FanFrom'61 wrote: December 31st, 2025, 5:24 amOf course FTD does not have to end if and when Ernst and Roger call it a day. But that’s not the complete picture. Sony may not renew their contracts if they feel that the FTD label as an external outlet for Elvis rarities is no longer viable financially.
We are getting to the bottom of that well known ‘well’ as far as unreleased stuff is concerned. The collector fanbase is diminishing and that would seem to escalate a little quicker each year with an aging fanbase, which would suggest that sales will diminish too. Already, we are seeing collectors giving up on soundboard releases as they say there is little point in buying in to shows which are so repetitive.
Historically, FTD have had enough product lines like the Classic Albums series (probably their biggest sellers), the Soundboards, the Sessions, the books and the vinyls which support one another should one release fail with low sales. But the big sales from the Classic Album series no longer exists, soundboard sales (probably their next biggest seller quantity wise, are slowly diminishing, whilst the Sessions, the vinyl and the big book sets (their most expensive in production costs) would appear to be holding steady. And there are still opportunities to put out new releases of stuff we do not have on some of those product lines, but there cannot be many opportunities left for new vinyl releases before entering into re-issues, and whilst that might be a novel idea at first, not every collector is going to start double dipping just to get a new sleeve etc because as we know, FTD vinyl is not cheap, so sales will diminish on those too.
If there is not enough income across the product lines to cover their fixed costs, salaries and overheads, and monies due to Sony, then Sony are likely to pull the plug regardless of whether Ernst wants to carry on or not.
So if it does not finish at the end of 2027, I’d be surprised to see it go on for much longer after that, because whilst there maybe someone who could take over from Ernst, what would that someone have left by way of unreleased material to release that we have not already got and to a diminishing market.
That will depend on what they decide, as FTD is a privately-held company founded by the two of them.
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FanFrom'61 wrote: December 31st, 2025, 5:24 amOf course FTD does not have to end if and when Ernst and Roger call it a day. But that’s not the complete picture. Sony may not renew their contracts if they feel that the FTD label as an external outlet for Elvis rarities is no longer viable financially.
We are getting to the bottom of that well known ‘well’ as far as unreleased stuff is concerned. The collector fanbase is diminishing and that would seem to escalate a little quicker each year with an aging fanbase, which would suggest that sales will diminish too. Already, we are seeing collectors giving up on soundboard releases as they say there is little point in buying in to shows which are so repetitive.
Historically, FTD have had enough product lines like the Classic Albums series (probably their biggest sellers), the Soundboards, the Sessions, the books and the vinyls which support one another should one release fail with low sales. But the big sales from the Classic Album series no longer exists, soundboard sales (probably their next biggest seller quantity wise, are slowly diminishing, whilst the Sessions, the vinyl and the big book sets (their most expensive in production costs) would appear to be holding steady. And there are still opportunities to put out new releases of stuff we do not have on some of those product lines, but there cannot be many opportunities left for new vinyl releases before entering into re-issues, and whilst that might be a novel idea at first, not every collector is going to start double dipping just to get a new sleeve etc because as we know, FTD vinyl is not cheap, so sales will diminish on those too.
If there is not enough income across the product lines to cover their fixed costs, salaries and overheads, and monies due to Sony, then Sony are likely to pull the plug regardless of whether Ernst wants to carry on or not.
So if it does not finish at the end of 2027, I’d be surprised to see it go on for much longer after that, because whilst there maybe someone who could take over from Ernst, what would that someone have left by way of unreleased material to release that we have not already got and to a diminishing market.
That will depend on what they decide, as FTD is a privately-held company founded by the two of them.
Yes I know - they can do what they feel is right at the time, although they will to a certain extent be governed by the relationship with Sony - Roger told me the plans when they were setting things up.
