Jazz Odyssey

Reuters (via CNET) reports that Universal Music Group announced plans to digitize 10,000 out-of-print European recordings.

This is exciting news–the vast library of unreleased recordings rotting in label vaults has been the subject of prior posts here, and represents a largely untapped source of revenue for both label and artist. But the big winner is the music consumer…the artists involved in this initiative may be considered “niche” artists in the context of mainstream music but there are a lot of music fans out there with eclectic tastes who are more than happy to pay their $9.99 for a digital version of an out-of-print album that might otherwise be completely lost in the pages of history, and that’s certainly cheaper and less time consuming than paying $60 for a copy of the LP on ebay and transferring it to digital using a home computer. From the label perspective, it was sub-economical to produce a lot of niche music in physical formats but it costs little to make it available digitally, and in the online world where shelf space and returns aren’t an issue this music can stay in print forever and it will never be out-of-stock. It’s a win-win all around…lets hope other labels follow suit sooner than later!

Finally, while word-of-mouth will certainly help alert potential buyers about the availability of these albums, it will be interesting to see what sort of more active marketing will occur to promote sales…stay tuned.