Intrada Soundtrack Forum

My apologies for joining the party late. I have difficulty finding time to keep up with our own Forum here, much less follow the dialog on FSM. I miss being abreast of their many topics and participating in the dialog. There are some cool topics and first rate discussions. Alas, work comes first. Anyway, I saw a wonderful example of some great dialog on FSM and just felt a desire to widen the scope. Anyone is most welcome to chime in, be it praise or dissent, either here or there. The topic's the thing and it's a good one.

James Fitzpatrick suggested there were perhaps too many releases, many of them second or third rate and not worthy of the efforts. Full disclosure: I'm fond of James. We got into soundtracks about the same time, have similar interests (the 1960's) and have shared contact for nearly three decades. I admire him. That said, my differing view on this topic is pretty simple: I'd never want to be the arbiter of what should be considered first rate vs second rate and whatnot. I'm absolutely gaga over Riz Ortolani's The 7th Dawn and yet few fans ever mention it. I go nuts over John Dankworth's score for Sands Of The Kalahari but haven't met anyone sharing my enthusiasm. Yet I'm also wildly cuckoo over El Cid, Star Trek: The Motion Picture and E.T. just like the rest of the planet. So, in terms of merit, who am I to determine whether the former trumps the latter or vice versa? What person could ever be entrusted with such a task?! Let's simply forgo merit and instead work to preserve it all. Let history be the judge.

Regarding Bruce Kimmel's comments about a round table discussion with all the labels, the reason mine didn't entertain the idea is also pretty simple: I just don't think restricting the flow of products or services is of particular benefit to the soundtrack marketplace. It's why we tweaked our model to accommodate as many listeners as we reasonably could and still maintain some fashion of limited interest projects.

When I started Intrada, my only competitor was Varese Sarabande. And they were ferocious indeed. A textbook competitor! They kept me on the ball day in and day out. I couldn't let my guard down for a moment! But here we are, 30 years later - and with myriad soundtrack labels active all over the world. And yet, we're having our very best year to date. It's been incredible. So there's a message in here as well and it, too, is simple: you and you alone as listeners have the power to determine whether there are "too many releases". That's the side you're on. You're in charge. You vote with your wallets.

That's one language all of us on this side can understand.
--Doug

P.S. This is just how I view things. Please feel free to voice your own thoughts here or at least keep the topic alive on the FSM board. It's a great conversation.

Dear Doug and all at Intrada,
I'm absolutely delighted to hear that this is turning out to be a fantastic year for Intrada. You folks certainly deserve due rewards for all your wonderful hard work and fabulous releases. I don't buy everything but ye certainly keep me going fairly well, lol! If "John Dankworth's score for Sands Of The Kalahari" ever gets a release on CD it would be an instant purchase for me...as would Miklos Rozsa's Five Graves to Cairo, and eh, Fielding's Junior Bonner...just saying! Thanks for everything, looking forward to lots of great releases in the future.

I'm very happy at the amount of soundtracks being released. I pick and choose and am only interested in a handful of composers and rarely buy a new score these days. So for me the pace and quantity is great.

PS The 7th Dawn score is my Mum's favourite soundtrack. I've always wanted to see this one get an individual cd release so I could send it to her.

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Jason Needs
Webmaster, Jerry Goldsmith Online

Most customers seem to have particular tastes and were never interested in blindly buying everything anyway.

This discussion seems to have been brought up a few times in the past. Ignoring anyone's notion of what is worthy of releasing on album, my hackneyed way of viewing this topic is that it's pretty much now or never as I get the impression that collectors of aging and less appreciated soundtracks are ever dwindling in number. Furthermore, the tapes certainly don't get better with age, and management sometimes changes and could possibly create problems.

Since it seemingly works for you, be happy in putting soundtracks out there at a rapid pace and hope that most of the great multitude of currently unreleased material makes it before things are over. Almost nothing sells out ridiculously fast anymore, so people have ample time to buy what they really like. If people miss out on some things, then oh well, it's not the end of the world and I'm sure they have hundreds of other soundtracks to listen to or forever keep in the shrink wrap.

I think Intrada did exactly the right thing to stop those ridiculously fast sellouts.
It seems to be a great business model for the label, too.

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My Intrada wish list:

The Outfit (Fielding)
The Other Side of the Mountain I (Charles Fox)


and extremely unlikely, but...
Junior Bonner
Thunderbolt and Lightfoot

Doug,my friend,keep them coming at the pace you feel is best. Time waits for no man and there are so many wonderful scores from years past that have not seen the light of day yet. Today I received DESERT FURY. The score is another example of Miklos Rozsa's brilliance. The movie wasn't much to speak of, but oh the beauty of that score. Take track #14 in particular. Now that's the kind of action music I love. I hope there will be more Excaliber releases down the road from you guys. More Rozsa and perhaps a Friedhofer, you know which one, would be most welcomed. Congrats on taking a lot of my money over the years. It was well spent.

You have our deepest gratitude Intrada. I can proudly and confidently state that your Label and that of La La Land Records have stood the test of time. You guys are by far the best in the business and also the best labels. The quality of your products and the professional commitments of service are beyond text book examples.You guys are NOW legend! Cant wait to share the enthusiasm and for the big 30. Its been a great ride and we cant wait for more.

I don't think the market is saturated, nor do I believe we have "too many" soundtrack releases.

There is a ticking clock when it comes to releasing these scores, and that is the life of many of the master tapes that store the recordings.

These things are slowly deteriorating, some faster than others, and a soundtrack release allows for these recordings to be preserved, and be made available to be heard on CD.

Also, although I only have a small subset personally of what is out there, others have purchased the other titles as they are preserved and released, and mostly given the best possible treatment and presentation.

The embarrassment of riches means that my personal "holy grail" list is dwindling, but I seem to see titles I forgot completely about, and grab instantly.

The combination of both discovery and preservation means the market is working well.

I don't have everything I want yet, but most of the things I want are still available, and I can look forward to new discoveries as they are released.

Not to be morbid, but the "clock" is ticking on the COLLECTORS as well. Some of us aren't "Spring chickens" anymore!

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I-love-Goldsmith, yes-I-do...
I-love-Ber-nard-Herr-mann-too! EVERYBODY SING!!!

Simple: There is NO such thing as "too many releases" ...

There are indeed many releases, and it is difficult to find the time to listen thoroughly to everything I acquire. But as long as people are buying, I don't see any reason why any of the labels should decrease their output. You are not performing a community service. You are running a business that needs to make a profit.

And in that regard, it amazes me none of the other labels have adopted the Intrada business model. It will probably take more time to sell a certain amount, but at least you can reprint if a title is way more successful as expected.

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View my collection at https://cloud.collectorz.com/chriskepolis/music?collectionId=9412