Prices of Music Monographs and Scores as Reflected in Notes, 2012–2018

Perusing the numbers and charts of monographs and music scores received by Notes makes clear that the music publishing industry is still fairly robust, at least in terms of sheer numbers. Looking at scores, note that the charts reflect prices, which appear to have remained fairly flat since 2012. The number of items for all scores, which appears in the caption of the chart, is higher than any of the previous years represented. The data look different for books, where the number published is moving up after a significant decline and the price shows a pronounced upward trend. All of this could have to do with publishers' practices in terms of sending copies to Notes, so we cannot consider it a complete data set.

One is also struck by the range of publications and their cost. The most expensive book that appeared in Notes in 2018 was an Englishlanguage book aimed at librarians that retails for $258 per volume. The least expensive was a book about Circle Jerks bassist Roger Rogerson that costs just $7.95. In between is a remarkable variety of content at all price points. In terms of scores, the range of prices is even greater. The most expensive score is a volume in the critical edition of the works of Giovanni Simone Mayr (Demetrio, Dramma per Musica) listed at $900. On the other end of the spectrum, there are numerous publications priced below $10, including Sofrito for jazz band, by Gregory Yasinitsky (Kendor, 2017).

All numbers presented here are based on data drawn from this journal's "Books Recently Published" and "Music Received" columns. Books and scores reviewed in Notes with imprints before 2016 are not included in the 2018 figures. The data includes both hardback and paperback editions, but no distinction between them is made in the charts. Nor do the charts distinguish between volumes issued with accompanying materials (CDs, CD-ROMs, etc.) and those without. If prices are available for both paperback and hardback editions, the price of the hardback edition has been used. Electronic texts are not included. Book and score counts are based on the number of titles rather than the number of volumes.

Price trends for books are given as a whole and also by language: English, French, German, Italian, and Spanish. Out of 670 books from the "Books Recently Published" columns in 2018, 669 have been used in calculating this year's price trends. One German-language book was not available on the market. The 2018 figures included no books with imprints before 2016. Broken down by language, the total number of books included in this year's figures is: English, 508 of 669 total books (76 percent); French, 43 books (6 percent); German, 79 books (11 percent); Italian, 28 books (4 percent); Spanish, 11 books (1 percent); and Norwegian, 1 book (less than 1 percent). The Norwegian book, which is not included in the charts, retails for $47.88.

Data for scores as a whole is given first, followed by six score categories. Categories of scores used in "Music Received" do not always correspond directly with categories in this column. In those cases, this compiler has placed the score in the most appropriate or closely related category. All of the 648 scores listed in "Music Received" columns for 2018 had imprints of 2017 or later. Per established policy for the column, thirteen choral octavos were excluded from calculations. Prices were available for all scores in this survey.

All prices are reported in US dollars and reflect retail prices; they do not reflect discounts or special sale pricing. When given, prices listed in the "Music Received" columns were used in compiling the data. Prices not given in Notes were obtained from a number of online sources including, but not limited to: Amazon.com and its various international sites (www.amazon.com); Theodore Front Musical Literature (www.tfront.com); and individual publishers' sites. Prices were converted to US dollars on 5 February 2019 using the Universal Currency Converter (http://www.xe.com/ucc).

Although every effort was made to collect and report data...