Wax and Wane: The Tough Realities Behind Vinyl's Comeback

This is an interesting read:

http://pitchfork.com/features/articles/9467-wax-and-wane-the-tough-realities-behind-vinyls-comeback/

 

In my opinion it does feel like we're in a bubble that is going to burst at some point. I get that feeling due to rising prices and ridiculous reissues. Case in point on the latter, I saw they're re-issuing the Ghostbusters soundtrack on vinyl. That's dollar bin fodder right there. I see original copies for cheap all the time. If we're not scraping the bottom of the re-issue barrel at this point, we have to be close.

 

http://pitchfork.com/features/articles/9467-wax-and-wane-the-tough-realities-behind-vinyls-comeback/

 

Interesting article. I don't think I saw QRP mentioned but good old Rainbo sure was. Excellent! "comforting surface noise" always gets me when I read that. Like the crackle of a comforting fire perhaps. Buy a RCM.

 

Recording session to record store in less than 4 hours! The vinyl must have still been warm.

 

Definitely an interesting read. Some useful statistics about the vinyl revival, it's nice to see some hard numbers. I was surprised that it was only about 6 years ago that vinyl sales really started ramping up. (I would have guessed that the uptick in sales began more like 10-12 years ago.) Also, it will be interesting to see if cassettes enjoy a renaissance in a few years. You never know.

I do think some of the more extreme specialty pressings and deluxe re-issues detailed in the article are "cartoonizing" the format a little bit. Also, surprising to see Mac DeMarco's newest album outsold St. Vincent's on vinyl!

 

They may have that outcome, but for the artists and labels that sell them direct, it's nothing but cash money, so I would not expect them to stop anytime soon.

 

Interesting that cds, so often derided as obsolete, still outsell vinyl and downloads put together - and I am sure that would be true if you added BR audio SACD and DVDA too

 

I doubt the market for vinyl will sustain all the gimmicks. Makes me think of comic books in the 90s where gimmick covers were the selling point. There's room for all kinds of niche craziness, but in the long run you have to provide a decent-sounding record.

In some ways it's cool, but it's also too bad pressing vinyl is such an archaic process. I imagine that with current technology a lot of the inconsistencies could be taken care of.

In the end, there's no way vinyl will be the dominant format again. But I think it can remain a viable premium package as long as the quality is there.

 

Didn't know Kentucky had a plant, Palamino, near Lousville. Cooool.

 

Plus, I wonder how many plants there used to be and how many presses a big plant would have. Kinda surprised at how few presses each place tends to have.

 

Part of it was just a retro cool thing about people who wanted their own "mono vinyl" copies of Blonde on Blonde or Sgt. Pepper. Another part was broke college kids picking up old LPs in resale shops for nickels and dimes, and then expanding into new pressings.

There was an episode of Marc Maron's show on IFC last week all about hipsters and the "warmth" of vinyl.

 

I cannot see cassettes making any kind of serious resurgence like vinyl has over the past few years. They never had it in the sound department - their main advantage over vinyl was portability. But now we have digital files. Why bother putting up with inferior sound, ridiculous wow and flutter, unravelling tape, rewinding, fast-forwarding, not be able to cue up a specific track etc...

 

The last record store day opened my eyes as to how much more popular "vinyls" are than even last year...the chart shows a nice spike. I'm also seeing a growth in small (one man) record stores popping up.

It has a feel of comics & baseball cards with lot's of people getting into the hobby fueling production growth although I'm not sure how many are speculating vs. just buying to listen. Cards and comics were tulip bulb-like speculation bubbles. Vinyls seem more like a fad. .... I just keep thinking many new buyers will get excited for awhile and then start to lose interest once the initial thrill cools.

Of course like baseball cards and comics I think there is a sustainable market of long term fans and form them analog vinyl records have a sustainable value prop.

As much as I love records I struggle to buy just any new release on record for $20-$30 when the CD version is $10. I mostly limit my new vinyl to strong albums with notable sonic deltas (especially notably different mastering). I do still enjoy collecting the vintage originals.

I'm glad I bought a few thousand records in the 90's when they were being reverse distributed like VHS. Now I'm surprised when an old "Rumors" selling for $15 when it used to be the over produced wall paper of the 90's. LZ IV is also interesting....selling about 20 million copies in the day it still flys off the shelf...

 

Good piece. Thanks for posting.

 

I guess I'm not seeing how "factories are pressing 24/7 and still can't make them fast enough" is a bad thing.

 

I thought the top selling vinyl of 2014 list was interesting too.

 

I've read comments here that Rainbo and United were not too hip!

 

Yes, that's true, but it's the year to year increase in the number / dollar amount of vinyl that is the story. The problem being that at some point, possibly in the next 1-2 years, we will hit the limit of the vinyl manufacturing resources, due to the limited number of working presses.

 

There's another thread on the go about this as well: http://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threa...-behind-vinyls-comeback.370483/#post-10831558

 

I kinda disagree. It's all about the quantity of an album pressed. If you own the music and can profitably print and sell 2,000 records without too much work, you're really chasing the long-tail. Printing a catalog a mile wide, but an inch deep can limit risk. If a pressing sells better than expected, print more.

This approach can work REALLY well for re-releases. It's harder for new albums being made today which the article kinda points out when it's discussing stores stocking new records. If you underestimate demand, the popularity of the album may wane before you can get something re-pressed. There's probably a lot less risk of printing too many since the record company could simply sit on the records and sell them off slowly.

 

From the article:
“At least once a month a band wants to press their blood into the record,” says Gotta Groove VP of sales and marketing Matt Earley, who always says no.

 

Rainbo had a lot of issues with their Beatles stereo pressings.

 

Well, go ahead and burst already. I'm sick of overpriced used vinyl. I wanna be able to buy Budgie LP's on MCA for $5 like I could 6 years ago. All the contrarians will get their "nyah nyah nyah" moment, I'll get my cheap vinyl to enjoy, it's a win/win. If we get to stop hearing, "Vinyl will never become the dominant format again" (as if that was ever the goal), it'll be a win/win/win.

 

People who like music are realizing that vinyl sounds better than any other format. Everything else is just convenience (Dead Kennedys Give Me Convenience or Give Me Death). I think MP3/iTunes finally shot themselves in the foot