No seriously…Why?
Pricing aside, why are Presto’s “distributors” continuously “out of stock” on so many new releases? They’re new! How can they already be out of stock on release day? The answer, of course, is that they never had them in stock to begin with. So the obvious question is – why do labels even announce a release date if they can’t meet it? Wondering if I could get any kind of explanation from Presto (their customer service is excellent), I emailed them asking why they can’t get product these days. They didn’t have an explanation and empathized with me, stating something like, ‘yeah we wonder why too’. I further expressed, only half jokingly, that I’ve all but given up trying to buy new Classical CDs and maybe it’s time I find a new hobby. (Ha!) They didn’t laugh at that, but tactfully stated they understood my obvious frustration.1
And then there’s Amazon, which is just a joke. They can’t be taken seriously or relied on for anything in this realm. They just list stuff randomly cuz a label announced a release date and who cares if it’s really available or not. Or maybe some seller in Japan or Germany can get it to you – for about $300 plus $30 shipping. (I’m exaggerating, but not by much.) Sometimes it’s available, sometimes it’s not; and Amazon doesn’t care. They just like to tantalize us. I’ve even seen them occasionally list a title, which is otherwise completely unavailable, as an import from Amazon-Germany – at a price so high your head spins. As if anyone is that desperate to buy a Classical CD. Worst of all, Amazon’s Marketplace sellers are becoming scarce – which is extremely troubling. I could almost always count on a 3rd party seller offering newer releases at substantially reduced prices a few weeks after the official release date. And others would routinely offer used copies. But those sellers have all but disappeared in the past few months. Some of these CD titles are simply not available anywhere.
With everything we’re seeing, someone somewhere has to have an explanation, or a reason for it, or some kind of understanding of what is happening in the world of Classical CD distribution and sales today. But I’ve not seen one yet. One observation I’ve made (and Presto, not in so many words, confirmed my suspicion) is that the problem seems to stem from one source – Naxos distribution (aka NGL – Naxos Global Logistics). I believe Naxos bit off way more than it could chew when it began gobbling up international distribution services for nearly every Classical label in the universe – including bigger ones like Chandos. And they simply can’t deliver. Thanks, Naxos. You went from being a wonderful, affordable Classical music label that everyone loved to screwing up an entire industry. (And they’re FAR from a “budget” label anymore.) And apparently there’s serious shipping issues on top of availability issues. So we can’t win.2
There are even a couple of record labels, with whom I’ve established contact over the years, wanting to occasionally send me a review copy of a new title that might interest me (and likely can’t get anywhere else), and even they can’t ship them to me anymore. One rep says shipping rates are so ridiculously high they can’t ship anywhere outside of Germany, and another says customs is stopping their international shipments outside of Poland. Why?
I’m no expert on these things. I don’t really understand how it all works – how people get their stuff recorded (or who pays for it), or why a label decides to produce and market something with their logo (or who pays for that), or how it ultimately gets distributed to market. And frankly, I really don’t care. I’m just an average guy wanting to buy CDs for my own personal pleasure.3 And it really is a passion for me – not just the listening, but the collecting part. I see a new release that I want and I order it and it comes in the mail. I listen with interest, and if it motivates me (positively or negatively), I review it. It really should be that simple.
But it isn’t anymore. And I suppose when you get right down to it, I think what’s happening right now ultimately boils down to one thing. As one label representative, whom I trust, recently lamented in an email to me – “No one wants CDs anymore. No one cares about quality, or good sound. Everybody just wants to download it and listen on their earbuds.” I suppose if you’re listening to some rap crap, or some pop or country-western monotony, then your cellphone is perfect for that. Because who cares what it sounds like? But for Classical music – a symphony orchestra in full cry, or a string quartet at its most expressive? Come on. Are people really going to MP3 that on their computer or phone and actually accept it as good enough?
Yes. Yes, it seems that’s exactly what people are doing. Download and streaming versions are everywhere – often available before official release date and at reduced prices. And those few of us remaining that still care about quality and want to buy CDs are stuck having a hard time just trying to find physical product. And there are so few online sites that even sell CDs anymore, we have nowhere to turn. I have at least half a dozen titles in my watchlist that I’ve been wanting to get for the past 6 months, and they’re simply not available for purchase (often not even from the record label directly) – at least not at a price I’m willing to pay.
So you might ask, why not branch out and get some other titles I wouldn’t normally buy in the meantime? Well, it goes right back to price. Years ago, you’d find an intriguing title, offered at a relatively affordable (well, at least reasonable) price, and be enticed to “branch out” and get excited about exploring something different. But not today. There’s no way one can afford to just randomly take chances on things unknown like we used to. That’s just the reality of it. And it’s disheartening, because that takes a lot of the fun out of this passion/hobby.
So I write all this mainly to let off some steam and get it off my chest. But also to point out to anyone who’s noticed why my reviews have fallen off in number lately. I simply can’t acquire what I want to listen to in a timely manner. I have, though, just recently obtained a few that have been on my list for months and new reviews are starting to flow again. But sadly, I’m already seeing the cycle continuing with new titles released this year. I was hoping the Classical recording industry would rise up out of the ashes of the holiday slump, but so far it’s happening very slowly. If anything, it seems to be getting worse with each passing week.
1 The folks at Presto are great. They certainly mean well and do everything they can to satisfy customers. None of this is their fault.
2 It’s interesting I’m not seeing reviewers in Europe complaining about this. And I think the reason is easy to work out. Large-scale review sites and magazines like Gramophone either receive free promo copies directly from the labels in exchange for a review, or more likely these days, a link to the download version – which they find perfectly acceptable substitutes for review purposes. They have quick and easy access to them on demand and sound quality becomes a secondary consideration; they just want to get a review in print.
3 Nearly all of my reviews are of CDs I am interested in and have purchased with my own money. My blog is just me, and I rarely receive “promo” copies from record labels or artists. When I do, I disclose that fact in my review for context.
