Oh I definitely have argued that point! I love having music that is no longer available due to it either being changed, tampered with, or simply not available. I wanted to get some info I have been looking at that points out the more people stream, the more millions of water these data centers need and a few people have worked out the math, though I am sure there are other variables, that point out owning a CD or even album is far better in the long term for our environment. I would also guess more people can earn money off a CD sale, both new then again used or even again and again, than the very few that make money through streaming services. I actually have less desire to be right in this case, and more desire to open the discussion to the ideas that physical ownership should not be considered a bad thing, for both personal reasons as well as our environment. I am hoping this goes nowhere near politics as well!
I definitely love vinyl, and have both cds and vinyl for multiple reasons, but I love playing an album I love. I tend to buy cds when I don't know the music very well, then buy the vinyl for the reasons you mention as well as the art and just the feel that a record gives me.
I will probably buy one of the Technics by year’s end. I’ll leave it to fate and Black Friday. Hunting for LPs is part of the fun especially finding something at Goodwill. The advice given here had been very helpful especially the “stay away from vinyl” ones because I know not to fall down that rabbit hole when my expectations are in check. I am just looking to have some fun.
Sounds like locally-stored mp3s and FLAC might be the most environmentally-friendly format of them all.
Actually it seems buying used copies of physical would be. They already have been made, and can be enjoyed over and over again, and also they can help small business owners and workers, but your point is a good one for sure.
I collect records and have done for decades. But it's articles like this (and the net is full of them) that gives vinyl enthusiasts a strange aura of insanity. Putting a record on is not a ritual. It involves no more effort than putting the oven on for tea, or boiling the kettle. Vinyl Records and Going To Mass - Word on Fire
what's going on with @Mazzy latest YouTube video. He picked two albums he had literally nothing to say about. Just held them up like he was bewildered he owned them. Not sure why he even put that video out. C'mon buddy.
Ya sotra miss the spirit of those videos. I might not know every detail of every single album in my collection, but I do know the artists enough to chat about them.
what's going on with @Mazzy latest YouTube video. He picked two albums he had literally nothing to say about. Just held them up like he was bewildered he owned them. Not sure why he even put that video out. C'mon buddy. I like your videos a lot. But this was very poor, sorry. To hold up Wish by The Cure and have no idea what year it came out and not discuss a single song from it is kinda pointless. PJ Harvey. If you have to check the spine to know what album you're even holding. Again, it's just not adding anything. Your videos are usually great. But I think you should have shelved that one. It made you look like you didn't know what you were talking about. When I know you usually do. Just surprised you put that one out, that's all.
As of 29 Feb, US CD sales sit at 3.9 million and vinyl at 4.2 million. So the two formats are almost on par (300k gap). This is in comparison to this time last year, where CD was 5.5 million and vinyl was 8 million (2.5m gap). Reduced sales for both formats, but the vinyl numbers have almost halved from this time last year However I'm willing to bet that they'll improve when Taylor Swift's "The Tortured Poets Department" releases in April.
The only US numbers that really matter is the RIAA, and the 2023 year-end report should be out next week.
New Judas Priest album $44 on Vinyl or $13 on CD…. I mean COME ON…. it’s not even a debate at this point.
Downloads definitely aren’t.Sales has fallen more than either CD or vinyl.It is a niche like cassettes. I agree.As someone who had a big vinyl collection before CD’s were invented I am bemused (to put it politely) by the vinyl revival.
Yes, streaming is definitely king. But the point is that with such similar unit sale numbers, both physical formats have clearly found their niche, and neither is in danger of going extinct. Downloads on the other hand... we've already seen the closure of Google Play Music, and I wouldn't be surprised if the iTunes Store stopped offering downloads very soon.
Not likely. Google Play is hardly the model to hold up as the sign of what you suggest. As long as there is streaming, there will be downloads that people can buy. That won't go away.
Love this ! I had a chat with a friend about this exact thing. The whole “CDs in 1990 cost the equivalent of $35ish today” talk…. I don’t buy Vinyl at $35 and I wouldn’t buy CDs at that price…. I buy CDs right now because they are cheaper and they sound great (vinyl does too but not for 2x cost) We basically landed on the fact of pressing plants were plentiful….LP costs would be more in line with CDs. I really just want CD quality downloads with proper mastering from a music service…. I know the mastering is the artist & the label’s call not the music service, but I think that is the next industry move…. Return all dynamic range back to digital like it was pre-loudness war….have an agreed on ‘certification’ and people will buy it They have tried with Hi-res, but that is finally being revealed as snake oil for “most” people with the avg system (most here are excluded from the avg system designation lol ) As Andrew Robinson says on his YouTube channel - “The only person that has to like the sound of your system, is you.”
There some fantastic studies out there around all this - search and ye shall find them but the crux of it is: Same source material At 256aac 320aac 16/44 24/48+ (So same mastering) On what is considered an avg consumer system under $10k (so some great options here still) In a listening space without an abundance of extra noise A music selection the listener knows and has been instructed WHAT to listen for: Cymbal decay, buzz from a woodwind reed, etc Majority of people can’t tell the difference to a level that effects the enjoyment of the music and as soon as some other factors come in…. Noise, reading something, generally not being 100% focused on the music…. People can’t tell the difference at all. But I get it…people wanna be special and cool and be able to say… “oh I can hear the difference…it’s night & day blah blah blah”. Give them a real blind AB test over an hr…. Educate them, & save them some cash. All the above is why I use Tidal’s regular tier or AppleMusic …. Cause the higher res stuff just really doesn’t make enough difference to justify the cost or the constant chasing oh the ghost’
LP's are going to be more expensive because 1) printing of the LP covers is more expensive 2) Shipping is more expensive due to size & weight - even more so for imports Highly unlikely that your dream will come reality. The greater majority of people listen to their streaming on cheap, easily obtained, low quality equipment. Providing sound quality that suits these standards is exactly what the loudness war is all about.
I also got into LPs late…. My dad has about 3K that are eventually mine all 70s rock - but by the time I had cash to buy my own stuff it was mostly cassettes and eventually CDs…. I do remember going to Peaches & Musicland in late 80s and getting LPs for 6.99 - 8.99 my 1st Metallica album was 8.99….. guy at Peaches saw me checking out with some Scorpion, Ozzy, & Priest stuff…. “Hey man …give these guys a listen… “
We were told that vinyl was breathing its last gasps 30+ years ago. "It is difficult to make predictions, especially about the future."
