Waiting for 'Everything Under The Sun'

[TomBairdFan]

Stoney and Meatloaf's Everything Under The Sun is still selling. I know, because I just bought a brand new copy. The CD has been one of my prime wants since it's debut. I got the original LP on Rare Earth when it was first released and then also purchased the clumsy 'Meatloaf Featuring Stoney & Meatloaf' LP on Prodigal, and was a big fan. Two things stopped me getting the 'Everything Under The Sun' CD set when it was first released: accessibility and price. Being resident in continental Europe, I waited a long time for a European retailer to import the CD and offer it at a reasonable price. Unfortunately, all those that became available were priced way beyond my value threshold! Ordering a copy from the UK or US meant being subject to high customs duties and fees, so I just patiently waited it out. Amazon in Europe recently listed it at a much more reasonable price and I then felt justified in spending some Christmas money on the set that I'd hoped to acquire long ago. Of course, I am now absolutely delighted to have 'Everything Under The Sun', especially since it was made by some of my favorite Motown people! The sound is superb, and you can sense all the care and attention that went into making it. I am very aware that the only way that Real Gone Music could make this available was to price it high. It's a superb set and they have to be able to make a profit from it. Alas, the price was a real barrier to me, and I presume I'm not alone. Although there is so much in the double set, I wonder if there is still a chance that a slimmed-down single CD version at a more reasonably price might have a better chance of achieving a higher volume of [[profitable) sales in the marketplace? I know that if something like a 16 track single CD version priced around $15.99 had been released in the first place, I would have bought it as soon as it was available, instead of waiting so long for the price of the 2CD set to come down enough to trigger my purchase. That's my rant over; now I'm off to enjoy all the glorious stuff on 'Everything Under The Sun'!

[mysterysinger]

Congratulations on your purchase - hours of fun await you.

It's currently £22.16 on UK Amazon - great price - but, of course, it's below the £25.00 order threshold for free delivery [[and I certainly won't fork out for Amazon Prime). So with shipping at £3.99, this totals £26.15 to buy now.

I paid £30.05 for my copy back in 2022 so the 18 months or so of listening [[and reading) pleasure cost me £3.90. Makes sense to me that I bough when I did.

Now - not many can afford to buy everything - and I very often hang fire in the hope of products becoming cheaper. Quite a thrill to buy them at a much cheaper price. Of course with so little Motown coming out now on CD - now's a good time to buy anything you've missed out on.

Long live the Motown CD.

[Roger Polhill]

Bring back Ben!!

[mysterysinger]

Bring back Ben!!

Ben's CD were very nice but far from cheap [[certainly not $15.99) and as far as I know he kept all the profits - so no chance of royalties for the artists there then. Dunno what's happened to royalties from the Stoney & Meatloaf project so far but obviously it can be bought officially on the open market.

[ralpht]

Singer,.... to date, no royalties have been paid.

[ralpht]

In spite of lack of royalties, I´m pleased to know EUTS is still selling. I was always proud of that album. All involved worked very hard on the production.

[mysterysinger]

Singer,.... to date, no royalties have been paid.

That's sad to hear. Not sure how these things work but to my mind Real Gone seems to be a reputable organisation - would royalties come via some other third party?

[Shaun Murphy (Stoney)]

Singer,.... to date, no royalties have been paid.

Hey Ralph, Funny how things go [[or not!).....this has always been a thorn in the side, I know neither Meat Loaf or myself have ever gotten a penny, even, and including, the original sales back in '71......
All the best to you, and Happy New Year!!!!!
XO,
Shaun [[Stoney)

[ralpht]

Yes Shaun. But at Motown you and Meat had session costs to pay for. That probably ate up your royalties. That is not the case with this present release other than the very nice packaging. I would just like to have received some sort of sales figure.

[ralpht]

Universal Motown and some other company was involved in the deal M.S.

[mysterysinger]

Universal Motown and some other company was involved in the deal M.S.

The mechanisms of this are quite intriguing but I'm obviously not understanding any of it. If Universal own the work then Real Gone would have had to pay substantial licensing fees plus the costs of design, packaging, marketing and distribution.

Would it then be Universal who would pay a portion of the royalties - assuming any were due to the artists? Would Real Gone be due also to pay royalties based on any profits on sales and then would the Performing Rights Societies have to pay royalties in the event of performance of each track [[and to whom)?

[ralpht]

M.S. Early on I inquired about a contract for the project and was told Universal was handling the legalities since the company had access to previous contracts. I expected some sort of communication with them but nothing ever occurred. It was at this time that my suspicions of some sort of a hose job was taking place.

[ralpht]

In reality, I really don´t care about the royalties. I´m quite sure that there wouldn´t be enough for me to build my dream studio. I wanted this more for Shaun. A major talent who has never gotten the recognition she deserves. I was hoping for some better promotion from the companies to help get her to her rightful place in music hierarchy but that never happened.