The Official Intrada Thread

Okay, we've had it. We've had it with not being able to determine the right pressing quantity on a title. Too little of this title, too much of that title. So effective immediately with EXPLORERS going forward (not backward, just forward), we will no longer be pressing limited editions. Not in the traditional sense. Order EXPLORERS if you want it. If you want it, you will get it. When you all had your fill of EXPLORERS, we'll delete it. It is no longer limited to 3000 units. No nasty speculators to deal with, no broken dreams, no pressure. Well, almost no pressure. If we do release a title and it moves poorly, we'll delete it quickly. Very quickly. Could be a matter of a couple of weeks. We're happy to be generous, but we don't want to sit on piles of inventory. So buy what you want, but be timely about it because titles will still not be around forever. Of course, if disaster strikes because of this new policy, we reserve the right to return to our previous limited edition series. And if you ordered extra EXPLORERS cause you wanted to make a killing on ebay, there's still time to cancel your order.

Just one comment about our friends at the American Federation of Musicians. Many of these releases are possible due to their generous discounts on fees for limited runs. They maintain an absolute maximum of 10,000 units, so in some sense titles do remain limited.

Doug will have more to say in his Corner later today.

9/6/11

POLICY ALERT!!...

EXPLORERS is already just about sold out! We're not happy to see people get left out of such an exciting release. So we're arranging to quickly re-press an additional batch, enabling more people a chance to purchase the CD. So...

Effective immediately, Intrada plans on tweaking our limited edition model to have the quantity of CDs be more reflective of the demand. Golly!

The AFM historic rates policy remains in effect so these will, by definition, have a cap at 10,000 in any case. But our concern right now is avoiding sell-outs in 24 hours... or in this case, even less than that!!

We'll still produce limited editions, per se. If you folks love the title, we'll make enough to get around. BUT... there's always a but... the caveat will be that if you people have little interest in something we release (and we have plenty of limited editions that misfire) then we'll quickly drop that title from our active catalog and move on. As such, you may still need to make something of a quick decision on less obvious projects. Otherwise, you might check back in a few weeks to get a lowball item and it'll be gone. So we're going to keep some pressure on folks to prioritize. Our goal isn't to mothball the idea of limited editions. It's to avoid having people left out within the first day or two of release. When a limited edition sells really well, we'll make enough to meet your demand. When it slows down, we'll do the same. And if it just stalls, we'll cut it loose. YOU people get to be in charge!!

Bottom line. This is an experiment on our part to help get all of you folks who support this music a chance to get the releases you want. It's a window. It can't stay open for long, we still have licensing and AFM rules to play by. But it will allow us to make enough copies to meet your demands without overstocking... which would just sink our ship. And people who love to speculate will stay have a place in the strategy: we all will be guessing what the demand is on many titles anyway. If we're stuck with more copies than we'd like on something right off the bat... we'll delete it. And speculators may come out ahead. Personally, I'm saddened to see a title sell out instantly. Sure, I love the income. It's my livelihood. But I don't love seeing people lose out. So here's hoping this new limited edition policy at Intrada will help put you guys in the driver's seat on quantities.

This policy has no effect - obviously - on titles in which we are fortunate enough to control long-term licenses. Things like that will be in our catalog for the long haul: SILVERADO, TOMBSTONE, FIRST BLOOD, PATTON, THE WIND AND THE LION and so forth. We try to keep them around for generations, so to speak. Anyway, this is a dramatic change for the limited edition model we helped establish in the marketplace but perhaps we all may come out winners!

It's a real balancing act: Trying to meet the demands of an unpredictable marketplace AND sustain a successful business model. We understand the nature of limited edition soundtracks. We helped establish the very concept back when LPs were king and most of the labels you now currently know and love weren't yet even born.

But if something sells out in a matter of hours, even though that's considered having a big hit in our industry... well, I just think we mis-fired as poorly as if we had invested in a project that tanks. Literally.

Early this morning we saw what was happening on EXPLORERS. And Jeff - rightly so - pointed out to me how frustrated he would be as sales manager to get a call later in the day from Joe Dante - excitedly wanting to order an expanded edition soundtrack from his own picture!! - only to be told they were already gone. WTF?!

So, yes, it's tough trying to get this down pat. For every person that might be frustrated if they purchased a copy of some CD only because it was limited, we recall letters from people saying they were frustrated because they missed out on something that sold out in 24 hours.

And I think 24 hours is just too darn quick. Yeah, I love the income. But I don't enjoy going home to play a CD of SPACECAMP or EXPLORERS or ONE LITTLE INDIAN or BABY or whatever and realize many other fans can't. That sucks the joy out of it, success be damned.

A lot of soundtracks are limited by nature of the beast. If they don't sell, they get deleted no matter what the pressing run. It's always been that way, long before we were here... which in itself goes back 26 years now. And this will continue. And by the same token, we'll continue to license and release soundtracks that really should not go out of print. My personal feeling is that THE GREAT ESCAPE and PATTON should be around for a long long time. They're genuine landmarks. They should always be in someone's catalog. However, things like EXPLORERS or ONE LITTLE INDIAN are a bit less "famous", for lack of a better word. On those, it makes sense to try and find out the right quantity for the marketplace, deliver it, and then let the title disappear.

We can still announce when a title is limited, based on our new policy. We'll anticipate the demand. If we're on the money, it'll get around to the people who want it and then we can quietly retire it and move on. If we under-estimate the demand, we can make it possible for people to still obtain copies at reasonable prices. And if we over-estimate... well, the title will get the axe. How quickly is too fast for a sell-out? I don't know for sure but 12 hours or 24 hours certainly is too fast!! As Roger and Jeff have discussed, after a few days, perhaps a week or two, if things linger on a release we'll bail on it. And speculators and fans only wanting those words "limited edition" on their releases will have their day. BUT... hopefully, we can better meet our market needs on the first day or two of the release itself.

There are still AFM and licensing restrictions that will necessarily guide our overall decisions. But we're trying to be the good guys here, not the bad guys. And that's one heck of a slippery slope. We know some people will be unhappy no matter what happens. But, maybe, just maybe, you fans who love this music and support it will finally get to have a big say in just how limited the title will be.
--Doug

Trent B's Ghost wrote:As we know Intrada released

They also released 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea by Paul Smith which is unlimited.

Zombie Charlie Brigden wrote:That FSM thread is crazy. Like that idiot saying Intrada should be Governmentalised for doing this.