OMG, People Buy Records? Vinyl In The News Thread

i swear the new york times runs this SAME story every 6 months. they just change some names. it's just like their: HEY, beer isn't just Budweiser anymore, don't ya know! and that old chestnut: HEY, chocolate/hot dogs/hamburgers/something else stupid that only children used to eat isn't just for kids anymore, now its fancy and stuff!

oh well, what are you gonna do. here's today's version:

Returning to Music’s Old Home
By Michael Wilson

Those flat, round, black things with the hole in the middle that your father keeps stacked in his man cave — they’re called vinyl records. Back in the day, when the “desktop computer” was a calculator and downloading was something dump trucks did, people played music on records.

But here’s the thing: the day is back. Record-store owners say vinyl sales are up, and classic albums are being reissued. And the place to go for records new and old is still the East Village, an accessible place served by the 6 train at Astor Place and other lines. Nostalgia and cutting-edge share space at these stores, often in the basement, both literally and in price.

Oh my god I hate these fucking stories

oh and there is a map of record stores and a slideshow but i can't seem to get it online right now.

the comments are good too:

I was someone who grew up with vinyl. The upside to the format was that there often was magic in the album cover graphics and photo. There was so much that could be conveyed in that 12″ x 12″ frame.

However, let’s be serious: the quality was sub-par and if you didn’t store the album correctly, it warped and was ruined.

If you like the idea of playing album ’sides’ here’s a thought: just let your CD play for 6 songs, take a 1 minute pause to recreate the concept of ‘flipping’ an album, then continue on.

Why anyone would want to buy new or re-issued music on vinyl is beyond me.

— Ken Douglas

why do they ALWAYS have to start with: HEY REMEMBER THOSE BIG ROUND THINGS WITH THE HOLE IN THE MIDDLE?

is it, like, a law or something.

i hate amy:

i find it very interesting how generations tend to repeat history. it used to be that each decade was known for something, known for a certain style or particular music, and that was very much true for the 50’s 60’s 70’s 80’s and even the 90’s but ever since the millenium nothing truly original has surfaced. on the contrary from the years2000-2010 the decade will most likely be remembered as the years that “brought it back”. almost anything from clothes sneakers and music has resurfaced bringing us back to a time which half this generation missed. within the last few years ive heard my grandmother say on numerous occasions “i remember when i used to listen to this as a little girl” and other things like that. so basically it comes to no surprise to me that records are coming back in style. besides everything is accepted in the village, theres no better place to find a wide variety of arts and style than the east village, which fortunately is a nice short 6 train ride away. :)

— amy

Jerrod Ripshire, 26, says that vinyl records "just sound better." But it's not just 20-something hipsters indulging in a love of all things retro. In the age of iTunes, some of the most popular bands now release their latest albums on vinyl.

these stories are just made for those people i come across occasionally who, when i casually mention buying a record, incredulously ask, "OMG THEY STILL MAKE RECORDS? LOL!"

okay, here's the slideshow:

http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2009/10/11/nyregion/20091011_stops_ss_index.html

Scott, can you link to the entire article? All I find on line are those graphs you copied above (searched Wilson's name and everything), and in Texas we don't get a Metro Section in our copy of the Sunday Times.

i can't get it online either. maybe that's all there is? i didn't actually buy the paper today. my dad emailed me about the story.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/11/nyregion/11stop.html

meanwhile, i missed this story and its actually good:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/30/arts/music/30private.html

i like ben sisario.

http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2009/sep/28/record-store-retains-relevance-digital-age/
http://www.montanakaimin.com/index.php/news/news_article/vinyl_making_a_comeback/3990
http://www.keloland.com/News/NewsDetail6376.cfm?Id=90653
http://www.ocweekly.com/2009-10-01/music/the-burger-records-sean-bohrman-lee-rickard-brian-flores/
http://www.tribstar.com/entertainment/local_story_274215950.html
http://www.reporterherald.com/news_story.asp?ID=25044

How long do you all think this "resurgence" will last for?

“You’re going to buy this,” he says pointing to the CD that he’d just stuck into the store’s player a few moments earlier. “Relatively Clean Rivers. You don’t know it, and it rules.”

Say what? Relatively Clean Rivers? Is that a band or a half-hearted EPA slogan? Surely Mr. Pass will take a pass.

But no, he throws his debit card on the counter without hesitation.

“Rock on man,” he says. “That’s exactly what I was looking for.”

And then he’s off, to hit the road, no more than two minutes after he arrived.

