Which Mosaic aren't you enjoying right now?

[David Ayers]

Well I won't be enjoying the splendid Shorty Rogers LP set just going on ebay for more than I wish to pay.

Makes me reflect that (1) I wish Mosaic still did LPs other than Davis and (2) I wish they would relicense and reissue past sets - either that or I wish the license owner (where there is a single one) would reissue the stuff in the same collection though withourt expensive booklet/packaging. If classical sets can be issued in bargain boxes, and if Proper and the like have shown there is a market, why don't jazz license holders get in on the act?

The ebay prices speak for themselves - I think there is a missed opportunity.

Moan moan moan.

[jazzbo]

Well, the only Mosaic set I CAN enjoy now is. . . the Christy/Lee, because I have that loaded in to my iBook. All the others at home in Austin. Ah well. I'll be reunited one day.

I'm not sure we'll ever see Mosaic relicense and reissue sets. . . .ever. And just because Proper, who doesn't have to pay any artists or maintain master tapes and parts, etc. can afford to put out sets does NOT mean that majors who hold the real copies will feel that they are able to. . . . It's a shame, and as more and more material we love falls into availability for non-owner release outside the US we're possibly going to see more in my opinion "inferior" (or at least not potentially as good as can be) sets and the majors viewing themselves "priced" out of the market and just sitting on the material and their hands.

I really think the majors look at ebay pricing of Mosaics (if they look at them at all) and see a few hundred nutty collectors willing to shell out dollars; I don't think they see a market or an opportunity missed.

Edited July 13, 2006 by jazzbo

[Harold_Z]

I really think the majors look at ebay pricing of Mosaics (if they look at them at all) and see a few hundred nutty collectors willing to shell out dollars; I don't think they see a market or an opportunity missed.

Exactly. All the majors are interested in is the big prize. They ignore a secondary and I think lucrative secondary market. I believe the same is true of TV and Radio.

[David Ayers]

What about all the classical collectors boxes that get put out though? In particular, the Original Masters series from Universal? These are like classical Mosaics, mostly material from the 50s that only collectors want. I imagine that big cost of issuing 50s/60s jazz is not artist royalties but composer royalties, and plainly the classical stuff can avoid this in many cases. But I would still like to know why the markets are perceived to be so different - I really question whether the model of the Original Masters series - a well edited series aimed at serious collectors - can't be applied to jazz. I think Universal copied Mosaic in the basic conception of this series, which is based on artist rather than repertoire, and unites recordings for a given label over a given period. There is something I'm missing obviously...

[jazzbo]

How many more classical customers are there compared to jazz. That would be the question I think the labels would ask first. Maybe did ask already more than once.

[Harold_Z]

Could it be that the people running the big conglomerates don't respect jazz as mcuh as they respect classical ?

[David Ayers]

It would be interesting to know the facts and figures, wouldn't it? I doubt whether those collector boxes sell that many... though I can see that a budget Beethoven or Mozart set is a different proposition to a Furtwangler or Fricsay set. Still, I'd like to see someone try to do this, not least, where there already has been a Mosaic set the editing job and paperwork could all be taken over so the cost of putting out a set might be a little lower... well, evidently not or it would be done...