STREAMING is the KING……...and before you read on click here and read this blog by SonoSuite.
This is a problem of our times and why there will never be another project like the Snapper Project on the Four Seasons Catalogue and their [still] ‘LOST’ tracks. Adam White featured this problem in his recent blog re Motown vaulted tracks and the ‘ticking clock’ we all face.
Paul Nixon and I have talked about this developing for nearly 20 years as at the start of the I-pod era when we first approached Harry Weinger re a Four Seasons at Motown ‘UNRELEASED’ CD issue. And finally this year after all my campaigning we got 13 tracks included in the Snapper Music 44 CD Box set released in June. Eventually Harry and Bob Gaudio had to give us something or a £750,000 project would have failed. Money talks and drives everything re our attempts to uncover the ‘art’ of others…..artists we admire. And ageism is rife…..as over 70 is not a music market to the music sellers…….so as for the rest of the 20+ tracks in the Motown vault and the 200+ unmarked tapes in the FSP…who cares…..??????? Just accept it is the Motown in-house ‘mantra’ and it seems it will be with the Four Seasons Partnership. We told them what was there and either Andy Skurow at Universal Vault Services or Bob Gaudio didn’t do enough in-depth research or think the tracks were good enough. So a question for Bob Gaudio…..’Why did you not approve tracks completed in early 1973 by Bob Crewe producing Frankie Valli of ‘Be My Lover, Be My Friend’, ‘Give Us This Day’ and ‘Turn It All Around’ which we confirmed existed to Universal Vault Services in 2019?’
Today every play of a track on the streaming platform earns cents, so a song is being sold again and again every time it is played. Hence physical media is less profitable. Collecting music is too unprofitable and a niche market as the Sono article shows. Streaming income is showing this and that wont change. But even the Motown ‘unreleased’ we could get would earn cents long-term
The fact is ‘streaming’ is convenient for most of the public and pays for every play whereas a CD release will only sell 2 to 3 thousand [at best]. It is simply ‘maths’ and the massive income from streaming has defined what is promoted and the big money. How much would it cost to search for lost Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons tracks? And how much would they pull in over time compared to their past hits. On streaming? Even if streamed who would find them or play them……..well there are over 2600 playing them since June this year…on You Tube...and that will only grow
There are small groups of fans on Facebook and maybe other services, but if you are a 60+ year old artist with a simple and curated catalogue [which is what the Snapper Box Set provided with our help] – then it is a steady streaming earner. Such projects to unearth lost tracks take time and expertise, research and written context, and the people who are left to do that are generally over 70. The only people who could help are Bob Gaudio and Frankie Valli and it appears to quote Bob’s PA ‘not worth the trouble’!!!.
The barriers to research and access for music collectors are huge and we are ‘Crying In The Night’ to quote the song by The Monitors’ at Motown. But we will continue to make the case in our Four Seasons Motown ‘Unreleased’ Campaign Facebook group and glory in what we have achieved in the Snapper Music Box Set. But never forget You Tube and Sharing Platforms…….this is the Collectors domain now. We will be there with more collectible tracks.
Click Here for what we have achieved with our Campaign to date
Get it while you can.
Casey Chameleon – December 2023
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