LP "Cutouts"

"records being pressed today have no return priviliges" -- Sorry, but once again, this is wrong. I work at a record label and I know. We sell our vinyl with 100% returns. It's true that many distributors now sell vinyl "one-way", but not all of them. And all CDs, of course, are 100% returnable, just as records were in the old days.

As to whether artists see royalties from overstock or cut-out sales, either on LP or CD: this varies by contract.

If I were you, jaybo, I'd make fewer generalizations about the industry.

Patrick

patrick..what label do you work for? honestly everything from the majors is one way.

one more thing....cut outs were never sold title specific(which makes it impossible to track royalties) ....cut outs were sold in bulk, mixed in 100 count cartons, etc.....no item numbers except for one which was the mix itself. most, if not all of the artist agreements to this day are written with provisions for overstock and cut outs(even though vinyl royalties won't buy a ham sandwich)....heck, i've been doing this since 1969, and agreements with artists, and agreements for intellectual properties have been my main focus for at least 15 years. if you're taking returns on vinyl in this day and age, thats scarey.

So Jaybo, the labels always looked out for their artists, and made sure that all royalties due to the artist were paid in a timely fashion...right :-)

Hi jaybo,

I work at Matador, and we've never stopped taking returns on vinyl. That's standard in the indie world... and frankly the only way you're going to get significant vinyl sales happening.

Cut-outs could certainly be ordered title-specific - I remember browsing through the Performane catalog in the '80s! I do have to admit that I'm not familiar with any current cut-out distribturos... are you jaybo? I remember that we talked to a couple in the late '90s to clear out some overstock, but decided it wasn't worth it - cheapens the brand (important to a label that actually has a brand that people identify in and trust...i.e. not the majors)

I've seen every kind of clause relating to cut-outs and royalties... on vinyl or CD.

btw are you an artist attorney? at a major label? or?

Patrick