Re: Starting A Reggae Re-Issue Label - Thoughts and Ideas Please!!!

Greetings,

I am the producer and owner of all rights of the entire Humble Commission reggae label and series of vinyl releases, 1984-1986. I would appreciate it greatly if no attempt were made to reissue any of my works, at least without contacting me for legal permissions and proper licensing. I still own all copyright and commercial rights to these releases. I am somewhat weary of chasing individuals who have attempted to profit from illegal distribution of my material, but will continue to use what legal leverage I have to do so if necessary.
Individuals serious about obtaining rights to the HC material should contact me with viable offers. The very best of the HC material still remains on master tape only, waiting for a proper offer to be reissued, along with the previous vinyl releases.

Many thanks,
Respect,
Blessings,

JSR
Humble Commission Prod. Ltd.

=Nilo82= wrote :
Or take a look at Trojan. They did quantity for a long time and their reputation was almost ruined. Now they're doing limited but quality re-issues and take their time: most of their singles are sold out. Of course - Trojan has an awesome catalogue available for re-releases and they can just keep going, but I gotta back up the "limited with quality" approach.

i have often wondered about that - what the terms of Trojan licensing were back when most of their catalog was put together? since the music didn't originate from Trojan, it would have been licensed from Jamaican producers back in the day like Duke Reid, Bunny Lee, Leslie Kong, Harry J., etc.

obviously, the market in the UK was much bigger than the market in JA so it made sense for producers back then when the music was new. but, i'd love to know how that works nowadays and for different media (CD's versus singles and LP's)

normally in exclusive and non-exclusive licensing agreements, they are valid for a certain period time (let's say 3 to 5 years).

at the point when the original agreement expires, the licensee may agree to renew the agreement or negotiate a new one if necessary. given the potential minefield of who really owns the rights to the original recording and the publishing and how it seems to be a universal issue for everyone else, i am surprised that the modern version of Trojan hasn't run into legal problems over the years with re-issuing so much JA music.

unless they really do indeed have to wade through the same bunch of fuckery that everyone else does... anyone know how that works for them these days?

Hi again guys, this has been a long time coming, but it's finally here!!! I've managed to get everything together and am pleased to report that my reggae re-issue label will be putting out it's first release this coming Monday 26 November. The label is called Hot Milk and the first album we are re-issuing is the great Keith Hudson's "Torch Of Freedom", with sleeve notes by the respected reggae journalist John Masouri.

This album has been unavailable for years and it's a pretty special record in my opinion. I hope you guys will support my venture, and hopefully with your help I can keep putting out more and more releases.

Spread the news and go and "Like" the Hot Milk facebook page at www.facebook.com/HotMilkRecords

Get involved, leave some comments and enjoy.

Cheers guys.

I saw 'Torch Of Freedom' listed for pre-order on Amazon the other week. Good choice. I'll probably buy that at some point...

Another suggestion for a future reissue - Papa Levi's 'Trouble In Africa'. I don't think that this has ever been on CD.

Edit: Have Misty In Roots been mentioned already? Virtually all of their albums are long out of print.

Great news, and great choice! What formats?

Only CD I'm afraid Flashman. Hope that doesn't put you off!!!

Love the cover Mellowman,much better than the Conqueror one. Hope it goes well.

j j

MellowMan wrote :Only CD I'm afraid Flashman. Hope that doesn't put you off!!!

It's quite disappointing, actually. But I'll probably end up buying it anyway! My personal feeling is that CDs have very little appeal. If I want a physical copy, I want vinyl. If not, I would just download it (paid, of course). I think CDs are dying. I really hate jewel cases, especially. Digipaks I can sort of deal with.

Obviously my personal opinion and many on here won't agree.

MellowMan wrote :Only CD I'm afraid Flashman. Hope that doesn't put you off!!!

Pity no mp3, I always assumed that mp3 releases would be a cheap way for a record label to release their stuff. 90% of what I buy now is mp3.... no mp3 combined with the fact that I don't really like much of Keith Hudson's work won't make this top of my want list. I really do wish you the best of luck and will be eagerly watching out for your future releases

Is the Keith Hudson mastered from tape or dubbed from vinyl?