Experience Vinyl, a new subscription service

Billboard:

"Experience Vinyl, a new vinyl record subscription service, today announced its April launch and the initial slate of artist-curators, including Elton John, George Clinton, Quincy Jones, Talib Kweli and Sean Lennon.

Subscribers to the new service will receive one of the artist's favorite albums (not their own album) along with personalized commentary, the artist's top ten albums list, access to the Experience Vinyl store and various rewards.

Subscribers will pay under $30 a month, depending on the term of subscription which can run annual, trimonthly, or month-to- month. A portion of the sales wil go to the artist’s charity of choice. [.....] "

Experience Vinyl

Who's signing up?

 

Interesting venture...

...but, unless the vinyl is limited or exclusive to the subscription service, I cannot see the appeal for many record collectors.
$30 per album seems like they have a healthy margin for their business model.

Can I just find out what they issue every month, and just opt to buy that selection elsewhere, cheaper?

 

Even if that were available to me in Ireland, do I really need Elton John or Seán Lennon telling me what to buy/enjoy?

 

I suppose I am in a tiny minority of people who hate the current use of the word 'Curator'.

 

Interesting concept. I would want to know the type of titles the artists are selecting. Classic rock, jazz, new rock, country -- I would not want to join just to get reissues of albums I already own.

 

I know I don't

 

It`s a load of b@ll@cks or horse sh%t. Take your pick.

 

It sounds like a Hendrix-only music club.

 

Ironically, these 2 factors are the strongest selling points this subscription service is trying foist upon those with big wallets needing relief...

 

There are similar clubs already. They just don't have famous people picking records.

Rough Trade in the UK offeres an album of the month club either in MP3, Vinyl or CD format. They pick ten releases a month and one is the album of the month. You can subscribe to get one or all ten. So not really a new thing at all except for maybe the famous people bit. I was a member for a few years. It was quite good. You also get a lit of all the other selections and notes on all of them. Every album of the month also comes with a bonus disc that is exclusive. Sometimes the bonus stuff is released elsewhere. I discovered quite a few different artists as a member. But clubs like Rough Trade tend to focus on newer artists. They do have older releases or comps if they're release currently.

$30 isn't too expensive if that was in Canadian $'s even though I wouldn't be interested in the service.

The danger with these clubs is you wind up with stuff you just don't like or a bunch of older stuff you already have. It'll be interesting if Elton John has a selection that isn't obvious but if he's got The Beatles in his top 10 list, it'll be a wasted selection on a lot of people here. But I expect this service is geared towards those that are building their selection rather than those that have thousands of lps already.

 

It's certainly a cringe worth word these days in the same way that artisanal is. I feel as if both have been overused to the point of uselessness.

 

Clearly, the emphasis given to ‘curation’ is pivoting upon the whole ecosystem developed by the social media influencers in the mistaken belief that millennials will continue to prefer a bespoke aesthetic over the entrenched mass-produced spend culture. One could envision this as one step in a kill chain of a disruptive technology dedicated to deepening the push tolerance of the marketing elite. Duh.
Now, I'll take a subscription for 6 vinyls a year, please!