Collector’s Item, or Copyright Infringement?
Psst! Hey, kid! Want to buy the master tapes to an indie-rock classic?
CD Presents, the recently revived San Francisco-based independent label best known for the Rat Music For Rat People compilation albums, started 2010 by reissuing that compilation series as well as remastering several other albums in their back catalog and remixing full concert recordings of now-legendary punk bands that the early Rat Music albums were derived from. As the year winds down, the label put up a rather curious item for auction through their eBay account this afternoon: the master tapes to Billy Bragg’s second album Brewing Up With Billy Bragg.
So says their description on the webpage in question (written by CD Presents label head David Ferguson):
My record label, CD Presents, Ltd., proudly released Billy Bragg’s 1st 2 albums for the USA in 1985. These are the 2 [A & B sides] original analog production copies of the Master recording for USA release created in 1984. These recording tapes are only sold as “collectibles” and do not come with any “intellectual property rights.” Please note the Bill of Sale/Agreement included in the picture section. That document must be signed and returned to me via scanned email before I can ship your purchase. I can email you a signing/printout attachment upon sale.
This may be the case, but by all rights, CD Presents basically lost their rights to distribute this album and its predecessor, Life’s A Riot with Spy vs. Spy, when Billy Bragg signed with Elektra/WEA a few years later. Those rights have long since transferred back to Mr. Bragg, who currently licenses them to other indie labels (Yep Roc here in the US, for one).
Dir en grey Restarts At The End
When we last left off, Dir en grey were planning to embark on a North American tour this autumn, a tour booked before doing any Japanese dates in support of their forthcoming album [UROBOROS]. The punch line was, they were doing it without an American record deal, having parted company with Warcon/Fontana sometime in 2007.
Last month, when I wrote about this situation (inspired by a friend who hipped me to what was going on with the group of late), I put forth speculation that the band were embarking on a North American tour first in order to secure a new American record deal.
As of today, they’ve already gotten that deal. Dir en grey announced on their MySpace that they signed with American independent label The End Records, a label specializing in metal and other dark/heavy music. The End Records, whose roster includes Voivod, Mindless Self-Indulgence, and ex-Swans member Jarboe, are apparently no stranger to giving American record deals to foreign metal bands that have cult interest in this country: Norwegian black metalists-turned-experimentalists Ulver, Japanese black metal veterans Sigh and Finnish GWAR-meets-glam rockers Lordi (infamous for winning the Eurovision Song Contest, a competition usually more suited to Celine Dion clones, in 2006) are also signed to the label, apparently making the label a perfect fit for Dir en grey.
Also a more promising sign: The End Records also has better distribution than Dir en grey’s previous label. Their distributing partner, RED Distribution (formerly known back in the early 80′s punk and metal days as Important and then as Relativity), also distributes many other labels that are no stranger to being easily found in most record stores (and thus, to sales and chart success); Trent Reznor’s new self-owned label for his post-Interscope releases, The Null Corporation, is distributed by RED, as is Motley Crue’s current label home Eleven Seven Music and the notorious Chicago punk/indie label Victory Records.
For the cherry on top: The End will be going the extra mile for the American release of [UROBOROS]. Unlike what Warcon/Fontana did with Withering To Death and The Marrow Of A Bone, where merely CD editions were released… well, we’ll let The End Records’ press statement as reproduced on their MySpace blog tell it:
In an effort to satiate fans’ unique preferences and desires, [UROBOROS] will be available in the US in four formats: digital album; CD jewel case; deluxe limited-edition CD digipak with bonus track and DVD; and double vinyl LP with a digital download card included.
There’s also an option for fans to grab all three versions plus a T-shirt for a discounted price. I went with the double LP.
How well Dir en grey will fare in their second go-round on an American label remains to be seen, but considering that for awhile it looked like the group would not have an American label to call home again, it’s a very good shot in the arm for them. Every Japanese group with a cult following in this country should be so lucky (cue that A.B. quote again, please…).
For now, though, that repetitive sound you are hearing in the background is probably the staff at Warcon/Fontana kicking themselves… repeatedly.
