Amazon vinyl subscription

“You’ll receive vinyls from the likes of Pink Floyd, Aretha Franklin and ABBA”

Double ugh. . .

 

This basically looks like a beginners club for people wanting to get into vinyl. Amazon wants to get in market where they see profit. I think it’s great for younger people wanting to listen to vinyl but worries me that prices will stay high for vinyl for a long time.

 

As I mentioned in another thread on this Amazon record club:

This is not focused on real record collectors, or those with a clue.

This is, I think, most directed at parents and grandparents looking for a gift. I could see giving a subscription to a relative, to get them started.

 

Going to give it a shot! Just signed up, and it says my first LP will be Aretha Franklin's Amazing Grace! I don't have this on vinyl, and really looking forward to getting it!

 

I'm a real record collector and have a clue. In my previous post, I mentioned it said my first LP will be one I don't have and looking forward to getting.

 

Does it say where mastering is from and information like that?

 

If someone really cared about these things, they wouldn’t order from a subscription like this. But I think you’ll just have to look up the bar code when you get the actual record and see if it matches up to something on discogs. But since bar codes are often shared over multiple pressings, you may not really know until you open it up and look at the dead wax.

I think this is true because most serious record collectors or those who have been into records for awhile will have many of the titles they’re sending out and will have taken the time to find better masterings and pressings since we are how we are.

But for someone new to vinyl and who is into the era focused on by their service (and who hasn’t yet been drawn into the presssings/mastering matter club), I think this subscription service can be good to start.

If they’re sending The Wall and London Calling as titles, this is a pretty good deal for newbies. Only thing is it’s probably more a matter of sending great titles to start with to start the buzz and ramp subscriptions, then the titles may start to get less attractive and less clearly a good value.

I can definitely see them starting more subscriptions by genre, and when they get to jazz, I sure hope they don’t start sending Waxtime, Dol, etc public domain versions to their club members.

 

Not that I can see. You can click on the LP being sent, and it will take you to that product's page. This one just says it's the 2-LP, 180 gram vinyl version).

But for me, I'm more into it for the music. I'm not too picky about where the mastering is from and all. If it sounds good to me when I play it, I'm happy.

 

Then you are probably part of the target for this.

 

I just tried it and the selection for me is
Exile On Main Street [2 LP]
The Rolling Stones.

 

I'm Spartacus! Oops, I mean, I'm also part of the target for this subscription service.

As long as the LPs offered are consistently more valuable than $25 (e.g., in the $30+ range, a la what an Amazon customer might typically see on a "lightning deal"), and they are indeed well-regarded "classics" of the 60s and 70s, I think I'll enjoy this service as a way to fill in many gaps in my collection that I wouldn't necessarily being going out of my way to purchase separately on my own, but would appreciate having as part of my collection.

And the minimally-hassle opportunities to either cancel or return any month's selection is reasonable to keep me from getting a duplicate of something I happen to already have. So far, every one of the 4 titles known to be part of the subscription are titles I'd be happy to add to my collection (Pink Floyd, Black Sabbath, Clash, Aretha).

Even when I already have an earlier pressing/version of a title, it could be interesting for me to compare. For example, I would've liked to have compared The Wall reissue 2xLP against the circa-1982 2xLP pressing I do have: Pink Floyd – The Wall (1982, Vinyl) . Instead, I got the London Calling reissue, which I eventually will compare against my Simply Vinyl pressing: The Clash – London Calling (1999, Vinyl) .

 

Amazon has "experts"? I thought they just had marketing people.

 

Referring to their curators as "experts" IS the marketing. Hard to argue against any of the first five selections as being "classics" of the 60s and 70s, though. All seem like worthwhile choices so far. How much of an "expert" do the curators need to be to identify worthwhile albums released 40-60 years ago, anyway?

 

I signed up for this because my vinyl focus has been on vintage 1980's favorites. Finding clean, vintage copies of classic 60's and 70's albums is beyond my scope so this idea appeals to me. I have a small number of reissues of 60's/70's albums but not too much.

The first LP came today and it's London Calling. Honestly, I have never heard this album but am certainly aware of its popularity. The package was a simple cardboard mailer but it arrived in excellent shape, no bends or dings or anything. FWIW, the reviews on Discogs are good. I'll give it a listen tonight.

 

I'd prefer that people development their own musical tastes and not be spoonfed by a record club's selections, even if I do like some of the music they might be sending out. "New to vinyl" isn't really a valid argument here either, since the format has nothing to do with the particular albums being shipped out.

 

What a great story -- it's these kinds of stories that justify the Amazon club's parameters, in my opinion. Imagine being able to hear The Clash London Calling for the first time ever, in 2021!

 

I just subscribed and my LP is The Who Sell Out - 2 LP set 2021. Think I'll keep that one.

 

Titles that have been offered so far in the Amazon Vinyl Subscription Club. They appear to change to a new/different title as often as every few days, so it could be interesting to keep a running list of what's been included. Maybe some of these titles will reappear again in the future as they are restocked?

• Pink Floyd - The Wall 2xLP
• Black Sabbath - Master of Reality 1xLP
• The Clash - London Calling 2xLP
• The Rolling Stones - Exile On Main Street 2xLP
• The Who - The Who Sell Out 2xLP

Not a bad start, so far.

 

Since Ascot is the 'God of 12 inch Singles', this may cater to him.
He can finally hear the full albums from which they came from
I'd be in for compact discs of newer bands (that don't use auto-tune)- would be kind of fun.

 

They have a program that checks stock levels and the wholesale cost of titles and automatically fulfills open subscription orders out of the ones they are heavy on.

 

"The God of 12 Inch Singles" I prefer The 12 Inch Titan.

Ha ha - thanks.

 

If Amazon were so worried about third party sellers, all they would need to do is stop letting people post old versions of vinyl under the new issue stubs. The number of scratchy old copies listed under 180g new issue stubs is ridiculous.

 

It’s at least gotta be better than Vnyl (which, surprisingly, is still in existence) as discussed here:

Anyone else receive their 1st VNYL subscription LPs package?

Now if Amazon ever sends out this LP as part of the service I can only guess they bought out Vnyl’s warehouse:

 

Speculation or fact? If it's a fact that you know first-hand, someone might have breached their non-disclosure-of-proprietary-intellectual-property agreement with Amazon.