Neil Young has outlined a plan to unleash copious amounts of unreleased material in the near future in an attempt to make sure his dedicated fanbase hears it.
One of the saddest things in the world is the loss of a loved one. However, it gets even sadder if that loved one is pass away before they get to hear new material from their favourite artist.
In fact, in the lead-up to the new Tool album, fans over on the group’s Reddit community frequently paid tribute to their friends or family who had left us during the 13-year wait for a new record.
However, for music icons like Neil Young, it was recently brought to his attention that as his fanbase gets older and older, they’re less likely to hear some of his most sought-after albums during their lifetime.
Last month, Young received a letter from a fan who noted how his 76-year-old Uncle Eddie is hoping to get a chance to hear the treasure trove of unreleased material before his failing health gets the better of him.
“He says guys like him won’t be around much longer and wish to hear this stuff before it’s too late,” the fan explained.
“If it’s a marketing or financial decision to hold this stuff back, he wants you to know that he can’t buy it if he’s dead, and neither can all the others of his generation who would be/are your customers (for now, while they are still here).”
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Check out Neil Young’s ‘Rainbow Of Colors’:
Clearly moved by the response, Neil Young responded by stating that “money does not matter that much”, so he’s “working on” a way to appease his fanbase. Now, it appears as though he’s found a solution.
Taking to his Neil Young Archives website today, the iconic artist revealed that he’s embarking on a new way of releasing his albums to ensure that as much material as possible reaches his fans.
“Currently records are released every 4 months or so and some of our subscribers like Uncle Eddie are old enough to wonder if they will still be around for all of them,” he explains. “That really bums me out, so I have been talking with our team about releasing them all here at in 2020.
“Initially, these albums would not be released as CDs or vinyl. Eventually they may, but they would be here at NYA exclusively in the meantime and there are quite a few of them.”
Noting that he’s working towards new subscription tiers for his Archives, Young explains that he hopes that the vast majority of them will be released as physical copies in the future, though they’ll be kept as exclusives for his subscribers for a period of time beforehand.
“Of course we will have to try to make sure they do not escape into the internet while they are exclusive to NYA,” he concluded.
“If we can figure this out we will release many of them in 2020. That’s what we are thinking. We will keep you posted when we reach a decision.”
At this stage, it remains to be seen which releases Neil Young is hoping to share with his fans in 2020, but by the sound of it, the vault is well and truly set to open in the near future, with countless goodies set to be released into the world.
Check out ‘She Showed Me Love’ by Neil Young and Crazy Horse:
