Survey results and draft letter to EMI

[derek%sunstroke@sdsu.edu (Derek Langsford)]

Fellow Love-hounds

A big THANK YOU to all who sent me info about the CD box prices.  It has been 
quite illuminating.  It looks like Canada, Germany, New Zealand and Australia 
(if you can find it) are the cheapest places for the set.  Unfortunately I 
only have one data point for all but Canada out of these, so sampling error 
may give the impression it is overly cheap there.

Below the results is a draft letter I propose to send to Mr. Steve Davis, 
Product Manager at EMI London.  I am sure all of you will not agree with what 
I have said.  If you have any suggestions to make, please email me.  The 
letter will not be mailed until after New Year as I will be away for a week 
from Thursday and I have too much to do before then.  It will also give some 
of you time to respond.    



Results of the survey :


price $US	    price in 	  tax	         store	           city	      Country	
	          local currency				
$137.61 	 180.00   $AUS 	 incl	     EMI Adelaide	     Adelaide	   Australia 	
 $72.52 	  83.94	  $CDN	  incl	      A&B Sounds	     Vancouver BC   Canada	
$112.32 	 130.00	  $CDN	  incl 	        ?	            Quebec PQ	    Canada 	
 $77.76 	  90.00	  $CDN	  incl	         ?	           Vancouver BC	  Canada 	
$251.72 	 899.00	   FIM incl 21%	  Diskeri Imports	   Helsinki	    Finland	
$276.78 	1400.00	   FF 	  incl	      Megastore	         Paris	      France	
$168.05 	 850.00	   FF	   incl	       La Fnac	          Paris 	     France	
$168.05 	 850.00	   FF 	  incl	       various 	         Paris	      France	
$128.51 	 650.00	   FF 	  incl	       various 	         Paris	      France	
$134.49 	 199.99	   DM 	incl 14%	   Wunderland	       Nuernberg	    Germany 	
$193.08 	3239.00	   FI 	  incl	   Free Record Shop	   Nijmegen	   Netherlands	
 $88.32 	 149.95	  $NZ incl 12.5%       	?	          Wellington	  New Zealand 	
$203.97 	1190.00	  NOKR incl 20% 	       ?	             Oslo	       Norway	
$169.69 	 990.00	  NOKR incl 20% 	 Compact-Huset	     Haugesund	    Norway	
$205.28 	1150.00	   SKR 	 incl	      Megastore	       Stockholm	    Sweden	
$183.33    94.99	   #UK incl 15%	   Haken & Bell	      Oxford	        UK	
$189.12 	  97.99	   #UK incl 15%	 HMV & Virgin stores		               UK	
$214.49 	 214.49	   $US 	7.25%	     Off the Record	   San Diego CA	  USA	
$182.31 	 182.31	   $US 	7.25%	      Lou's Records	   Encinitas CA	  USA	
$164.92 	 164.92	   $US	 8.50%	    Midnight Records	   New York NY	  USA	
$195.30 	 195.30	   $US  8.50%	          ? 	           New York NY	  USA	
$135.00 	 135.00	   $US 	  8%	     All Things Kate	   Bellingham WA	 USA*	
$216.00 	 216.00	   $US	   8%	        Various	         Boston MA	    USA	
$192.60 	 192.60	   $US 	  7%	    Desert Island Records Potsdam NY	  USA	
$237.60 	 237.60	   $US	   7%	       Music Shack	       Albany NY	   USA	
$212.49  	212.49	   $US 	6.25%	     Vintage Vinal	     St Louis MO	  USA	
$169.99  	169.99	   $US 	6.25%	     Now Hear This	     St Louis MO	  USA	
$176.14 	 176.14	   $US 	6.75%	    Go-Boys Records	    Torrance CA	  USA	
$187.68 	 187.68	   $US 	7.25%	       CDSounds	       San Diego CA	  USA            
	
											                                 	* mail order of sets from Canada		
The letter :



Dear Mr. Davis,

			       Re : Kate Bush - "This Woman's Work" CD box set

	    Thank you for replying to the letter Andrew Marvick and I wrote dated 
September 4th.  I realise now that it was far too late for further input into 
the project.  Unfortunately, we did not hear about the release until it was 
clearly too late.  The purpose of this letter is to bring to your attention 
the reception of the Kate Bush Box Set by fans around the world and certain 
aspects of its marketing.

     	First, I believe all fans are pleased that her b-sides have been 
consolidated and are available on compact disc, vinyl and cassette as a 
legitimate release.  The set has been hard to get in some parts of the world 
including some areas of the USA and in Australia where there are apparently 
strict quotas for its distribution.  Hopefully all those that want the set 
will be able to get it.

	   Apart from availability, there are other complaints that some of us have 
about the set.  One that has surfaced is the disparate prices the CD sets are 
being sold for around the world.  I instigated a survey on the Love-hounds 
computer network newsgroup to get prices which were being asked by stores 
across the globe.  The responses reveal that the set is far cheaper in certain 
countries than in others.  More specifically, it seems that in the UK and USA 
(Kate's larger markets I would assume) one can find some of the highest prices 
in the world.  Below are the summarized results of my survey.  All prices 
include local sales taxes which are between 6 and 20%.  The results of the 
full survay from which this was derived are appended to this letter.

