[Dixielandjazz] Sorry, Tom. More realities of jazz recording

[Vaxtrpts at aol.com]

In a message dated 2/2/2006 3:08:18 P.M. Pacific Standard Time,  
tcashwigg at aol.com writes:

With all  due respect Mike:

those 58% of music fans are correct, on both counts  of their statements.

It's all in how it's done,  I have produced  and sold a lot of 
recordings since 1978, on some pretty diverse genres of  music, and I 
have sold them anywhere from $6.50 to $8.00 wholesale and  made a 
substantial amount of profit at that price for the record label  which 
sold about 150,000 copies of each in vinyl no less.  They  actually 
retailed for $16.99 to $33.00  each   So Who do  you think made the most 
money?  The distributor and the retailer  that's who.   

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Sorry, Tom, you are WRONG!!!!!
You have lived in a different world with your pop stuff.  Most of us  don't 
sell wholesale to some big company.  Most bands put the recordings  out 
themselves and sell to the people who come to hear the band.  Some  bands do pretty 
well that way.  We will NEVER sell 150,000 copies in any  manner.  Almost NO 
jazz artists do that!
And don't come on to us like you are the only one who knows how to sell  
properly or you don't have just as big an ego as the rest of us.  We make  
recordings to get our music to fans and have a "legacy" of what we have created  as 
musicians.  If that is egotistic, then so be it!  We don't "shop"  for the 
cheapest studio, engineers, or art work.  We want some  quality.  
And I REALLY resent your even suggesting that we "shop" for cheaper  
musicians.  WE use the musicians who work with us all the time.  WE  try to pay them 
at least something for their time.  We don't ask them to  work for only a "cut 
of the profits."  Some union band leaders actually  find a way to pay union 
scale for their recordings and they pay the pension and  dues.
I am not in the union any more, so I work different deals with the  musicians.
I do have to admit that my big band musicians record for a lot less  than 
what they should be paid, because $5.00 from every CD we sell goes into our  
scholarship fund to send young people to summer jazz camps, through my  nonprofit. 
 Even with that, to record a big band costs a few thousand  dollars before 
you even talk about studio time or production.
Sorry, but as you can see, your message really "pissed me off."
Mike Vax