reissues of classic disco titles

[ol'skinflint]

do you think that if we were to bombard a record company with requests that they may consider re-releasing some of the titles that are currently unavailable on CD (like Munich Machine and the 20th Century/Casablanca/RCA Ritchie Family titles)? So far, 2 record companies I've emailed (Wounded Bird Records and Rhino Records) have sent me emails saying they "take requests", whatever that means....

[eddie]

I have noticed a pattern to what Wounded Bird, Spy, and even Collectables records are getting. They are getting original Lps to put on Cd (which is good) but only from select labels chiefly the Warner/Elektra/Atlantic dynasty. Rhino handmade also handles their catalog as well.

Hipo-select handles Universal releases and has put out original Lps on Cd by David Ruffin, Eddie Kendricks, Peaches and Herb, Isaac Hayes, and the Bar-kays.

[SandraDee]

I find that lots of LPs get issued on CD in Japan but nowhere else in the world. Why do Japan get all the goodies? Japanese imports are always so expensive but if you want Bionic Boogie or Margie Joseph or Marc Sadane original LPs on CD that's the price you have to pay unfortunately.

[eddie]

Companies like Sony have facilities in Japan to press these discs. In the artist's original contracts it most often states that imports and promotional product yield a smaller royalty or no royalty. At the time, the artist obviously didn't think that an import would be the only format for their product.

[ol'skinflint]

Originally Posted by SandraDee

I find that lots of LPs get issued on CD in Japan but nowhere else in the world. Why do Japan get all the goodies? Japanese imports are always so expensive but if you want Bionic Boogie or Margie Joseph or Marc Sadane original LPs on CD that's the price you have to pay unfortunately.

I read somewhere (not recently though) that nobody buys CDs in Japan because they rent them instead, apparently the copyright laws are different there. Has anyone ever heard that before? Anyway, if I could get decent (high quality) reissue CDs at an affordable price, I wouldn't care much where they were made. But paying $20 for a CD reissue of an album I paid a quarter for (or, in many cases, no money at all) is usually beyond my means....they don't call me ol'skinflint for nothing.

[Graham_Start]

Yes, you can rent CDs in Japan.