I recently found out about the latest Zappa release, the 6 disc "Erie"
boxed set. So I checked it out on Amazon - holy crap, $127! That's
over $21 per disc. Why is that thing so expensive?

So then I started looking at some other big releases from recent
years. The Zappa Family Trust really seems like they're trying to
gouge a retirement fund out of the remaining fanbase that still buys
physical product:

The Mothers 1971 - $79.50 for an 8 disc set (almost reasonable at
$9.94 per disc, although after Playground Psychotics and Mothers 1970,
I'm guessing this one must really scrape the bottom of the Flo and
Eddie barrel)

200 Motels 50th Anniversary - $112 for six discs, $18.67 per disc (and
it doesn't even include the movie)

Halloween '81 - $87 for 6 discs, $14.50 per disc

Halloween '73 - $76.5 for 4 discs, $19.13 per disc

Zappa in New York 40th Anniversary $100 for 5 CDs, $20.00 per disc

On the other hand, if you're looking for some bargains:

Roxy Performances $45 for 7 CDs, $6.50 per disc

Orchestral Favorites 40th Anniversary - $29 for 3 CDs, $9.67 per disc

Zappa '88 The Last US Show - $20 for 2 CDs, $10.00 per disc

Weird how much the per-disc cost varies between releases.

-- Bob

On Wed, 20 Jul 2022 13:32:44 GMT, Bice wrote:

> Weird how much the per-disc cost varies between releases.
>
> -- Bob

Yeah -I looked gul[ped and passed on. I must admit that nothing since the
"Roxy by Proxy" CD has motivated me to buy it.

BTW, entirely OTT, but does anybody know where I can pick up any
recordings by Ahmad Zahir? He was an Afghan who was playing traditional
songs on a mix of traditional and rock instruments in 1973. Some of his
music is now on YouTube.

I heard a song or two of his back in '73 when I was passing through Kabul
on an Encounter Overland truck and liked the mix of trad and electric
instruments.

The nearest I've gotten to that ethnic/rock mix since then is some of
Raghu Dixit's music - he's from Mysore and his band plays Indian-
influenced rock.

--

Martin | martin at
Gregorie | gregorie dot org

On Wed, 20 Jul 2022 15:20:16 -0000 (UTC), Martin Gregorie
<martin@mydomain.invalid> wrote:

>On Wed, 20 Jul 2022 13:32:44 GMT, Bice wrote:
>
>> Weird how much the per-disc cost varies between releases.
>>
>> -- Bob
>
>Yeah -I looked gul[ped and passed on. I must admit that nothing since the
>"Roxy by Proxy" CD has motivated me to buy it.
>
>BTW, entirely OTT, but does anybody know where I can pick up any
>recordings by Ahmad Zahir? He was an Afghan who was playing traditional
>songs on a mix of traditional and rock instruments in 1973. Some of his
>music is now on YouTube.

Got a spare $400 lying around? Someone on Amazon is selling a used
collection of his complete recordings, but as usual with out of print
stuff on Amazon, they're asking for a ridiculous amount of mony:

https://www.amazon.com/Ahmad-Zahir-Complete-Collection-Cds/dp/B000U58C78

-- Bob

On Wed, 20 Jul 2022 18:39:57 GMT, Bice wrote:

> On Wed, 20 Jul 2022 15:20:16 -0000 (UTC), Martin Gregorie
> <martin@mydomain.invalid> wrote:
>
>>On Wed, 20 Jul 2022 13:32:44 GMT, Bice wrote:
>>
>>> Weird how much the per-disc cost varies between releases.
>>>
>>> -- Bob
>>
>>Yeah -I looked gul[ped and passed on. I must admit that nothing since
>>the "Roxy by Proxy" CD has motivated me to buy it.
>>
>>BTW, entirely OTT, but does anybody know where I can pick up any
>>recordings by Ahmad Zahir? He was an Afghan who was playing traditional
>>songs on a mix of traditional and rock instruments in 1973. Some of his
>>music is now on YouTube.
>
> Got a spare $400 lying around? Someone on Amazon is selling a used
> collection of his complete recordings, but as usual with out of print
> stuff on Amazon, they're asking for a ridiculous amount of mony:
>
> https://www.amazon.com/Ahmad-Zahir-Complete-Collection-Cds/dp/B000U58C78
>
> -- Bob

Looks like (bulked-up) BS to me - AZ + band was certainly never active for
more than 5 years, so I don't thjink he ever released more than a few 45w
and maybe an LP. IIRC his first recordings were made in '72/73 and he was
certainly not active after '78. I know: I was in Kabul again in May 1978
at the start of the first Russian invasion (and have pics of T-34s parked
on the outskirts of Kabul to prove it).

