MAGIC

, special
CASH BOX NEWS
IRD STRIKES LONG BEACH - Jet recording artist Ozzy Osbourne recently
!o a turnaway crowd at the Long Beach Arena, his debut in the Los Angeles area as a
Pictured backstage after the performance are (I-r): Steve Einczig and Lori Holder,
strait/CBS Associated Labels (E/P/A); Osbourne; Don Arden, head of Jet
s; Sharon Arden, Osbourne's manager; and Jeff Siroty, Robin Wren and Larry
CBS Records.
)use Panel Urged To Raise
nalties For Record Piracy
by Earl B. Abrams
VGTON - The push to increase the
is for piracy and/or counterfeiting
Dn pictures and sound recordings
:o the House copyright subcommitweek,
where it was noted that such
cost the movie and record in-
; more than $1 billion in 1980.
vitnesses testified July 8 in favor of
the penalties for these infringe -
from the present misdemeanor
+ a felony. They were James Bouras,
alcture Assn. of America attorney,
g for MPAA and the Recording In -
Assn. of America, and Renee
assistant to the associate
general, Department of Justice.
louse hearing followed by three
similar hearing with the same witpy
a Senate subcommittee.
Ills are pending in Congress on this
One, H.R. 3530, is sponsored by
ail Optimistic
Sales Outlook
Rest Of 1981
by Dan Nooger
iRK - Despite the woes brought by
,conomy and increasing record
Cash Box survey of retail chains
vn that most claim sales for the first
ils year are running about the same
than for the comparable period in
archandisers cited increased sales
ie product, aggressive advertising
National Assn. of Recording
idisers (NARM) "Give The Gift Of
campaign as factors that helped
sate for a lack of strong star
and lower discretionary spending
imers.
Ceenan, president of the Portland,
led, nine -store Everybody's chain,
at sales for the fiscal year ended
Nere up over 13%, due In large part
iy schedule of TV advertising over
several months. Three hundred
re run over a recent 10 -day period,
ienan, done as co-ops with various
abets to push specific records or
lines. Included were the Moody
ie CBS midline series and MCA's
n Plus" $5.98 line and Tom Petty &
rtbreakers' album.
es were cited by all retailers as a
maintaining or increasing sales.
iy's Keenan noted that midlines
(continued on page 14)
Congressman Barney Frank (D -Mass.)
and co -sponsored by 10 other members.
The other, S.691, is sponsored by Senator
Strom Thurmond (R-S.C.), who is chairman
of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Both
bills would raise the maximum penalties for
piracy -counterfeiting from the present
$50,000 and/or two years imprisonment to
$250,000 and/or five years imprisonment.
Both also specify that penalties would be
imposed where, during a 180 -day period,
1,000 recordings or 65 movies are
reproduced or distributed. The 'House bill
would amend the copyright law; the Senate
bill, the U.S. criminal code.
Bouras emphasized that piracy and
counterfeiting of records, movies and tapes
has grown into a billion -dollar -a -year industry
that has attracted organized crime.
He contended that because the present
penalties constitute a misdemeanor,
prosecutors are discouraged from bringing
charges and results in judges imposing
light sentences. The imposition of tougher
penalties, he insisted, would act as a
deterrent to criminals and catalyze
prosecutions by enforcement officers.
Yarnell Testifies
Bouras was joined in his House
testimony by Jules Yarnell, RIAA special
anti -piracy counsel, who related instances
of civil lawsuits that resulted in judgments
against pirates and counterfeiters but
!continuec on page 14)
Breakthrough Seen In Search
For Quality Domestic Vinyls
by Michael Glynn
LOS ANGELES -A major domestic supplier
of vinyl resins and compounds to the
record industry has introduced a new inexpensive,
ultra -quiet formulation that it
claims is comparable in quality to the highpriced
German and Japanese vinyls
currently used in the making of audiophile
discs.
Keysor Corp., based in Saugus, Calif.,
recently began supplying a number of major
pressers with KC600, the latest lowcost,
high-grade PVC copolymer manufactured
here in the U.S. since Vitec, a competing
company, debuted its (uiex 1 and 2
vinyl formulations. Along with the pressers
themselves, label quality control executives
have praised the introduction of KC600 as
significant manufacturing development in
the area of raw materials.
