FTD December Newsletter

So now they gonna cost??

if the label wanted to stay profitable it may consider selling to the general public, instead of the on going Trash that hits the shelves year. what expenses can they prove, the music is all free it cost them nothing it was all paid for and elvis has been dead for 30 years SO its like finding buried treasure. the FTD market is very limited Jorgensen's marketing is very bad thus i say fire your self and sstop feeding these silly people who buy by mail this line of lies.

They are taking away the releases that made this label special. The outtakes on these releases were intended for the Elvis collector, not the general public and this label and this type of CD release was what made FTD special. Now these outtakes appear on their classic album series, albums that should be in the public domain and not on a special collectors label. So in reality you are paying twice for many of the same songs on an album you probably already have and outtakes you mostly have.

They did have a price increase a few years ago, when they went from $24.98 to $29.98. Was that just Graceland raising the price? Also, any word on whether they will ever release the "standard CD" any more, or are all the future releases going to be the 7" re-issue, "classic" albums? Does anyone know about this?

How can the music be "free"? The writers and publishers still have to be paid royalties, as well as mastering work that is required before release.

Prices are going up. Imagine that! I think I'll go over to elvis.com and buy all the FTDs I don't have at the current price of $29.95 USd before they jack them up to $34.95. When that happens, I won't be buying anymore.

Enough is enough! They keep releasing rehashes of what was for the general public at one time with some outtales that all loyal Elvis FTD collectors have already. I'm done with these thieves. Increasing prices for what? Their greed. The catalog keeps getting deleted so why would one keep buying and re-buying the same old crap. Goodbye FTD. You served your purpose.

Increase??? of course why not!! the FTD releases are already 20 Euro that's 2-3 Euro more than any other artist. Even if the artists are from the same label or housed in a digipack. they're still cheaper. $$$ that's what's it all about.....i mean don't fool us, i know what the price from a CD is (including package, taxes and copyrights) a digipack isn't expensive as some people think , it's even cheaper then a jewelcase booklet with 12 pages. We pay over 60 Euro for a book with CD....that's way over the top. I mean take the last very nice book from Wertheimer "Elvis At 21" 55 Euro but that's an excellent book! and has 3 times more pages...so 60 Euro for a thin book with CD is too much. And here's where they made the mistake, books stay at the same price but that's with a CD also....so what costs are we talking about then? EPE, BMG just let the fans know what's it all about...don't tell things about spiraling costs... because that's not true! I stick with this price and if the price is getting higher i'll stop buying, and i think a lot of distributors are thinking the same way as i do. Merry Christmas everyone.

The real bad news is that this particular FTD is discontinued, since it is one of the better imho.

Anyone out there understand economics, and economies of scale. To try and compare unit prices of these releases against general releases is useless. Just go into HMV or as was Virgin and check out the prices for non chart CD's. Many of the CD's that FTD have released recently have been double discs too. FTD have a limited target audience. The extra cost of producing say 25,000 units as against 10,000 is probably going to be quite small, so to keep unit costs down, they're going to have to reach a larger audience, and this is not going to happen. Does anyone out there know of the quantities sold? The public are not interested in buying Elvis outtakes etc. I really don't know what you lot are bitching about - you probably paid £20 or $40 many years ago for bootleg CD's, that is many instances was of dubious qualityand we know that whoever produced those certainly didn't pay over any royalties etc. Roger and Ernst aren't doing this as a hobby - costs involved obviously include design time, printing, studio time for mastering, distribution, royalties and possibly paying for use of photographs.

Well, talking about bootleggers who doesnt' pay any royalties?? Do you have any idea how much royalties are paid for each cd??, maybe 5-10 cents for each cd.

oh wow , the old " milk cow blue boogie" .Most of my bootleg lp`s and cd`s from the 80`s are from the same man who made now cd`s for sony/bmg . That`s what you call 'double trouble" .But the different now is, that he made really good cd/lp covers ,in the 80`s.

"Books will remain at the current price". I think that its price must be highly decreased. Books recently released of another artists, with top quality paper, text (content) & pictures costs 50-60% less. See Springsteen's On Tour book (26$) & Dylan last released books and compare yourselves. Just an opinion.

Personally I think that FTD isn't a label that will be among us in the far future, so the timing and prices of future releases are given good thought. Somehow I'm still full of positive expectancy of their upcoming projects- I loved Pot Luck, All kinds and Raised on rock, as well as other past releases. Imagine other classic albums (especially 70's) are given the same treat. There must be more unreleased material out there never have seen the daylight before or issued by bootleggers..

to steve V Why in your mind is FTD special? These release's were not ment for the general public only for the elvis fan. Well if they were ment for the elvis fan they should have been released 35 years ago. Get off the Special thing. Its all about Money and how much BMG (Buy My Garbage) can make, and if you want to pay extra so be it. If the Garbage was on store shelves people would buy them and/or give them as gifts thus sales would increase and prices could come down. We or should i say those who buy these and pay postage are being ripped by the former Axis powers who have NO right selling american music to the world.

