Good one again. I guess longest thinking moments could be cut away to get faster pace... but in other hand, not in such a hurry, haha..
Excuse for long message cluttering WCN topic, but there is interesting thing what is mentioned, but no real conclusion made. Those who have not yet watched the episode, there is question about why CD would be 10-15 euro, while tape is more expensive to make, but can't be usually sold for high price. Prices used to be 5-7e. Now they are 7-9e. Some labels, more.
I think question of the prices of tapes vs prices of CD or records, is something where most tend to forget that price of format in general, is not only the manufacturing cost. In most music styles, there are A LOT of other costs involved in making album, where the actually price of pressing the CD, especially the disc itself, is the smallest. One can think the usual music band, who'll have studio, mastering, someone to make the cover art, someone to design. Of course, in underground music it can be home studio, friend mastering, self made design and all that, but many times even in something like rough metal music, cover artists can ask hundreds for front cover painting. Mastering or studio can cost several hundreds, even thousands. CD is format that enables that to take place. Perhaps necessity to buy advertising place. Even just pay add into Noise Receptor, Noisextra and WCN podcast for the CD album in question - so you make people aware there are these 300 copies you try to get rid off. What it's going to cost? Quite significant addition to mere manufacturing cost, just for sake of reaching enough people. If you send out bunch of freebies in hopes of review, or even sending out big box of royalties to overseas can add significant extra cost to CD, what isn't often calculated when you compare it with some self financed C-20...?
For small edition tape, you barely need any of that. Editions are often sold out. Manufacturing per unit, may be higher, but risk of ending up half of pressing unsold, is very small. Time or money you need to spend on promotion and arranging deals is small. And if that would be to happen that you really can't sell all, losses are small and often even tapes are possible to recycle. Yes, I agree that tape format is becoming expensive to the point that old type fun with tapes is soon gone. Still, I am sometimes amazed when people would talk about "getting your money back". As that tends to often mean exactly that. Literally getting your money back. It seems more like need of evaluation what is money and what it is one really needs? There are some people, very few, who does it for legit work. They may need money back for sake of sustaining their operations. Pretty much everybody else seems to have strange new school attitude. Everything is commodity, and everything is for profit and money is what is key element in all. To me it seems exactly zeitgeist of the culture now, another topic they deal in WCN podcast. It could be good topic to dive further. To talk in what ways noise is alternative culture, if it gets trapped into operation that is 100% same as mainstream culture, just less successful?
Anyways, getting your money back, is often irrelevant. Money as means of exchange can be skipped. You get back experience, you get back spark to cultivate your creative urges. You get most often life time long friendships that inspire you into new things. Even putting together special tape release.. I would think most do it, just because it is somehow rewarding. To get the task done, as unpleasant and dull as it may have been, simply getting it done is getting something back. Just this summer I was talking to one kid, who father I know, who was insisting to get paid for chopping firewood. I asked him where comes this obsession of money? Don't you realize you get paid, in building muscles, growing motoric skills, stamina, experience all together, being respected for being useful. Money should be the most irrelevant of your needs. Opportunity to man up and not ask for hand outs.
Anyways, in CD price, besides it traditionally enable to cover costs involved in making the album (besides pressing of disc), price is most of all enabler of wider distribution. If you got a tape, priced on 8 euro. Wholesale might be 5 even 6. Plus post. Distributors will have to sell item so high, people are no longer buying. For guy like me, who is in unpleasant situation of having to pay taxes, getting tape for 6e+shipping.. probably around 7-8e depending where it comes from. Putting price tag of 12 euros would seem harsh, but VAT (value added tax) takes 24% and leaves 1,5e profit. That is profit, unless you count out any packaging material of money lost in offering flat-rate shipping that is below the actual shipping cost. If most of items you'd basically sell at loss, that may be fine, but in long term not be sustainable system to sustain operations. All record stores and mailorders probably understand this. Fact that you can wholesale item to shop or distro for price, that they have still chance to have small cut for themselves, but price remains close to what original label is asking. That is usually mandatory. Some sort of psychological reason, that if labels sells cd for 5usd, most customers don't want to pay 12 euro for it. Just because feeling someone is ripping them off. When label sets price to 12usd, wholesales at 5usd and dealer sells for 12euro, everybody is happy. While some people think cheap price makes people buy stuff, I must say most often it might be that slightly higher price and suitable format enables wider distribution.
I may have mentioned before, but as single example, one could wonder how many copies of something like Human Larvae tapes sold to Japan? Being often editions of 100, one could suspect not that many. Then latest CD on Freak Animal, I guess close to 50 copies when there. Tape could never do it. CD priced on bargain level could not do either. Too expensive collectibles that have to be ordered at your own store couldn't either. What I am interested in, is not thinking how small scene must be, because there is not so much visible reactions. I would rather think how could all these thousands and thousands of people made aware of particular release or make it reachable for some of them. Of course not that huge amount of money was made with selling 50 CD's to Japan, but if one day, this artist goes to do gig in Tokyo and says wow, people knew my work and there was audience - that would be the real payment. Knowing that label was useful for artist, doing something what labels (in my opinion) should be doing.
