[f_minor] In The Year Of The Water Dragon

Sun Feb 20 07:46:13 EST 2011

Hi all

So Mary wants some stats ? Well, it is pretty difficult to find any revealing data on Teh Internetz. What I found is neither decent nor indicative.

According to youtube the most watched video has about 148 million hits, the most watched GG clip has about 2 million. Not bad for a classical pianist who died in 1982. This will not tell you anything about quality, it will just tell you that sooner or later that bloody  stupid silly Justin Bieber will sink back into oblivion while GG will remain. Quality always remains, while stupidity will only change names and faces.

So what about sales figures ? According to the RIAA database and its german eqivalent (the canadian CRIA database is currently not available) GG never reached Gold Record status in the U.S. or Germany (while only HvK and Bernstein are listed of all the names Mary mentioned. btw both Kind Of Blue and Switched-On Bach are listed as well on the RIAA site). I for one doubt that this database is wholly accurate and would liked to be proven otherwise.

If my memory is correct then GG had quite an estimable sum on his bank account when he died so the whole recording thing must have been lucrative for him and CBS.

Despite these odd figures I claim that GG is still one of the most popular and well-recognised pianists in the world. He still sells, espceially because nobody is interested in changing the haigiography and I have no doubt that, say, a DVD box set would sell quite respectably.

Unfortunetly PBS is not checking its ratings because they have no ads, therefore I cannot tell you if the screening of GW had some influence on GG sales

Bob Merkin is pleased to hear that a biopic about Bobby Fischer is in pre-production. Hollywood likes strange, tragic characters with Big Head Problems. GW was not nominated for an Oscar because of that but basically because it wasn’t, ahem, good enough to be recognised as such.

If anyone has better stats, let us know. In the end what does count are not record sales or youtube hits, but quality, integrity, spirit and talent.

Pat

From: maryellen jensen 
Sent: Thursday, February 17, 2011 11:45 PM
To: f_minor at glenngould.org 
Subject: Re: [f_minor] In The Year Of The Water Dragon

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f6YnkAQg0lY

Not even 1,000 'views' for an original Gould composition.

"I for one am convinced that a platoon of audio and video engineers is frantically working day and night cleaning, editing and rendering GG’s audiovisual legacy for a deluxe 12 DVD Box Set with tons of extras and previously unreleased material and a thick booklet for a release in 2012 and the CBC throwing in a few CDs with material previously unavailable in this format. Please tell me I am not hallucinating."

 You asked. I said I think you are. I still do.

"It would indeed be a crying shame if September 2012 passes by without any release of GG material on DVD whatsoever. I for one would be stunned and very dissapointed indeed having imagined things that did not come true. In any case nobody will talk about GW by then."

 I think that there probably will be some release of something in 2012 and I personally hope the releases will come from the CBC because they are sitting on the long-time-no-see 'motherload'. I hope that the CBC is ready to release the complete tv performances (45+ years after the fact) that have been hacked to pieces in "Life and Times", the "GG Collection" and "Hereafter". The fact that three CBC properties have been pulled from UBU Web isn't particularly indicative of anything $$$ wise (the Pet Clark radio program is still available on the Net as you well know - just not on UBU anymore and there are long CBC radio interviews of GG still available on youtube). Glenn Gould isn't Michael Jackson or Jagger/Richards in terms of revenue. I doubt that GG even comes close to Bernstein or Koopman or Karajan, Barenboim or Perahia or perhaps even Mlle. Hewitt (when adjusted for inflation) in terms of revenue...and Lang Lang? I'd love to see some stats if anybody's got decent ones. Of course the GG Foundation is doing its best to ensure that Dudamel outsells them all, adjusted for INFLATION...

 "In any case nobody will talk about GW by then." Why isn't 'anyone' talking about On and Off The Record and The Alchemist now? (As you can surmise I tend to favour two films where the subject was actually present). GG and fans needed a film such as GW like a cat needs a second tail. I'd be curious to know if GG music/video sales got a GW bump, since we seem to be talking about cash cows and monetary harvests.

Mary              

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From: pzumst at bluewin.ch
To: f_minor at glenngould.org
Date: Thu, 17 Feb 2011 13:15:01 +0100
Subject: [f_minor] In The Year Of The Water Dragon

G’day all

It would indeed be a crying shame if September 2012 passes by without any release of GG material on DVD whatsoever. I for one would be stunned and very dissapointed indeed having imagined things that did not come true. In any case nobody will talk about GW by then.

