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- bucketfoot
- Rep: 4
Re: Eddie Trunk on Chinese Democracy
"I hear the new G&R CD is actually done, but the delay in release is not the bands issues but the label. There is so much money tied up in this record that in todays business it will be virtually impossible to be profitable, meaning the label might want to sell it off but can not find a buyer since nobody buys CDs anymore. Problem might not be Axl this time around and might keep this CD in limbo for more years to come. Hopefully it gets resolved."
From Eddie's Blog. He also talked about it (said same things) on-air tonight.
- DoubleTalkingJive
- Rep: 74
Re: Eddie Trunk on Chinese Democracy
Thanks for posting this.
Ususally what Eddie Trunk says is believable. If what he heard was true this really is a quandry isn't it.
Can't Univ. make a profit on merchandise and ticket sales as well as how much the album sells?
If Univ. can't profit and no one will buy it, I say Axl should buy it and release it on his own. Although with the money Axl's already put in and then the cost to buy it, he could feel the same way. 
Re: Eddie Trunk on Chinese Democracy
now t his sounds more believeable than the marketing thing....Uni may be trying to sell the rights to gnr music to recoup costs.....hmmmm interesting if that is the case we may be waiting a long time
GnR is like a dilapitated overpriced house these days...it could sit on the market for years and not move
- monkeychow
- Rep: 661
Re: Eddie Trunk on Chinese Democracy
Eddie Trunk is a good guy so i don't mean this to diss him at all. But I don't see how this really makes sence - they spent so much money on it that it will be impossible to make a profit now, so therefore they're not going to release it at a loss to at least recoup some of the costs? Surely the bulk of the money is already gone from the recording sessions, so anything they make back now would be better than nothing. How does it fix anything to not release it? Or is the idea that they'd never made back what it would cost to press and market the cd? I doubt that or there would be no cds at all anymore.
- Mikkamakka
- Rep: 217
Re: Eddie Trunk on Chinese Democracy
I think Uni may not want to spend too much for it since there is zero chance to recoup it. So they're doing the maths to minimalize the loss: how much should they pay for marketing to sell more but don't pay more than they'll regain. My guess is that they want Axl to pay for the marketing bill or a huge part of it, and maybe Axl gets more money after selling enough: like if it sells more than 2,000,000 copies, then Axl will get more money, but he has to finance the marketing. But Axl is not stupid, he invested mililons into this project since 2004, he knows that he can only lose more money. So none of them wants to take the risk.
Re: Eddie Trunk on Chinese Democracy
Can't Univ. make a profit on merchandise and ticket sales as well as how much the album sells?
Concert promoters are the ones gathering profit for the ticket sales. Artists are usually paid a fixed sum of money for performing and the promoters/venues then hope the net profit will be positive. No label involved - unless they pay for arranging the gig or sponsor it some way. Merchandise is generally funded and sold by the bands, and its often their best bet to get some money on the eve of the gig. GNR merch is controlled by Axl and supplied a company called Bravado, I believe. Again, no label involved, unless they specifically want to pay for it.
Universal does own the publishing rights to whatever songs CD will enclose, as they got their hands on the rights during their buyout of Sanctuary Group (Axl sold his rights, 1/3 of '86-'93 back catalogue and 100% of CD, to Sanctuary Publishing in early '05). That's Uni's best bet of making additional revenue of CD, which translates into CD tracks featured in various films, commercials, games, what-have-you.
If Univ. can't profit and no one will buy it, I say Axl should buy it and release it on his own. Although with the money Axl's already put in and then the cost to buy it, he could feel the same way.
I'd love Axl to take the Radiohead route, but I fear there are various legal wranglings involved, which would make a simple refund a tricky option. Remember that there is likely more than one album recorded with the $13M of Uni money (+ additional funding by Axl & co). Three albums with full publishing rights isn't that bad with a GNR brand slapped on the top. Therefore I believe it's not simply because Uni wouldn't make their money back; it's something else, something we don't know about.
Re: Eddie Trunk on Chinese Democracy
good post Sic...it could be a lot of different things. Like Trunk said as well, Uni could be looking to sell all the material to another record company. Axl could be looking for a new deal for multiple album releases...there are a hundred different things that could be at issue. Of course, Sic and I have mentioned all these things before over the last 6 months!:haha:.....still doesn't mean we are any closer to getting a record.:headbang:
Re: Eddie Trunk on Chinese Democracy
As I mentioned in the other thread last night, Axl took too long to get off the pot. Now that he's ready, only a handful of people give a shit.
Sic makes valid points, and Madagas also believes there are other things holding it up, but I really think this is a case of all parties involved knowing that no one is interested and there's just no way to make back any of this money. A few thousand geeks, half of which will download it while saying they bought multiple copies, does not create a profit.
Axl and Uni were fucking insane for throwing so much money into this project.
If you want the album this year, pray for a leak.
