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  • Mele.com

    Since she hasn't posted to HT for about a year-and-a-half, it looks like Auntie Maria isn't going to pop in here to tell this news, and I think enough time has passed since I first learned it - so I'm going to spread the word. As she stated it herself elsewhere:

    Okay -- it's official. I'm retiring, and have sold MELE.COM, effective April 15. Uiha!!!!

    My dear friend Fred Krauss of Maui will do an outstanding job with the website. He has the knowledge and expertise to grow it even bigger and better. The site will close down April 15 while we make the transition (and pack and move allllll this inventory!), with a reopen date scheduled for May 1st.

    I'm definitely not leaving the island music industry though -- still got my radio shows, and will keep supporting island musicians and wonderful music they bring us.

    Just wanted all you wonderful (site-specific info deleted)ers to hear this news from me, straight up!

    - Auntie Maria, www.mele.com - Your Hawaiian music island -
    Fred Krauss, if you don't know the name, is one of the partners in Punahele Productions (Keali`i Reichel's company).

  • #2
    Re: MELE.COM has been sold

    Wow...to both seller and buyer!!! As if Puna doesn't have enough on his plate already! So, Auntie M gets to retire before me...hrmmmmmph!!! Ok, ok, I'm happy for her...hrmmmmmph! I'm happy for anyone who can retire in this economy. Way to go, Auntie M.

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    • #3
      Re: MELE.COM has been sold

      That's too bad, I've been a faithful customer over the years and it makes sense since the "new releases" section hadn't been updated in a long time.

      I still hope they make CD and DVD sales an important part of the site, and perhaps incorporate legitimate MP3 sales for those who prefer their music digitally to keep up with today's marketplace. I had always hoped the website would expand a bit, and perhaps with Krauss' new ownership we'll see what will happen.

      Mahalo nui to Auntie Maria for all of her hard work.

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      • #4
        Re: MELE.COM has been sold

        Aloha kakou -- yes, I'm still here (da lurkah!), and although I'm retiring from retailing, I'll continue to be an active member of the island music industry.

        johmbolaya: the new releases section on MELE.COM contains everything that's been released recently. S-l-o-w start to 2009, for sure! The good news is, lots of folks are in-studio (or planning to be), so we can expect many new island music CDs later this year.

        I was on O`ahu for Pali's CD release party Friday night, and heard that some folks have the mis-perception that MELE.COM is closing. Totally not true. Due to the technicalities involved in the sale (moving the inventory and supplies from here on Kaua`i to it's new home on Maui, etc.), the site will be down for about 10 days -- but will reopen for business by the end of this month, under Fred's capable ownership.

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        • #5
          Re: MELE.COM has been sold

          Originally posted by Auntie Maria View Post
          johmbolaya: the new releases section on MELE.COM contains everything that's been released recently. S-l-o-w start to 2009, for sure! The good news is, lots of folks are in-studio (or planning to be), so we can expect many new island music CDs later this year.
          Good to hear, I was about to think "oh no, no more new Hawaiian music?" but then I started getting a few press releases on my side and saw John Berger's column getting some new things too. That's a good thing.

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          • #6
            Re: MELE.COM has been sold

            Here's a question. What is the island music industry doing about offering customers the option to purchase single MP3 or AAC tracks like they offer at Apple's iTunes Store, Amazon.com Digital Downloads and other places?

            I find that Hawaiian music CDs tend to be a lot more expensive than mainstream pop, rock and country music CDs offered at Amazon.com and big box retailers such as WalMart and BestBuy. Of course if anyone hasn't noticed, sales of CDs have gone downhill in recent months with sales of downloadable music content increasing.

            Besides the Mountain Apple label which seems to have some presence on iTunes, can anyone tell me if Hawaiian music will be offered on a song by song, downloadable format either through iTunes or a possible Mele.com music download store.

            I think many of today's music consumers are looking to own single tracks vs. buying an entire album. Digital music downloads allow us to do that.
            I'm still here. Are you?

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            • #7
              Re: MELE.COM has been sold

              Originally posted by mel View Post
              I find that Hawaiian music CDs tend to be a lot more expensive than mainstream pop, rock and country music CDs offered at Amazon.com and big box retailers such as WalMart and BestBuy. Of course if anyone hasn't noticed, sales of CDs have gone downhill in recent months with sales of downloadable music content increasing.
              In truth, the spiral has been going down in the last few years, and genres that were once doing well are now feeling the impact. I think it's unfortunate because I'm someone who cares for quality, something an MP3 at 192kbps or even 320kbps does not offer, but I'm not the casual fan either.

