In themusic industry,deletion is the removal of a record or records from alabel's official catalog, so that it isout of print. This is usually done when a title becomes unprofitable to manufacture, but it may also occur at a record artist's request.[1]
Deletion can be for a variety of reasons, but usually reflects a decline in sales so that distributing the record is no longer profitable.[2]Singles are routinely deleted after a period of weeks, but an album by a major artist may remain in the catalog indefinitely.
When titles are deleted in the US, the remaining stock would be defaced with acut-out through the sleeve or case. Cut-out records formed agrey market outside the major distribution channels. In the 1993 bookStiffed: A True Story of MCA, the Music Business, and the Mafia Bill, Knoedelseder wrote of howMCA Records became the subject of a federal investigation of its cut-out sales practices after a deal allegedly involvingorganized crime.[3]
Deletion in the music industry differs from print publishing in thatrecording contracts generally do not return the rights to the artist when a title ceases to be manufactured. WhenPolyGram took overJMT Records, a smalljazz label, in 1995, it was understood to have announced that the entire JMT catalogue would be deleted, shocking dozens of artists. According toTim Berne, "this means that the majority of my work simply vanishes."[4]
According toLouis Barfe, "many deleted gems are locked in archives, unheard and quite possibly deteriorating." Although he recommends that they digitize this music and offer it for download, he notes that "niche labels have sprung up specialising in reissuing out-of-copyright recordings".[5] Somebootlegs have been issued just so fans can obtain deleted recordings without having to search the second hand market for them.[6]
More recently, the rise of digital media has eliminated much of the cost of music distribution, and companies have begun to see deleted records for theirlong tail potential, selling viaiTunes and other online means.[2] A single company,ArkivMusic, has struck deals with all four major publishers (and numerous minor ones) ofclassical music recordings to make their deleted records available via a burn-on-demand service.[7]
A prominent exception to the practice was the labelFolkways Records, whose founderMoe Asch "never deleted a single title from the ... catalogue". According to Asch, "Just because the letter J is less popular than the letter S, you don't take it out of the dictionary." When the label was disbanded, Asch enlisted theSmithsonian Institution to maintain the catalogue "in perpetuity".[8]
In July 1972, the British music paperMelody Maker reported that a cut-price LP issued byVirgin Records was facing deletion because, ironically, it was too popular.Faust'sThe Faust Tapes,[9] then at number 18 inMelody Maker's chart, actually cost more to produce than its selling price (49p) and so Virgin lost supposedly £2,000 on sales of 60,000.[10] It has since been argued that this move was merely a publicity stunt by Virgin's owner,Richard Branson.
On November 16, 1990,Arista Records deletedMilli Vanilli's albumGirl You Know It's True very quickly afterFrank Farian admitted thatRob Pilatus andFab Morvan did not sing on the record. In addition to this, the duo's Grammy Award was revoked a few days later.[11]
Americanheavy metal bandPantera's first four albums have been notably deleted from label catalogs:Metal Magic,Projects in the Jungle,I Am the Night, andPower Metal. The largelyglam metal-oriented albums are not favorites of the band, who transitioned togroove andthrash metal from the release ofCowboys From Hell onward. They are only available in bootleg form.Rex Brown himself said that there will never be a reissue of them, citing every member of the band's most well-known lineup having been against it.[12]
The British duoThe KLF summarily deleted their entire back catalogue when they 'retired' from the music industry in 1992.[13][14]
Manic Street Preachers' 2000 single "The Masses Against The Classes" was deleted on the day of release as a promotional gimmick. However, copies of the single continued to be available until supplies ran out, which allowed it to reach Number 1, and remain in the charts for 7 weeks.
The 2006Gnarls Barkley single "Crazy" was deleted byWarner Music[15] after six weeks at #1 in the UK as a deliberate move to protect it from overexposure. Deleted singles could not then remain on the UK Singles Chart, so the physical single no longer charted after two weeks. However, it remained as a high-selling download single and has continued to receive heavy airplay well after the single was deleted.
On 20 April 2013, Dutch composerJohn Ewbank deleted his song "Koningslied" ("The King's Song") only two days after its initial release, citing an overload of criticism aimed at him personally and at the song itself from the general public and the media. The song had been commissioned to act as the official song ofWillem Alexander, Prince of Orange's upcoming investiture as the new King of the Netherlands on 30 April 2013. The song, already at number one in the iTunes download charts on the day of its release, was performed by a large number of well known Dutch artists.[16]
The recording industry employs the harsh term "deleted" to describe CDs no longer being pressed. If demand for a certain title falls beneath a profitable standard, the label typically removes it from its catalog. The disc becomes unavailable except through second-hand sources.
Records are normally deleted once they cease to sell in sufficient numbers to justify shelf space in stores. It is also not economical for firms to produce low-selling records. No such constraints exist on the net, and both record companies and Hollywood have recognised the advantages of digital content's "long tail" - they can market a huge back catalogue even if they sell only in small quantities.
Mr. Winter said -- and this is disputed by Chris Roberts, the president of Polygram's classical and jazz departments -- that the company planned to delete the label's back catalogue, taking the artists' work out of circulation. And record companies rarely return music rights to the creators. "It's like being erased," said Mr. Berne. "It's different in book publishing, where it's common to get the rights back. In music you don't have leverage, and this means that the majority of my work simply vanishes."
... certain staples have been in print from the day they were released, but many deleted gems are locked in archives, unheard and quite possibly deteriorating, while original vinyl copies change hands for obscene money. Their entire archives could and should be digitised and sold as downloads. Unfortunately, that's unlikely as it involves vision and effort. In the meantime, niche labels have sprung up specialising in reissuing out-of-copyright recordings, providing the majors with healthy competition.
By the early 1980s, Asch began to consider Folkways' future and legacy. He wanted to find an enterprise that would continue to maintain the catalogue as he had, making every Folkways record available in perpetuity. Asch never deleted a single title from the Folkways catalogue. As he said, "Just because the letter J is less popular than the letter S, you don't take it out of the dictionary." He wanted the new director to continue to produce recordings regardless of sales. He also expected this entity to appreciate and make use of the volumes of unexplored master tapes that he had yet to turn into recordings.