"We are serviced by a number of plants
and two of those facilities, both of which are
WEA Manufacturing plants, have begun us-
ing KC600 and the results, from what I can
determine, have been quite good," said Ed
Outwater, director of quality assurance for
Warner Bros. Records. "Wakefield, which
does a lot of pressing for various audiophile
labels, has been using it for a little while
now, and they have been quite satisfied
with it. It's encouraging to see that the use of
the compound is becoming more
widespread."
One of the problems with such high
quality vinyls as Germany's Teldec, according
to Outwater, has been in the disc
molding process itself. That problem, ad-
ded Keysor president Howard Hill, has
been eliminated with KC600.
Unique Dye
"(KC600) is the only material on the
market that utilizes a dye rather than carbon
black, a particulative additive which is
a major cause of noise," Hill said. "It
processes extremely well in manufacturing
plants, leaving fewer defects, and because
of its ability to mold easier, KC600 does offer
better high frequency definition."
Hill noted that while certain pressers
have been utilizing KC600 since December
of last year on a test basis, it has only been
available in bulk since the end of April. In
addition to WEA Manufacturing and
Wakefield, Monarch Records has been one
of the more extensive users of the compound,
while RCA "has done some work
with it" and CBS' plants have also been
"taking a look at it," according to Hill.
Mary Bornstein, international vice president
of quality control for A&M Records,
whose pressing and manufacturing is done
primarily by CBS, said that while CBS "has
come up with some pretty quiet compounds
themselves," KC600 is "one of the
quietest compounds I've ever heard.
Nominal Cost
"I've just listened to test pressings at this
point and haven't analyzed it closely yet, but
upon normal listening, it's as good as
anything out there," Bornstein added. "I
think It's great that someone domestically is
producing a compound that compares with
the foreigners'."
As far as price is concerned, Hill stated
icontiv,ed on page 18)
Mail Order Houses See Rising
Sales Of Major Label Product
by Fred Goodman
NEW YORK - Independent mail order
record retailers, traditionally reliant upon
specialty and small label items for the bulk
of their business, are reporting a growing
trade in product distributed by major
labels. Mall order merchandisers surveyed
by Cash Box attribute the shift to an inability
on the part of distributors to reach
the rural market and an increased reliance
on hit product by retailers, one stops and
major label record clubs.
The survey also shows an increased
business in urban areas. long the exclusive
province of specialty stores.
Many of the mail order merchandisers
STARS GO GOLD - "Stars On 45" and "Stars On Long Play," the medley single and
album released on Radio Records, recently won gold certifications from the RIAA. Pictured
at the presentation are (I -r): Doug Morris, president, Atlantic Records (Radio's distributor);
Ed McGlynn, chairman, Radio; Jimmy Gielbert, vice president, sales, Radio; Dick Kline,
president, Radio; Sheldon Vogel, vice chairman, Atlantic; and Dave Glew, executive vice
president/general manager, Atlantic.
opened their businesses as specialty
houses, offering import items, jazz,
bluegrass, classical or ethnic music exclusively.
While most retain an emphasis on
a particular type of music, many are discovering
opportunities in markets they expected
to be locked out of.
"We automatically assumed that if an
album was on Columbia or Warner Bros.,
we didn't have a chance to sell it," says
James Eigo of Brooklyn -based Daybreak
Express Records. "When ECM went with
WEA, I figured that was the end of my ECM
business in this country. You'd be amazed
at how much ECM product I still move. And
it's not just them, the stores and the one
stops just don't stock deep catalog
anymore, especially out in the boondocks
and the suburbs.
"Although my catalog lists specific titles
and labels, I now tell my clients that I'll get
any jazz record, even if I don't advertise it,"
he adds. "I'm starting to think of myself less
as a specialty house and more as an international
mom-and-pop store."
'Wide Open' Market
Although they are all affiliated with major
labels, Eigo has found the mail order
market wide open for albums on Blue Note,
Pablo, and Savoy. "Nobody handles that
stuff outside the major cities," he says.
"And while a distribution network like WEA
is powerful enough to get the product out
into any market, the system is geared for
salesmen to push new pop and hit product.
I doubt any salesman operating in the suburbs
is pushing Eberhard Weber when he
could be selling Joni Mitchell."
Bob Porter of Jazz, Etc. in Bergenfield,
N.J., now does "about 50%" of his business
in established catalog items that he at one
time assumed were covered by retailers.
(continued on page 15)
July 18, 1981 5