LOADS OF MATT

[ROBERT M.]

Well that's your opinion should the others just have given up then?.

Don't know if you were asking me, but of course the others should not have given up (some are very good singers) but it's just that Matt is simply the best crooner/balladeer of all time. .......... he's in a class of his own .............full stop .....................and why ask if the others should give up, there would be no point in them giving up as all the other singers have many fans too, so why would they have to give up as their fans would miss them ...................it's just that Matt towers above the lot of them vocal wise

[Rmoore]

Can't previous sales on recent cd's sway them Richard?

Nothing prior to the Warner buyout matters to them.

[Rmoore]

Is that just general disinterest by Warners, or were they not happy with the level of sales for George Martin Years?

We hear nothing from Warners at all so we haven't got a clue how well it sold and wouldn't get the answer even if we asked. We (and therefore Matt) don't matter any more unfortunately

[mike]

Is that just general disinterest by Warners, or were they not happy with the level of sales for George Martin Years?

We hear nothing from Warners at all so we haven't got a clue how well it sold and wouldn't get the answer even if we asked. We (and therefore Matt) don't matter any more unfortunately

That's a real shame. After all the changes I remember you saying that finally some new person at Warners took enough interest to green light the George Martin CD. Now he has dropped off the radar too.

[maureen & harry]

It would seem then Richard that Warner will not be issuing anything new and does this mean sadly that we will not have anything new from anywhere.

[Rmoore]

does this mean sadly that we will not have anything new from anywhere.

Not at the moment. The two Matt releases I have put out on Mint Audio have not sold particularly well - Nobody wants Matt's Live recordings it seems. I'm also not being distributed by anyone but myself (not for the want of trying!) so none of my releases are available "everywhere" so at the moment I have no plans for any more Matt releases from my constantly cash strapped label. We do have unreleased material that has recently come to light, but as both Warner, Universal and any label that may have once asked to issue material are not rushing to get new product I don't know when a suitable project will come our way.

I am however working on a project with another artists estate and the BBC to issue a CD set of unreleased material that IF successful may lead on to other projects (and hopefully wider distribution!). I have often spoken of a "Complete Matt Monro" Featuring all of Matt's studio recordings completely remastered (besides material never on CD There are a few things left in the Capitol vaults that haven't been heard plus with all sorts of other bit & bobs we have collected) but the cost of licensing and manufacture of such a large set would probably run into tens of thousands, even as a limited edition. Maybe someday.

We are always open to ideas though. Should anyone have suggestions please let us know.

Richard

[Rmoore]

I remember you saying that finally some new person at Warners took enough interest to green light the George Martin CD. Now he has dropped off the radar too.

They were interested because of the George Martin angle and not even close to the interest Steve Woof took in Matt - Who up to the moment of the take over was EMI Gold's biggest seller. The gigantic rise of public domain releases, the reduction in the number of CD's being sold, the rise of downloads and streaming, music being uploaded wholesale to Youtube etc all are contributory factors. The Majors aren't issuing many archive sets on anyone these days other than the biggest acts - and many then charge extortionate amounts for smaller labels to license the recordings they aren't interested in, making the costs unrealistic.

The record business is not what it was. They would rather things sat on shelves never to be issued or reissued again than make any available to others at a sensible cost. I made enquires about a set by an artist who's back catalogue was mainly in the public domain and they wanted £10,000. This was for a set that might not sell more than 1000 in total if sold at £7.99 a pop - Meaning a loss even before the manufacturing and songwriter royalties.

It's not easy out there!

[karl]

I fail to see the point of material gathering dust on shelves but as Richard said the companies are so greedy asking for big bucks, surely It's better to ask for a lesser amount and let the public hear the tracks.
Some years ago recordings by Dusty were released that had been in the vaults for 30 years and many of them were fantastic as I'm sure Matt's are if we ever get to hear them.

[mike]

I remember you saying that finally some new person at Warners took enough interest to green light the George Martin CD. Now he has dropped off the radar too.

They were interested because of the George Martin angle and not even close to the interest Steve Woof took in Matt - Who up to the moment of the take over was EMI Gold's biggest seller. The gigantic rise of public domain releases, the reduction in the number of CD's being sold, the rise of downloads and streaming, music being uploaded wholesale to Youtube etc all are contributory factors. The Majors aren't issuing many archive sets on anyone these days other than the biggest acts - and many then charge extortionate amounts for smaller labels to license the recordings they aren't interested in, making the costs unrealistic.

The record business is not what it was. They would rather things sat on shelves never to be issued or reissued again than make any available to others at a sensible cost. I made enquires about a set by an artist who's back catalogue was mainly in the public domain and they wanted £10,000. This was for a set that might not sell more than 1000 in total if sold at £7.99 a pop - Meaning a loss even before the manufacturing and songwriter royalties.

