Yaakov Chesed Strikes Back,Yoni Glatt

CD sales have been declining across the globe and Jewish music is bearing the brunt of the digital age just as much as the rest of the music world - and maybe even more so. We now live in a time where it is preferable for many consumers to simply download the songs they like off an album for only a few dollars, rather than paying for a whole CD. Others might violate halacha and just copy a disc outright.

Sameach Music, the distributors of many of the biggest names in Jewish music, says that CD sales peaked in 1997, and has since been in decline. In fact, some Judaica stores have reported that sales are down as much as 75 percent over the last decade. There is no doubt that the key causes of this trend are the advent of Napster, torrents, iTunes, and CD burners. Releasing their new album, "The Passage," Jewish rock band Yaakov Chesed has taken avant-garde measures to help reverse this trend. The band believes that increasing CD sales in Judaica stores is a matter of price and product.

The average CD at a Judaica store retails for $15. There are two principle reasons for this price. The first is due to the great expense of producing a quality album. While many in the industry put the cost of producing an average rock album in the range of $25,000- $30,000, some artists might spend significantly more. "Production costs might reach $100,000, if not higher," says Benny Taubenfeld, president of Sameach Music. "Most bands and artists will lose money on the album." A CD is really a promotional piece for booking concerts, which is how most Jewish artists make their money. But with production costs so high, the majority of bands can't afford to sell their CDs for less than a $15 price tag. At shows they might sell them for as little as $12 or even $10, but there are no middlemen at concerts, so sales go directly to the band. But in stores this is obviously not the case, and this contributes to the second reason for the $15 price tag.

Only half of the $15 one might spend on a Jewish album at a Judaica store will go to the band. The other half will be divided between the distributor and the store. Yaakov Chesed decided that their new CD would retail in stores for only $10. Sameach was certainly supportive of this bold move. "People today are as price conscious as they've ever been," said Taubenfeld. "People might be interested in the CD, and for $10 will give it a shot - which they might not do for $15."

The $10 retail price would require that production costs be kept down, as Yaakov Chesed's distributor and the Judaica stores would still be getting a cut from a $10 sale. This meant working efficiently and economically, while not sacrificing quality. The band practiced for hours on end to be as tight as possible and, as a result, some studio recordings were done on the first take - a time- and money-saver.

Co- producers/engineers Aryeh Kunstler (the band's bassist) and Jake Antelis also gave the band excellent prices for recording time. This was due in part to the general affability of the band members, and their reputation for working proficiently in the studio. Two other band members were also able to do pre-production work in their own homes. This led to an album whose sound quality is exceptional, and whose total production costs was nowhere near $25,000. "Baruch Hashem, we accomplished what we set out to do, and came in right on budget for production," said lead singer Jake Polanksy. This means consumers can now buy "The Passage" in Judaica stores at one- third less than the industry average. "Hopefully the more people that buy it, the more shows we end up booking," said drummer Michael Moskowitz, who helped arrange shows for the band in Florida for 2010.

But will this new lower price tag really stop people from downloading music, and get them to buy CDs again? The band certainly hopes so, but took another measure - magnificent artwork - to entice consumers. Through a series of serendipitous events, the band received six spectacular panels for "The Passage" from Polish artist Thomas Zaczeniuk. Unknown in America Zaczeniuk is more of a name in Europe, thanks in part to his work for Hugo Boss. The band believed that using Zaczeniuk's art would give them the added boost they needed to push the actual disc rather than its digital counterpart on iTunes. (However, the band freely admits that if not for iTunes, their debut album, "Rise Above," would not have turned a profit.) One can still download the CD from a variety of sites, but would not get all the artwork (including the art on the CD itself). "The price for the CD in stores will be the same as it is on iTunes," said the band's lead guitarist Michael Shapiro. "You might as well get the actual disc and the incredible artwork that comes with it." So is the artwork really that good? "It's the best artwork of any Jewish album I've ever seen," said Josh Becker, manager of The ROC House, Manhattan's Jewish music venue.

It is not farfetched to say that if sales are strong for "The Passage," Yaakov Chesed might be responsible for changing the state of CD sales in Judaica stores. We might be seeing more aesthetically appealing albums at cheaper prices. This would ultimately mean that more CDs would be bought, and more Jewish artists will have more people listening to their music. As Aryeh Kunstler, the producer/engineer/bassist, said, "That's really what it's all about."

Read Comments (1)

The Passage is wonderful
Date 09:12, 12-9, 09

This newest Yaakov Chesed CD, "The Passage" is just extraordinary! The band has come a long ways and this album reflects all that growth and professionalism in their music. The artwork is truly amazing. Yasher Koach Yaakov Chesed!