              However, you do bring up a good issue. For us kama'aina on the mainland, if for some reason a CD at Mele.com was out, one could opt for what was CDnow.com. Unfortunately they and a number of mainland stores would give Hawaiian CD's "import prices", even though they were recorded and manufactured in the U.S. These are the same CD's that might have gone for $14.99 or $15.99 at Mele but were going for $29+ at CDnow. Even when Amazon had taken over, there were no change in prices. These were indeed the exact pressings commonly found in Hawai'i, as most of them were not released/manufactured in Japan until the last few years. The few CD's that were decently priced were some of the Makaha/Lehua reissues that went for $11.99 at places like CD Universe, and even that was short lived.

              Besides the Mountain Apple label which seems to have some presence on iTunes, can anyone tell me if Hawaiian music will be offered on a song by song, downloadable format either through iTunes or a possible Mele.com music download store.

              I think many of today's music consumers are looking to own single tracks vs. buying an entire album. Digital music downloads allow us to do that.
              I'm hoping Mr. Krauss will be able to work something out for fans of digital downloads, and I hope that for those of us who do care about quality, a lossless option will be available too. I still prefer CD's because I want the cover, artwork, lyrics... I just want hard copy and prefer that when it comes to listening to something of quality. A number of Hawaiian artists have made their albums available for download at CDBaby, a Portland, Oregon-based company, but you have to buy the full album and only get to hear samples via streaming files. I think that's good if you're already familiar with an artist, but not if it's new music.

              I just wish I was back home to be more involved, because I feel there's a lot that's NOT being done or things are moving at a snail's pace. However, I do hope that as the model for music becomes more digital, I hope those of us who still buy CD's are not forgotten, or at least cater to us directly because we will buy if given the product to do so.

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              • #8
                Re: MELE.COM has been sold

                Mel, you pose an excellent question.

                I have just forwarded it to a couple dozen of my contacts in the Hawaiian music industry, asking if they would be willing to respond and allow me to post their replies.

                I hope that it gets some discussion going - and that they will let me share some of it with you here.

                Comment


                • #9
                  Re: MELE.COM has been sold

                  Leo, I await for your industry responses.

                  Meanwhile...

                  CDs (comments are for single CD albums)
                  • I too prefer CDs for albums that I like.
                  • I only buy single CDs if they are $10 or less new.
                  • Big Box stores sell new release CDs for $10 or less first week out.
                  • They usually have other select titles for less than $10 rotating every week.
                  • Most CDs cost $11 to $16 each.
                  • New Hawaiian music CDs never sell for $10 or less
                  • Most Hawaiian CDs sell for way over $13
                  • I usually like the entire album as packaged in CDs
                  • Most CDs are very durable
                  • Used CDs can be dirt cheap if you know where to look
                  • You can rip MP3 or AAC files from nearly all CDs


                  Digital Music (MP3 or AAC - most today are free of DRM)
                  • The main reason why I like digital music is because you can buy only the songs you like off of albums that you may or definitely do not like. Why pay $13 for 10 songs when you only like 1 or 2 of them.
                  • The biggest humbug with digital files is managing them - specifically making backup copies of them.
                  • All purchased digital music should be backed up to external volumes. You don't want to buy this stuff all over again.
                  • Yes, digital files are not that great sounding, but then again I don't have top end equipment so I can't really tell the difference.
                  • Single tracks in digital format have been relatively cheap until very recently when the music industry forced higher prices ($1.29) to some songs on the leading servers.
                  • Amazon.com gives away plenty of FREE digital music every week.
                  • iTunes gives away a few free digital tracks too.
                  • Other websites such as TheSixtyOne.com allow users to download some of their digital music songs for free.
                  • Most digital files are now free of DRM.
                  • Digital music can be copied to CD or even back to tape.
                  • No market for used MP3s or AAC files that I know of.
                  • The bulk of the Hawaiian music available on CD is not available in digital.
                  • Digital may be a good way to recirculate out of print albums, tapes and CDs back to the consumer. Make an attractive price for these and I am sure people will buy digital.
                  • Digital titles for Hawaiian music not readily available at major online music stores such as iTunes and Amazon.com.


                  Note

                  1. It seemed like the Hawaiian music industry is always behind a few years in music technology. I remember when CDs were really breaking out in the market, not many Hawaiian music titles were readily available on CD. Many were only available on cassette tape or vinyl years before the CD came out.
                  I'm still here. Are you?

