However, I have been active at this site since about 2000 and while I have no doubt that few would miss my postings, I will certainly miss posting now and then. While there is a great deal of acrimony here, there are also many thoughtful and knowledgeable posters as well. So why leave?

Because I am giving up soundtrack collecting. Pure and simple.

The reasons are many and it took a while to get there, but I finely did when I read on the main board about new Varese Club releases and the Meteor selling out in a day. Frankly, there are too many releases that I would like to own and I just can’t keep up. I like too many different styles of music and film music and reading about all these releases I can never hear is just too painful. There are other reasons.

Money is so tight right now and has been for the last several months. In good conscience, I can’t justify the expense.

I just can’t get enthused about the current state of film music. It doesn’t feel like or make me feel anything. I just watched The Kingdom, scored by one of my favorite composers and I can’t remember a single moment of music from it. Even if I had money I doubt I would buy this or any other recent score. I am not picking on Danny Elfman, I could just as easily have listed Iron Man, The Dark Knight, SOP or just about any other film I have seen in the last few years.

Despite wanting to continue buying scores I am not getting much out of the expense. Many of the things I have been buying have been bought because they will vanish quickly and if I have even an inkling that I might like it, I have to buy quickly. Once I get the CD I might not listen to it for months and when I do I often feel nothing about it.
I have been begging for an expanded Indiana Jones release since the Arista Star Wars box and when one was finally announced I didn’t feel elation, just that here was another damned thing I had to try and find the money for.

When I saw that Varese was about to drop another 4 CDs, That Meteor was sold out in a day or so and that La-La Land has some huge project about to bear fruit and that Intrada’s continuing pace of 2 releases every couple of weeks (and that doesn’t even consider FSM releases) I just realized I can’t do this anymore and further I don’t really want to. I’m not enjoying collecting any longer and my disappointment with my inability to participate in discussions about the music and missing so much of the new music is coloring my enjoyment of music that I used to love.

If you have read this far, I hope you can understand my reasons, even if you don’t agree with them. I will also be posting this on the other sites I frequent so you may see this more than once. I will continue to be registered here and my email is in my profile (where possible) if any of you need to get in touch with me or ask a question, please feel free to do so.

I hope to resume posting when I feel like I can approach the hobby and my enjoyment in a way that doesn’t bankrupt either my wallet or my spirit. Until then…

Best wishes and good fortune,

Michael
mwruger(at)swbell(dot)net

I can understand your frustration with the strains of so many releases and to some extent the state of film music today (I don't think it's as bleak as others have stated).

I think what you need to do is just take a break, which you seem willing to do. Turn off the forums and the CD/MP3 players, and just get away from film music. Once you feel you're missing it, I would suggest going back to your roots and finding what made film music enjoyable for you. Was it a certain composer? A certain sound? Embrace whatever it was that got you into collecting.

Maybe then you'll realize what exactly it was about film music that was important to you, and perhaps you'll find yourself more happy just focusing on specific areas of your collection instead of the myriad of new releases.

I agree 100% with everything you wrote. I can't tell you when was the last time I was excited by a film score, or when I last purchased something (because I can't afford the nice things).

Thankfully, a lot of my big 'wants' are already in my collection...but there's always something new and exciting that i convince myself that I must have, even though I don't always really need to have it. I think I've cut back in the latter half of 2008, but I haven't really been keeping track.

The up thumb is support for MWR and others who've been drained by this nonsense. You can turn it down for the record companies that started the nonsense.

I'm on film music boards because I like film music. I don't see why you think one has to be a "bottle cap" collector, to be able to be a member.

I also don't see why some want to give it all up because of the "current state of film music", when there are countless gems from times past waiting to be discovered. They aren't going anywhere! Have patience, and learn to say "no". Buy 1 album per month max, for example.

I don't see the problem. (Which is probably a good thing)

quote:

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They aren't going anywhere!