Country	      cost in US $

Australia	         $138 
Canada	        $73-$113
Finland	           $252 
France	       $129-$276
Germany	           $135 
Netherlands	       $193 
New Zealand	        $89 
Norway	       $170-$204
Sweden	            $205 
UK	           $184-$190
USA	          $165-$238

	    What is most perturbing is that the exact same sets (EMI UK produced) are 
being sold for so little in Canada, Germany, New Zealand and Australia, yet, 
for so much in the UK and other European countries where shipping costs will 
be much less.  I believe the sets in Canada are being distributed through your 
Canadian subsidiary.  Why are they being sold so cheaply there?  UK, other 
European customers, and some in the USA in particular are clearly being 
gouged.  The price in the UK is uniformly set at between #94.99 and #97.99 so 
fans have little choice as to what they pay.  In France the range of prices is 
preposterous.  A similar situation exists in the USA.  The cost to US dealers 
is approximately $125 (#64) meaning profit margins for the sellers are 
sometimes close to 100%.  I realise this is largely a function of the market 
place.  I personally believe that the music industry has been exploiting CD 
customers in the UK with higher than necessary prices : the Kate Bush Boxed 
Set continues this practice.  I have seen UK manufactured discs sell for under 
$12 in the USA at full retail price whereas in the UK they sell for #12.  The 
difference is clearly not related to production or shipping costs.  The only 
justification for such prices is because it is what the market will bare.  I 
personally believe consumers deserve more respect.

     	Another gripe is the fact that many of the discs in the set can be 
purchased separately at mid-price (#8) in the UK yet the set sells for 
approximately #12 per disc.  Normally, boxed sets sell for less than what 
separately purchased discs cost so as to act as an incentive to purchase a 
multiple-disc set.  This did not occur for "This Woman's Work".  It is felt 
the extra costs for the new discs do not justify this price hike.  Can you 
explain why this is possibly the most expensive set, on a per disc basis, to 
have ever been released?

	     In paying such a premium for the set most found the disc booklets fell 
far short of what they should have been.  There were no lyrics for the new to 
CD songs and no source information.  The photographs have been commended but 
for CD purchasers the small size was disappointing in comparison to the LP 
pictures which are apparently quite stunning.  CD purchasers again feel short 
changed.  CD box sets are often released in LP sized boxes with full-size 
booklets.  As a result it is felt an opportunity was missed.  And despite Kate 
having a large say in the project, as she usually does with her work, I 
believe EMI had the ultimate control of the packaging.  Needless to say most 
fans are unimpressed with the minimal effort put into the booklets.

	    As Andy and I stated in our letter of September 4th there were concerns 
from fans who already owned all of Kate's albums on CD, with many having 
specially purchased the UK discs.  The duplicate purchase of these discs was a 
sickening prospect.  We advised that to make the album discs in the set 
special, i.e. with bonus tracks or special edition booklets, would ease some 
of the concerns.  Unfortunately EMI's minimum effort approach has left many 
fans upset.  Instead of making the fans happy, EMI has embittered them.  It is 
felt that EMI are to be blamed for a complete lack of consideration for her 
most loyal followers: the majority of whom already had all her albums on CD.

	    Lastly there have been rumours about a separate release in the USA of the 
b-sides discs (source: Tower Records magazine).  Some who cannot afford the 
full boxed sets are hopeful.  Others who purchased the boxed sets, including 
many who already had all her albums on CD, are quite angry about this.  If 
this was planned before the release of the boxed set many fans will be simply 
outraged.  Could you confirm that EMI have no plans to issue a separate 2 disc 
release of the b-sides discs in the USA or UK?

	    In the future it would be worthwhile for EMI to somehow get the opinions 
of potential customers before releasing large boxed sets.  I understand that 
the staff at Homeground (the UK's only official Kate Bush Fanzine) were shut 
out of the project completely.  This would have been the most obvious place to 
have obtained some fan and consumer input.  

	   To conclude I will summarise by saying that the "This Woman's Work" CD set 
has had a mixed response from the fans.  From a musical standpoint it is 
wonderful despite some b-sides being omitted.  However, most fans are not 
completely happy with it.  There have been many frustrations: the difficulty 
of obtaining the sets in some areas; the variability in price; the minimal 
packaging and information contained, the complete duplication and redundant 
purchase of the album CDs; the perceived lack of respect for the loyal fans, 
and, the often excessively high cost.  I realise that EMI are not a charity 
but a little more respect for the wishes of the fans - the chief buyers - 
would go a long way.  Fortunately for EMI, Kate's fans are a loyal bunch, but 
with the "This Woman's Work" CD set you have all but destroyed any respect 
fans may have had for EMI.

	 I and many other fans look forward to your response to my questions.

                    Sincerely yours


                    Derek Langsford

Derek
_____________________________________________________________________________
Derek Langsford                 | "It could take me all my life,
Polperro->Edinburgh->San Diego  |  or it could only take a moment..."
derek@sunstroke.sdsu.edu        |                  Kate Bush, Love & Anger  
_____________________________________________________________________________