Definitive Audiophile pressings

It sold out?

Cock rock/hair metal may actually be the worse form of music imaginable. Terrible people make terrible music with terrible lyrics whilst looking terrible. It’s the musical equivalent of the penis office block in “How I Met Your Mother”
yep. The most recent restocks on both I believe were the last copies. Probably only restocked a few copies this time. The sell out though includes the albums purchased by stores. Twisted Sister at least is still in stores everywhere here. I think it was 3,000 copies total.
 
Also that album came out in 1984. The mid 80s were absolutely stacked with great music. Google album of any year from1984-1986. Look at the lists, they’re mega. And that’s the choice not just of band or album, but genre...
Yes, that is exactly why I think licensing is a big issue now. I'd bet between us, we could come up with a list of close to 100 albums between 1984 and 1986 that deserve MoFi level treatment more than Twisted Sister. Makes one think that labels and rights holders are being a lot more hesitant about licensing.
 
Yes, that is exactly why I think licensing is a big issue now. I'd bet between us, we could come up with a list of close to 100 albums between 1984 and 1986 that deserve MoFi level treatment more than Twisted Sister. Makes one think that labels and rights holders are being a lot more hesitant about licensing.
But I wanna rock... 😉😂
 
Yes, that is exactly why I think licensing is a big issue now. I'd bet between us, we could come up with a list of close to 100 albums between 1984 and 1986 that deserve MoFi level treatment more than Twisted Sister. Makes one think that labels and rights holders are being a lot more hesitant about licensing.

There will be some issues there but equally they’re licensing the old shit and from pretty damn big labels, and a mix of them, it’s not just the support of one major pushing them product. I think staleness in A&R is every bit as big, or potentially even bigger, an issue.
 
There will be some issues there but equally they’re licensing the old shit and from pretty damn big labels, and a mix of them, it’s not just the support of one major pushing them product. I think staleness in A&R is every bit as big, or potentially even bigger, an issue.
The three biggest names of the past year: Dylan, Miles, and Cash have all been Columbia.

I agree they are getting albums from other labels, but no one on the level of those three (in fairness, few are). I'm hopeful that this is a lull.
 
The three biggest names of the past year: Dylan, Miles, and Cash have all been Columbia.

I agree they are getting albums from other labels, but no one on the level of those three (in fairness, few are). I'm hopeful that this is a lull.

They do seem to have a good working relationship with Sony alright but the did they Marvin one step and I think Motown is now universal and I think there are a few Warner’s artists in this years mediocre parade and they have rhino as an in house option.
 
They do seem to have a good working relationship with Sony alright but the did they Marvin one step and I think Motown is now universal and I think there are a few Warner’s artists in this years mediocre parade and they have rhino as an in house option.
I’ve said it before but there’s nothing stopping the big labels from going straight to RTI to press their own One Steps or audiophile pressings. MoFi doesn’t own anything proprietary as far as I know. We have seen it with Rhino and Craft and Blue Note. There’s no reason to give their best titles over to MoFi. The labels own the music already, so just skip MoFi. If MoFi wants to pay to license Twisted Sisfer the labels are fine with it.
 
They do seem to have a good working relationship with Sony alright but the did they Marvin one step and I think Motown is now universal and I think there are a few Warner’s artists in this years mediocre parade and they have rhino as an in house option.
I am interested in the one step licensing, because that's a relatively new thing. I could see the bigger labels saying sure, you can do 2LP 45rpm supervinyl editions and we get the 33 rpm. Craft getting into the one step game is a big deal due to the amounts of rights they hold. Curious if you see Sony or Universal get into that game soon.
 
I’ve said it before but there’s nothing stopping the big labels from going straight to RTI to press their own One Steps or audiophile pressings. MoFi doesn’t own anything proprietary as far as I know. We have seen it with Rhino and Craft and Blue Note. There’s no reason to give their best titles over to MoFi. The labels own the music already, so just skip MoFi. If MoFi wants to pay to license Twisted Sisfer the labels are fine with it.
..........and yet, for the most part, they don't do it. In my opinion, in time, the "Audiophile" pressing craziness will die down, the thing is that for whatever reason it's become THE hot item to EVERYONE. I mentioned this before, but it seems like pretty much all the Youtubers have glommed on to these pressings, when in the past it wasn't even a thought.

On top of that, I still think the bulk is being snatched up by flippers, they have nothing better to do than camp and wait, and there's always some green behind the ear, new to the hobby, buyer that just buys the OOP hook, line and sinker. When the casual buyer of these pressings wakes up and starts to ask "Why", because they went that route for the wrong reason in the first place and sales start to dwindle in the aftermarket and flippers end up having to sell near purchase price, all we be back to normal................I can dream ;)
 
..........and yet, for the most part, they don't do it. In my opinion, in time, the "Audiophile" pressing craziness will die down, the thing is that for whatever reason it's become THE hot item to EVERYONE. I mentioned this before, but it seems like pretty much all the Youtubers have glommed on to these pressings, when in the past it wasn't even a thought.

On top of that, I still think the bulk is being snatched up by flippers, they have nothing better to do than camp and wait, and there's always some green behind the ear, new to the hobby, buyer that just buys the OOP hook, line and sinker. When the casual buyer of these pressings wakes up and starts to ask "Why", because they went that route for the wrong reason in the first place and sales start to dwindle in the aftermarket and flippers end up having to sell near purchase price, all we be back to normal................I can dream ;)
I definitely agree that flippers and releasing these albums in batches instead of dropping the entire print run at once has created the FOMO hook, line and sinker.