At the time we were on our way back to UK from Nepal and I'd wanted 30 day
visas to visit Bamiyan and parts further north in Afghanistan, but only
got 3 days and was told to scuttle real fast through to Iran via Kandahar
and Herat, so never did get to see the Bhuddas in Bamiyan, which were
later destroyed by the Taliban. Bastards.

--

Martin | martin at
Gregorie | gregorie dot org

On Wed, 20 Jul 2022 22:43:55 -0000 (UTC), Martin Gregorie
<martin@mydomain.invalid> wrote:

>On Wed, 20 Jul 2022 18:39:57 GMT, Bice wrote:
>
>> On Wed, 20 Jul 2022 15:20:16 -0000 (UTC), Martin Gregorie
>> <martin@mydomain.invalid> wrote:
>>
>>>On Wed, 20 Jul 2022 13:32:44 GMT, Bice wrote:
>>>
>>>> Weird how much the per-disc cost varies between releases.
>>>>
>>>> -- Bob
>>>
>>>Yeah -I looked gul[ped and passed on. I must admit that nothing since
>>>the "Roxy by Proxy" CD has motivated me to buy it.
>>>
>>>BTW, entirely OTT, but does anybody know where I can pick up any
>>>recordings by Ahmad Zahir? He was an Afghan who was playing traditional
>>>songs on a mix of traditional and rock instruments in 1973. Some of his
>>>music is now on YouTube.
>>
>> Got a spare $400 lying around? Someone on Amazon is selling a used
>> collection of his complete recordings, but as usual with out of print
>> stuff on Amazon, they're asking for a ridiculous amount of mony:
>>
>> https://www.amazon.com/Ahmad-Zahir-Complete-Collection-Cds/dp/B000U58C78
>>
>> -- Bob
>
>Looks like (bulked-up) BS to me - AZ + band was certainly never active for
>more than 5 years, so I don't thjink he ever released more than a few 45w
>and maybe an LP.

Wikipedia says 14 studio albums plus 7 related projects:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmad_Zahir#Discography

And discogs.com lists a few additional compilation albums:

https://www.discogs.com/artist/1180753-Ahmad-Zahir

So it's possible that Amazon listing could actually include 27 CDs,
but it looks suspiciously like a binder of CDRs that someone put
together and slapped a cardboard cover on. If the Zappa Family Trust
had put it together, they'd probably be charging a thousand bucks for
it.

Apparently Ahmad Zahir was known as the "Elvis of Afghanistan". And
now Google is probably convinced that I'm a huge fan after looking up
all of the above.

-- Bob

In article <62d7ff47.493828171@localhost>,
eichlertwothedigitnotspelled@comcast.net says...

> I recently found out about the latest Zappa release, the 6 disc "Erie"
> boxed set. So I checked it out on Amazon - holy crap, $127! That's
> over $21 per disc. Why is that thing so expensive?
>
> So then I started looking at some other big releases from recent
> years. The Zappa Family Trust really seems like they're trying to
> gouge a retirement fund out of the remaining fanbase that still buys
> physical product:

They aren't going to be needing to sell any more releases to beef up the
retirement fund, as they just sold FZ's entire catalog to Universal
Music:

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/universal-buys-frank-zappa-s-music-
catalog-from-family-trust-271656594013

https://tinyurl.com/yc3a46pu

From what I've read elsewhere, the Trust will probably be dissolved, as
there won't be any more music assets for them to manage.

--
Dave

Am 23.07.2022 um 23:57 schrieb Dave Garrett:
> In article <62d7ff47.493828171@localhost>,
> eichlertwothedigitnotspelled@comcast.net says...
>
>> I recently found out about the latest Zappa release, the 6 disc "Erie"
>> boxed set. So I checked it out on Amazon - holy crap, $127! That's
>> over $21 per disc. Why is that thing so expensive?
>>
>> So then I started looking at some other big releases from recent
>> years. The Zappa Family Trust really seems like they're trying to
>> gouge a retirement fund out of the remaining fanbase that still buys
>> physical product:
>
> They aren't going to be needing to sell any more releases to beef up the
> retirement fund, as they just sold FZ's entire catalog to Universal
> Music:
>
> https://www.marketwatch.com/story/universal-buys-frank-zappa-s-music-
> catalog-from-family-trust-271656594013
>
> https://tinyurl.com/yc3a46pu
>
> From what I've read elsewhere, the Trust will probably be dissolved, as
> there won't be any more music assets for them to manage.
>

The official Universal Music's statement:
https://www.universalmusic.com/universal-music-group-becomes-the-permanent-home-of-frank-zappa-estate/
Does it mean that from now on Dweezil will have to ask permission and
pay royalties to UMG for using “Frank Zappa's name and likeness” and
playing his music?...

