More on Classic Records' price hike

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Dan C, Feb 22, 2003.

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  1. Dan C

    Dan C Forum Fotographer Thread Starter

    Location:
    The West
    I received an update from Acoustic Sounds with the reminder that the price increase goes into effect the first of March.
    Most new Classic LPs will retail for $33. Toss in $5 for shipping and we're just shy of $40 for ONE friggin' record.

    That's an awful lot of scratch, even by audiophile standards.
    Sorry to keep complaining about this, but it's just too damn much.
    I don't CARE about 200 grams of vinyl. 180 or even 120 is just fine if it's QUIET. And I don't CARE about the sumptuous packaging Classic includes. I'll take the cheap thin paper that Sundazed and 4 Men With Beards gives us, as long as the LP sounds great.

    Classic's evolution reminds me of those luxury book clubs from the past. You know, the classics reprinted on acid-free paper, leather bound and gold tinted edges. All designed to look nice in someone's office. Oh no, don't read it, you'll break the spine! :rolleyes:

    I want to LISTEN to my records, not marvel at the weight or packaging! Geesh.
    I'll still buy the Peter Gabriel reissues as they come out, maybe through "So", but I don't think I'll pony up this kind of money for anything else Classic rolls out.
    Rant over,
    Dan C
     
  2. Dave

    Dave Esoteric Audio Research Specialist™

    Location:
    B.C.
    That is quite ridiculous Dan. I've seen sealed DCC oop Vinyl going for cheaper.:agree:
     
  3. joelee

    joelee Hyperactive!

    Location:
    Houston
    I hope even audiophiles don't fall into their trap of re-buying titles again just cause they're on some super vinyl at 200 grams. Highway Robbery.

    Joe L.
     
  4. Ed Bishop

    Ed Bishop Incredibly, I'm still here

    I think I've generally paid, on average, about $25 a pop for what DCC vinyl I have. The new Norah Jones cost $26 plus postage, but I must say the cover is great and the vinyl damned good. But $33 each for mono and stereo BLUE TRAIN, geez....and I agree with Dan that the fixation with 180 and 200g vinyl is kind of ludicrous. They're taking a niche audiophile market and trying to price it out of range of even the upper middle class buyer. It doesn't occur to Classic that the higher they price these, the less copies they're likely to sell.

    ED:cool:
     
  5. Michael

    Michael I LOVE WIDE S-T-E-R-E-O!

    Glad I got off the vinyl years ago...that's just an outrageous price.
     
  6. PMC7027

    PMC7027 Forum Hall Of Fame

    Would the complaints be coming in if Steve did the mastering. Many people on this forum signed up at $50 a pop for Chad Kassem's Jazz Series. Sure the records are 45 RPM, but it still is $50 an a single LP's worth of music.

    I'd pay $100 or more for a Steve remastered 45 RPM pressing of any title by The Beatles!!!!!
     
  7. Hawklord

    Hawklord Senior Member

    Yeah you should try living in Canada, a US$40.00 album shipped here starts to push the 100.00 Cdn range. The Accoustic Sounds 45rpm are just a dream for me let alone having to buy the entire set.
     
  8. vex

    vex New Member

    Location:
    Seattle, WA
    There is a very simple solution here. Don't buy.
     
  9. -=Rudy=-

    -=Rudy=- ♪♫♪♫♫♪♪♫♪♪ Staff

    Location:
    US
    Like vex says: vote with the wallet. I can buy a helluva lot of used LPs or CDs of music I haven't even heard yet, vs. popping for almost $40 worth of vinyl I'd be afraid of handling, for music that I probably already own. I can appreciate good vinyl pressings, but that price is ridiculous.
     
  10. Hawklord

    Hawklord Senior Member

    Not buying is an option for some titles but not all. I realize that new vinyl has become a niche market, but it is a market that is leaving many of us on the outside looking in. If you want a good pressing of say Band of Gypsies you pay in the US$50.00 range for the Classic or a used original on E-Bay. I appreciate company's like Acoustic Sounds, Classic Records etc for keeping vinyl alive, but it is very rare that I can afford to support them as a consumer. It seems as if they are in a catch 22 position, due to a dwindling consumer base they must raise prices and raising prices drives more of us away. It makes me sad.
     
  11. Sckott

    Sckott Hand Tighten Only.

    Location:
    South Plymouth, Ma
    ClassicRecs does make great product, but at this stage of the game, I think they move too fast into ridiculous formulas before they've gained the needed respect of the price hike.

