Commodore Remix

I wonder - are there any new CDs expected to be released? As far as I know, we might (with a 7-month delay) actually get a Play! Symphony CD with a C64 suite, but that seems to be it. Did I miss anything? Immortal 4, BIT 4, Visa Roster 3, Remix64 4...

Press Play On Tape are working on a new CD... but that might take another year or so to be completed, I guess...!

There are two CDs of Amiga music heading in (one of which is a joint venture between C64Audio.com and Jan Zottmann), and a CD from Tonka also heading in, but you're not going to see a Remix 64 vol 4 or a BIT 4, possibly ever. Any other CDs that appear will probably appear unexpectedly in digital form... although I'm going to be working with First Star on an album of their music alone (remixers welcome to apply!).

Chris

OK, another PPOT CD and more Amiga CDs are both something to look for. I am saddened that the format is dying in favor of a digital download, but I guess I'll have to live with that. Thanks for the answers.

pepak wrote:OK, another PPOT CD and more Amiga CDs are both something to look for. I am saddened that the format is dying in favor of a digital download, but I guess I'll have to live with that. Thanks for the answers.

It's really because only a few people buy those CDs anymore. Sad thing indeed.

I'd rather have a physical CD than a digital download, but the downloads can get them to a wider audience.

LMan wrote: It's really because only a few people buy those CDs anymore. Sad thing indeed.

It is.. I prefer a CD anyday over and MP3. A couple of years ago I installed a relatively inexpensive Sony Stereo in my Car, and it support MP3, WMA, AAC and ATRAC formats as well as iPod Support. There is a USB Port at the front so I have my Music Collection playing off of a 16gb Memory stick thats all I really So I need in the car and its more than enough.

So I think thats part of the reason of the trend for the younger generation to simply download their tunes, there are so many Devices out there now that make it more convenient to simply download and play the tunes.

With High Speed Internet and Storage Capacity becoming so cheap, I'd like to see a reversal in the trend to download compressed audio.

When Mp3's first came out I remember Pentium II's were still the norm and Pentium III's were cutting edge, Memory and Storage were still relatively expensive compared to whats is available today.

Chris Abbott wrote:but you're not going to see a Remix 64 vol 4 or a BIT 4, possibly ever. Any other CDs that appear will probably appear unexpectedly in digital form... Chris

Chris, I'm curious. Wouldn't making a digital album be a lot easier, as you wouldn't have to worry about pressing CDs, artwork, package, postage and the like?

you could even give the option to have a cd version of it and print a bare minimum off (believe thats what? 100?) so you wouldnt be at a "loss" cos as people say there is still a fair few people that still believe in physical representation of the media and want the little inlay books etc.

You can't do any less than 500 copies of a CD if you want "professional" (the quality most expect), mostly because of the booklet (printed parts are only done in bulk) and the CD pressing mechanism (stamping the CDs rather than burning them). Any less than 500 and you get CDRs.

With digital albums, yes, they're easier to release (that's why I said unexpected albums might get a digital release), but the album still has to exist: and obviously creating the tracks is where the time goes. BIT 4 is an album where I just don't think the audience "needs" it in the way they "needed" the other BIT series, since there's music from so many other sources: plus to realise my ambition for that one would require time I had 10 years ago but don't have now (though I don't rule out Karma 64 v2 as a digital release).

Seth did a small physical run on his CD using 5.25" disk packaging: that worked great. But semi-cheap CDR pressings aren't the future.

Chris

In Denmark and the other Scandinavian countries you have to get a license for making a CD from the Nordic Copyright Bureau. In this way your tracks are verified and legal to sell in order to secure the rights of the composer, performers and so on. This includes royalties when being broadcast on radio and tv. So there has to exist a physical album as it is right now. There is no doubt that selling music in a non-physical form is so much easier than CDs, envelopes, padding, stamps, post office and returned mail and blah blah blah. When I come to think of it, we have never had an album returned because the CD pressing had gone wrong - interesting.

Well, the CDs that I have today are a real pain. They take up a lot of space and I don't use them that much any more as most of them are on my iPod. Right now they are stowed away - couldn't cope with the sight of the lot. It's an ugly huge piece of furniture that pile. My intensions are to get rid of the jewel cases and put the albums in plastic envelopes to make them take up less space. Why didn't people think of this when they came up with the cases for CDs, DVDs and BDs? *sigh*

BUT: I believe that there is much more to an album than just a non-physical release. The added stuff, ie cover and inlay, is worth a lot to me. Reading about how and what and where and interesting photos and what-not is a big part of the experience of getting new music. From time to time it's fun browsing your CDs which triggers a memory of some sort or an anecdote which makes you take out that album, looking through it again and perhaps also have a listen through it.

Well, just my thoughts...

How about FLAC files on a small USB memory stick? High quality audio, smaller size, about the same to "manufacture" perhaps, can be produced as need be instead of a minimum run...

Mayhem wrote:How about FLAC files on a small USB memory stick? High quality audio, smaller size, about the same to "manufacture" perhaps, can be produced as need be instead of a minimum run...

You can get 1gb USB from $2 and up retail.. so If someone secures a bulk order that would be a neat idea, you could even have the original 16bit Uncompressed .WAV Files on there.

To go slightly back ontopic: There's still a DVD of the 6581 gig@Bitlive 2008 Stockholm in the making. We're struggling with some technical difficulties though and we're not 100% sure if we're able to do a commercial release soon but we're working on this. Aiming for a pro look and sound.