What is the collecting scene coming to when a collector/Dj would rather pay four, five times more for a record because a repress has a different colour label. Sometimes it doesn’t have that yet the stupid OVO brigade would stone a Dj god forbid they play a repress.
It would seem many do not understand the process behind vinyl manufacturing and that a repress, which is done from the same masters with no difference in the matrix details in the run out and is still a first issue. It isn’t until a new master is made and a new matrix that it becomes a reissue. A million seller will go through approximately 10 masters, maybe a few more depending on degradation and quality of the stampers.
It was once said by Motown that “It’s What’s In The Grooves That Counts” but today that could never be further from the truth. It’s all down to the colour of the label. Imagine how the artist feels when some fool says you cannot play that as it has a different label?
I hate the whole OVO (original vinyl only) debate, it’s been done to death a million times and I've no desire to start another topic but the collecting scene is slowly disappearing up its own backside all because some promoters or Djs have an agenda because they have spent £150 on a record and god forbid anyone playing one that costs a tenner. It all seems to be about what you spend to get a booking, not the quality of your set. Cheque book Djs have always been around particular more so in recent years. They get talked about, rightly or wrongly, and this provides a promotional tool for the promoter.
Now I am not advocating bootlegs or even the playing of reissues. I am a staunch traditionalist when it comes to the Northern Soul scene. I wholly believe in the playing of original records. However, this is all about recent releases, releases designed to create an instant rarity. Surely the artist is the one who is suffering, Try telling them you cannot play a certain record because it wasn’t done first? Crazy. What happened to providing for your market not a select few 100, again the artist is suffering when more sales can often be achieved. I know the license isn’t as simple as that but the cost difference between 300 and 500 discs is very little with often a handful only needing to be sold to cover the additional costs. I’ve heard storage space being one reason! Surely if you believe in your product and the quality is good enough then surely it will sell and storage space isn’t a problem.
Many collectors are missing out on some really good music and it is time the labels addressed this. It would also put a stop to the greedy sellers exploiting the situation and charging a three figure sum for something that should be £20/£30 maximum.
Lastly I’m not having a go at anyone in particular nor is this a dig at label owners who I know put in a lot of hard work, if you have been reading forums you will know where this arose and I stress I am not having a dig at anyone, rather a moan about the whole situation. I know many don’t even bother with or even trying to secure new releases because of this, even releases that don’t sell out and it is the label who ultimately suffers.
When it begins to come down to the colour of a label or a mark on a label, an apple being used on one recent press, then it is well and truly knackered.