Label war: Sony rush out Perahia tracks to challenge DG’s coup

Label war: Sony rush out Perahia tracks to challenge DG’s coup

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norman lebrecht

October 10, 2016

After Sony snatched Jonas Kaufmann from Decca last year, he was outraged when his former label pushed out his old Puccini tracks to play against Sony’s Nessun Dorma release.

kaufmann sony

There was even talk of legal action.

Now, weeks after DG captured Murray Perahia from Sony with a set of Bach suites, his former label has issued a spoiler compilation.

Small boys in playgrounds?

perahia-bach-sonyperahia-bach-dg

Comments

  • Erich says:

    Sony have a perfect right to exploit the recordings in their catalogue for which they paid good money – and from which Perahia presumably still earns royalties!

  • Robert Holmén says:

    If classical sales are as low as we often hear, I’m surprised they even bother to sign people.

  • La Verita says:

    We’re talking about pennies here. Hardly any money will be lost by either label, and no significant money will be made. What the major labels don’t understand is that consumers buy repertoire, not labels. Consumers don’t care which label that a particular artist or repertoire is issued on. So in this instance, they might get their competitor’s dander up, but that’s about it.

    • Peter says:

      Dog eats dog. Usually in ‘race to the bottom’ economic schemes of downturns, this is the final phase. They have reached the bottom of the barrell.
      Grammophon will probably survive in some form, the others will break up in even smaller boutique type distribution platforms, operated only by a handful of people.

  • BluePumpkin says:

    Even worse, for example, (in my own view) is the fact that Alfred Brendel whose whole career was mostly as a Philips artist (they invested in him and promoted him) is now apparently a DECCA artist. I understand why but it seems heretical to those of us who bought his recordings from the 1970s onwards.

    • Peter says:

      Who cares if the Label is Philips or Decca, or Bluepumpkin?
      It’s the recorded music that matters, no?
      Heretical? Labels are religions? More like cults, eh?
      Stop dancing around the golden calf. The religion is called MUSIC.

  • Waltraud Becker says:

    Kaufmann changed to Sony at the latest 2013. Perhaps DECCA had the right to use the “old” tracks, but the artist did not want to publish them at all! He took new recordings on the actual status. By the way: DECCA did not invest in JK in the same intensity as Sony does. JK mentioned when 2012 asked about a recording of Winterreise: “ell it to my label!” They did not, he recorded Winterreise with Sony!!!

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