    Buy what you like, but trust me, if people don't buy tons of this (and I don't think they'll be able to) they'll be a very big clearance sale on a lot of their titles to move product. I don't think you're gonna make things roll faster making a fatter record and then getting prices up there.

    Same thing with SV. They weren't able to sell their product to keep up with costs very well, so they had to sell a lot under clearance prices. Duh.

    Plus they're asking for it while we're on a economy that isn't doing so hot yet.
     
  12. Dan C

    Dan C Forum Fotographer Thread Starter

    Location:
    The West
    I'm sure Classic moved a ton of product during their last sale. One of my orders got mixed up so I called their sales manager and he was belly aching about how busy things had been. That's a GOOD thing, right?

    I realize they can't price everything at $15, but I think pricing themselves out of our reach might backfire.
    Dan C
     
  13. Michael

    Michael I LOVE WIDE S-T-E-R-E-O!

    They know the mindset of the vinylmaniac...they'll sell regardless.
     
  14. kipper15

    kipper15 Forum Resident

    Location:
    United Kingdom

    You'd think they'd realise that putting prices UP for (what is for many) a non-essential 'luxury' in the current climate is a seriously bad strategy.

    The only Classic LP's I own are the Gabriel LP's PGI & PGII and the Miles Davis Kind Of Blue on 200g but I'm really pleased with them and would like to buy more of their releases.

    Over here we're already paying c UK £25-27 (that's US $38-40 if you work on current rates) for most Classic LP's. Too much. If we're gonna end up paying £30+ for a single LP I don't think I'll be buying any more :(
     
  15. Sckott

    Sckott Hand Tighten Only.

    Location:
    South Plymouth, Ma
    Buying quality new vinyl shouldn't be a snob market. :(
     
  16. kipper15

    kipper15 Forum Resident

    Location:
    United Kingdom
    I stopped buying SV LP's two years ago and won't be buying any more. Their LP's have always been a hit-and-miss affair - lthough there are some first-rate pressings they've put out - but their quality control had become too inconsistent IMO. Along with the fact that 'classic' LP releases by SV were becoming fewer in number and prices were going up as well I couldn't see the point in buying any more. Probably own about 60-70 of their releases from '97 to 2001.
     
  17. kipper15

    kipper15 Forum Resident

    Location:
    United Kingdom

    Agreed.
     
  18. kipper15

    kipper15 Forum Resident

    Location:
    United Kingdom
    Just been looking at SV's site...surprise surprise they've got some special offers on.

    I remember walking into one of the big HMV stores in London sometime last year and to my astonishment a large area of the store looked like it had been turned into some sort of SV warehouse! There was literally tons of the stuff, all in custom SV racks, huge great signs everywhere proclaiming "CLASSIC VINYL LP's ONLY £9.99" - or something like that

    I was told by a friend in the trade that SV approached HMV to help them shift vast quantities of unsold stock....they did some sort of exclusive deal with HMV which allowed them to sell the LP's at what is nearly 50% of the RRP of their 180g releases.

    Now they're doing a 5 for £50 promotion...that again equates to about 50% off the normal prices. It's over-priced and they ain't selling enough, obviously.

    When will these companies learn? The major labels are just as bad with their CD pricing policies.
     
  19. Taurus

    Taurus Senior Member

    Location:
    Houston, Texas
    I always thought vinyl releases would be cheaper than a CD version because of all those abandoned vinyl pressing machines scattered around, and they could be bought cheap.

    Is it maybe the vinyl itself that is expensive?

    [T]
     
  20. aashton

    aashton Here for the waters...

    Location:
    Gortshire, England
    :righton: 100% with you Kipper - this is such an invitation to create a grey market - I have found that it is cheaper to import directly from the States or via Germany - I just don't understand why we will be paying $50 for an LP :(

    &ru
     
  21. kipper15

    kipper15 Forum Resident

    Location:
    United Kingdom

    The problem is, I think, more to do with the cost of vinyl manufacturing - it simply isn't done on the scale it used to be. Since the early 1990s, by which time most of the major labels had stopped mass-producing vinyl, there have been two things that have primarily kept the demand for new vinyl pressings alive: 12" singles for the DJ market and specialist reissue labels.

    The smaller reissue labels like Classic do not need to manufacture LP's in the same sort of vast quantities that the likes of EMI and Polydor would have done in the glory days of vinyl. This is because they are aiming their products at a niche market - audiophiles and collectors who want quality pressings of back catalogue LP's.

