Buying records is no longer fun (for me)

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by eetu, May 16, 2021.

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  1. nicotinecaffeine

    nicotinecaffeine Forum Resident

    Location:
    Walton, KY
    Understandable. I still buy, but it hasn't been as much because I'm pretty much done with what I want. Now it's just bits and pieces.
     
    bluesky likes this.
  2. hifisoup

    hifisoup @hearmoremusic on Instagram

    Location:
    USA

    Wise words.
     
  3. CybrKhatru

    CybrKhatru Music is life.

    Location:
    Los Angeles
    I bought a lot of CDs in the last 12 months, and a few LPs.

    Interestingly enough, on my way to work today, I had a thought that maybe I too was done for a while...but I am realizing that this may have more to do with the pandemic aftermath than anything else.

    It's definitely caused me to soul-search about what's important to me and what really brings me joy.

    Music will always bring me joy, so that's not the issue. But I may have hit a place where I want to enjoy what I've got and thin the herd again for a bit. Phases and stages......
     
    Nodrog96 likes this.
  4. Danby Delight

    Danby Delight Forum Resident

    Location:
    Boston
    Exactly. So what was your point? Artists who don't sign to a major--or better still distribute their material themselves--keep a higher percentage per unit than artists who do.
     
  5. aravel

    aravel starchitect...then, father!

    Location:
    GDL - MEX
    Yes, but Baseball Cards, Coins, Comics and Toys have a specific so called-expert Associations that for a quote they can "Officially Grade" your collectibles and give a full collector treatment including certificate full with signatures and hologram, returning your item in a clear rigid acrilic case, where you just can't play-read-touch your investment and this allows you to re-sale your item like a Pro... In Vinyl Records, Compact Discs, Vhs, Tapes, or whatever there's not such a thing: all you read or hear is "Beatles Vinyl, 1st Press, trashed sleeve, missing pieces on vinyl $1,000,000
     
    Last edited: May 17, 2021
  6. marcb

    marcb Senior Member

    Location:
    DC area
    Who’s the noob? A CD is just a digital file etched into a disc by a laser. What’s the difference if it was cut from a CD or the “file” (assuming the same resolution)?
     
  7. serendipitydawg

    serendipitydawg Dag nabbit!

    Location:
    Berkshire UK
    Sorry to be pedantic, but CDs are READ by a laser & are NOT "etched into a disc by a laser". They are stamped just like LPs.
     
    ARK, 4-2-7 and mark winstanley like this.
  8. NunoBento

    NunoBento Rock 'n' Roll Star

    Location:
    London
    The forum this week:

    Buying records is no longer fun.
    Going to concerts is no longer fun.

    You guys must be fun at parties.
     
  9. aravel

    aravel starchitect...then, father!

    Location:
    GDL - MEX
    Going to any Party is no longer fun... they won't play any or my fav songs
     
    FranzD, pressureworld, ARK and 3 others like this.
  10. Dennis Metz

    Dennis Metz Born In A Motor City south of Detroit

    Location:
    Fonthill, Ontario
    I’m having more fun everyday :cheers:
     
    WillieDaPimp, minkahed, 4-2-7 and 2 others like this.
  11. kwadguy

    kwadguy Senior Member

    Location:
    Cambridge, MA

    You've got to find some used record stores not run exclusively as boutiques, and then spend your time in the dollar/budget bins. I agree that it's no fun flipping through the full-priced bins in the boutique stores (where you'll find a run of Townes Van Zandt albums for $100 each)----unless you're an old-timer like me and you look at them just to pat yourself on the back for having acquired them when they were $0.99 bin items back in the day...
     
  12. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product

    Hard to find cd's and records are expensive.... simple fact...
    There are plenty of great albums that aren't hard to find.... in cd world they aren't expensive at all.
    Sure new records carry a fairly big price, but in the early eighties I was paying about $15-20 for a new record, obviously not the budget line ones.... so the current prices are probably about right in many ways.
    I still love my records, but I don't buy records anymore.... if secondhand thrift stuff opens up again I might... but we'll see how that goes.
    Personally I have no problem with cd's, the issues I have had with cd's are much less of a problem than the issues I've had with records, and they're cheaper...
    For me it is an easy equation.