“You just witnessed a transcendental Love Garden moment,” Corcoran said to a visitor. “Those are our favorite moments, when somebody just comes in and says ‘help me.’ He didn’t have to spend an hour researching it on the Internet, and he wouldn’t have found it anyway.”

pretty sure relatively clean rives is pretty easy to find via google.

but still, that guy is a lot cooler than Best Buy employee (in a different article.)

tsk, promoting radioactive/phoenix releases is bad juju

on the other hand, that's a boss LP

the "amy" comment above makes me want to slit my wrists

y it’s in my apartment. They said, ‘Can we come over?’ I said sure.” Mr. Heaps, 45, still sounds bitter about the demise of his store. “Jammyland ruined me,” he said. “I gave it 16 years of my life. It ruined two marriages. I have nothing to show for it.”

:-(

i just to enjoy shopping there.

Some terrible memes associated with these articles: cds are cold, sterile, soulless objects, the crackle of a well-worn record is what makes it so relatable & loved, etc.

I'm gonna start running a service where for a small fee I can lovingly add some scratches to your pristine records. Maybe sprinkle some dust on there.

just wait, give people time and the CD will become a fetish object as well.

"remember those mix CDs we used to make back in middle school?"

If everyone gets nostalgic for *skipping* cds then the cycle is complete.

"remember those mix CDs we used to make back in middle school?"

judging by the undergrads i teach, this sort of nostalgia is already with us.

it's like deja vu all over again:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/07/nyregion/07vinyl.html

wait, hmv, tower, and virgin are all gone? when did hmv close?

(in manhattan)

i sort of hate the vinyl revival. how all these nonrational justifications for liking vinyl become repeated and repeated as nostrums by sales reps. some of which, as chinavision posted above, is just ridiculous.

"i dunno, vinyl just has that certain... something. something that connects us back to the real things. to our youth. or if not to our youth, then to the real. yeah. it's like, big. you can see the pretty pictures. also it sounds real. and stuff. buy some more."

shoot me if i ever make those sort of arguments.

well, no, don't. but take me to task.

ok, as long as you dont ask me for my actual reasons

i think for me it kinda boils down to "a man needs a hobby" and mine just happens to be collecting records because i love music. vinyl over CD started as a practical thing tbh, cuz when i was a little punk rock lovin teenage kid i wanted to buy 7"s by local bands and shit cuz they were cheaper than CDs, or maybe even the only available product. i still find a lot of things I love on vinyl that are not available on CD, and also the affordability is major. go buy 6 great records for $25 or whatever vs two or three CDs--things like neil young albums, prince albums, stevie wonder albums, are so available and so cheap. it's great for poor youngsters.

classical records for a dime! cds ain't got nothin on that.

some days I wish I did vinyl instead of cds, but some days i don't

plus who wants to buy used CDs? they always look all cruddy and beat up and you feel like an idiot paying more than a dollar for one. six dollars for a used cd? gimme a break. sell it to me for 50 cents and i might buy it. i only buy CDs at thrift stores and only if they are in pristine condition. even salvation army is too pricey. $1.99 a cd. but every once in a while i pick up some good indian music or folk/blues/classical.

i can find mint/pristine classical vinyl that is FIFTY years old for a dollar, but the snoop dog cd you want to sell me at the cd shop looks like snoop took a crap on it and you want five bucks? yhgtbkm!

you can't keep vinyl in binders, makes it harder to steal iirc.

except those 45 binders i guess.

There was a feature on CBC (Canadian News) on vinyl resurgence. There was a lot of footage taken at the record store I frequent most, and I'm pretty sure I was there when they were filming, but didn't watch the feature long enough to see if I was there.

my momz sent me this article in the mail. seniors no what's up:

http://www.aarpmagazine.org/lifestyle/vinyl-records-back.html

But here's my theory: it's the unique imperfections of each vinyl record that make it irreplaceable. After enough plays, a record becomes a fingerprint of your listening experience. Just about everyone who owned the Beatles' White Album wore the thing down to a nub. Your copy, like mine, is a crackling mess through "Cry Baby Cry"—but then it becomes a mint-condition collector's item the moment that unlistenable jumble of sounds the Lads called "Revolution 9" fades in.

fightin' words!

your copy is an individual fingerprint of your unique listening experience and sounds the exact same as mine

they are like snowflakes

hahahahaha that is a totally LOL takedown of rev#9 though by AARP

"The cracks and the little imperfections that pop up seem to enhance the music. It's a way of experiencing music rather than just consuming it."

ffs will people stop saying this baloney

yeah, no one wants beat up records!

i need to get another copy of this, not enough snaps crackles or pops

the cracks and imperfections is why I buy 85% of my music on CD iirc

along with the rest of the world

Stereo would be tough.