Steve once again i agree,but Ftd is happy that many fans will buy what they already have,the label has lost its focus but many will tell you,your either complaining or stupid or both,ive taken a big step back from Elvis cd collecting,i use to be excited about every Ftd release but it's just turned into the classic album label,as for no regular Ftd who knows,they only seem to communicate when there wither telling you something is delayed or in this case a price increase,i dont like the vision of the label anymore,wonder if the price increase means booklets with the regular Ftd releases,that is if there still doing those!

Jumpin J - I think when FTD first started out it served its purpose which was to be a collectors label that would put the booteggers out of business by issuing outtakes & live shows that otherwise would appear on bootleg. I dont know about you but I welcomed a place to buy this stuff instead of having to track down hard to find bootlegs, so in that sense I thought it was special and enjoyed many of their earlier releases. Now , I do not feel this way. To see these earlier releases deleted and see classic albums (which used to be in print) and redundant live shows being issued, I will not be buying many more releases. And the price increase? Thats another topic all together. I didnt buy the books because of their outrageous prices. Cant imagine them costing more.

Most places offer the books for no less that $100 unless you wont to try your luck with elvis.com the so called official site of Elvis! but be prepared to return items due to there poor shipping!

Once again "mature_elvis_fan" complains about FTD in one long sentence with no full stops! How predictable! Just because FTD havn't released a 'regular' CD for a whole 5 months doesn't mean they ONLY release classic albums! And the reason they havn't issued a soundboard for nearly a year is because, in previous posts, yourself and others complained they 'were coming out too fast'!!!!?

There's no doubt that there is price gauging going on here. For just the raw materials to package a CD will only run you about $2.50 for 1000 CD's. The more you press, the less it costs. I'm not sure how much is paid out in royalty fees, man hours etc. $30 for these CD's is outrageous! Now they want to increase them.

I, too, am more than a little miffed by the price increase. They already are higher than similiar titles for other "limited edition" lables like Rhino Select and Collector's Choice and others, so it's hard not to think "price gouging." They also know we really have nowhere else to go -save for the better imports and right now imports compliment but do not supplant FTD. It's not the end of the world but I will have to go back to buying more FTDs second hand via the internet and also wait for the rare ShopElvis sale -which will now basically be the current price but now "on sale." I still look forward to the releases but for those of us in America, the price of these imports (and that's what FTD is -an import from BMG Denmark) is way out of wack with reality.

FTD is without question the greatest thing to have happened for Elvis fans in the last thirty years. They're all still cheaper than the cheapest bootleg I ever bought. I can't believe we're quibbling over a few dollars for albums that bring us so much joy. It's not like they sell millions of these things... I think I read somewhere that 20,000 was a great result. Thirty dollars for an album that sells millions is overpriced but it's hardly too much for one that sells to a niche market like FTD does.

I don't mind paying a little extra to know I'm getting a quality product. Everything goes up. If you don't have this one you better order it fast from the offical website. Amazon wants $61.99 for it. Now thats gouging. I didn't have this one, ordered it real fast and not from Amazon.

"Boy My Boy," while I agree that FTD has been huge for many of us over the last 30 years -and for me, yes, better than imports I could never find readily), I have to disagree. As I stated limited-edition labels like Rhino Select and "Hip-O-Select" offer deep catalog items of established old acts, often with rare outtakes, etc. and print up only 20,000 copies but do not charge so much to my knowledge. They also have the courtesy to print up the CDs in the nation that originally made the act, so if it's a US band from the '70s, you're not paying import prices to get it from Denmark! With Elvis, that's especially galling, plus factor in the falling US dollar, so US fans are really getting hurt again. So again, their is some extra profiteering going on. Inflation is often part of life (milk, gasoline, housing, utilities) but really, how much have the cost of digipaks gone up in the current down-turn, if it even is one over there? We can add an extra few bucks here and there all the time before fans get tired of it. I'm going to stick with it, but I just hate to see FTD fans further alienated, or shut-out. Perhaps I'm missing something about FTD finances but this is how I see it.

Hey tony just skip my comments,can you do that? they release shows that are not of the best in either sound or that are not the best shows he gave,yes coming out with 2 and 3 clasic albums or movie soundtracks at one time is a bit much and in many cases offers very little new stuff, not to mention the lack of mastering, Ftd was started for one reason and one reason only to cash in on what the imports were,and it shows more than ever,its shocking to me that people have no problem paying 80 bucks for a book,ernst and company have found a goldmine in Elvis fans,as for me being predicable it seems that way with the always postative cant do no wrong comments from some fans when it comes to Ftd,the label has losts its vision,but for those of you who like buying 90% of what you already have and dont care if some projects are given more attention to others then have a ball! the next regular Ftd(you know the kind with no booklets) will be the next Ftd i buy!