    So, invariably, the cost of manufacturing is going to be higher - like anything, if you mass-produce it generally speaking you can keep manufacturing costs down. Most of the majors who still release new albums on vinyl (and even then it's normally a one-off run) sub-contract the pressings out elsewhere as it isn't cost-effective to manufacture in-house anymore - as far as the majors are concerned the quantities likely to sell woul not justify the outlay.

    I wouldn't like to speculate why Classic are putting their prices up - perhaps they have seen their cost of manufacture increase substantially or perhaps they feel they can get away with it because they believe people will pay a premium for their pressings, who knows. Also, the reissue labels do have the added cost of licensing the material from the owner(s). Then again, Classic do like to package their products rather elaborately and are fixated on 200g LP's - I myself and others here would happily forgo that if it kept the price of the LP's down.
     
  22. nin

    nin Forum Resident

    Location:
    Sweden
    I must say that I don't understand why people complain. Is it too much, don't buy. I think it's not cheap, but hell, if I want the music I pay what I feel it's worth. I could buy some of them on original vinyl on ebay but then I would bit my fingers that it's really IS a mint record and not a bad VG.
    So even if I think it's very much I must say that I personally take one expensive Classic record reissue of something I want that 10 cheap used records of music that is Okay or just bad.

    Just my 0.02
     
  23. Hawklord

    Hawklord Senior Member

    Quote
    "I must say that I don't understand why people complain. Is it too much, don't buy. "
    So you don't complain when the price of gas goes up? I love vinyl, I have been buying it for nearly 35 years. All I'm saying is that the prices are making it more and more difficult to take part in and enjoy a hobby that I have love. I suppose I can always start buying stuff I hate but can afford, such as Brittaney or Christina cd's. In my market even the used vinyl is approaching the 15.00 to 20.00 Cdn range.
     
  24. Sckott

    Sckott Hand Tighten Only.

    Location:
    South Plymouth, Ma
    Yes, exactly. That's the point of it all. The art and enjoyment of vinyl IS NOT expensive unless you want it to be.

    Fact is, many people are feeling that they're paying dearly for DCC and MFSL vinyl they missed out on, and people are budgeting their money so they feel compelled to think more expensive vinyl at PRICE is what makes a good product.

    That is simply not true.

    If you take good titles and sell them to the public, heck.. make a profit, but I feel prices going up in Classic's case does two things:

    1. It makes product less desireable or affordable to passionate collectors and consumers.

    2. It creates an unnessesary value to records that may (or do not) have them. I do not feel that people should pay $65 for a used MFSL LP of DSOTM. However if people want to... Make people believe that the product they're putting out is incredible and worth every penny.

    Sometimes, I can say it's damn good. Now, I can't say it's worth EVERY penny. Not with what I know. Vinyl CAN be a snob market. It's sad when it is.

    When you take a used green label WB Van Morrison LP and play it on $1,200 worth of hardware and it MOVES you, it may move you more when the vinyl cost you $3.

    When you take $2,400 worth of hardware and play a $45 record and it sounds "OK", I SWEAR you will "get it".

    "Ah, so the price does not pull thou worth?" Yes. Most of the time, it's true. Put another vinyl compound on the slab, work it real good, make it real thick, take away the groove guard, ALL of these things are done for one purpose.

    To make you think you must spend more money.

    Then, play it. If it sounds great, that's wonderful. Then let me give you some used vinyl that either comes close or beats the heck out of your $45 purchase.

    You have one record that sounds OK. I have 30 of them, and most of them sound amazing. to boot, the learning experience went above and beyond the enjoyment of paying the money.

    I too feel real badly that UK'ers pay serious Euro for waffles of average nature. Still, someone should really look into what SV did, and compare history, and THEN add on our economy and state of low buying confidence in general.

    I just don't freaking get it. If Classic Recs wants to do this, that's all well and good. I just don't see them having serious cash for licensing out more BN and other prestegoius product. I think Capitol might push BN into SACD too. That might cause licensing problems too!

    Make a better mousetrap before jeweling it and spraying it with magic dust.

    Grumble, grumble, grumble.
     
  25. Tullman

    Tullman Senior Member

    Location:
    Boston MA
    I don't think it is horrible to raise prices if it keeps companies like Classic Records afloat.

    My gripe is that Classic Records is advertising Quiex vinyl and charging a premium price for it and the vinyl is not at all that quiet.

    I have recently purchased Peter Gabriel 3 and while the mastering is quite good there is some surface noise that stands out.
     
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