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                  • #10
                    Re: MELE.COM has been sold

                    Originally posted by mel View Post
                    Note

                    1. It seemed like the Hawaiian music industry is always behind a few years in music technology. I remember when CDs were really breaking out in the market, not many Hawaiian music titles were readily available on CD. Many were only available on cassette tape or vinyl years before the CD came out.
                    That's the sad thing too, as there are a lot of albums that only made it as far as cassette, and some of those cassettes were mastered from vinyl. That in itself is not too much of a bad thing, but when the master tapes are available, there's no excuse for that. I remember writing to certain labels, making a few Usenet posts asking about the release/reissue of certain older albums, and most of the time it felt like the response was a collective "thanks, but no thanks". If not a full album release, why not compilations of your label's work, similar to what Michael Cord does with his Cord label?

                    I remember also talking about wanting Hawaiian SACD's and DVD-A's, I always wanted more than what was available but as you stated, the Hawaiian music industry was always a step or two behind so if it had taken ages for some albums to come out on CD, there was probably no way to create interest for SACD and DVD-A. Considering that both formats failed in mainstream markets, maybe it was for the best but I was thinking for audiophiles and collectors, especially outside of Hawai'i and the U.S., who cared to hear superior versions of their favorite albums. It's similar to what Auntie Maria said on a post in the Usenet when I talked about wanting more Hawaiian artists to play in the Pacific Northwest, and she said (and I'm paraphrasing) to "put your money where your mouth is" (she probably said something along the lines of "book it yourself"). Had I had a bit more $$$ to play with, I would have done all of that: licensing, promotion, hiring someone for mastering, all of that. I'm a music fan and journalist who always wanted labels to push their limits, and we ended up getting albums reissued with modern covers with hideous computerized graphics, that was the extent of things.

                    It's almost as if some labels did not want to bother with it if they didn't have to, especially if it meant coming up with a production budget. Most of that is eliminated when you create MP3's for legal distribution. I don't deal with iTunes so I don't know if Tony Conjugacion's "Ka Beauty A'o Manoa" is up there but if I felt a need to download it, I'd like to be able to go there and find it, or Lemuria's "Hunk Of Heaven", Olomana's "Ku'u Home O Kahalu'u" or anything. Look at a board like this, where someone may remember a song or inquire about what they heard, and while a few will hunt down a CD (and a select few search for the vinyl), most would prefer a decent MP3.


                    Anyway, I'm complaining again, but if anyone at Mele.com is taking notes, great. I was a webmaster for a company that was in a small market, and I found it difficult to get businesses to think that the internet was something of value, they didn't realize that they could get clients from other towns, states, countries, they limited themselves to people coming to their block. Hawaiian music is worldwide, and when people think they know where to go, there's nothing.


                    Originally posted by mel View Post
                    [*]All purchased digital music should be backed up to external volumes. You don't want to buy this stuff all over again.
                    True, and as far as sound quality is concerned, this would be the biggest part of the budget these days, to get someone to remaster older tracks from existing master tapes in their vaults. I do realize for most people, sound quality is not/never an issue, but to improve on the quality over existing discs would be great, and to take advantage of the technology to master things properly. However, I can almost see labels doing it themselves (i.e. in house) and having everything brickwalled, ruining entire catalogs forever. Of course for the casual fan it's okay because "it's loud" but Hawaiian recordings have incredible dynamics, I want to hear all of that. If it's MP3's or lossless files (FLAC, APE, ALAC, etc.), I want the best that I can buy.

                    I did not like the mastering of the first and only Guava Jam CD, and even complained about it. To my knowledge, it has not been improved. All of the Panini albums were "flat transfers" and done by Lee Hershberg of Warner Bros., and while I enjoy the quality of those discs, those were done in the early 90's and could be vastly improved today. I had said this in another thread, but the first Cecilio & Kapono CD on Columbia sounds horrible and still has the tape glitch in "Lifetime Party" at the beginning. Cord released two C&K compilations and had them remastered properly. When Sony Japan released a mini-LP version of the first album, what did they do? In a country notoriously known for their quality control, they simply used a clone of the first CD, which meant that the tape glitch remained. I paid $25 extra for the same quality disc I could find on the $9 CD I bought years ago.

                    A lot of times I feel like the band in "Animal House" that found themselves marching into an alley, but I hope some proper changes will be made when it comes to preserving recorded Hawaiian music.
                    Last edited by johmbolaya; April 13, 2009, 03:17 AM.

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                    • #11
                      MELE.COM has re-opened!

                      Glad to report, all of the technical aspects of the website are now functioning smoothly (she said, optimistically!), and MELE.COM has just re-opened from its new home on Maui.

                      Uiha!!!!

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                      • #12
                        Re: MELE.COM has re-opened!

                        Yer a star. I can get it some times

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                        • #13
                          Re: MELE.COM has re-opened!

                          Can I post this juke box to you all ? It's free and fun and I have found it works all 'round our globe.


                          http://www.tropicalglen.com

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