To greg we have talked about this before but what kind of service do you get from shop elvis? a couple of onths back i ordered a few from them for gifts ,they stuck 3 classic albums and 2 digi pack cd's in a bubble mailer, every title had damage to the covers,i emailed them nicely with no reply and they also have changed there return policy,and i have spoke with many other fans who have had sam problem,this is another issie i have with Ftd,many cd's seem to have damage to them before there shipped, then poor shipping just adds to it,so tell me how your's are being shipped? of course ive been told maybei m on there dont like list,another nice comment from a fellow fans,isnt it nice that were all such kind people(sarcasim)

most labels brings her best off cd`s after the "big thing" . FTD does It befor . long lonelyhighway, 6363 sunset/easter special/on tour, silver screen/out of hollywood .fame of fortune/studio B/so high [tickle me], nashville maraton/made in memphis/jungle room sessions. in a couple years all of these cd`s are re-released on the original albums..that is more than 300 dollars you`ll never listen anymore .milk cow blues boogie money. the next ftd is "wild in the country" =3 new outtakes for 30 dollars. save your money don`t buy this crap [only the original albums] I wrote It last year when they released "tickle me"

Wild in the Country Lonely Man I Slipped I Stumbled I Fell In My Way Forget Me Never Lonely Man (solo) I Slipped, I Stumbled, I Fell (low key) Lonely Man (1) Wild in the Country (1, 2*) Wild in the Country (10*, 11) [Out In Hollywood] I Slipped, I Stumbled, I Fell (1*, 2*, 3*) Lonely Man (solo, take 1) [Today, Tomorrow And Forever] In My Way (1) [Silver Screen Stereo] Forget Me Never (2*, 1) [Close Up] Lonely Man (4) [Out In Hollywood] Lonely Man (solo, takes 2*, 3) [Close Up] In My Way (2) [Close Up] In My Way (4*, 5*, 6/8 [splice]) Wild in the Country (12*, 13*) Wild in the Country (14) [Close Up] I Slipped, I Stumbled, I Fell (7*, 8*, 9*) I Slipped, I Stumbled, I Fell (11*) Lonely Man (6*, 7*, 8*) Lonely Man (11*, 12*) I Slipped, I Stumbled, I Fell (14, 15, 16) [Close Up] Wild in the Country (16) [Elvis Aron Presley]

I love all the FTD's too, but my disappointment is buying the original FTD's with outtakes and now getting the classic albums with the same songs and only a few outtakes. I would much rather see the unreleased material on normal releases. Soundtracks are the exception though as it would be great to have them all complete and in the 7" package. Ernst, where is the Sun CD's/book? This and the complete 56 show is what we are waiting for. Merry Christmas everyone!!!

acapeter: I have no intention of skipping "Wild In The Country." I love these songs, and now they'll all be together in one place. And I'm sure in great sound compared to previous releases. Not too mention the deluxe packaging with booklet and pics? Skip this release? Surely you jest. Thank goodness for Ernst and the FTD team with these great "Classic" releases. Keep 'em coming, Ernst. By the way: I bought the FTD "Tickle Me" release. Glad I did.

It's just a guess, but I would guess that the Memphis Recording Service releases killed the FTD Sun release. Chalk another one up to that copyright law.

I predict Wild In The Country will be the lowest selling FTD to date. Classic album, please! 6 (5 slow) songs repeated over & over. An album to cure insomnia by. Yes where is the Sun package, Hawaii 61, & how about the lost album of 1963 with outtakes?

"Mature_Elvis_Fan75": I was lucky enough to catch up on many titles in a huge, one-time purchase with SHOPELVIS last year in a one-day 30% off sale and it arrived in a nice box. However, I think I had a similar problem with "ELVIS IS BACK" a few years ago but I recall they replaced the copy. In fact, the box I ordered was misplaced because of an error of my own and they handled it very professionally. I will take my chances and use them again as well as using the "second-hand" (used) market. I agree with Jerry Nodak when he says that the classic album series -even including soundtracks put to shame all previous versions, be it "Clambake" (I'm not kidding) to "Raised On Rock (a 2-CD revelation and treat) and others. I remember vowing not to get "Tickle Me" but eventually I found it cheap -and enjoyed it, as did Jerry. Still, I understand the frustration here over price, although the deluge is a nice problem to have if you lived through RCA's trickle of releases in the '70s and '80s. Personally, I'll always work out a way to get the FTDs. I finally have all of them thanks to the big sale -save for the newest three titles. To Ron Baker: are you kidding about that UK public domain SUN book /cd project? I have MRS' first volume and loved it , despite criticism of it, but in now way will any of this supplant what Ernst has on tap, which is more of a book project. He'll have lots of new photos and history and that's the only reason apparently its been delayed- it's a lot he's come across. If you've read the great UK "Elvis, the Man, the Music" quarterly magazine (I subscribe to it here in the USA via airmail) they've run some great excerpts to whet our appetites. But that's another subject- for now this is the bitching forum about FTD's ever-higher prices ! They have us by the short-hairs," I'll tell you for sure."

Thanks for the reply,must be because you bought so many,bubble wrap was in short supplly when e fashion was shipping the orders,they were relieved of there dutys after many complaints,they seemed to have a issue with bubble wrap,they were in short supply of it,i just hate excuses,its hard to find good people to buy your Ftd's from here in the usa!