Letter to EMI: second draft

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

Fellow Love-hounds,

After having several comments (most in support) I have made a few changes to 
the letter which I propose to send to Steve Davis at EMI.  Thank you all who 
sent me comments  The major change comes at the end - I had an idea.

In Homeground, EMI admitted it was a "fair cop" about the high prices for 
mostly mid-price album discs.  Well, I wondered how they could make it up to 
us CD set purchasers.  What if they sent us a copy of the LP photo booklet 
free of charge in return for proof of purchase or the stickers which came with 
the set.  The stickers could be returned or a new set included with the 
booklet.  The cost to EMI would be a few pounds each - an appropriate amount 
methinks as compensation for being overcharged.

I would really like your comments on this proposal.  I do not expect them to 
take me up on it.  But, there's no harm in trying.

Here's the letter.  The have been some other, though minor, changes.   


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 very pleased that her b-sides have been 
consolidated and are available on compact disc, vinyl and cassette in 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 especially now that it is not going to be a limited 
edition set.

	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 survey 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.  In France the range of prices is preposterous.  A similar situation 
exists in the USA.  The cost to US dealers is approximately $125 (#64 - 
essentially the same as in the UK) meaning profit margins for the vendors are 
sometimes close to 100%.  I realise this is largely a function of the market 
place and that you have little or no control over the pricing, especially in 
the USA and other countries where it is not an official release, but it has 
upset many and inhibited sales.  

	In the UK, it appears that the music industry has been exploiting CD 
customers with higher than necessary prices : the Kate Bush Boxed Set 
continues this practice.  I have seen UK manufactured discs with UK packaging 
sell for under $12 as official US releases  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 in the UK is that it is what the market 
will bear.  A related "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 
separately purchased discs so as to act as an incentive to purchase a 
multiple-disc set.  This unfortunately did not occur for "This Woman's Work".  
It is felt the extra production costs for the two new discs do not justify 
this price hike.  'Homeground' magazine (the UK's only official Kate Bush 
Fanzine) indicated that when asked about this a spokesman for EMI thought this 
was a "fair cop".  Are you planning anything to make up for this overcharge?

	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.  Accordingly, 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 on the packaging.  Needless to say most 
fans are unimpressed with the minimal effort put into the booklets.  And even 
if simplicity and elegance of design were the desired end the pricing should 
have reflected this.

	As Andrew 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  in the USA 
having specially purchased the UK discs.  The duplicate purchase of these 
discs in order to complete our collections was a sickening prospect.  We 
advised that a way to make the album discs in the set special would ease some 
of the concerns and advocated the inclusion of bonus tracks on each disc or 
special edition booklets.  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).  Many, who cannot afford the 
full boxed sets, are understandably hopeful.  Others who purchased the boxed 
sets, including many who already had all her albums on CD, are quite angry.  I 
am sure that many of the boxed sets were purchased with the understanding that 
no separate release of the two new discs was planned.  A separate UK release 
concurrent with the full boxed set would have been welcomed by those fans who 
already owned the album CDs.  But, if separate releases were planned before 
the release of the boxed set, many fans will be quite outraged.  Please could 
you confirm whether EMI or CBS are planning to release the b-sides discs 
separately in the UK or USA?

	In the future it would be worthwhile for EMI to somehow get the opinions of 
potential customers before releasing large boxed sets.  This would prevent the 
alienation of which I have described.  I understand that the staff at 
Homeground were shut out of the project completely after initially suggesting 
it.  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 (even 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 parts; the variability in price; the 
minimal packaging and information contained; the complete duplication of the 
album CDs; the perceived lack of feeling 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.

  One way to offset these criticisms and redeem EMI in our eyes would be to 
make the LP booklet available to purchasers of the CD boxed set at no charge. 
The stickers that came with the set (or a receipt) could be sent as proof of 
purchase and returned with the booklet or a new set included.    

	I and many other fans look forward to your response.

				Sincerely yours


				Derek Langsford





Results of the survey :

price    price in 		tax	 store	       city	            Country
$ US	  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	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		 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