    I won't ever get sick of buying new music, but I can see a time where I may drop out, if it comes to having to rent it off a provider.
     
    threeheadedmonkey likes this.
  13. NettleBed

    NettleBed Forum Transient

    Location:
    new york city
    Yes and no. I'm not sure that "limited edition version of new album X that came out last week being flipped for $100" will retain much value (actually, I'm pretty sure that it won't - really depends on if anybody cares about the artist or album in 10 years) but I'm kind of on the fence about the prices of 60s-90s original stuff. Why? Because they're a finite lot and people want them primarily to play, not "collect" and put on a shelf. But the act of playing them takes millions of pieces out there among the people and, by virtue of their being played and handled, results in fewer and fewer of the desirable titles being in NM-to-VG+ condition every year. And even the stuff kept in great shape and only played on good systems - each piece has only so many plays on it. So these things - which are going to become more like antiques/artifacts than means-to-an-end of hearing music - will probably keep going up on price, for as long as people care about the music on them. Reissues - even good reissues - haven't put too much of a dent in the originals of many popular bands of these eras.
     
    Many Clouds likes this.
  14. Kiss73

    Kiss73 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Scotland
    Ohh. Parties are not fun at the moment either. Masks and Covid and everything...
     
    Buddybud and mark winstanley like this.
  15. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product

    Parties for me these days are 3 or 4 people, a couple of bottles of intoxicating liquid (in lieu of mother natures 'erb, for me at least :( ) some tunes of the hifi, no masks, and no discussions censored... it's a beautiful thing :)
     
  16. Sam

    Sam Senior Member

    Location:
    Rochester, NY
    "Buying " the records has never been fun unless you score a rare collectible. LISTENING to the records is where the fun is. The SOUND is what matters, so unless you want to listen to your favorite music in less than stellar fashion, continuing to buy records is your only option. CDs and streaming, while much improved over the years, STILL doesn't equal vinyl playback. Come listen to my vinyl Abraxas One Step and then let me know if a CD or streaming version can match it. That's the fun!
     
  17. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product

    I'm listening to the music with 53 year old ex pub rocker ears, cd's are by far the more sensible option.
    Even in my prime, I was listening to the music, and it virtually always sounded fine.
    It's fine for you to prefer what you prefer, but essentially what you just stated is a nonsense, and merely your preference
     
  18. pwhytey

    pwhytey Forum Resident

    It gives me immense joy to spend a day visiting Melbourne's many secondhand record stores, flicking through the racks and finding unexpected treasures. I've been doing it for almost forty years and it's more fun than ever these days because there are so many more stores. I have noticed prices jump considerably over the last three years or so, but what I want is still mostly affordable.

    When it comes to buying new records, it's not more expensive in 2021 than it was in the mid-80s when I started collecting. I used to pay up to AUD $15 for a vinyl LP in 1985 — with inflation, that equates to AUD $47 today. Most new records are up to $10 cheaper than that.

    Quality hasn't been an issue for me, either. The only new record I've bought that's been warped is one I ordered recently from the UK. With pandemic shipping times, it took over two months to reach me here in Australia — so I wasn't that shocked about the damage. A local record store has a machine that flattens warped vinyl, so not even that is going to ruin my record-buying fun!
     
  19. beccabear67

    beccabear67 Musical omnivore.

    Location:
    Victoria, Canada
    If you really care about the music and you know a vinyl pressing is the best then you will want the best copy of that you can get. This is why the prices sometimes. Sometimes you get lucky and what you treasure isn't treasured by as many others, and then the price is reasonable. Happiness is a truly great sounding LP on a decent system! :cool:
     
    WillieDaPimp and Buddybud like this.
  20. Dante Fontana

    Dante Fontana Forum Resident

    Location:
    Melbourne
    I still buy records occasionally but don’t enjoy the experience and this is partly down to joining this forum a few years back. Since then, added to the inflated prices is the anxiety of caring about SQ and so as well as being after clean copies, I’m usually after a particular pressing, and it all gets too much in record stores. Unless a bargain is on offer (usually only at fairs) I much prefer buying online these days although there postage costs mess things up.
    CDs, however, with all the bargains and more reliable (as opposed to better) SQ I do enjoy shopping for.
     
    mark winstanley likes this.
  21. YarRevenge

    YarRevenge Forum Resident

    Location:
    Spain
    Vinyl is too expensive but I enjoy buy CD, I listen first and I try to know DR.

