Pirated vinyl glut at the moment - record label's missing out on an opportunity?

I'm noticing many threads discussing the legitimacy of many brand new - more often than not colour vinyl - LP pressings on the shelves of local record shops at the moment.

Are record companies missing a trick? Are people buying these to keep? or just to collect? Are these pirated records worth their own weight?

I'm suspicious of the current newsworthy "Vinyl sales rising!" editorials I see everywhere - I can't believe they're selling anything more than a slight resurgence from the troughs of the last few years.

What do you all think?

 

I think the appeal of bootlegging records (for instance, Tool LPs) is that they catch two segments of the market - people who just want a vinyl copy of a record (and either can't afford or can't find an original), and collectors who will buy any variation of a release (even if they suspect/know it isn't legit). 99% of the time bootlegs aren't worth the vinyl they're pressed on - most of the ones I see around lately are from Russia/Eastern Europe and sound like they used a CD as the mastering source.

I guess what's ultimately unclear is at what point it's viable for a major label to reissue something on vinyl, I'm sure each label has their own metric based on expected sales. And then there are labels that license things out to groups like Runt (4 Men With Beards/Plain) that produce bootleg-quality products that rip off the fans even if the artists are presumably getting paid.

 

Local record shop near me in Edinburgh has a bunch of new pirate LPs on open sale. All of which are coloured vinyl, sleeves are accurate repros but very poor card quality. Other than that, sophisticated effort and at £14.99 a pop, roughly 2/3rds the cost of the a new (legit) LP.

 

Same here in Belfast. The problem is that it's easy for pirates to issue vinyl, as they don't have to bother with artist clearance, royalties etc. I bought a pirate copy of the mono 'Saucerful of Secrets' for £15, and it's not bad, but I'd willingly pay £25 for a legit reissue. Same goes for any mono issue that is currently fetching big money on the usual sites. Surely it would be in the companies' interests to issue limited editions of these e.g. the first 2 Floyd albums, Hendrix, Beatles, Kinks, Stones etc in mono?
Gary

 

Vinyl Villains? I picked up an apparently pirated "Electric Ladyland" the other day, and there's a beautiful looking yellow vinyl "Obscured By Clouds" down there too. I got a chance to listen to the Hendrix, and while it's almost certainly mastered from a CD, the vinyl is flat as an aircraft-carrier and CD quiet. I'm keeping it. If these pirates can turn out quiet, flat vinyl, why can't legit enterprises like the frequently disgusting Back to Black and the largely admirable Sundazed do the same?

 

The record labels may be missing a trick, but the bootleggers have a lot of advantages over them. Cheaply produced covers, no royalties to pay, and (presumably) no taxes either. They produce these things dirt cheap and offer shops the chance of huge profit margins (probably multiples rather than margins.) That, I guess, is why the shops can’t resist stocking them.

If the records labels tried to bring the cost of vinyl production down to the point where their wholesale prices could compete with the bootleggers … well, it would provoke some vigorous discussion on SHTV, that’s for sure.

So I don’t think you can blame the major labels for missing a trick … but I do think the existence of these boots is likely to satisfy some of the demand for vinyl, meaning less demand for real product and less incentive for the legitimate labels to produce records that might actually sound good.

 

While it is piracy and illegal, the sales of bootlegged vinyl is hardly enough for a major label to spend money on the required detective work and legal resources to properly combat the problem. It probably more expensive to go after the pirates than what the profit from resulting legitimate sales of vinyl would bring a label.

 

Is this known for a fact? A local retailer described the green vinyl mono Piper At The Gates Of Dawn I was looking at as being "gray market" - not EMI product, but not illegal either (similar to Scorpio in the US).

 

He can call it whatever he wants. It doesn't change the law.

 

Excuse me, but what is "grey" about it? Either it is public domain, or it isn't. Either they have the rights or they don't.

I personally have a rather lax view about copying/sharing files, but when it is done for profit, that's another ball park.

 

Not trying to start an argument here.

