Why the Vinyl Boom is Over - WSJ

That's the spirit! I'll be around shortly

 

"I could see writing an article as a nice piece about how Welch and Rawlings struggle to produce analogue records
in the 21st century, why combine this with the "vinyl doom" message if not for click-bait? Epic fail."

I think that's basically what we have here, a PR-driven piece for Welsh and Rawlings disguised as -- well, not exactly news but a feature. As far as being click-bait, it is my understanding that the writer does not write the headlines of his or her story. The editor does that. I would be surprised if the writer was not as surprised as the reader that the headline does not match the content of the article. This proves the axiom, Sell the Sizzle not the Steak.

 

You mean they aren't defective from sitting in the proverbial Hot Truck™ in January?

 

What is the proverbial Hot Truck (trademark), please?

 

In regards to some "vinyl being sourced from CD" - the irony there would be that some CDs were sourced from needle drops of original vinyl., instead of the master tapes. So then you would have something sourced from vinyl, transferred to digital, and then transferred back to vinyl? In some ways, it's really no different than the early days of CD, where the label's were in such a rush to get some version of the album out on that format to capitalize on sales from it, that they used whatever sources they conveniently had lying around. As time went on, they eventually went back and made an effort to release better versions. Seems to me the same thing is just happening again here.

That whole sourced from CD, or digital file, argument always bothers me, anyway. True, there are examples of cases where certain companies used suspect sources to make inferior vinyl pressings - but MOV isn't one if them. They generally get all their source materials from whatever label they are licensing them from, and even if it is a digital source, it's usually hi quality. I've never had an issue with the sound, pressing quality or pacjaging of any album I've bought from them, and many sound better than later repressings of the same albums by the original labels. (i.e. - Stone Temple Pilots. The MOV presssings of Core and Purple, sound much better than the Rhino/WEA pressings that were released in the US after.)

 

So the short answer to my question as to where was the vinyl hate on this particular thread is 'there isn't any'.

 

I agree; Greg Lake made the same comments in 2016 on the reissue of BSS and also on the sleeve notes Helmut Brinkmann explains why thinner records sound better. My own personal experiences would agree with this point of view. I too wish the 180g obsession would simply go away!!

 

Fully agree. I made a video about this topic. But it seems some people believe "more is better"
The false 180g hype stickers on these records make some people actually think it will produce a better SOUND.

 

We are clearly singing of the same Hymn sheet. Shame Manufacturers think we are all so gullible

 

I think it's the people who buy records and don't actually open or listen to them who are the gullible ones. Sadly, they are a HUGE market.
Hipsters are buying vinyl records, but they aren’t listening to them

 

I know it's not me keeping the new vinyl afloat. I think I've bought way less new vinyl this year compared to the last 4 years that I've been listening to vinyl, mainly due to the ridiculous prices in Australia. I'm still spending way too much on used vinyl though

 

True; sad, in my opinion. Music is for listening to; at least that is what i thought

 

Prices in Australia is simply criminal!!

 

Amazon are finally setting up shop properly in Australia in a couple of months. Hopefully they'll bring prices down a bit as we get gouged everywhere, not just with vinyl.

 

Good luck!!

 

Did you read that article? Fun headline, but he doesn't bother to back up that claim in the body of the article.

The best he can do is point out that the Technics 1200 was discontinued (it has since the article's publication been re-released due to demand).

 

Even the ordinary Joe is unlikely to put up with snap crackle and pop for long (after the novelty wears off). People soon realise their £20 records are being chewed up by their £99 'record player'. They will either upgrade and discover real hi-fi or go back to their Ipod. So if the newbies amount to at least 50% of sales 90% are going to disappear in the next few years to be replaced by an ever decreasing number of new vinyl buyers. That probably will leave a healthy market that is still far bigger than a decade ago. One thing that does not appear to be factored in to growing vinyl sales is the vastly increased number of titles being issued on the format. Part of the boom is hardcore vinyl buyers purchasing far more product because it is there. That can partly be accounted for by lack of good and affordable used Lps being available.

 

but it does exist on this FORUM

I guess you can argue that movies are dead too... I mean, nothing today has sold as many tickets as Star Wars and E.T. did back in 1977 and 1982 either lol

 

Midyear report,with vinyl's biggest day already in the rear view mirror. Are they including the June release of Sgt. Pepper's?That alone should have given a mild boost to physical media sales. Best to look at the entire year,or at least the July/Dec. numbers as they include holiday shopping,along with RSD's Black Friday Extravaganza. 80% of year sales in 10% of time.

 

In theory it shouldn't matter, but after switching to a different online source, I had much better luck with obtaining warp-free records. In addition, Amazon has closed accounts of folks on this forum that returned too many items.

 

Does this mean a CD Boom is on the horizon?

 

I want everything to come back. Vinyl, cassettes, CDs, 8-Tracks...

 

It's so strange that in the mid-80s vinyl was the cheapest format here. You could often pick up a chart LP f0r under £5. CDs would usually cost £10 more than that and even cassettes were a little more expensive. How things change.

 

Good video. Hopefully a lot of people will watch this.

Wonder if they'll introduce 180g CDs to give the format a boost?

 

Hardly a boom. More like a US small cap