If you are
on a budget, you don’t have to buy pre-recorded CDs anymore.
From January to December last year, we wanted to see just what
music could be had by sharing with music fans on the net either
through snail-mail trades or using the net to download lossless
non-MP3 music.
None of the
music obtained were official releases by record companies. A small
exception was made for long out-of-print albums never issued on
CD or never reissued after a small pressing of CDs sold out.
It is not
a small amount by any means. Neither is the collection an assortment
of leftovers and unwanted music. Altogether we downloaded or traded
for a total of 3,321 CDs that amounted to 2,182 albums and boxsets.
Some sets had more than 20 CDs. We managed to share music from
all genres - pop, rock, metal, punk, soul, jazz, country, classical,
avant garde and ethnic.
The music
community has reached a point where many collectors are opening
their treasure chests to share really great music that has never
been released before. And the internet has made it happen.
To view our
2005 collection click here:
January to March
April to June
July to September
October to December
This year
in the US, retail sales took another beating as the figures have
been tallied. Almost 8 per cent down from the previous year. It’s
been falling for the past few years. While the RIAA likes to sue
music fans, they should do some self-examination. Look at the
high price of pre-recorded CDs, with prices as high as US$18.90.
Look at the music they have been releasing.
Here’s
something worth repeating written by Wes Phillips of Stereophile
magazine:
"...Mr
Record Executive, there’s your problem right here. You feed
us crap and you treat us like crooks - now you’re blaming
us for loading up our iPods with our own records and refusing
to buy yours. How stupid do you think we are?"
A change
is surely gonna come.
- The Little Chicken 
Part 1: Is Piracy Or The Music Industry That Is Really Killing The
Music?
Part II: Stop Protecting The Music Industry With Copyright
Part III: Spread The Word
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All
You Need Are Ideas
Here’s
one 12-CD set we obtained at the close of last year in a
snail-mail trade. It’s a brilliant idea of compiling
all the singles and promos ever released on the Beatles’
Apple label.
From
the first known pressing - an incredibly rare internal release
to the Beatles and their friends of Frank Sinatra singing
a birthday version of The Lady Is A Tramp for Ringo’s
wife Maureen, issued on vinyl 7-inch in August 1968 - to
The Beatles’ Free As A Bird soundtrack to the video.
The
set collects all the known releases of Apple artists like
Mary Hopkin, Jackie Lomax, The Iveys, James Taylor, Billy
Preston and others. Many of Mary Hopkin’s singles were
issued sung in different languages - French, Italian, Spanish
and Welsh - and all are here in one handy collection.
While
we already have many of the songs, some of the rarer items
would have been impossible to obtain if not for a group
of fans sharing their collection. This set came with this
advice:
"A
Beatleg creation not intended for commercial sale."
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Nitty
Gritty
We sourced reasonable
quality blanks, paper and ink. Here is the breakdown on
how much it cost to download and put on CD, 2,182 albums
with cover art.
a) Blank discs
- total used: 3,321
34 stacks @
S$25 each = S$850
b) Artwork
1 album = roughly
1 front, 1 back
2,182 albums
x 2 = 4,364 sheets of paper
4,364 = roughly
9 reams of paper
1 ream of paper
at S$4.60 x 9 = S$41.40
c) Printer Ink:
1 set of black
and colour refills = S$69
1 set per month
= S$69 x 12 = S$828
Total cost:
Blank discs
- S$850.00
Paper -
S$41.40
Ink- S $828.00
Total: S$1,719.40
(or about US$1,011)
(about 80 cents - or about US47 cents - per album)
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