Distribution rights to HIM's music

[SIRJARVIS01]

Hey guys, I was on the itunes store today looking to buy the re'masters  of the HIM classics and couldn't help but notice there was stuff on there for sale that wasn't available in the itunes store before at least not in the US (the KL single, Scared to Death EP, KOD EP)

I don't check on them on itunes too often but last I checked about a month ago, those EP singles weren't there. I was wondering if there could be some kind of explanation as to why Apple is still bothering to redistribute content of a supposedly dead band. Makes me think there's some legal stuff behind the breakup.

on a side note DVD at the Orpheum is no where to be found on the US store which seems odd since it was recorded and distributed by their American label.....every physical copy of that show is at a skyrocket price ...thoughts?

[KissTheVoid]

Funny you mention this because I just noticed the Killing Loneliness one on my Spotify yesterday. I know that wasn't there last I checked either although exactly when they added it I don't know. It says it was released on Amazon January 19, 2018.

[DarkSecret666]

About a month ago I noticed some new singles in Spotify too. And Dark Light had Poison Heart, Venus Doom had two live bonus tracks. Every release from about 2005-2010 was C) Kobalt Music Recordings, but now it's back to HMC, Warner etc.. WTF is Kobalt Music Recordings? Very strange.

[666WTLOnVinylFTW]

Not too long ago I was digging around into the different trademarks and copyrights associated with the band. I had nothing else better to do, obviously. It started with me just wanting to see when the website's domain name expired because I was hoping I could catch them slipping on renewing it if they even plan to anymore. It would be cool to own heartagram.com. When I dug deeper into the other stuff, though, I noticed what I thought were some strange things that started happening around 2013 or so. From what I could tell a lot of changes were going on around that time, and it was almost as if the band officially and “legally” ended in 2013 but they staggered on for a few more years anyhow. I wish I could explain better what I mean, that was just the impression I got from what I read, but I'm not a lawyer I just play one on TV so I very easily could have misinterpreted things. It just seemed like that's when all of the legal stuff with the band suddenly stopped as if they were no longer active.

[Daedalus]

About a month ago I noticed some new singles in Spotify too. And Dark Light had Poison Heart, Venus Doom had two live bonus tracks. Every release from about 2005-2010 was C) Kobalt Music Recordings, but now it's back to HMC, Warner etc.. WTF is Kobalt Music Recordings? Very strange.

I did some research, Kobalt is a music publishing firm that specializes in online distribution. HIM is listed in the roster page as "HIM (Ville Valo)" which is very interesting to me. Like, only Valo has the rights to HIM's stuff under Kobalt's distribution?

[DarkSecret666]

About a month ago I noticed some new singles in Spotify too. And Dark Light had Poison Heart, Venus Doom had two live bonus tracks. Every release from about 2005-2010 was C) Kobalt Music Recordings, but now it's back to HMC, Warner etc.. WTF is Kobalt Music Recordings? Very strange.

I did some research, Kobalt is a music publishing firm that specializes in online distribution. HIM is listed in the roster page as "HIM (Ville Valo)" which is very interesting to me. Like, only Valo has the rights to HIM's stuff under Kobalt's distribution?

I see. I was too lazy to check that. Maybe it could also mean that Ville's various solo songs are included? I wonder why was the label quickly changed back from Kobalt to the original ones, and why it even was there. BTW I was digging those bonus tracks haha.

[KissTheVoid]

Now if only Spotify would stop rejecting And Love Said No and all of my downloaded Uneasy Listening Vol. 2 so I could put them on my playlist.... oh well.

[SIRJARVIS01]

From what I read about the site, it seems to be a label that offers a more convenient and easy way for artists to profit on their material while having ownership of it. So, it seems Ville is now mostly in legal possession in most of not all of the bands work. Maybe hes doing this to profit off of whatever is left of HIM and whatever side projects he has coming. I myself see this as a possibility of ville hopefully releasing some content in the future. 

It's pretty weird that there are some albums missing though, as I mentioned before,  DVD is no longer there. It could be he wasn't able to acquire the distribution rights due to the fact that the label had so much production put into the show. I myself wonder if ville has rough soundboard recordings of shows from 05 onwards. If he does, then releasing them through  Kobalt music should be a perfect way for him to receive more of the profits. I see it as a possibility of one day being able to buy alternative versions of songs, or maybe even more b sides. This may be the key to open up the Love Metal Archives

[666WTLOnVinylFTW]

Even the most talented locksmith in the world wouldn't be able to open up the love metal archives if you catch my drift. Houdini was even once quoted as saying that the one stunt he would never attempt involved breaking free from inside of there.

[SIRJARVIS01]

yup I catch your drift...who even knows if those recordings really exist? I don't even wanna bet on it lol