I for one am convinced that a platoon of audio and video engineers is frantically working day and night cleaning, editing and rendering GG’s audiovisual legacy for a deluxe 12 DVD Box Set with tons of extras and previously unreleased material and a thick booklet for a release in 2012 and the CBC throwing in a few CDs with material previously unavailable in this format. Please tell me I am not hallucinating.

Money
Bob mentioned it already, GG is still a cash cow for Sony/CBC, no matter what. For the wrong reasons and the false image of GG that people still have he is still selling. Aren’t people getting a bit sick of streamlined artists with a predictable repertoire these days ? Isn’t this one of the reasons we are here ?

The CBC pulled some of GG’s radio features off ubuweb because they are looking at “a potential loss of thousands of dollars”. There will be radio programs to celebrate the occasion and I doubt that the CBC will let the opportunity pass to have a look at the vaults to see what might be sellable.

Prestige
GG is the most famous classical musician of his native country , there will be celebrations, no doubt about that. And the interested public would want to buy what is on offer. Books, CDs and DVDs galore. The people in charge of GG’s legacy will not let that opportunity pass to cash in. Unfortunetly there will be myth-making and not much debunking and GG would be horrified by some of the things the talking heads will have to say about him but sadly this is part of the game. Can you imagine the pouring of ridicule of critics and fans over the heads of the people in charge who grandly celebrate his 80th but no complementary product in sight ? Heck, there would be reckoning !

Reputation
I am contradicting myself here a bit but apart from the Original Jacket Box Sony had a pretty bad track record of good new GG releases, especially on DVD. The only DVD currently on sale by Sony in Germany are the ‘81 Goldbergs. High time to bring GG’s visual legacy to the 21st century. They simply cannot afford to ignore the fact that here we have a performer who was keen on his TV appearences and an interest in new technology for his own use. GG’s TV broadcasts unavailable in 2012 is absolutely unthinkable, unless Sony wants to loose its reputation as self-proclaimed Guardian of GG’s legacy.

Demographics
The demographics of record buyers have changed. The times where an artist will sell millions of records in just weeks are over. Record companies need to reorient and ajust to a new demographic. A new category has sprung up which will be the ideal POS for GG products: The 50 quid man. Well-educated wealthy people between 40-early 60s who will cough up at least 50 quid at the cash register during their rare visits to a record store. This includes the classical crowd in general and a GG target audience in particular. Record companies are well advised to serve a wealthy niche these days. Record labels like Rhino found that out years ago, they are doing well, get brilliant reviews and are loved by fans and collectors alike.

So therefore I am convinced that in a top-secret underground facility in Cape Dorset audio and video wizards of prime rank are busy preparing an audiovisual GG feast to blow us all away ! Mary, any counter-arguments ?

Pat

From: maryellen jensen 
Sent: Wednesday, February 16, 2011 11:47 PM
To: f_minor at glenngould.org 
Subject: Re: [f_minor] Genius Within DVD for Europe

Pat,

Hardly anything at all of any substance has been said about Genius Within (how does one wrestle with jello anyway?) and I would say that you are hallucinating. 

Michael Macelletti: I second your sincere outcry for all your reasons and perhaps a few more to boot. 

Mary

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From: pzumst at bluewin.ch
To: f_minor at glenngould.org
Date: Wed, 16 Feb 2011 20:24:42 +0100
Subject: [f_minor] Genius Within DVD for Europe

Dear f_minor

By now all that had to be said about Genius Within by those who have seen it has been said I reckon with the conclusion that the definitve documentary about GG has yet to be made.

Just for the record and in fairness to tthose who have not seen it yet a Code 2 version (Europe) on both DVD and Blu-Ray should be released on March 28th.  

Contrary to the North American version this one will only be 108 Mins, no word on extra features as of yet.

DVD Pre-Order info found at amazon.co.uk: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Genius-Within-DVD-Glenn-Gould/dp/B00450AFT2/ref=sr_1_2?s=dvd&ie=UTF8&qid=1297881707&sr=1-2

Blu-Ray version: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Genius-Within-Inner-Glenn-Blu-ray/dp/B004HZ5IGU/ref=sr_1_1?s=dvd&ie=UTF8&qid=1297881707&sr=1-1

I for one am convinced that a platoon of audio and video engineers is frantically working day and night cleaning, editing and rendering GG’s audiovisual legacy for a deluxe 12 DVD Box Set with tons of extras and previously unreleased material and a thick booklet for a release in 2012 and the CBC throwing in a few CDs with material previously unavailable in this format. Please tell me I am not hallucinating.

Pat

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