[...]
“With the acquisition, which additionally includes Frank Zappa’s name
and likeness, Universal Music Enterprises (UMe), UMG’s global catalog
company, and Universal Music Publishing Group (UMPG), the company’s
leading music publisher, will build on the company’s already successful
track record of working with the Zappa Trust to amplify Frank Zappa’s
career as a trailblazer, iconoclast, brilliant musician and fearless
artist who challenged music and culture with his unconventional and
uncompromising vision and advocacy.”

On Mon, 25 Jul 2022 11:00:24 +0200, Gourbi <gourbi@freenet.de> wrote:

>Am 23.07.2022 um 23:57 schrieb Dave Garrett:
>> In article <62d7ff47.493828171@localhost>,
>> eichlertwothedigitnotspelled@comcast.net says...
>>
>>> I recently found out about the latest Zappa release, the 6 disc "Erie"
>>> boxed set. So I checked it out on Amazon - holy crap, $127! That's
>>> over $21 per disc. Why is that thing so expensive?
>>>
>> They aren't going to be needing to sell any more releases to beef up the
>> retirement fund, as they just sold FZ's entire catalog to Universal
>> Music:
>>
>> https://www.marketwatch.com/story/universal-buys-frank-zappa-s-music-
>> catalog-from-family-trust-271656594013
>>
>> https://tinyurl.com/yc3a46pu
>>
>> From what I've read elsewhere, the Trust will probably be dissolved, as
>> there won't be any more music assets for them to manage.
>>
>
>The official Universal Music's statement:
>https://www.universalmusic.com/universal-music-group-becomes-the-permanent-home-of-frank-zappa-estate/

According to that second link, the deal included the contents of the
Vault, so any future new releases would have to come from Universal.

I wonder if that's why the ZFT released ten fairly massive and
expensive boxed sets in the last five years - trying to clear the
decks of everything they wanted to get out there before handing the
business off to Universal.

-- Bob

On Sat, 23 Jul 2022 16:57:58 -0500, Dave Garrett <dave@compassnet.com>
wrote:

>In article <62d7ff47.493828171@localhost>,
>eichlertwothedigitnotspelled@comcast.net says...
>
>> I recently found out about the latest Zappa release, the 6 disc "Erie"
>> boxed set. So I checked it out on Amazon - holy crap, $127! That's
>> over $21 per disc. Why is that thing so expensive?
>>
>> So then I started looking at some other big releases from recent
>> years. The Zappa Family Trust really seems like they're trying to
>> gouge a retirement fund out of the remaining fanbase that still buys
>> physical product:
>
>They aren't going to be needing to sell any more releases to beef up the
>retirement fund, as they just sold FZ's entire catalog to Universal
>Music:
>
>https://www.marketwatch.com/story/universal-buys-frank-zappa-s-music-
>catalog-from-family-trust-271656594013

I splurged and got myself the Halloween '73 and Halloween '81 boxed
sets for my birthday, and was somewhat surprised to see in the fine
print on the back of each disc case, "UMe A Universal Music
Enterprises Release, (P)(C) UMG Recordings, Inc."

Those sets are from 2019 and 2020, so it seems that Universal has been
releasing Frank's music for a while. In fact, checking other recent
albums I see the UMe stamp on a couple releases from 2012 (the
earliest one seems to be the "Understanding America" compilation) and
it's on most of the releases from 2013 and after.

So I'm kind of confused on what it means that Universal just bought
Frank's catalog. Does it just mean that they can now release or
reissue whatever they want without having to work with the Zappa
family? Bet Rykodisc would have loved to have that deal.

