Re: Do we need Publishers?

[Marvin <physchem...>]

----- Original Message -----
From: "Ari Davidow" <ari (at) ivritype(dot)com>
To: "World music from a Jewish slant" <jewish-music (at) shamash(dot)org>
Sent: Wednesday, June 07, 2000 3:59 PM
Subject: Re: Do we need Publishers?


> At 09:35 AM 6/7/00 -0400, you wrote:
> >In this day and age, with computers, kinkos, cd burners. Do we really
need to
> >waste time with rejections and publishers? If Josh puts his music on
Finale,
> >Copied and bound it nice, sold it on his web site. He'd get to keep most
of
> >the $20-30 he could sell it for. instead of $.50-1.00 he will get if a
> >publisher puts it out. We get new and different music, the author gets
> >compensated. We all would benefit.
>
> Well, there are lots of reasons why publishers could be a preferred route.
> One is the possibility of reasonable production, with the money fronted by
> the publisher, and hopefully done to professional standards. As Josh's
recent cD experience highlights, going through a known publisher isn't a
=guarantee= of professionalism, though.
>
> There is also the question of distribution. Those of us who know Josh, and
those of us who are savvy enough to ask the right question of the right
search engine might find his material on the web, but most people would find
it better were it already on the shelf at the local music store.
>
> Publishers also add credibility. Getting music published through a known
publisher is a good way to ensure that many (most? all?) libraries with
music collections will acquire copies, where the music can be seen by
students and researchers.
>
> There is also a presumption of 'yikhes'. Scholarly material published
through a scholarly publisher is presumed vetted and legitimate and
professionally transcribed. No one would attach similar credibility to
scholarly material published independently in all but the most unusual of
circumstances.
>
> Finally, publishers handle distribution and publicity (not always well,
but that's another question). Assuming reasonable success, spending more
time than one wants, but not enough time to hire someone competent, at
filling packages, adding appropriate postage, and so on is another series of
headaches.
>
> None of these are necessarily critical. If you look at the "vendors" page
on the KlezmerShack, you'll find a host of people who have published good
klezmer books. But that still doesn't make it the useful solution for
everyone or for all material.
>
> And it still doesn't change the bitter humor of this particularly stupid
publisher, who will some day rank with the person at Decca (?) who thanked
the Beatles but couldn't see how or where they were going to be a
significant band.
>
> ari
>
> Ari Davidow

And the individual would not be able to handle orders when on vacation, ill,
otherwise occupied, ...  And a publisher would provide an income stream to
the individual's estate.

It is akin to a perfomer having an agent instead of doing the bookings
himself.

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