These records are being described in this thread as being "pirated" as fact. A link to some evidence of this being the case would be helpful.

just askin'

 

Why would anyone knowingly buy a vinyl issue that is certainly digitally sourced? In my mind that totally defeats the idea of having it on a record.Just get the CD and be done with it.

 

Grey Market. HAHAHAHA... haven't heard THAT term in a while.

 

Well, before the standardization of EU copyright laws, certain countries like Italy had a 25 year copyright on recordings of live performances. Therefore they were fair game within the country of origin. However, I think it was always illegal to sell them in countries where the material was still under copyright. However, they certainly did show up in legitimate retailers a lot of the time.

I see a lot obscure psych reissues coming from non EU countries like Leichtenstein. And, of course, there's the ubiquitious Radioactive albums. But I certainly haven't run across pirate vinyl copies of in print, major label, major artist releases Stateside, like's being described about Electric Ladyland and Pink Floyd. Something tells me the labels would come down pretty hard on the retailers and distributors if these were to show up here.

 

The coloured vinyl re-issues are pirates - not bootlegs. Big difference - although the same bootleggers have also been issuing vinyl only bootlegs aswell. They haven't been coming from Eastern Europe though - the majority have been being pressed in an industrial unit in the south of England by different bootlegging groups!

 

I've seen a couple Rolling Stones 12" singles around town recently that are pirates... they're of Rolling Stones songs that were never officially released as 12" singles.

The labels are the yellow Rolling Stone label used on their official 12" singles in the 1970's/early 1980's even though they're for songs from their London/Decca era.

 

Right. I reckon the majority of these are pressed in the EU. But even if they were being manufactured somewhere where there are absolutely no copyright laws, it would still be illegal to just import them and sell them in any country that does recognise copyright.

I never believe the 'country of manufacture' info on these LPs. I see 'Made In EEC' all the time on new LPs. This seems to be a code for "This is an illegal pressing!"

I understand how you would expect the labels to somehow stop these LPs from being sold. I would have expected that too. For some reason, it isn't happening.

 

There's not a chance that they are being legitimately pressed in the EU - the EU has a standardised 50-year copyright period for recorded music. I think that the source of the bootleg vinyl - like many bootleg CDs I have seen in recent years - is Russia.

 

No, they were mostly being pressed in England by numerous bootlegging groups using the same equipment. Most bootleg CDs are pressed in Germany. They weren't being "legitimately pressed" - seeing as they're not legal and you don't tend to get legitimate record plants in an industrial unit. I don't know why anyone thinks they're in any way legal or "grey area" - small record shops started selling them because trading standard generally would only be looking for CDs or DVDs. Russia is normally associated with pirate CDs - not bootlegs or counterfeit vinyl.

 

He's right folks...

 

Correct - They are being illegitimately produced within the EU.

 

The Hendrix LP Polydor copies that i bought online from Germany were complete rubbish. I told the seller what i thought about it and was refunded. They went back by sea mail.

 

Here in Phoenix, one of the record shops has a large variety of pirated pressings. They put these out in the bins like they are normal pressings. One of the pirates I was surprised to see was the Rolling Stones single from the 2010 Record Store Day, which occurred only a few months ago.

 

I bought a coloured vinyl U2 ACHTUNG BABY from eBay UK. I didn't even realise it wasn't official at the time - and the seller didn't say. It was quiet, flat but sounded like a 'not to special' CD player. The sleeve was the uncensored nude Adam. Pretty good quality. I kept it for the novelty value - but eventually sourced a regular black vinyl official Island pressing (Korean) and it blew the fake away.

 

This thread is four years old, but I've noticed it happening more and more at record stores lately.

They are usually very popular titles that are rare or expensive to buy legitimate copies of. Lately I've seen most Led Zeppelin albums, a Buckingham Nicks (on blue marbled vinyl), a Danzig S/T on red vinyl, Metallica, etc. They are all marketed as "European imports" and price pointed around $30. The artwork and inner labels are replicated to the letter, but are usually done very poorly, with fuzzy graphics. I can't believe shops are selling these and looking at you with a straight face telling you these are legitimate releases from Europe.