I thought you lot might be interested to read this email of protest I sent to Honest Jons a couple of weeks ago. Needless to say I didn't get a reply.
To Honest Jons Records
A word to the wise.
I am writing to you not as a world music journalist but as a punter on a limited budget and on behalf of several friends in the same boat.
We all agree that essentially Honest Jons charge far too much for their CDs. For example the pair of Lagos compilations you've just released - 'Lagos Chop Up' and 'Lagos All Routes'. Not only is £16.99 an outrageous price for a single album of back catalogue material (and very lo-fi back catologue material at that), but also, these two albums would have made far more sense as a double - even some of the sleeve notes are duplicated in both CDs. But of course then you wouldn't have been able to sting the consumer for an astonishing 34 quid!
And I'm not just thinking of the consumer here, guys - I am convinced if you put these CDs out at mid-price you would sell a whole lot more of them.
Take the recent soul diva re-releases - I wasn't going to pay £16 for a Candi Staton comp. I simply waited until I could get it in Fopp for a fiver. Had you priced it at around a tenner in the first place (mid or low price being the norm with much re-released material where studio costs haven't been incurred) you would have made a few more quid out of me.
So I will be giving 'Lagos Chop Up' the good review it deserves, but if I'd had to pay the price you're charging for it, I would have let you keep it!
Bring your prices down and sell more CDs - you know it makes sense.
Regards
Howard Male