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Re: Getting it all together



Mark, re:

>On the other hand, should Charlesworth be reading this list as part of his
>job chosing the new material for release? Absolutely! Is it in his
>job-related interest to see what we want? Yes! Does he have to do it in his
spare time? No. But he should do it AS part of the job.

Reread your first sentence above and now tell me how he would make this
determination by reading the list??? As for "what we want", can we really all
agree on "what we want"? How about all the other Who fans in the world? Are
our points of view representive of all Who fans? And more importantly, other
than relatively few people who responded (there are over 300 on the list),
are we in a position to say "what people (at least these) people want"??? You
may want to consider putting a poll together, and first we'd have to agree on
the questions before the poll can be taken. After all, the "universe" isn't
available...

>>Of course, my imaginary letter (prepared merely for this list) is 50%
entertainment. The basis is there, however: "Make a definitive historic
collection of the band's music live. What's in it for you? Their entire
catalog will sell better, and longer. The band (known as the greatest live
band ever) will get more respect. The buying public will be happy. You will
make more money. Everybody wins; nobody loses." This is the business
perspective, and a damned accurate one. You don't agree?

No, I don't. I agree on the emotional end and in principal, but if my money
was on the line, I'd be a lot more cautious with my statements. Do we really
know what kinda profits there are out there for a 5 CD box set, compared to a
2 CD "double"? That's the first question that has to be answered. BTW, you
may be interested to know, that "the producers" unanimously wanted "Leeds" to
be 2 CDs. However, Pete and MCA shot it down. Guess who won???

>>Yes, I'd put up the money for a 5 disk set in a heartbeat. I'm absolutely
convinced it would sell (and sell well), but I think I would also be
entitled to a percentage of the growth of sales for the other CDs. Of
course, I'd want to have a hand in the marketing, as well. Petty's boxed set
(6 disks) was marketed correctly and that worked. MCA has a track record of
failing on this front. Many bands have 5 and 6 disk sets...doing the same for
The Who is not out of line with standard business practices.

Good point. MCA isn't good at it. In the business I'm in (and most others), I
concentrate on what I'm good at and let go of what I'm not. It's a good rule
of thumb for success. 

>>As for Pete, I'd say: "If you don't agree with my decisions, fine. Do it
yourself. I was hired to do this job correctly, and I have the best
interests of the band at heart. I have a strong perspective on Rock music as
a genre, which is why I was hired. If you don't want to use that to your
benefit, you have a perfect right to find someone who is a `yes' man."

Pete doesn't want a "yes" man, but Pete is Pete and grant him that. If you
took that attitude with Pete, not only would not have a job, but the job
wouldn't get done. In this scenario for "Leeds", you would have been fired
for insisting on the 2CD of the same and there would be no "improved" version
at all. Who wins? Your ego and Pete's. Who loses, everyone else. I think you
just proved your point... Given the players involved, I'll stick with them
for my money and do my best to keep them "informed"...

>>I stand by my statement that Jon and Chris should be aware of what the
people want

Again, you'll have to define that given all the paremeters and limitations
that go with the job. And, ALWAYS keep in mind that you MUST work with other
people and their VERY strong egos...

(Your turn!)

BTW, were you able to read the GIF?

WF <~