boywonder
12-13-2010, 04:30 PM
As many may be aware, under present copyright laws, sound recordings become public domain after 50 years [[which might soon be changed to 70 years, to keep Beatles records in the hands of EMI, and in turn to keep EMI solvent! http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8411741.stm)
Anyway, as it stands there are several companieas legally releasing unlicensed 50's music.
Some vary in quality and sometimes it is difficult to know if the music will be straight from vinyl or other sources. It also means that there is no requirement to pay any royalties to the artists who made the music.
I have three questions; which reissue companies are [[a) releasing unlicensed music, [[b) not paying any royalties and [[c) which sources are being used if it is not vinyl.
[[a) is not too important if I am being honest. If royalties are paid to the artists [[or, more likely, their families) and the sound quality is good, I have no qualms about companies legally bypassing any licensing to do this. But the prices of some reissues are so low, I doubt that many do pay any royalties or bother mastering songs.
I am sure that in one of my Ace/Kent cd's it stated that royalties were always paid to artists, even when they were not required by copyright. I also wonder how a record company can reissue music without access to the masters, unless they use vinyl.
Ace/Kent- are above board. I would say the same about Shout/RPM. Non-independant reissuers, such as Rhino, Hip-O, Motown UK, Stateside, are also of less interest.
The ones I am confused about are Charly [[e.g. Vee Jay Records looks like it might be official, and most of their cd's seem to be directly licensed from LicenseMusic.com Aps [[again, I know very little about this company, does anyone know how they obtained these licenses in the first place?), Proper Records [[I have a Muddy Waters boxset, most of it doesn't sound like it is from vinyl, but where were the tracks sourced from?) JSP, Floating World Records [[some of their stuff must be properly licensed- they re-issued the Capricorn cd on Jewel/Paula, which includes 70's songs), BGO records, Goldmine, Demon group [[including Edsel), Future Noise, Red/Membran, SPV, Rhythm & Blues Records [[the company doing the History of Rhythm and Blues boxsets) and NotNow Music. I know there is a company, Hallmark, who seem to be doing straight-from vinyl budget re-issues of original LP's.
I would certainly buy a lot more from these companies if I knew that some of it went to the artists/their families or at least that the music was not straight from vinyl. Does anyone know about these independant labels? Any info would be much appreciated.
Anyway, as it stands there are several companieas legally releasing unlicensed 50's music.
Some vary in quality and sometimes it is difficult to know if the music will be straight from vinyl or other sources. It also means that there is no requirement to pay any royalties to the artists who made the music.
I have three questions; which reissue companies are [[a) releasing unlicensed music, [[b) not paying any royalties and [[c) which sources are being used if it is not vinyl.
[[a) is not too important if I am being honest. If royalties are paid to the artists [[or, more likely, their families) and the sound quality is good, I have no qualms about companies legally bypassing any licensing to do this. But the prices of some reissues are so low, I doubt that many do pay any royalties or bother mastering songs.
I am sure that in one of my Ace/Kent cd's it stated that royalties were always paid to artists, even when they were not required by copyright. I also wonder how a record company can reissue music without access to the masters, unless they use vinyl.
Ace/Kent- are above board. I would say the same about Shout/RPM. Non-independant reissuers, such as Rhino, Hip-O, Motown UK, Stateside, are also of less interest.
The ones I am confused about are Charly [[e.g. Vee Jay Records looks like it might be official, and most of their cd's seem to be directly licensed from LicenseMusic.com Aps [[again, I know very little about this company, does anyone know how they obtained these licenses in the first place?), Proper Records [[I have a Muddy Waters boxset, most of it doesn't sound like it is from vinyl, but where were the tracks sourced from?) JSP, Floating World Records [[some of their stuff must be properly licensed- they re-issued the Capricorn cd on Jewel/Paula, which includes 70's songs), BGO records, Goldmine, Demon group [[including Edsel), Future Noise, Red/Membran, SPV, Rhythm & Blues Records [[the company doing the History of Rhythm and Blues boxsets) and NotNow Music. I know there is a company, Hallmark, who seem to be doing straight-from vinyl budget re-issues of original LP's.
I would certainly buy a lot more from these companies if I knew that some of it went to the artists/their families or at least that the music was not straight from vinyl. Does anyone know about these independant labels? Any info would be much appreciated.