The bulk of the James T. Russell material comes from author interviews with James T. Russell and Barbara Russell. Quotes from Kees Immink and Michael Rackman are from author interviews. Supplementary sources were Dudley, Brier, “Scientist’s
Invention Was Let Go for a Song,” Seattle Times, November 29, 2004; Holdorf, Adam, “The Discoverer,” Reed Magazine, November 2000; Optical Recording
Corporation vs. Time Warner Inc. and WEA Manufacturing Inc., US District Court, District of Delaware, June 23, 1992; documents from the US Patent Office, such as Russell, James T., “Photographic Records of Digital Information and Playback Systems Including Optical Scanners,” filed November 26, 1971, patented April 23, 1974; and “Time Warner Is Told to Pay $30 Million for Patent Violations,” Wall Street Journal, June 24, 1992, p. B10. Immink points out another pre-CD pioneer, David Paul Gregg, who first envisioned an optical disc for video in the late 1950s and earned two patents for it in the 1960s. Official Sony Corp. history quote is from various
authors, Genryu (Sony, 1996), p. 216.
Details about John Adamson, Optical Recording Corp., and its patent negotiations with Sony and Philips come from Adamson, John, “Time Warner Inc. and the ORC Patents,” Ivey Management Services, Richard Ivey School of Business, the University of Western Ontario, 2001, pp. 1–20; Adamson clarified some details via email. Finally, Lawrence B. Goodwin, who represented Optical Corp. in the Time Warner trial,
confirmed trial details in two author interviews, although he is no longer affiliated with the firm that participated in the case.
Early Philips-Sony history of the CD: From Nathan, John, Sony (Boston: Mariner Books, 2001), pp. 116–121, 137–140; Genryu, pp. 216–225.
“Ohga had a long discussion with Morita”: Author interview with Michael Schulhof.
“The meetings were absolutely fantastic”: Author interview with Kees Immink.
Later CD history, including Sony-Philips cooperation on lenses and players: From Nathan, Sony, p. 141.
“Hostile. Very hostile”: Author interview with Jan Timmer. Description of Billboard conference in Athens: From Nathan, Sony, p. 143.
“I made a bit of a small statement”: Author interview with Jerry Moss.
Business climate for Philips and Sony: From Nathan, Sony, p. 143, and “Philips: An Electronics Giant Rearms to Fight Japan,” Business Week, March 30, 1981, pp. 86–87.
Ohga and the first CD plant: From Nathan, Sony, p. 143.
CD meeting in which the late Jay Lasker grills Jac Holzman: Author interview with Joe Smith, confirmed in email from Jac Holzman.
“It was a guaranteed showstopper”: Author interview with Marc Finer.
Yetnikoff’s resistance: From Nathan, Sony, p. 169, as well as author interviews with John Briesch, Marc Finer, and Jerry Shulman.
“Super Goy”: From Dannen, Hit Men, p. 204.
“[Yetnikoff] was pretty tough”: Author interview with John Briesch.
“I have no idea what they’re talking about”: Author interview with Jerry Shulman.
Clive Davis’s resistance: Author interview with John Briesch. Confirmed by Jan Timmer. EMI’s resistance: Author interview with Joe Smith.
“The expense of digital-music equipment is horrendous”: From Foti, Laura, “Digital Cost Deters Studio Commitment,” Billboard, February 13, 1982, pp. 1, 44.
Musicians Against Digital and “the mind has been tricked”: From Nathan, Sony, p.
145.
“We had a number of major acts”: Author interview with Alan Perper.
“The retailers’ point of view”: Author interview with Jerry Shulman.
Beard and Yes album detail: From Mark Knopper, my brother, who by coincidence was a friend of Simonds’s during this period. “I was the first one of the people that I knew” and biographical information about Rob Simonds: Author interview with Simonds.
Jan Timmer background and Warner seeing the CD as the future: Author interview with Jan Timmer. Some description of Timmer from Dannen, Hit Men, pp. 253–254.
Steve Ross’s fondness for video games: From Bruck, Connie, Master of the Game (New York: Penguin, 1994), p. 165.
Hamburg meeting: Author interviews with Elliot Goldman, Jan Timmer, and Stan Cornyn. (Holzman did not respond to email questions on this subject.) Also Cornyn, Exploding: The Highs, Hits, Heroes, and Hustlers of the Warner Music Group (New York: Harper Collins, 2002), p. 303.
The royalty stands today: Author interview with Jim Caparro.
“the CD marketing guys kept pushing”: Information in this paragraph comes from author interviews with Marc Finer and John Briesch; McCullaugh, Jim, “Compact Disc Seen Boosting Music Industry,” Billboard, April 3, 1982, pp. 1, 74; Spahr, Wolfgang,
“Compact Disc Officially Debuted; Timmer Stresses System’s Standardization
Benefits,” Billboard, August 28, 1982, pp. 10, 41; Penchansky, Alan, “Digital Seen as Audio’s Future,” Billboard, September 18, 1982, p. 51.
Stevie Wonder and other stars: Author interview with John Briesch. Toshitada Doi and Stevie Wonder: From Nathan, Sony, pp. 145–146. “It was what I was wanting to happen”: Author interview with Phil Ramone.
Compact Disc Group background: Author interviews with Marc Finer, John Briesch, and Alan Perper. “We ran around the country like a bunch of vagabonds”: Author interview with Alan Perper. MTV lobbying: Author interview with Robert Pittman.