-- Bob

In article <62e7d390.1531188906@localhost>,
eichlertwothedigitnotspelled@comcast.net says...
>
> On Sat, 23 Jul 2022 16:57:58 -0500, Dave Garrett <dave@compassnet.com>
> wrote:
>
> >In article <62d7ff47.493828171@localhost>,
> >eichlertwothedigitnotspelled@comcast.net says...
> >
> >> I recently found out about the latest Zappa release, the 6 disc "Erie"
> >> boxed set. So I checked it out on Amazon - holy crap, $127! That's
> >> over $21 per disc. Why is that thing so expensive?
> >>
> >> So then I started looking at some other big releases from recent
> >> years. The Zappa Family Trust really seems like they're trying to
> >> gouge a retirement fund out of the remaining fanbase that still buys
> >> physical product:
> >
> >They aren't going to be needing to sell any more releases to beef up the
> >retirement fund, as they just sold FZ's entire catalog to Universal
> >Music:
> >
> >https://www.marketwatch.com/story/universal-buys-frank-zappa-s-music-
> >catalog-from-family-trust-271656594013
>
>
> I splurged and got myself the Halloween '73 and Halloween '81 boxed
> sets for my birthday, and was somewhat surprised to see in the fine
> print on the back of each disc case, "UMe A Universal Music
> Enterprises Release, (P)(C) UMG Recordings, Inc."
>
> Those sets are from 2019 and 2020, so it seems that Universal has been
> releasing Frank's music for a while. In fact, checking other recent
> albums I see the UMe stamp on a couple releases from 2012 (the
> earliest one seems to be the "Understanding America" compilation) and
> it's on most of the releases from 2013 and after.
>
> So I'm kind of confused on what it means that Universal just bought
> Frank's catalog. Does it just mean that they can now release or
> reissue whatever they want without having to work with the Zappa
> family? Bet Rykodisc would have loved to have that deal.
>
> -- Bob

The ZFT previously had a licensing and distribution deal with Universal
since 2012.

The new deal is different as it actually transfers ownership of the
catalog (actually FZ's estate, which includes not only the recordings
and publishing catalog, but also FZ's film archive and the contents of
the vault) to Universal.

So yes, it does mean that UMe is in the driver's seat now as far as
making decisions concerning releases/reissues, or however else they wish
to exploit the assets in the estate.

--
Dave

On Saturday, August 6, 2022 at 5:10:29 PM UTC-4, Dave Garrett wrote:
> In article <62e7d390.1531188906@localhost>,
> eichlertwothed...@comcast.net says...
> >
> > On Sat, 23 Jul 2022 16:57:58 -0500, Dave Garrett <da...@compassnet.com>
> > wrote:
> >
> > >In article <62d7ff47.493828171@localhost>,
> > >eichlertwothed...@comcast.net says...
> > >
> > >> I recently found out about the latest Zappa release, the 6 disc "Erie"
> > >> boxed set. So I checked it out on Amazon - holy crap, $127! That's
> > >> over $21 per disc. Why is that thing so expensive?
> > >>
> > >> So then I started looking at some other big releases from recent
> > >> years. The Zappa Family Trust really seems like they're trying to
> > >> gouge a retirement fund out of the remaining fanbase that still buys
> > >> physical product:
> > >
> > >They aren't going to be needing to sell any more releases to beef up the
> > >retirement fund, as they just sold FZ's entire catalog to Universal
> > >Music:
> > >
> > >https://www.marketwatch.com/story/universal-buys-frank-zappa-s-music-
> > >catalog-from-family-trust-271656594013
> >
> >
> > I splurged and got myself the Halloween '73 and Halloween '81 boxed
> > sets for my birthday, and was somewhat surprised to see in the fine
> > print on the back of each disc case, "UMe A Universal Music
> > Enterprises Release, (P)(C) UMG Recordings, Inc."
> >
> > Those sets are from 2019 and 2020, so it seems that Universal has been
> > releasing Frank's music for a while. In fact, checking other recent
> > albums I see the UMe stamp on a couple releases from 2012 (the
> > earliest one seems to be the "Understanding America" compilation) and
> > it's on most of the releases from 2013 and after.
> >
> > So I'm kind of confused on what it means that Universal just bought
> > Frank's catalog. Does it just mean that they can now release or
> > reissue whatever they want without having to work with the Zappa
> > family? Bet Rykodisc would have loved to have that deal.
> >
> > -- Bob
> The ZFT previously had a licensing and distribution deal with Universal
> since 2012.
>
> The new deal is different as it actually transfers ownership of the
> catalog (actually FZ's estate, which includes not only the recordings
> and publishing catalog, but also FZ's film archive and the contents of
> the vault) to Universal.
>
> So yes, it does mean that UMe is in the driver's seat now as far as
> making decisions concerning releases/reissues, or however else they wish
> to exploit the assets in the estate.
>
> --
> Dave