http://www.thedailymash.co.uk/news/arts-entertainment/we-get-that-fcking-vinyl-is-back-says-everyone-2015041597356

record libraries are newsworthy now? this is a strange place in as much as it's a beautiful building containing not really all that many records:

http://www.factmag.com/2015/05/28/seoul-music-library-understage-vinyl-library/

aaaaaagh kill me now

"the warm and wonderful crackle of vinyl was finally fighting back against cold, compressed MP3s"

https://www.theguardian.com/music/musicblog/2016/dec/09/vinyl-record-sales-up-but-indie-labels-dont-see-benefit

(article is actually OK imo)

In April 2015, when Sonic Cathedral joined forces with Bristol agent provocateurs Howling Owl to begin our Record Store Day Is Dying campaign, we flippantly suggested that every day should be a record store day.

hmm, where have I heard this before?

it's over, y'all

https://www.wsj.com/articles/why-vinyls-boom-is-over-1500721202

When is the "hiding your dumb vinyl story behind a paywall" boom gonna end tho

Repost here (scroll down a bit):

http://www.reddit.com/r/vinyl/comments/6oxff7/why_vinyls_boom_is_over_gillian_welch_david/?st=j5gv5hhr

https://www.channelnews.com.au/vinyl-sales-slump-quality-blamed/

In the first half of 2015, sales of vinyl records jumped 38% compared to the same period the prior year, to 5.6 million units, Nielsen Music data show.

A year later, growth slowed to 12%. This year, sales rose a modest 2%. “It’s flattening out,” says Steve Sheldon, president of Los Angeles pressing plant Rainbo Records. While he doesn’t see a bubble bursting—plants are busy—he believes vinyl is “getting close to plateauing.”

Old LPs were cut from analog tapes—that’s why they sound so high quality. But the majority of today’s new and re-issued vinyl albums—around 80% or more, several experts estimate—start from digital files, even lower-quality CDs. These digital files are often loud and harsh-sounding, optimized for ear-buds, not living rooms. So the new vinyl LP is sometimes inferior to what a consumer hears on a CD.

“They’re re-issuing [old albums] and not using the original tapes” to save time and money, says Michael Fremer, editor of AnalogPlanet.com and one of America’s leading audio authorities. “They have the tapes. They could take them out and have it done right—by a good engineer. They don’t.”

As more consumers discover this disconnect, vinyl sales are starting to slow. In the first half of 2015, sales of vinyl records jumped 38% compared to the same period the prior year, to 5.6 million units, Nielsen Music data show. A year later, growth slowed to 12%. This year, sales rose a modest 2%. “It’s flattening out,” says Steve Sheldon, president of Los Angeles pressing plant Rainbo Records. While he doesn’t see a bubble bursting—plants are busy—he believes vinyl is “getting close to plateauing.”

is this really the reason vinyl sales are slowing, that newer vinyl consumers are realizing the source is digital, not analog? i doubt it. later on it says another reason is the high cost of vinyl and that maybe seems more likely to me. people maybe getting tired of paying $30-$40 for an album

I do think more people are aware of the "4 Men With Beards" style of crap CD-sourced pressings. But I'd imagine the stupid prices factor into it as well. Also, not as cool as it used to be, thankfully.

lol

Resurgence Of Vinyl Is Secret IKEA Conspiracy To Sell Storage Units, Claims Former Employee

(not a serious article)

"This At-Home Vinyl Record Cutting Machine Could Change Mixtapes Forever"

Likely nothing more than a novelty, but a fun idea.

https://www.okayplayer.com/music/world-first-home-vinyl-record-cutting-machine-set-2020-release.html

everything is so fucking expensive and it’s getting worse. Fuck this shit.

yeah the bubble's never going to pop it's awesome

secondhand-wise i'm still finding great &/or interesting stuff at decent prices, but new releases/reissues no thanks (with the odd exception)

Still gonna be a while yet before the Earnest New Vinyl Collectors of the aughts start getting divorced, downsizing, and/or dying

yeah but it'll happen
& some kids will get lucky the way i did when a bunch of suckers "upgraded" to CDs in the late 80s
good times, somewhere down the road

Rainbo Records pressing plant closes in Los Angeles. They pioneered the flexi-disk.

https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/music/story/2020-01-27/rainbo-records-vinyl-pressing-plant-closes

everything is so fucking expensive and it’s getting worse. Fuck this shit.

yeah flipping through the new arrivals at the local store I saw a bunch of LPs that I could swear were $1-3 back when I started collecting a decade ago that are now priced around $8-12. I understand it in the case of Gentle Giant or XTC, since those bands always seem to attract the more obsessive types and there aren't exactly a ton of copies floating around, but mixed in there was a $12 copy of Thriller, which last time I checked was one of the highest selling albums ever. there was a $7 copy of the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack, an album which every thrift store on the planet used to have a half-dozen copies of. I just spent 10 bucks on a copy of Gary Numan's Dance, which is about the sum total I paid for his first four. I could've gotten Dance for a buck or two back then but I didn't feel like it. It was one of those albums you couldn't give away.