Shizuoka Prefecture plant information: From Fujita, Shig, “Japan CD Demand
Outstripping Supply,” Billboard, January 22, 1983, pp. 1, 56. Capitol Record Shop:
From Lichtman, Irv, “Compact Disc Spins On,” Billboard, March 12, 1983, p. 1. Sony executive (Michael Schulhof): From Horowitz, Is, “Momentum Builds for US CD
Bow,” Billboard, December 18, 1982, pp. 1, 64.
Windham Hill: from Sutherland, Sam, “Windham Hill Pacts for CD Pressing,”
Billboard, March 26, 1983, p. 6.
Rolling Stone printed: Booth, Stephen A., January 20, 1983, p. 55.
$16.95 opening CD price: From Horowitz, Is, “PolyGram Advances CD Bow; WEA Enters,” Billboard, March 5, 1983, p. 1.
They also saw the CD as a chance to rejigger artists’ contracts: Author interviews with Jay Cooper and Josh Grier. Note that the artist rate per disc is a hypothetical example based on a then-standard 12 percent royalty rate. To avoid confusion, I’ve calculated the rates based on the list price at record stores rather than the wholesale prices that labels change. Wholesale prices tend to fluctuate from store to store, making broad calculations difficult.
“They did it under the guise”: Author interview with Cooper.
“That’s not an insignificant reason”: Author interview with Michael Schulhof.
CD price increases and “Every year they’d do this”: Author interview with Russ Solomon.
CBS plant closings: From “Slow Year for CBS Records & Parent, Too,” Billboard, February 20, 1982, pp. 4, 78; Lichtman, Irv, “CBS Records to Close Plant in Terre Haute,” Billboard, October 23, 1982, pp. 1, 78.
“The environment is totally controlled”: Author interview with Jim Frische. Most of the Terre Haute plant information comes from author interview with Jim Frische.
Other helpful sources were Schumacher-Rasmussen, Eric, “20 Years Burning Down the Road: Sony Disc Manufacturing Celebrates, Rolls Out SACD Hybrid Production,”
eMediaLive, July 1, 2003, and Chambers, John, “Sony DADC TH Facility Is Company’s Largest North American Plant,” Tribune-Star, Terre Haute, Indiana, September 20, 2005, p. A1.
The plant had cost $20 million: From Horowitz, Irv, “Momentum Builds for US CD Bow,” Billboard, December 18, 1982, pp. 1, 64; Reuters, “Sony-CBS Deal,” October 19, 1985. Half from Sony, and half from CBS: Author interview with Jim Frische;
Chambers, Tribune-Star, September 20, 2005, p. A1.
“Ten million fucking dollars for this?”: Confidential source. Yetnikoff did not respond to multiple interview requests.
CBS profits: From “CBS Records ’82 Profits Down: Revenues Also Dip; Domestic
‘Reorganization’ Cited,” Billboard, February 19, 1983, p. 4.
“I had been predicting”: Yetnikoff, Howling at the Moon, p. 145.
Terre Haute plant growth: From Schumacher-Rasmussen, eMediaLive, July 1, 2003;
record industry profits, from RIAA; players, from Murphy, Liz, “Compact Discs Sing a Hi-Tech Success Story,” Sales & Marketing Management, Feb. 4, 1985, p. 34.
Rykodisc growth: From Morse, Steve, “Amazing Little CD Firm That’s Really Rocking,” Boston Globe, April 2, 1989, p. B1; anecdotal information from author interview with Rob Simonds.
“Suddenly, everybody had to go in”: Author interview with Howie Klein.
Big Music’s Big Mistakes, Part 1: The CD Longbox
Terry Friedman…10,000 to 20,000 trees: From Rosen, Craig, “Ban-the-Longbox Bill Passes State Assembly in California,” Billboard, July 6, 1991, p. 65.
“This went on for years”: Author interview with Jordan Harris.
$9,000 to $10,000 for every 5,000-album store: Estimate from Steve Orbach, sales rep from postlongbox packaging company Sensormatic, cited in Paige, Earl, “Retailers Grapple with Post-Longbox Life: Some Find New Opportunities During Transition,”
Billboard, May 8, 1993, p. 50. Background on retailers’ opposition, as well as the efforts of Henry Droz and Paul Smith: Author interview with Russ Solomon.
“We’re not insensitive”: Harry Losk quote from Lichtman, Irv, “PolyGram Mulls Long CD Box: ‘Augmented’ Package Is Showcased at RIAA Meets,” Billboard, January 20, 1983, p. 1.
Mike Bone and Ban the Box: From Stark, Phyllis, “Majors, Retail Cool Toward Ban- the-Longbox Group,” Billboard, May 5, 1990, p. 9. “This is garbage,” Raffi and Peter Gabriel: From Goldstein, Patrick, “So Long, Box: Long-Awaited Move Makes Some Ask, ‘Who Will Pay?’” Los Angeles Times, March 10, 1992, p. 1. Spinal Tap: From Selvin, Joel, “Spinal Tap Concert Is a Backbreaker; Parody Band Reunites for Gag- Heavy Live Shows,” San Francisco Chronicle, June 3, 1992, p. E1.
“Why We Should Keep”: From Licata, Sal, “Size, Graphics Are Major Pluses: Why We Should Keep the CD Longbox,” Billboard, December 2, 1989, p. 9.
“It would cost retailers a fortune”: Author interview with Jeff Gold.