"Billboard" says RSD saved vinyl format

"What happened to make vinyl the fastest-growing format, albeit still not the mainstream product CDs once were? Record Store Day"


http://www.billboard.com/articles/b...ords-comeback-music-industry-record-store-day

 

Interesting article. I have been picking up a few select vinyl items at RSD over the last few years, primarily anything from the Beatles, the Beach Boys, and Springsteen.

But you know what really got me back into vinyl and even buying a new turntable? In all seriousness, this forum. Resulted in my buying the Beatles Mono vinyl box, the Beatles Stereo vinyl box, the Springsteen vinyl box, and so on.

 

eh...

I'm not into the "I own a rare, limited-edition version from RSD, and you don't" thing. It's childish.

Just press a reasonable amount of discs on 140-gram vinyl, using a skilled cutting engineer, good sources, a clean pressing plant, and price it reasonably. I'll buy it. I don't get this "it's a valuable collectable" thing. Just buy it because you love the music and artwork - not because you want to brag about having something rare.

 

Well put. Totally agree.

 

A collectable caters to that kind of mindset, though! Make limited amounts, you are guaranteed to get gouging and people who love to lord things over others. They have to stop listing things as collectable and as you say, press a reasonable amount of quality product.

 

Thanks for sharing

 

Is that what people are supposed to say as they exit the store? I didn't know that.
I was just happy to have something cool. I'm not sure it's required to point at those
who don't and laugh.

 

This forum didn't get me back into vinyl, but I do appreciate the discussions here.

 

Some very stupid comments in this thread.

 

Are you saying some people, in your perception, are missing the point? What are you disagreeing with and why?

 

"But this isn't a case of vinyl buyers being luddites." WTF, I'm a luddite.

 

So the question for discussion here is not how one personally views the increase in vinyl sales nor one's feelings about RSD,but whether RSD played a major role in the comeback of vinyl sales.Do you believe it did?Do you like the results?
I think the fact that over 20% of vinyl buyers are 18-25 year olds is promising.Hipsters?No doubt they're in there.But that is the future and that future contains true music junkies not stealing online and with disposable income for a $20 version of the music they want.A good thing,right?.Many of these folks are exploring the music of fifty years ago,not unlike boomers infected with the sounds of the British Invasion led to rediscovering Robert Johnson,Muddy Waters,etc. .21 year olds getting into the music that their grandparents,not their parents,grew up on,as well as listening to their new music on a medium left for dead just a few years ago."Heavy music consumers"-this is all good.

 

anything can happen and pigs might fly

 

I love the limited editions because they offer something different. I don't care about the greedy end of things either by the manufacturers or flippers. It makes me feel like a kid again....a special event! I got the Roy Orbison At The Rock House not knowing what color the vinyl was and never hearing the songs before. What a cool surprise ....ruby red vinyl...Sun shine magic in those grooves. Don't know that RSD saved vinyl but sure has put some fun back in my life.

 

Articles like the Billboard story, when read by people in the industry, could kill off the so called revival. Quoting things like a 200% increase really don't do the reality a service. We're still talking total sales of 6 million. They used to be able to sell that many copies of Rumors on a good weekend.

 

Well,Billboard is written for the industry and underwritten by the industry.What Universal Music has learned about vinyl sales is that 2015 will bring a major price increase on much of their vinyl catalog.

 

What was the percentage of 18-25 year olds buying vinyl in the 90s? I doubt it was any lower and might have been higher. If the latter it means that the young people buying in the 90s continued to buy and got more of their friends to join them as they moved into the 30s and 40s. Plus convince some old timers to get back in. I think RSD is just the industry backslapping the industry and makes them feel like they planned it all.

 

There are a few items left from previous years RSD that are still sitting in a couple stores since I last checked. The stores don't sell it, they get hung with it. They can't return it to the labels.

 

My point exactly

 

"Billboard"
...

 

Laughable. Record Store Day didn't save the vinyl format.

Ugh...don't believe everything ya read.

 

Exactly. The article also says "vinyl is the best representation of a recording", so it's obviously suspect.

 

First off,there wasn't much vinyl to buy in the '90s.12" single-sure,but even then,CD singles were taking a share of what the masses consumed,while vinyl was pretty much a DJ niche.I ran a small mom & pop operation and while I claim no expertise as to what was going on en masse,I relgiously read Billboard, visited lots of stores and listened to lots of customers.The majors did a pretty good job of killing vinyl,outside of a few,mostly rap & hip-hop titles,once again,a niche market for DJs,fans,and,from what I could see,older music fans.The owner of my store discouraged vinyl sales because of the downside of unsold,non-returnable merchandise returns(he also dispised audiophiles because of the return dissentive) So I would guess lower,waaaay lower,like next to nothing.
As for pats on the back-who cares?The guys who thought of it,are trying to keep it progressing into the future,deserve some congrats.And that includes Chris Brown,from Bullmoose.

 

Recorded sound formats evolve for convenience, cost and sound quality, not to create collectables, but to be played and heard.

 

But I have heard tale of a magical subset who can own a collectible record, and play it too.