National Record Store Day

so you can infer that i didn't even bother waking up til noon saturday

What's all this about an unreleased Elevators single, though?

Can anybody speak to the relative profit margin of LPs versus CDs? I've noticed a lot of records now sell for $20, $25 and even up to $45—granted for deluxe, multiple-LP editions, but still. I'm wondering how much the extra mark-up on LPs is offsetting the general decline in music sales.

What's all this about an unreleased Elevators single, though?

It's "Wait For My Love", the aborted Stacy Sutherland single from early '68. I forget what the flip is, but basically Charly released the "single that never was".

Ok, thanks.

The flip is "May The Circle..." and both sides say "remastered by Sonic Boom" though I can't really hear any difference.

jbr, how do you feel abt the vanguard psych comp? i didn't pick it up, rather let a customer buy it, but I loooooooove the Serpent Power; that whole record is awesomeness.

haven't listened yet! i'll report back when i do.

xpost My understanding is that the profit margin for the stores themselves is still pretty shitty, all said and done.

I suppose that makes sense, given that stores sell vinyl for roughly the same price as labels or artists direct do.

There is no innate difference in profit margin for stores between vinyl and CD. We do find that there is more leeway in terms of what customers will pay for a nicely done piece of vinyl compared to CDs, but any difference in mark-up that we choose to try and make is only very slight.

stores around here will sell new vinyl for about $19.99 a pop. new CDs run between $9.99 and $13.99, depending on the store.

So do you think bands and labels are turning more of a profit on vinyl (especially lavishly packaged vinyl), or is it a wash for them, too?

There is a lot of new & reissue vinyl available in the $10-15 range; though some folks opt for excessive and lavish packaging, it's not something that's ever going to become the industry standard. there are many people who just won't pay $25 for a single LP just because it's in a heavy-stock jacket.

http://30.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_ljvb9eFONb1qiwz3go1_500.jpg
neil young on record store day

ha shit he's holding one of the all time used record bin records

Haha, yeah, he's probably like, "man, if I finally open this up and acknowledge its existence it'll stop popping up all the time".

Great pic btw.

it's not something that's ever going to become the industry standard. there are many people who just won't pay $25 for a single LP just because it's in a heavy-stock jacket.

― one dis leads to another (ian), lunes 18 de abril de 2011 14:57 (12 minutes ago)

to which I say THANK GOD, been thinking abt starting an ILV thread to ridicule stupidly priced new releases & reissues. latest FE update has some in the $30-35 range w/no extra packaging whatsoever.

I also love the NY pic, thanx tyler

ha, yeah, it'll be a weird day when i have a lot more money that i even consider buying a record for $20. when i was a kid in the 90s i got into buying vinyl because it was cheaper than CDs.

Yeah, I bought the new Weedeater for $17 while I was out for RSD, but kind of disappointed in the packaging. I mean, its Southern Lord, so its not awful, but there wasn't a whole lot to it. Wish they'd included a digital download cose tho.

i got into buying vinyl because it was cheaper than CDs.

Totally... I could get two new release full lengths on vinyl at Aron's for the price of one CD!

lots of local label stuff i buy still does nice quality pressings and covers on vinyl albums and manages to sell it for 10-12 bucks. AND they are only pressing like 500-1000.

how much the extra mark-up on LPs is offsetting the general decline in music sales.

Since vinyl constitutes only an infinitesimal fraction of total music sales (albeit a somewhat bigger infinitesimal fraction than a few years ago), even if the mark-up was significant, there's no way it could offset music retail's overall decline. It's just too small a drop in the bucket. (Though for select individual, independent stores where vinyl actually sells, it might make a difference.)

like it's ridiculous to see ppl paying huge bucks for weirdo garage reissues and then say this brand new amazing Michael Yonkers/Blind Shake record is readily available for $10 on 180g with MP3 download

http://learningcurverecords.myshopify.com/collections/frontpage/products/cold-town-soft-zodic-lp-cd

i don't actually know what it costs to press 500 or more records and have full cover art, etc. its more than a cd costs to make obviously. it was nice in the 90's to get a new full-length on vinyl for ten bucks and know that the cd was gonna cost you 15 or more. felt like a bargain. hardly anyone was buying new vinyl in the 90's. which was great in the 2000's cuz lotsa 90's vinyl could be sold for a ton cuz nobody bought it back then and the pressings weren't very big.

if my crystal ball had been working i would have bought WAY more pearl jam and guided by voices records in the 90's and stashed them for later.