Curious as to what the market holds, particularly as we get out of the COVID-19 closures and there become more opportunities for people to spend their money elsewhere.
 
I am interested in the one step licensing, because that's a relatively new thing. I could see the bigger labels saying sure, you can do 2LP 45rpm supervinyl editions and we get the 33 rpm. Craft getting into the one step game is a big deal due to the amounts of rights they hold. Curious if you see Sony or Universal get into that game soon.

One step was an idea that Tim De Paravicini had and suggested that mofi do as the “ultimate pressing quality”. It’s not proprietary to mofi or a pressing plant, anyone could do the process anywhere if they wanted to. It is a realty costly process in comparison (1,000 records per lacquer rather than 100.000) so normal labels who are looking at overheads and margins likely just don’t care enough.
 
..........and yet, for the most part, they don't do it. In my opinion, in time, the "Audiophile" pressing craziness will die down, the thing is that for whatever reason it's become THE hot item to EVERYONE. I mentioned this before, but it seems like pretty much all the Youtubers have glommed on to these pressings, when in the past it wasn't even a thought.

On top of that, I still think the bulk is being snatched up by flippers, they have nothing better to do than camp and wait, and there's always some green behind the ear, new to the hobby, buyer that just buys the OOP hook, line and sinker. When the casual buyer of these pressings wakes up and starts to ask "Why", because they went that route for the wrong reason in the first place and sales start to dwindle in the aftermarket and flippers end up having to sell near purchase price, all we be back to normal................I can dream ;)

They always sold and grew in price on cogs but it was a more gradual process. COVID really has overheated that market and the pace of that process has gone boom. Hopefully it quiets down when we are out of this but I’m not as confident that it will, at least not immediately.
 
..........and yet, for the most part, they don't do it. In my opinion, in time, the "Audiophile" pressing craziness will die down, the thing is that for whatever reason it's become THE hot item to EVERYONE. I mentioned this before, but it seems like pretty much all the Youtubers have glommed on to these pressings, when in the past it wasn't even a thought.

On top of that, I still think the bulk is being snatched up by flippers, they have nothing better to do than camp and wait, and there's always some green behind the ear, new to the hobby, buyer that just buys the OOP hook, line and sinker. When the casual buyer of these pressings wakes up and starts to ask "Why", because they went that route for the wrong reason in the first place and sales start to dwindle in the aftermarket and flippers end up having to sell near purchase price, all we be back to normal................I can dream ;)
There are definitely flippers buying these but I don’t think it’s only them...the Hoffman crowd and MoFi usual crowd are buying them up like crazy too...and MoFi albums have almost always held their value and gone up. It’s not something new. The thing that will change is MoFi saying they will keep most new releases in print and not limited to 4,000 copies or whatever. Dire Straits is an example of that. Flippers will still say “OOP!” when the albums aren’t in stock but if you keep up on what’s not limited then if ya miss a repress just wait for the next one.
 
Even if a label just followed the Blue Note example, with having a small team overseeing the project to ensure quality. Between BN 80, Tone Poets and BN Classics, they have produced 100 titles so far. (They probably would have been more if not for COVID). They are not 'audiophile' but they are above average pressings and great value for money. But I doubt any title had an initial pressing run of higher than 5000. And now Blue Note has a built in crowd who is buying about 75-100% of their reissues as they produce them.
 
Even if a label just followed the Blue Note example, with having a small team overseeing the project to ensure quality. Between BN 80, Tone Poets and BN Classics, they have produced 100 titles so far. (They probably would have been more if not for COVID). They are not 'audiophile' but they are above average pressings and great value for money. But I doubt any title had an initial pressing run of higher than 5000. And now Blue Note has a built in crowd who is buying about 75-100% of their reissues as they produce them.

I think that’s much easier at a smaller label specialising almost entirely on one genre and with a small leadership group. Could you imagine even attempting to do that coherently at Sony music or universal with their catalogue size. And that’s before having to pass it all through accounting, corporate and marketing...
 
I think that’s much easier at a smaller label specialising almost entirely on one genre and with a small leadership group. Could you imagine even attempting to do that coherently at Sony music or universal with their catalogue size. And that’s before having to pass it all through accounting, corporate and marketing...
Totally agree, but they are also part of the big UME machine. The fact that Verve/Impulse seems to be struggling with trying to the same thing and they are part of the same umbrella group shows how hard it can be.

Sadly, it would have to be a label that is quite old (50-60+ years). With Blue Note, finding copies of similar or better pressings would be expensive compared to the new reissues. But with Factory or Rough Trade or Creation, you can still find OGs that won't require you re-mortgaging your house.
 
Totally agree, but they are also part of the big UME machine. The fact that Verve/Impulse seems to be struggling with trying to the same thing and they are part of the same umbrella group shows how hard it can be.

Sadly, it would have to be a label that is quite old (50-60+ years). With Blue Note, finding copies of similar or better pressings would be expensive compared to the new reissues. But with Factory or Rough Trade or Creation, you can still find OGs that won't require you re-mortgaging your house.

It is but it always feels more like an associate. They manage their own affairs and get on with it. I think the major would only be bothering them if they were losing significant money. Verve, a bit like Creation and Factory appear dead as a going concern and bar their logo on the release they’re effectively just a part of the larger machine.
 
For you UK folks...no idea how these prices compare to other places for AP/MoFi titles, but this site has come to my attention for somewhere to buy titles from those labels. Some prices seem crazy to me but just not sure what the going rate is at shops over there:

 
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