Condition is everything, were these (Thriller, SNF) in great condition? Because I imagine most copies out there are beat to shit.

i don't even bother going through dollar bins/3 for 10 bins or w/e anymore, should i?

i see copies of dance going for $20+ these days

xp
Depends on where you're shopping.

so glad I did most of my upgrading/re-buying in the mid 2000s

it's definitely getting worse

A fire has destroyed one of the two facilities in the world that manufacture the lacquer required to press vinyl records https://t.co/SZHMmJdZM3

— Pitchfork (@pitchfork) February 7, 2020

heh I bumped a different thread but this will do

Sorry, didn't see that!

Much like the squeeze in the run up to RSD, I'm sure it'll be the small labels who really get hit hard by this

man that is a bummer

i see copies of /dance/ going for $20+ these days

i see copies of /dance/ going for $20+ these days

https://www.stereogum.com/2111728/vinyl-just-had-its-best-sales-week-ever/news/

... in the SoundScan era

the guy at the local record store definitely thinks the pandemic has helped the vinyl resurgence...kinda one of the few hobbies you can have right now

Sadly, my favorite spot in Bushwick (Northern Lights on Lawton Street) appears to have closed indefinitely, I assume undone by the effects of long-term quarantine closure. Maybe they're still maintaining their online business, but I'm not sure where that is/was. It was a super solid spot where I bought all my first jazz acquisitions and a lot more besides that, and all at non-insane prices that put every other spot in the area to shame.

(thankfully, the hole-in-the-wall Rebel Rouser, on 'hipster alley' between Belvidere and Locust on Broadway, is still kicking. you don't find as many irresistible bargains, but essentially every single record is labeled as to its condition, genre, great deep cuts, "WOW," "Beat but plays great!" etc. has a solid niche in the vague but comprehensible Nuggets->power-pop->glam->punk zone.)

I love Rebel Rouser, always hit it when I'm in NYC. Been trying to support them online a bit since I'd be sad to see them go.

OTM re:irresistable bargains/labeling. A lot of my record collector friends are super bargain-obsessed and idk I guess I'm different in that, while I love finding a spot with cheap prices obviously, I also dont really mind paying a fair price a lot of the time - as long as I know what I'm getting, trust the grading, etc, plus just liking the store, which RR checks all the boxes for me.

https://djmag.com/longreads/pressing-issues-end-vinyl-revival
no surprises but a good read nonetheless

A month ago a label I like announced one of those "first time on vinyl" reissues....for September. Maybe. It's nuts out there. A lot of the things mentioned in that article don't seem like permanent trends - virtually every industry has been affected this way the last couple years. But the markets sure do seem to assume that a bunch of albums just aren't gonna get repressed. idk if this is gonna kill interest in the format - it seems more popular than ever - but something's gotta give

guess the big question is how many people actually expect to get the record on release day to listen to for the first time, as opposed to downloading/streaming it and then buying it later if they like it. I'm in the former category but I suspect I'm very much in the minority there.

haven't been buying much new vinyl but I'm still annoyed that all this results in a lot of people delaying the release of their new music by 6 months. the Vibe Shift might have already happened and I'm late hearing it!

lol

Not sure what thread to ask this on - does anyone press 140g vinyl anymore? Feel like everything that’s been pressed in the last 15 years has been 180g, which eats up the rubber rings in my spin clean. Is there a reason for this or is it just aesthetic?

180g pressings were originally done by boutique audiophile labels on the premise that a heavier pressing would be less susceptible to warping. I think I've seen more recent info that that's not actually the case. Regardless, it's just aesthetic/prestige at this point. Proper mastering and pressing is way more important.

180g records also have a tendency to put much more strain on the cardboard jacket in my experience, which leads to splits and tears much earlier. and anyway records are heavy enough as it is. not a fan.

yeah so weird considering vinyl pvc scarcity

https://www.washingtonian.com/2022/05/03/the-untold-story-of-the-white-houses-weirdly-hip-record-collection/

https://www.washingtonpost.com/music/2022/08/05/mofi-records-analog-digital-scandal/

discussion here:

Awesome Audiophile Snake Oil