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Consequently, I am looking to older and limited editions to get excited about, which does happen. Scores like "Baby"
and "Boys From Brazil" were great releases. Nothing like looking back to appreciate a genre.

--Brian

1.) It will stick around a while
2.) I just don't enjoy most of the music.

quote:

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Originally posted by tjguitar:
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size=1 face=arial>quote:</font><HR size=1> They aren't going anywhere! <HR size=1></BLOCKQUOTE>

They in fact do. That's the problem. The stuff sells out so fast, you're basically given a choice: Now or Never.

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Rather it's: Now or some day when you'll find this release on an auction or when we or some other company release it again.

Of course giving that impression would be a rather poor sales strategy.

Have patience and don't obsess. Sit back and enjoy the music you have. Why some people insist of making life so stressful for themselves, especially about something they love, I'll never understand.

Al-No one is going to listen to an ultimatum from me about anything. But in a world where I'd just like to see the scores released and available, some of these practices are annoying to say the least.

quote:

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Originally posted by Lou Goldberg:

Peter(Plindboe)-- It's not as hard to understand what MWR is going through. I can't speak for him of course but he's been coming to this site for years. He's been collecting for years. He's burned out. The new scores aren't as good as the ones he likes & he has to go through this marketing hell where the few things he can get excited about like Rosenthal's Meteor disappear before he has a chance to buy them.

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From reading his post it seems his problem is an inability to say "no". He says it's painful to see people talk about a score if he's unable to buy it. He says that even when he buys it he might not listen to it for months and when he does he's not excited about it.

I don't understand why it would be painful not to have it all. I don't understand why he would buy something he doesn't want to listen to.

Of course one ends up "burned out" and lacking money if one thinks one has to buy everything that is talked about. It sounds like an unhealthy obsession to me, similar to gambling problems or alcoholism.

I just think it's such a shame to give up something one loves, which is the reason I made my comments, and why I suggested a "max 1 album per month" self-imposed rule might be a better option than giving it all up.

But if he's totally unable to have a healthy relationship to the film score hobby, perhaps he's right that he has to give it up completely.

You tell the guy to go on a diet of one score a month. Fine. But all he'll hear when he does his research on the boards is how this score or that one which he's limited himself from buying is great and he's left out in the cold. Not only can't he hear the score but he can't be a part of the community which he's belonged to ever since he started collecting. Hey MWR, what did you think of that score? I dunno, I couldn't get it in time. Or, I'm only buying one score a month when I really want to be buying 20. And I presume MWR doesn't deal in pirates, boots, Pando, and cdrs, so he's stuck.

I don't see where his position is that difficult to relate to.

I'm torn in many ways. There is a need to approach the hobby of collecting with a certain degree of health and wellness. I do agree with that, and much of what PlindboePeter said up there. Too often collectors suffer obsessiveness as a result of the marketing by these labels, the "now or never mentality" (which is a hoax, total hoax). But it's not entirely the fault of a label's marketing practices. Lou makes good points when he says it's become a race of riches. There are simply people out there with a lot of money who can buy this stuff up for reselling on ebay.

This may be boring to Al, but for me, as a store owner (and not a label, oooh so unique!) it's become part of a business strategy not to make more money but to earn better marks from customers by buying a ton of qty up front and keeping the titles at their regular price even though ashes are all that remain elsewhere. This is impossible to do with most titles, but I will try where I can... a few miscues here and there and I'll be out of money too, so it's a delicate thing. In the long run, though, it's exciting to get an email from someone who feels like they've discovered a 10 ounce gold nugget in a $20 Masters of the Universe CD. (In fact, the store is down to the last handful of MOTU... available to those who've not bought it yet at this price).

But should I do this? Do people appreciate it... will it save someone from giving it all up? Maybe not, and perhaps people might be taking advantage. But the reason I do it is because I know where collectors are and know it's pretty painful these days to get everything, so those things that may be interesting, I try my best to keep them in stock for as long as possible, and for the original price.