Intrada Soundtrack Forum

So... in order to make sure all the collectors get one copy, Intrada... why not do a subscription? All CD's are automatically ordered as they are released to those that subscribe... with a limit of ONE. That way your dedicated customers are covered, you have an idea of an actual press run, and the horders and ebays can by as many as they want after those collectors that dedicate their money to you are a taken care of. No bitching about not getting the CD, no issues for missed discs by your most loyal, no waiting and the computer hitting refresh for release times, and it betters the whole process.

I know FSM used to do this...

Just an idea for the current 1 day sellout world we are now living in.

Of good grief! Not this again.

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Excuse me, Tai-Pan? Did that really add to this thread? "Of Good Grief" doesn't really mean anything. I read this board daily, and have seen only one other mention of this under the Inchon repressing thread... so if it bores you, just click on by.

The reasoning would be to make sure that everyone that subscribes is at least able to get one -- on top of that, they can order as many more as they want directly. There is nothing saying you can't still order more -- it's just that the subscriptions would be limited to one. Perhaps adding a note to the order process so that they can be shipped together...

Though I do understand your question -- I generally order two of titles that I like. One to open, one to stay sealed.

A much easier method to implement would be to limit sales to 1-3 to a customer for a limited time, like a week, and then let everybody order what they want.

But let me tell you why that won't happen.

The bulk of the orders on a 1000 or 1200 print run title go to retailers like SAE, Moviemusic, Intrada, BuySoundtrax, soundtrackers, etc. They take about 60% of the available copies. In the case of Varese, there is no reason at all to not do this, because they make the exact same amount of money.

Another reason not to do this is because many customers would rather order from a particular vendor rather than the manufacturer. They can’t list the title until they know that will get some quantities of the title so customers who want to order from say, SAE will not be able to do so until over a week has passed. Further, I strongly suspect that if retailers were forced to wait a week to order they would order fewer copies.

In addition, this probably won’t happen is because the possibility of sell-out helps to push sales of specific editions. If you want it now, you have to buy it now or miss it forever. If the pace can be sustained it is definitely a boon to cash flow for the labels, despite the bellyaching of fans.

The best and most reasonable solution is to increase the print runs. If you know that you always sell out of 1000 print run CDs, then press 1200, then 1500 on up until you reach a level where demand is satisfied. (Yes, I know that calculating print runs is difficult but the 1000 CD releases have uniformly sold out just because of the size of the print run)

This would be an easy solution to implement and would eventually discourage scalpers. Why would anybody pay 60$ on ebay if they can get it direct from Varese?

BTW Tai-pan, this issue will keep coming up for discussion because the end users of the product are not happy with the current system. Whether it is fair or not, it is perceived differently. Every time that someone misses a release that they would have bought because they had to go to work or school or because they were on holiday they are going to feel cheated. Frankly many people don’t feel like they should have to stay up till 3:00 AM to be sure of having a chance at a release they don’t even know that they will want.

This issue is not going to away, no matter how many times it has been discussed because many don’t feel that a resolution has been reached.

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No matter where you go, there you are....Wait a minute! That's how it always works out.

I don't mind playing the villain in this thread.

First of all, not "everyone" feels cheated when they miss a release, it happens. It's happened to me. Second, when all these people, who complain ceaselessly, start putting up thousands of dollars to secure the rights to scores that they will then spend thousands more on to release, with the hope that all the copies will sell, so that they can do it all over again, then, and only then will I believe that they have something to legitimately complain about because they will have gone through what Intrada is going through. *whew*

Until that day, put your $20 back into pocket until the next score comes out. I have it on good authority that you'll live without the one you missed.

Tai 'Good Grief' Pan

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In the interest of saving space and not writing a novel, I completely agree with Tai-Pan.

In hindsight, yeah maybe several scores should have had larger print runs, but once again that is in hindsight. The whole limited edition release thing from what I can gather is partially due to contractual reasons and partially due to marketing reasons. As you see across many message boards several people say they will wait on releases that are unlimited so they can purchase limited releases before they sell out. Well that is exactly what the marketing aspect of the business wants you to do because they can turn their inventory quicker therefore creating more cash flow. Maybe a larger print run makes sense sometimes on these smaller print runs, but if you start inching it up to a higher amount that means the product will not move as quickly and then the labels sit on inventory longer therefore tying up capital. Like Intrada has stated they try to make the best decision based on past experiences and last time I checked a majority of us film score enthusiats are not in the business with our money at stake. So, I put my trust in all the record labels that they are making the best decisions for their company AND film score enthusiats.

There are plenty of scores that have limited runs that take a while to sell out. Look at all the Signature Edition scores that are limited runs of 1,200 units or less and there are still half which have not sold out yet. I know this may come as a shocker as well but those that did sell out took some time, they did not sell out in one day. AND we are talking some excellent composers as well in the Signature Collection including Bruce Broughton, Christopher Young, Mark McKenzie etc.

Granted, Varese has made a science out of the 1,000 print run releases and it is a well known fact within the film score community that if you are even slightly interested in the release you best buy it the day it is released. So, you make sure you are there when they are released to get an opportunity to purchase it and IMO while some of the Varese editions are wonderful, especially the Delerue, they are generally not as good as the Signature Collection releases of which several are still around. Varese knows it is a game and much of the inventory goes to speculators, but this is a pretty easy problem to solve. Stop buying from the ebay speculators, if you do then you are just continuing to fuel the speculators. As long as they know there is a market they will continue to be around. Instead of financing these speculators, ask around these message boards to see if you can work a deal with another fellow collector as I am sure that some buy an extra and might be willing to part with it to help another film score enthusiast.

If that doesn't work then like Tai-Pan said you missed a release, it is not the end of the world, save the money for another wonderful release down the road. As we hear all the time, we are very fortunate to be film score enthusiasts these days because pratically everything is getting released and it is impossible to keep up. So, while you might have missed a release here and a release there, ENJOY those scores that you have been able to acquire and be happy for the companies that sell out of an item cause they make some money and plow it back into so many other future releases which may just turn out to be one of those 'holy grail' scores.

Well apparently I did not save all that much space and really did write a novel. Never forget how fortunate you are and the opportunity you have to enjoy all the wonderful music that all of these record labels work so diligently to release because not everyone is as fortunate.

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No matter where you go, there you are....Wait a minute! That's how it always works out.

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No matter where you go, there you are....Wait a minute! That's how it always works out.