10
Monday, April 4, 1977
University Daily Kansan
Superstars' albums costing more
Staff Reporter
Is your favorite rock group Queen? Do you swoon to the tunes of Eton John? Better save your pennies for a live concert. The price of superstar albums is going up.
The first price rise came after Christmas, when the new Queen album on the Elektra-Asylum label was released. Albums usually cost $75-$100, but the Queen album was priced at £7.98.
Since then, record dealers have received higher-priced new albums by George Benson, Fleetwood Mac, Boston, Kansas and others.
"RIGHT NOW it's supersters," Wilson said. A few record companies haven't raised their prices, he said, only because superstars haven't put out new albums.
Bob Wilson, manager of Better Days, 725 Massachusetts St., said that new prices and stock levels are being made.
A record salesman at Gibson Discount Center, 2525 Iowa St., Ardene Schaffer, said the price increase hadn't affected most of Gibson's albums because Gibson buys its records from a major distributing company that has a high inventory of back records.
However, the company, Western Merchandise, sent a notice to the record department announcing a price increase from $4.97 to $6.29. The company later decided the price was too high and lowered it to $7.58, Schaffer said.
MOST RECORD dealers in Lawrence said they thought record companies were testing public reaction to the price increase by raising the prices of only a few albums.
Steve Wilson, an employee at Kiefs Discount Records, 2500 Iowa St., said there was a rumor of an across-the-board price increase but this had not been confirmed. Wilson predicted that across-the-board decreases would come by the end of summer.
A promotional manager for Warner-Elektra-Atlanta Records (WEA), Chuck Lackner, disputed the fears of local record stores that affect only albums by major stars. When Stevie Wonder gets $13 million and Elton John gets $20 million, said the price of their albums must go up.
WEA, the largest record conglomerate in the world, doesn't want an access-the-board price increase on albums immediately. The company has sold some, somewhat selectively about it," he said.
Short-term loans rescue students
Getting an emergency short-term loan is like borrowing an umbrella to go out in the rain—it's a quick, temporary shelter that soon must be returned to the lender.
"Loans are a source of money for students who don't have the money at the time they need it to pay school expenses, but who say they'll have it later," Jerry Rogers, director of the office of financial aid at the University of Kansas, said recently.
ALTHOUGH EMERGENCY loans solve the problem of ready cash for many students, he said, students sometimes have trouble repaying them promptly. Often, when a loan is due student find they can't pay the loan because of other expenses, he said.
BUT ROGERS and Jeff Weinberg,
and the other, don't mind. And,
don't default the test rate is that
one.
Larry Heeb, vice president of Kansas University Endowment Association, which provides the emergency funds, said this week that a cent of the loans weren't repaid on time.
"Actually, even if a loan is paid a day late or a week late, it's considered defaulted," Rogers said, "but that doesn't mean the loan will never be repaid."
Some loans come due on a weekend, or when a student is sick, or when he hasn't received an expected paycheck, Rogers said.
Weinberg said the rate of loans never repaid was 3 to 4 per cent, a figure he, said, which was very small compared with default rates in other loan programs.
"IF STUDENTS can't pay the loan on the due date, they come in to discuss it with us and tell us when they can repay it," Weinberg said.
Students don't deal directly with the Endowment Association, as has been reported, nor are they required to make lump sum payments, he said.
The loan funds have been donated by alumni and others to the Endowment Association, but the aid was approved and awarded through the Office of Financial Aid, he said, and not according to Endowment Association guidelines.
Rogers said that no student was denied a loan for lack of available loan funds. He added that he hadn't made a loan to a student who says doesn't know when he can repay it. The interest rate on an outstanding loan is 6 per cent in default, the rate goes up to 14 per cent.
DURING THE 1975-76 academic year, 8,653 students took on emergency loans for college.
Rogers said emergency loans paid tuition, room and board and books and supplies expenses. Frequently, students can get a loan within a day, he said.
"We don't make loans to students who don't have enough money to buy a plane ticket for a weekend somewhere," Rogers said, "but we have made loans to students who've had a death in the family and who need money to get home quickly."
Rogers said that the emergency loan fund was a source of financial aid not available to customers.
Lackner attributed the price increase to the higher contract prices and royalties that artists now demand and skyrocketing production costs. He said the cost of production had gone up 100 per cent in the past four years—from 85 cents to $1.45 an album.
"Basically that's the cost of putting the album together and getting it out." Lackner said.
HE SAID that he cost of promoting and selling an album also had increased, and that as the record business grew, it became complex, adding more to a record's costs.
Wilson disagreed with Lackner's explanations for higher record prices, saying he felt the data was too small.
