ArkivSong - Broadway Rarities for a Song

I'm still a little unclear as to how it came up in a search, but a couple of weeks ago on amazon.com, a search result showed that it was possible to buy a new copy of the original cast recording of The Canterbury Tales on CD for just $16.99. Okay, this is one that I missed when it was released, and now, if you find it on eBayor half.com, it runs over $100.00.

Intrigued by the low price, I clicked on the link which showed me that the disc was being sold by "Arkivmusic." The listing was accompanied by the following comments: "This is a CD-R reissue produced by ArkivMusic and fully authorized by the original record label. The packaging includes all liner notes."

Hmmm…I thought. I wonder what else they have and so I went to their online amazon.com store. Wow, there's How Now Dow Jones, Walking Happy, and Goodtime Charley - all costly rarities online. I'm a skeptical person by nature, and so I dug a bit deeper. Low and behold, the seller "Arkivmusic" on Amazon.com is really - ArkivMusic.com – which has as its trademarked tagline – "The Source for Classical Music."

Finding this site, I began to realize that the items I was seeing on Amazon weren't just some CD-Rs that were being pumped out by someone sitting in his or her garage hoping to make a few bucks, so I wrote the company to find out a little bit more about them.

Wende Persons responded and pointed me toward a new branch (and beta site) for the company: ArkivSong.com. Persons also provided the following information about the company:

"ArkivSong is the source for recordings of all vocal music from Show Tunes, as well as American Popular Standards. Also known to many as The Great American Songbook, the works of composers Jerome Kern, Cole Porter, Richard Rogers right up to Roger’s grandson, Adam Guettel’s new show The Light in the Piazza form the basis of this repertoire. Original Broadway Cast Recordings, Show Soundtracks, London Casts, and any popular vocalist recording, from Sinatra to Norah Jones, is what you will find here at ArkivSong.

ArkivSong is brought to you by ArkivMusic, the company that created The Source for Classical Music and the same intuitive, musically relevant site design is evident here as well. Logical, well-categorized paths of Songs, Singers, Shows, (and very soon) Songwriters, make finding specific works and recordings quite simple. The same extensive distribution network is in place as well, with recordings shipped from multiple distribution centers around the U.S., ensuring the most expeditious delivery and maximum selection of recordings in this genre."

Well, this all seemed so promising and on the up-and-up that I decided to order three shows missing from my collection (I blinked when they were first released). Imagine my delight upon finding when the package arrived, that these were indeed full reproductions of the original releases. The artwork on the booklet covers is full color and the liner notes are reproduced in full. Arkiv gently brands the discs on the back cover for the disc, but otherwise, this looks like what one might have purchased when the discs were first released. I've listened to my purchases and can also say that you'll find really good sound quality here.

So, if you're looking for a few rarities, ArkivMusic and ArkivSong could prove to be a terrific destination. I know I’m looking forward to future archival reproductions from them.

Andy

Quick links:

ArkivSong: www.arkivsong.com
ArkivMusic (direct link to Broadway issues): http://www.arkivmusic.com/classical/listPage.jsp?list_id=790&page_size=100