Will Royalty Hassle Remove Parsons' CDs From Market?
By Ethlie Ann Vare
LOS ANGELES - The manager of the Alan Parsons Project says Arista
Records has threatened to withdraw his artist's Compact Discs from the
market rather than allow Parsons to collect full artist royalties on CD
sales. Arista describes the claim as "inaccurate."
The Parsons move may signal other claims by artists who granted
temporary royalty concessions during the early stages of CD marketing.
"When Compact Disc came in," says Parsons' manager Eric Woolfson, "most
record companies said to the artist, 'We want you to take a reduction in
royalties to help establish the market. We would like you to tie your
royalty price to an equivalent piece of flat vinyl.'"
"We agreed that after a certain period of time our royalty would go up
to the proper price. And that provision has now come into effect."
According to Woolfson, Arista initially agreed to renegotiate the
royalty rate for Parsons' CD product. "Then, inexplicably, we were given
a message that there would be no negotiations unless we agreed
unilaterally to continue at the old flat vinyl rate--or our product would
be withdrawn from the marketplace in its entirety."
An Arista spokesperson based in New York responds: "Eric Woolfson's
statements are completely wrong and inaccurate. It is not appropriate for
us to discuss each of the inaccurate points, except to emphasize that the
Alan Parsons Project CDs are available in the marketplace."
The Alan Parsons Project has seven prior albums on Arista, all of which
are available on CD and have sole "in the hundreds of thousands" in that
format, according to Woolfson. A new album, "Stereotomy," is due for
imminent CD release.
"The most ridiculous part is that the new album is barely through the
pressing stage," says Alan Parsons. "They've presumably only printed a
few hundred of them."
A top 10 vinyl seller with "I, Robot," the art-rock Alan Parsons Project
has been a consistent CD seller because it records digitally and appeals
to audiophile listeners.
"I feel our very existence is threatened," says Woolfson. "We make
albums specifically for the Compact Disc market. It is a extraordinary
business judgement that they should be withdrawing what they have
indicated is actually their best selling Compact Disc [line]."
Woolfson--already embroiled in an unrelated royalty suit against
Arista--has indicated that he is considering legal action in this matter
against the label, to whom the Alan Parsons Project is committed for one
more album. "I have not formulated my reply to them yet," he says.
"I imagine that this is a temporary move," says Parsons. "I can't
believe otherwise.
"I believe this is going to be a major issue," says Woolfson, "and not
just for ourselves. The record companies appear to have embarked on a
concerted effort to get all artists to comply with some sort of
favored-nation clause. Artists are in danger of committing themselves to
something the repercussions of which will come back to haunt them for
years to come. I cannot believe we are the only people involved."
Woolfson says that Arista has indicated a willingness to reopen
negotiations before a Wednesday (5) deadline for withdrawal of product.
But again, says Woolfson, "The pre-condition is that we accept the
concessionary rate."
A contract provision dated last Dec. 5 allowed a 30-day negotiation
period for royalty restructuring. As no new agreement was reached,
Woolfson claims, Parsons' royalty rates were due to increase automatically
another 3- days hence.
Parsons first gained fame as an engineer. He engineered Pink Floyd's
1973 album "Dark Side Of The Moon," which is still listed on Billboard's
Top Pop Albums chart after 610 weeks. The "Dark Side" CD has also been a
strong seller, and was ranked fifth on Billboard's list of the most
popular CDs for 1985.
The Alan Parsons Project released its first album on 20th Century
Records in May, 1976. The act debuted on Arista the following year with
"I, Robot," which went top 10 and was certified platinum.
The act had six consecutive gold or platinum studio albums (three gold,
three platinum) between 1977 and 1984, but the string was broken last year
when "Vulture Culture" failed to go gold. The album peaked at No. 46,
making it one of 1985's bigger chart disappointments.
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