"They could stay at their price," he said.
"They, just want, to make more, money."
"They just want to make more money." Schaffer also said that greed caused price increases, but he added that higher production costs, such as more studio time, more studio musicians, electronics and equipment, would have changed Schaffer said, "although the engineering is a bit better, the actual sound quality isn't increasing a whole lot."
MARK ROBERTS, head of the record department at K-Mart, 31st and Iowa streets, said that although his store hadn't seen many new products, he thought they were justifiable. He said the reasons for price increases were better stereo equipment and better quality albums. Albums now are more durable so it would be easier for replacement is decreased, he said.
Royalties have much to do with the price increase, Roberts said. Art royalties are distributed according to the projected number of times an album can be played. Roberts said, the recent industry provided jobs and enjoyment to many people.
With the possibility of higher prices, record dealers have suggested ways to limit the increases.
ROBERTS, WHO is a musician himself, said the public should support live music.
If consumers were more aware of live performances and the work that goes into recording production, Roberts said they would learn that there is much better and be less apt to complain.
Schafer said he didn't think anything could be done to stop the price increase because, "if you don't buy albums, they'll have to raise the price to make up for falling sales." Because companies will make more money and sponsor more artists for the same price."
"HOWEVER, IF consumers were more critical of what they buy," Schaffer said, "and didn't买 everything he heard on the radio, it might make them (the record companies) realize that the consumers aren't as stupid as they're assumed to be."
Cost increases could be kept down by the record companies if companies stopped saturating the market with albums that don't sell. Wilson said.
Wilson said that Kief's had put up signs
willing customers to write record compu-
sions.
"From our point of view, we'd like not to see a price rise," he said. "We think there will be one."
Let's re-read the text carefully.
"From our point of view, we'd like not to see a price rise," he said. "We think there will be one."
Wait, the word after "price" is "rise".
The word after "we" is "like".
The word after "not" is "to".
The word after "see" is "a".
The word after "price" is "rise".
The word after "he" is "said".
The word after "we" is "like".
The word after "not" is "to".
The word after "see" is "a".
The word after "price" is "rise".
The word after "he" is "said".
The word after "we" is "like".
The word after "not" is "to".
The word after "see" is "a".
The word after "price" is "rise".
The word after "he" is "said".
The word after "we" is "like".
The word after "not" is "to".
The word after "see" is "a".
The word after "price" is "rise"
University-Community Service Scholarship/Award
Qualifications:
As a result of the efforts of many students on the evening of April 20, 1970 in the saving of furniture, art objects and invaluable service to firefighters during the Kansas Union fire, some insurance carriers decided to present to the Kansas Union a gift in the amount of $5,000. After presentation of the gift, it was suggested that the Student Union Activities Board seek those students deserving of being awarded scholarship/awards from the gift.
- Regularly enrolled students at the University of Kansas at the time of application (spring term) and at the time of the receipt of the award (fall term).
- Service to the University and/or the Lawrence community.
*Scholarship financial need and references will be of minimal consideration in application reviews.
Applications:
*Applications must be received by 5:00 p.m., Friday, April 8, 1977 in the SUa office, Kansas Union.
*More information and applications available Tuesday, March 29 in the SUA office, Kansas Union.
- Responsive
- Plainspoken
CARL MIBECK CITY COMMISSIONER
- Lifelong Kansan
**Educator:** 22 years
**B.A. degree in philosophy (WSU)**
**M.A. degree in history (WSU)**
**education**
**Chairman, Social Studies Dept.**
Lawrence High School, since 1969
**Staff advisor to delegate coach—**
**Champion 5**
Supports open, evening commission meetings
*Urges city to aid low-income house buyers
- Urges city to aid in home repair
* Demands 1,000 acres of land improvement
- Urges city to aid in home repair
- Demands improvement in city administration
- Insists that developers live up to their commitments
Pol. Adv, Paid for by Friends of Carl Mibbeck, Bill Lebert, Treas.
nour commitments
Favors thoughtfully limited growth
SPRING BOOK SALE
TODAY THROUGH APRIL 16
IN THE UNION LEVEL 3
MON.-FRI. 8:30-5:00 SATURDAY 10:00-1:00
Closed Mon., April 11
Selling something? Call us. The Kansan's ad number is 864-4358.
CLYDE McCOY
uder
whose Sugar Blues Recording was a hit in the 1930's.
TONITE ONLY — April 4, 9-12 p.m. Admission $5.00
Don't miss this legendary star who will be playing with a 7 piece band at:
926 Mass.
PAUL GRAY'S JAZZ PLACE
Call 843-8575 or 842-9458 for reservations.
Paul Grays