[Dixielandjazz] Recordings - copying and show biz

[Larry Walton Entertainment]

 Tom said: Besides my CDs are also business cards and I am not afraid to 
use them as such when I see good booking opportunities.   They are 
Marketing Tools, not treasured Collectors items that folks should have 
to go look for.
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Overpricing isn't worth it as you point out.  Some years ago when I was 
in college I worked on and off for a guy named Mert Merly. (Mert Merly 
and the Rhythm Steppers  C&W band)  Mert always had records out (45's)  
He cut a record every few months.  The cost to him at that time (50's) 
was about $0.60 each.  Since records sold for about a dollar then why 
did he do it?  He would have 500 records cut.  He would first give about 
100 to the local Juke box guy.  At that time they were owned and 
operated by the mob as was our agent and the local DJ's.  Convenient one 
stop shopping sort of.  The agent got a few along with a few bucks to 
the local DJ's.  (what is the statute of limitations on payola?).  He 
then took 150 or so and gave them to the local music stores in several 
of the small towns. the rest he sold on the jobs.

While the records were a money losing proposition the gigs weren't.  
Mert was billed as a recording artist which carried a lot of weight with 
the public.  You could always find one of his tunes on the juke boxes 
and hear them on the radio station and they were in the record stores.

Now as far as I know no one ever heard of Mert Merley outside of SE 
Mo.and Southern Illinois but he could and did pack people in the 
roadhouses and halls and made top dollar.  The thing is that these guys 
weren't all that much better than anyone else but the records made a 
difference. Its called show biz.

As Tom pointed out CD's are worth more to you in someones hand with a 
business card than in your car waiting to be sold.

Today almost anyone can produce a CD that looks and sounds professional 
for not a lot of money.  Makes a great business card.
Larry Walton
St. Louis