    I don't stream but sometimes I buy on beatport or junodownload trance uplifting music that I like.
     
  22. Thing Fish

    Thing Fish “Jazz isn't dead. It just smells funny.”

    Location:
    London, England
    Even my local charity shops now have a record expert guy come in to value the vinyl they have been given for free!
    You used to get records for a pound or 2 now they are priced at £10+

    But what really makes me angry is -
    Miles Davis kind of blue new Analogue productions = $100 in the US. = £195 ($276) in the UK
    That's just ridiculous!!
     
  23. Warand Pain

    Warand Pain Forum Resident

    Location:
    Earth
    Its mainly not fun anymore. Some times with patience and good luck can score some good stuff for reasonable prices. But it's rare.
    I got some good metal albums, 3 first pressing Trouble and H-bomb "Attaque" for 20€ per album, US-bands like Hexx, Hammers Rule, Hawai, Havoc, Icon albums for 8-12€,last week.
    Those prices are exactly same as 15-20 years ago. But then there is this hipster hype, like paying 50 bucks for common Iron Maiden stuff... What i have
    noticed as European, the US heavy metal market is gone, left is over priced stuff. How it happens? Its ****ing sad. I remember back in about 2014 when my friend
    always said to me "the good and cheap metal stuff is in America" and he was right. Omen, Cirith Ungol, Hexx, Attacker, you name it... I also bought many records from USA in 90s. Sealed Mercyful Fate and Possessed albums for 10$ and there was lot of SEALED metal albums. Do old collector pay these prices they ask for metal stuff in US nowadays or it must be they all own the common ones already? Its ridicilous! Rich kids in Los Angeles buys all? (sarcasm) When i look now, only 150$ Exodus and 500$ Metallica albums(Those Bonded by Blood combat pressings was normal priced 15-20$ some years ago) and some american hipsters talk about Bathory yellow goat in social media. Like they know **** about heavy metal. Its surely not all about supply and demand. Its about hype and greed. Trendy fad.

    PS. There is some good and underrated US metal gems there, still for cheap. Example Dead Engine, Sye. Dont tell anyone.
     
    Last edited: May 17, 2021
  24. 4-2-7

    4-2-7 Forum Resident

    Location:
    SF Peninsula
    There I made it bigger so you can read it better, please learn how a record is made.

    Fist off a band records music (where ever) studio, live doesn't mater.

    The recording is captured on tape, digital file, generally with digital they will record at whatever is the highest resolution is at the time.

    The Producer and band work in the studio with the tracks they recorded to get a sound they like. They add EQ, maybe other sound effects and arrange the order of the songs, but this order can change. This becomes the Master tape or Master digital file and will never be changed from this original forum.

    This Master recording now goes to a mastering lab witch is totally separate from the band and producer. The mastering engineer will now take this master tape or digital file and run it through their equipment. They will fine tune the sound they are hearing EQing things that just don't sound right. If they are cutting lacquer for a record they will need to also use RIAA Equalization so it will play right on everyones systems.

    They may also need to master for CDs, this will get an entirely different EQ settings for this mastering. For one thing you would not be adding RIAA Equalization, and you can master more dynamic range onto a CD. They might even need to compress it much more than the record.

    Lets say the mastering engineer prefers to do their work in the digital realm but was given a tape. They will copy the tape to a high resolution file without any mastering work done, this is a straight transfer of the master tape to a digital file.

    Through all this the original master tape has remained untouched so the next time it gets a remastering everyone starts from the original recording, The Master.

    So the digital file I mentioned had nothing to do with a CD, many master recordings are on digital files, or the old tapes have been transferred to digital. Your not going to find any mastering labs working from a CD made for the market to play in home systems.

    A bootleg they could do it, it will be crappy but they don't care because they are not standing by their product because they stole it.
     
  25. lazydawg58

    lazydawg58 Know enough to know how much I don't know

    Location:
    Lillington NC
    I bet the neighborhood kids never get their ball back if it goes in the yard either.
     
    ARK, NunoBento, pwhytey and 1 other person like this.
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