would have bought all those 2 dollar copies of the dead man soundtrack that 3rd street jazz in philly couldn't give away. (and don't even get me started on the zillion copies of paul's boutique on vinyl that strawberrys in philly had in their dollar bin forever.)

huh, didn't know that about 90s vinyl. are you saying my butterglory LPs are worth crazy ebay buxx?

haha maybe not butterglory but yeah big name stuff from the 90s is worth tons...I think 1994 was the lowest production year for vinyl, so like the labels did say, Siamese Dream, in low quantities on vinyl to keep billy feeling cool and shit but yeah i saw that for 90+ at my local shop.

i think about all the prog records and folk records i could have bought in the 90s and weep myself to sleep.

did anybody get the New Order 7"? i've got lots of stuff to trade if you're interested.

I was at a Fry's today and they had Plant & Krauss-Raising Sand on vinyl (a double) for $14.99. Which I thought was surprising, given most major title vinyl I see is around $30.00. Fry's does mark stuff down, but I guess the price is also low because it doesn't come with an MP3 code or cd, which I think inspires a heavy markup.

Also, one of the important things about some 90s vinyl is that as the format wound down as a consumer format, pressing quality started to dip. I remember my big sister picking up Stevie Ray Vaughan's The Sky Is Crying on vinyl the day of release in '91*. She took it home and put it on only to discover several skips on both sides. She takes it back, gets another one, same problem. She goes back and the store people tell most of the copies they got were similarly screwed up. She gets it on tape and on x-mas 93 we become a CD family. That can't be the only story like this.

*I wanna say this was the last SRV lp released on vinyl stateside for some time.

Since vinyl constitutes only an infinitesimal fraction of total music sales (albeit a somewhat bigger infinitesimal fraction than a few years ago), even if the mark-up was significant, there's no way it could offset music retail's overall decline. It's just too small a drop in the bucket. (Though for select individual, independent stores where vinyl actually sells, it might make a difference.)

― xhuxk, Monday, April 18, 2011 6:36 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

I know Insound.com may be a different category but they are doing pretty damn well in the vinyl selling department! They've put themselves in a nice position though. Plus worldwide sales.

xp while i'm sure that the lower quality control on 90s LPs comes from cutting corners to save $$ on a dying format, my conspiracy theory is that major labels purposely made shitty sounding vinyl so CDs sounded better in comparison.

I was buying new vinyl up until 1989 or so when I heard Skylarking on CD for the first time, the difference to the thin-sounding single LP (should have been a double) was like Dorothy opening her door after landing in Oz into a world of technicolor, my then-favorite album was suddenly SO MUCH BETTER.

For anyone who got the Big Star record: does it even sound that much better than other vinyl reissues of Third? I have the Castle pressing from 1987 and it sounds really great, much better than the reissues of the first two Big Star records that I have at home.

useless response as i have no control group but: it sounds pretty good! all i ever knew was the ryko CD, and femme fatale and the quieter stuff all sounds comparatively lush & textural.

3menwithbeards reissue of third sounds AMAZING. such a good job. makes the ryko cd reissue sound like poop. if you love that album you need that one. cuz its like hearing a brand new album.

i believe there's going to be a more widespread reish of 3rd (incl. CDs) sometime in the next year...

The record store I've been referencing, outside Chicago, said the new Pearl Jam vinyl releases have been slow to sell, oddly. They also couldn't find any mention of a New Order single on their various order sheets.

Did anyone get the Beach Boys 78? I also heard about a "Rumors" double 45rpm LP, but that may have been last year.

josh, the fleetwood mac 2LP 45rpm thing is out now, but it wasn't a record store thing, it's just released normally i think. you can order it here if you want to spend $70 on rumors haha

http://www.musicdirect.com/product/90352

anybody still looking for the red krayola single? i snagged one this morning while i was killing time at a record store.

The New Order single was UK only, 800 copies (all of which are on ebay right now).

We have Rumors but I forget the price...

the old half speed master of rumours sounds great and you can probably find one for ten bucks somewhere. maybe.

Wow, I didn't realize Charly/IA did a Red Krayola single too:

http://antonesrecordshop.com/content/product.php?productsku=IA14345

anybody still looking for the red krayola single? i snagged one this morning while i was killing time at a record store.

Here's a little photo story about Record Store Day in Glasgow, featuring the shop I work in amongst others... http://radar.scotsman.com/viewpost.aspx?id=417

pity the guy who did that story didn't get up to Volcanic Tongue

*it's a pity, I mean

Agreed, I would have been very interested to see their RSD too.

It was highly recommended