Warner buys Ryko

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http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/breaking_news/14179874.htm

― älänbänänä (alanbanana), Saturday, 25 March 2006 19:20 (twenty years ago)

Hm, interesting! I have to say I was always kinda surprised at how Ryko kept hanging in there over all those years -- especially after first getting and then losing the David Bowie and Elvis Costello catalogues. But they found a niche out of opportunity -- I still remember all the old 'the world's only CD only label!' pitches from the eighties -- and kept on with it.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Saturday, 25 March 2006 19:24 (twenty years ago)

Will the jewel cases still be green?

― M. Biondi (M. Biondi), Saturday, 25 March 2006 19:26 (twenty years ago)

>first getting and then losing the David Bowie and Elvis Costello catalogues

Wasn't it always a limited-time licensing arrangement? I mean, it wasn't like either Bowie or Costello walked into the Ryko office, flanked by lawyers, and said "I changed my mind; I wannem back."

Wonder if Warners will reissue The Adventures of Schoolly D, the Ryko-only CD compiled from his first EP and full-length?

― pdf (Phil Freeman), Saturday, 25 March 2006 20:15 (twenty years ago)

Wasn't it always a limited-time licensing arrangement?

Might well have been, at that.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Saturday, 25 March 2006 20:16 (twenty years ago)

"I have been through hell. I have seen hell. Remember, I was signed to Warner Brothers for eight fucking years."

"I hadn't even heard of Rykodisc before. It was like one cottage industry talking to another".

― baht, Saturday, 25 March 2006 20:40 (twenty years ago)

hooray for consolidation. This is going to suck.

― Dan Selzer (Dan Selzer), Saturday, 25 March 2006 21:01 (twenty years ago)

what will happen to labels like hannibal and all saints that are distributed by ryko?

― kyle (akmonday), Saturday, 25 March 2006 21:22 (twenty years ago)

I just started working at eMusic and this could be pretty bad for us--we have Ryko in our database, and if WB nixes it we lose something like 200 artists.

― Matos-Webster Dictionary (M Matos), Saturday, 25 March 2006 22:11 (twenty years ago)

ryko seems to have slowed down quite a bit since the early to mid 90s when they were in their heyday.....or maybe they've been releasing stuff lately that didn't register with me.

― timmy tannin (pompous), Saturday, 25 March 2006 22:38 (twenty years ago)

Ryko's deals with both Bowie and Costello were strictly licensing - especially so in Costello's case. Demon (UK) were the originators of all the Costello reissues. At one point Elvis himself publicly expressed annoyance that Ryko got so much credit for all this remastering and repackaging work that they didn't even do. He definitely felt coat-tailed. As far as Bowie goes, I'm fairly sure that deal just ran its course. Obviously EMI chose to keep aside all the Ryko-era bonus tracks in their subsequent reissues for some other cash cow.

I recently visited Ryko for a job opportunity after having not been through there for a number of years (I left the co in '98). Back in the day, when the Salem office was in full swing, it was a totally amazing place to work - great staff, fun atmosphere, totally supportive and "all in the gang" sorta place to be. My opinion is that the merger with Palm Pix was their undoing - they got spit out of that deal looking ragged and starving. After that harrowing experience, I don't think they ever really got their momentum back, and who can blame them, having lost all of their original core staff except maybe three to five people?

Their output has slowed considerably, but they also haven't managed to nab as many interesting projects. I think only the VW-inspired explosion of Nick Drake has come close to matching former (sales) glories like Copper Blue. It will be interesting to see what happens with the licensed labels, as this has probably been Ryko's bread and butter for the last decade - Hannibal especially, but also their brief dalliance with Emperor Norton.

Ryko and eMusic, hard to say - I know they're only now getting up to speed with their catalog on iTunes, so it's possible, once that gets rolling in its entirety, it might supplant the (presumably) lower yield of something like eMusic. That's 200% speculation on my part, tho.

― Myke. (Myke Weiskopf), Sunday, 26 March 2006 01:23 (twenty years ago)

Oh, and I think it's phenomenally ironic that Ryko is being merged into the Rhino catalogue, since that was one of our major pet peeves back in the day - nobody could ever keep Rhino or Ryko straight...

― Myke. (Myke Weiskopf), Sunday, 26 March 2006 01:24 (twenty years ago)

I think it's kinda funny that the first Ryko artists mentioned in that article are The Posies. not exactly big breadwinners there, but the new album they released last year is probably one of Ryko's best non-reissue releases in a while (maybe since Morphine? I dunno, I can't think of many contemporary bands that were ever signed to Ryko).

― Alex in Baltimore (Alex in Baltimore), Sunday, 26 March 2006 01:56 (twenty years ago)

The list of artists seemed a little arbitrary. Both The Posies and Big Star put out new discs last year; Zappa was their flagship reissue campaign. Tara Angell released a fantastic debut on Ryko last year, but my understanding is that it didn't sell particularly well.

I find it supremely fucking bizarre that Ryko was helmed by JPMorgan.

― Myke. (Myke Weiskopf), Sunday, 26 March 2006 03:10 (twenty years ago)

Interesting progression from Zappa leaving WB in a huff during the 70s, Ryko (and Rhino) scooping up his and other such neglected catalogues in the 80s/90s and now the crumbling major labels re-reaching back into their own history. I sincerely hope that eMusic and other sites don't get screwed by this but a possible upside could be the re-release of many neglected Warner Bros rarities and weirdness from the 60s/70s. "the long tail" is wagging the dog.

― m coleman (lovebug starski), Sunday, 26 March 2006 12:12 (twenty years ago)

Rhino Handmade still seems to be the primary outlet for the most comprehensive and/or obscure reissues in the WEA catalogue, although certain Handmade issues are subsequently making their way onto iTunes as digital downloads. I personally wouldn't hold out much hope for wider reissue campaigns in physical retail form, at least in the "rarities and weirdness" category.

― Myke. (Myke Weiskopf), Sunday, 26 March 2006 13:10 (twenty years ago)

yeah I meant digital downloads, iTunes, streaming on Rhapsody etc. fukk a physical retail form, I'll burn my own CD if necessary.

― m coleman (lovebug starski), Sunday, 26 March 2006 13:17 (twenty years ago)

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