As a jazz, soul/r&b and blues lover, there is literally a limitless archive of superlative music to select 12 records a year from 1960 to 1980. That’s two decades of quite possibly the most fertile and creative time period of music. It’s a treasure trove, for real. Getting licensing rights will be an issue for larger labels, but it’s not always a hindrance. On the flip side, there are labels that would actually love the exposure. Some reissue companies have tapped directly into this market because they had the foresight, vision, taste, and most importantly, the knowledge. A perfect example of this is Numero Group. Numero Group has hipped mainstream America to so many labels, scenes, and music from Black enclaves that most of their audience was unaware of. Everyone knows Motown, Stax, and Blue Note already. They’re literally 3 of the most successful labels in their respective fields, so the idea that releasing box sets from those labels is making the pickings slim or less exciting for the Classics track doesn’t really hold up imo. There is so much music out there! Though I don't disagree that some titles in those sets would have been better than a lot of the 2019 Classics titles.
What the anthology sets might be doing to VMP is maybe making them lose focus on everything else, like not ensuring that a website migration at the busiest shopping time of the year would work before executing it, or shipping out our damn records in time. Still doesn’t explain their lack professionalism, transparency or clear communication. Honestly, VMP acts like an abusive partner. They’ll ignore and gaslight you, then when you speak up about the mistreatment, they’ll send you a long email that explains nothing, then close out the long email with a heart emoji. Nothing will actually change about the way they treat you or their behavior either...lol
