutique collectors labels like Mosaic would be a niche market, for sure.

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I've often wondered about Mosaic's long term future as well. I sure hope they are around, but I wonder what they will be releasing in say 10 years.

At any rate, I developed and executed my own personal strategy. Suffice it to say that these days, I just buy the current releases as they come up. If Mosaic ever goes belly up, I'm all set. :cool:

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Too hard to say because the product itself will be totally different.

I suspect that everything will be downloaded in some way by that point. I would also think that the labels will have made their entire catalogs available since there won't be a warehousing issue anymore. So, boutique collectors labels like Mosaic would be a niche market, for sure.

They pretty mcuh are that today, aren't they? :P

Here is something to ponder ... not Mosaic-specific, but to follow your thinking. What will happen to the 2nd hand market, the ebay market if you will, if entire catalogs become downloadable? I am sure the vinyl folks will always be there, maybe vinyl continues to have a solid (2nd hand) market.

Personally, I like having the "hard copy" - be it the CD or the vinyl. I like being able to read the notes, look at the artwork, etc. Plus I can always "trade it in" at my local shop or put it on ebay if I don't like it (or want to raise cash for new purchases). The iTunes (more braodly, downloadable) solution completely ignores this issue today. Still, not sure I will want a e-version of the Mosaic booklet that I can view on my screen. Nor am I sure that I want to jack with a printer to make copies myself - I would much rather pay the pros for this.

As to the material they will be releasing, who knows? One could argue that most of the "major" stuff has been taken care of (either by Mosaic or the majors). Having said that, Mosaic seems to have built a very loyal, trusting following. Point being, they could get into even more obscure stuff and many folks would follow them, "sight unseen (or unheard)" so to speak.

Still, don't we have a thread around here about labels that have yet to be re-issued to any great extent on CD?

The Complete Beehive Records Recordings

The Complete Mainstream Records Recordings

The Complete Xanadu Recordings

And so on. Or, maybe some entrepreneur will get ahold of these catalogs and release them in e-versions only. Or perhaps Mosaic will.

I damn sure hope I am here and in good health 20 years from now to find out :g

Edited by Eric
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All good points, Eric.

I think it's only going to be guys like you and me, though, who will continue to be interested in Mosaic-like hard-copy box sets of music in 20 years. I don't know if there will be enough of us to support a profitable operation by then.

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I hope that they'll be releasing boxsets by some of the young and under-recognized jazz artists who are stuggling on the scene today. Might be too late to help them, but at least the music would come out. This would probably be feasible for a number of reasons. For starters, so many young players self-release their own albums on their own labels, so licensing wouldn't be too complex. Additionally, a lot of young players fund their own recordings, and often can't afford to press and release all the sessions they record (even a successful, label-associated artist like Kurt Rosenwinkel has sessions in the can which haven't and probably won't see release through his current label). It has always alternately amused and horrified me that so many of the hard core jazz fans I meet obsess and lament how a Herbie Nichols or a Sonny Clark were largely ignored while they were alive, yet these same hard core jazz fanatics all too often are systematically ignoring the young talent all around them. Ironic. Regardless, one can hope that in the future Mosaic (or a company like that) might be releasing, say, The Complete Graham Connah, or The Complete Ben Goldberg, or Unreleased Ben Monder Trio Sessions, or The Complete Recordings of The Lost Trio. Etc etc etc. The list is endless. Anyway, a guy can dream!

nathan

Edited by nathan
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I can't imagine that they'll be doing anything different than they're doing now. Perhaps by that time, we'll see Errol Garner and the Keynote on disc, plus other Verve material. The Complete Beehive would be fantastic. I have some cdrs of that material and it's stupendous.

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Yep, got it for Christmas, 1984 I think.  It really has been a fun ride ...  :tup

Some hip Santa there, Eric!

I had to buy it for myself, but I'm glad for the ride, too.

Yep, I think I included the ad from Downbeat on my letter to the old guy ... :w

I remember it to this day - UPS arrived at my folks late on Christmas Eve (the Mosaic folks even called my Mom to assure her it was coming).

Edited by Eric
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I kinda feel like we (the fans/regular buyers) should encourage/help Mosaic do something unique for their 25th anniversary.... (only 3 years away)....

Ideas????

1. A Mosaic "Membership" club? ($xx per year and you get ???. We, of course, should be grandfathered in... say anyone who's bought at least 5 sets... [selects not included.])

2. An all-star benefit concert/mini-tour (with 2 free tickets for the Mosaic old-timers [anyone who's bought 10-12 sets or more)??? Part of the proceeds go to the Jazz Foundation of America.... [Does anybody, other than me, remember when Verve did their little version of JATP about 10 years ago....??? It was REALLY cool!! Got to see Charlie Haden, Joe Henderson, James Carter, etc...)

3. First dibs on any sets "running low"/"last chance?" (Perhaps a select email list of Mosaic Old-timers and THOSE people get the 1st announcement with the website and general public finding out later...)

4. Any other ideas?????? :cool::cool:

I definitely think (and did email Mosaic) saying that they should begin offering their "hard-core base" something additional....

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I hope they reissue many of their sold out boxes.  That might PO a lot of people, but most of them would be e-bayers.  How better to promote jazz than to re-release those classic collections?

I would like that, but I don't think that would be allowed. Licensing problems.

I don't think it would be a licensing "problem" so much as Mosaic would simply have to relicense the material again. Some rights-holders might be willing; some not. I think the issue is that Mosaic simply doesn't want to repeat themselves. There's also the issue of demand. It seems quite hard for Mosaic to sell more than 3000 copies of most sets these days.

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