The rising cost of new Vinyl

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Funky54, Oct 2, 2015.

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  1. AnalogJ

    AnalogJ Hearing In Stereo Since 1959

    Location:
    Salem, MA
    This is partly about politics, but those who insert that a $35 record being reasonable compared to what they cost in the 1970s is inserting it as well, but leaving out an important factor. And that is disposable income or buying power. I know I worked for a record store in the 1980s and buying new releases for $5.

    Here is a good article from the Pew Research Center. The first section shows buying power from minimum wage through the decades, both in actual dollars and with equivalent 2014 dollars. Minimum wage was below $2 in 1970, just above $3 about 1980, to where it is now at $7.25. But when inflation added into the mix, buying power of those dollars has dropped from a high in the later 1960s.

    [​IMG]

    http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2015/07/23/5-facts-about-the-minimum-wage/
     
  2. troggy

    troggy Papa-Oom-Mow-Mow

    Location:
    Benton, Illinois
    You're right, I didn't look at that. I'll let you tell me.

    I don't really care that much about all of this because I'm way more interested in used vinyl than new to begin with.

    I can tell you though that the few times I've bumped up against this the past couple of years, I've opted for the CD issue because it was so much cheaper.

    For example, the new Muffs album last year was about $10 for the CD and $27 for the vinyl. I love the Muffs and I love vinyl but I'm perfectly willing to settle for a CD when the price difference is that wide.
     
  3. troggy

    troggy Papa-Oom-Mow-Mow

    Location:
    Benton, Illinois
    Which actually sounds way better than a lot of people claim.
     
  4. e.s.

    e.s. Forum Resident

    Location:
    United States
    All but one, as it turns out. One of them is even a three-record set priced at $32.98.

    So, again, the majority of new releases sell for $30 or less.
     
  5. PlushFieldHarpy

    PlushFieldHarpy Forum Resident

    Location:
    Indiana
    But what double albums these days are worth $40? It's not 1971 anymore. It's just a question that the industry has to ask itself: is it better to sell less at more or more at less? And make no mistake, they are losing sales at that price.
     
  6. OK so even if we stop comparing the wage differences from 40 years ago, the simple fact is that hundreds of millions records were pressed and sold through the 70s. It's barely 1/10th if 1% of that now. Quantity also factors in.
     
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  7. Schoolmaster Bones

    Schoolmaster Bones Poe's Lawyer

    Location:
    ‎The Midwest
    [​IMG]

    Worth every penny.

    [​IMG]
    Considering the fact that factories can't even keep up with the current demand, I don't think anyone's worried about this.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Oct 5, 2015
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  8. telepicker97

    telepicker97 Got Any Gum?

    Location:
    Midwest
    Indeed.
     
  9. John B Good

    John B Good Forum Hall Of Fame

    Location:
    NS, Canada
    Maybe when oil goes back to $100 a barrel?

    Otherwise, lets just grind up the crap that clogs the used LP bins and put it into asphalt :D
     
  10. Vinyl Fan 1973

    Vinyl Fan 1973 "They're like soup, they're like....nothing bad"

    I went into my local HMV to see if I could order the Real Estate Atlas LP and although they could, it was going to cost me $35.99. No thanks. So I decided to call my local vinyl independent shop and they are going to order it for me for a total price of............wait for it.............$21.99!!!!!!!! What the hell HMV????? What the hell!!!!

    Small independent shop gets my money.
     
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  11. tremspeed

    tremspeed Well-Known Member

    Location:
    Los Angeles, CA
    There are viable alternatives to vinyl such as used CDs, iTunes or streaming that skew the perceived value of vinyl records so that a comparison strictly to inflation is less useful. Further, the product now is of a lesser quality than it was when vinyl was the main/only game in town.
     
  12. tremspeed

    tremspeed Well-Known Member

    Location:
    Los Angeles, CA
    Their wall records especially are often comically overpriced.
     
  13. motionoftheocean

    motionoftheocean Senior Member

    Location:
    Circus Maximus
    good point.

    I'm not quite old enough to remember but what was the price of 8-tracks relative to vinyl back in the late 60s/early 70s?
     
  14. I paid around $20 for that one in Seattle.
     
    e.s. and Vinyl Fan 1973 like this.
  15. Think they were a dollar more than records.
     
  16. Vinyl Fan 1973

    Vinyl Fan 1973 "They're like soup, they're like....nothing bad"

    That sounds more like it. I couldn't believe when the clerk at HMV told me $35.99. I really should have picked this up a year ago when there was stock everywhere, but now I'm having a hard time tracking it down.
     
  17. motionoftheocean

    motionoftheocean Senior Member

    Location:
    Circus Maximus
    ok thanks. I do remember cassettes and vinyl being approx. the same price when I was young
     
  18. Tjazz

    Tjazz Breakfast at (a record store)

    Location:
    USA
    Look at the clearance bins in Urban Outfitters. $10 for LPs. Sometimes, there are LP box sets for $10.
     
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  19. Jrr

    Jrr Forum Resident

    It drips all right! In many ways. But, it was played in my house as a kid (I'm 54) like many others here I'm sure, and actually it is what Christmas music should be imo....just plain good old fashioned music. I'm amazed Columbia even thought to reussiue this (or whoever is doing it).
     
  20. DeRosa

    DeRosa Vinyl Forever

    Household income varies greatly. Whether or not you think records are too expensive is related to your income,
    not the price of the records. A lawyer who charges $500 per hour doesn't care if they cost $30 or $100, price is
    not a factor. If you have 6 kids and make near the median average household income, you're going to have much
    less disposable income than a couple with no kids, (whose grandparents maybe bought them a house.)

    Beyond looking at general inflation over time, someone's personal financial situation determines the definition of too expensive.
    I guess the takeaway point is that if you make more than minimum wage in 2015, records still aren't that expensive.
     
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  21. Jrr

    Jrr Forum Resident

    Well said!
     
  22. Clark V Kauffman

    Clark V Kauffman Forum Resident

    Location:
    Des Moines, Iowa
    It's Friday Music, which is reissuing a lot of old Columbia Records titles, and also has several Christmas-album colored-vinyl reissues on tap for November.
     
  23. Jrr

    Jrr Forum Resident

    No argument there. It is a very nice package, and big fans will like it. This is my first album by her, and I got it because of that beach song. But the whole album sounds the same to me, and gets tiring quickly imo. I wouldn't pay $40 for the next one. But I guess if I enjoyed the music, perhaps I would. I still think they could have fit it into one disc though. There are three songs per side for 12 somgs if memory serves. No problem to put 6 songs per side at an average of four minutes per song. Not ideal, but it would have been fine for this type of music.
     
  24. walrus

    walrus Staring into nothing

    Location:
    Nashville
    Unnecessarily expanding medium-length albums into 2-LP pressings is probably contributing a lot to lack of QC and backlog at pressing plants. They did this for the Civil Wars, the new Jason Isbell, Brandi Carlile, and plenty of others, I'm sure. 3-song, 10-12 minute sides, just to increase the price, I guess? None of them are audiophile enough where the sound quality would be noticeably different. *shrug*
     
  25. motionoftheocean

    motionoftheocean Senior Member

    Location:
    Circus Maximus
    hehe that's Lana Del Rey in a nutshell. if you're a fan of the one or two vocal melodies she sings and like them enough to hear them repeated 6-7 times per album, you'll dig Lana Del Rey. I happen to like her but there's no denying the sameness of her recordings.
     
    Jrr likes this.
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