It's not easy out there!

I guess I can understand the lack of interest in live CDs, but I enjoyed both of them.

It's hard to understand how a label can lose interest in it's best selling artist. Matt's CDs always seem to be selling well on Amazon, so some interest is still there. Very Best, Ultimate and The Singer's Singer still outsell those public domain releases.

does this mean sadly that we will not have anything new from anywhere.

Not at the moment. The two Matt releases I have put out on Mint Audio have not sold particularly well - Nobody wants Matt's Live recordings it seems. I'm also not being distributed by anyone but myself (not for the want of trying!) so none of my releases are available "everywhere" so at the moment I have no plans for any more Matt releases from my constantly cash strapped label. We do have unreleased material that has recently come to light, but as both Warner, Universal and any label that may have once asked to issue material are not rushing to get new product I don't know when a suitable project will come our way.

I am however working on a project with another artists estate and the BBC to issue a CD set of unreleased material that IF successful may lead on to other projects (and hopefully wider distribution!). I have often spoken of a "Complete Matt Monro" Featuring all of Matt's studio recordings completely remastered (besides material never on CD There are a few things left in the Capitol vaults that haven't been heard plus with all sorts of other bit & bobs we have collected) but the cost of licensing and manufacture of such a large set would probably run into tens of thousands, even as a limited edition. Maybe someday.

We are always open to ideas though. Should anyone have suggestions please let us know.

Richard

For a limited edition box set, would it be possible to use crowdfunding. At least that way you would only start the project if you got the funding, so nothing would be lost financially if it didn't happen.

If we are talking tens of thousands (maybe £40k at a guess) then you'd maybe be looking at around 500 people to sell it at a reasonable price and break even. Not easy, but not impossible if you get people to promote the funding. I see a fair amount of niche albums (such as soundtrack albums) being released that way. I'm sure Matt is more of an attraction than relatively obscure items like that.

[karl]

I am surprised that Matt's live cd's did not sell well as he is every bit as good live as in the studio, I am not his biggest fan but I bought the live cd's. And his live dvd's are wonderful.

[ROBERT M.]

Good points made by everyone ........thank you ........and let's hope some new releases see the light of day ..........eventually

[Rmoore]

For a limited edition box set, would it be possible to use crowdfunding. At least that way you would only start the project if you got the funding, so nothing would be lost financially if it didn't happen.

If we are talking tens of thousands (maybe £40k at a guess) then you'd maybe be looking at around 500 people to sell it at a reasonable price and break even. Not easy, but not impossible if you get people to promote the funding. I see a fair amount of niche albums (such as soundtrack albums) being released that way. I'm sure Matt is more of an attraction than relatively obscure items like that.[/quote]

Raising 40K via crowd funding for a CD Box set may be a bit optimistic. However I am testing the waters soon with a BBC set I'm working on with a different artist's estate. The exact amount required is still a little in the air currently but for just a 2 CD set i'm looking at about £5-6,000 due to all the royalties that will have to be paid. But it is something I'm playing with. Of course there is also no point spending the many hundreds of hours that it would take to put a Matt box together (much as I adore Matt) if I do it all for nothing - I do have to eat you see!

Never say never, but it's unlikely to be soon!

RIchard

[karl]

Today my HMV store only had eight Matt cd's so they'e sold some!

[mike]

For a limited edition box set, would it be possible to use crowdfunding. At least that way you would only start the project if you got the funding, so nothing would be lost financially if it didn't happen.

If we are talking tens of thousands (maybe £40k at a guess) then you'd maybe be looking at around 500 people to sell it at a reasonable price and break even. Not easy, but not impossible if you get people to promote the funding. I see a fair amount of niche albums (such as soundtrack albums) being released that way. I'm sure Matt is more of an attraction than relatively obscure items like that.

Raising 40K via crowd funding for a CD Box set may be a bit optimistic. However I am testing the waters soon with a BBC set I'm working on with a different artist's estate. The exact amount required is still a little in the air currently but for just a 2 CD set i'm looking at about £5-6,000 due to all the royalties that will have to be paid. But it is something I'm playing with. Of course there is also no point spending the many hundreds of hours that it would take to put a Matt box together (much as I adore Matt) if I do it all for nothing - I do have to eat you see!

Never say never, but it's unlikely to be soon!

RIchard[/quote]

No, I fully understand that you need to earn a crust. I guess the probability is that with no record company interest, a box set (or any further Matt at all) just isn't going to happen.

I just wondered if crowdfunding might be an alternative way. Maybe if the aim was to raise money for one album at a time, then the tiger would be that much lower.

In any case I guess we have had a good run of Matt releases from the late 90s through to 2016, especially the last 10 years. So thanks to you Richard, and to Michele, for getting those items released.

[karl]

Eight Matt cd's in HMV this week.