The very real possibility that vinyl will outlive CD - T or F?

from a guy that owns a local store in mpls:

last month, for the first time in 20 years, new vinyl sales grossed more than new cd sales at treehouse records! for the past several years, usually our top sales categories have looked like this, month after month:
#1. new cd's
#2. used records
#3 new records
#4 used cd's

in december, it went like this:
#1. used records
#2. new records
#3. new cd's
#4. used cd's

Not surprising at all, though: someone has surely said something like this upthread, but post-mp3, anyone spending money on physical-object music probably kinda likes the physical-object part, and the searching-for-it part, and the "buying the kind of music not immediately available from iTunes" part. CD market becomes mp3 market and vanishes; vinyl market remains vinyl market, and only becomes more interesting in contrast.

they need to make old and new vinyl cheaper though.

eg - i want to buy old miles davis albums, and it would be nice if they were the same price 2nd hand on vinyl as on cd.

look harder.

what are you looking for?

basic stuff i used to have like someday my prince will come, porgy and bess on vinyl. im sure my local 2nd hand shop will have them eventually for cheap (i got coltranes debut and herbie hancocks maiden voyage yesterday for 7 pounds total) but im impatient.

look on-line. you can even find nice japanese vinyl reissues on ebay sometimes for less than a new cd.

oh man my original 1st press of porgy and bess sounds so friggin good. yowza!

the thing about itunes i mostly don't like is i never know what to get. it's hard to decide cuz there are so many options. i had a hell of a time trying to spend this $25 gift certificate i got for xmas.

i guess i like stores mostly not because i can go there and buy the stuff i wanted to get, but to buy the stuff i didn't know i wanted.

i mean there are NEW vinyl reissues too. most are around 15 bucks or so.

http://cgi.ebay.com/MILES-DAVIS-QUIET-NIGHTS-GIL-EVANS-VINYL-LP-SEALED_W0QQitemZ250203499115QQihZ015QQcategoryZ306QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

x-post

Music/record/clothing (esp. clothing!) shopping is a million times more fun IRL then it is online. Online shopping is great for finding deals on something you've always wanted and never found in IRL or which you can't find as cheaply.

thanks for the link but postage from the US drives the prices up! you used to be able to pick up new vinyl reissues cheapish in central london shops but now even they only seem to be selling pricier old pressings for collectability.

The fact that the exchange rate is ridiculous should be driving the prices DOWN.

no, i know you are in the u.k. that was just a quick example. you can always check u.k. ebay.

or u.k. record sellers on-line. not just ebay.

This sucks! I don't know where to start with vinyl!

All my vinyl is shitty dollar records that I got at Goodwill and garage sales. None of which sounds better than a CD.

post-mp3, anyone spending money on physical-object music probably kinda likes the physical-object part, and the searching-for-it part, and the "buying the kind of music not immediately available from iTunes" part

Well, not Josh Groban fans...

look for clean vinyl! go to a good used record store.

chuck-post

I'm not really into buying new vinyl unless it for sure comes with a download as well, I just don't listen to enough music at home.

Right now I just use it for out-of-print jazz stuff and the crate of records I took from my dad's old collection (some good jazz, Earth Wind & Fire, Aretha stuff, etc.).

i guess i like stores mostly not because i can go there and buy the stuff i wanted to get, but to buy the stuff i didn't know i wanted.

this is a major factor in my world.
i love random (or not-so random having checked out various sleevenotes/credits etc), WTF! purchases from 2nd hand shops.

xp But Groban doesn't sell in indie retail stores. So yeah, for those sorts of merchants, it's no surprise that vinyl sales might eventually eclipse CD sales.

xxpp Yeah, finding extremely cheap vinyl in good condition is really not that difficult; it's everywhere. Always has been. Never went away.

I've been collecting CDs for 17 years. Do I start collecting vinyl now?

Help!

i got drunk the other night and bought records on ebay and i HAVE NO MEMORY OF DOING THIS. very dangerous. doesn't happen often though. 30 bucks bought me:

100 COUNTRY 45 RPM RECORD LOT--(80'S) LOTS OF PROMOS. Condition of these records is unplayed. SOME OF THE ARTISTS ARE: Johni Dee, Lee Wright, Janjo, Vince Anthony, John Sager, Billy Walker, Gairrett Brothers, John Silvercloud, Monty Wilson, Brady Clark, Ken McWilliams, George Jones & Johnny Paycheck, Gene Simmons, Mike Grimes, Bubba Talbert, David Lowman, Chris Blake, Gerald Trentham, Billy Bagwell, Grant Ray, Slim Whitman, Jeff Dugan, Sam Neely, Maines Brothers Band, Eddy Arnold, Gary Goodnight, Glen Bailey, Ron Reeley, Skeeter Harmon, High Cotton. SOME OF THE LABELS ARE: Dimension, Sunbird, De-vice, Miss Ala, Jeremiah, Deep South, Oasis, MCA, Spotlight, Grinder's Switch, GMC, Adamas, RPM, Pacific Challenger, NSD, Epic, Liberty, Monument, Osprey, Joy-bean, Moon Shine, FXL, Burgundy, Equa, High Tech, Crowe Brothers, Destiny, Arisun, Regal, CBO. See picture. Buyer will pay $10.00 for media mail shipping in USA

I bought an LP the other day, but for aesthetic reasons - we got some of those Art Vinyl frames that you can stick a 12" in on your wall, and Emma wanted the third Caribou album on vinyl to go in one cos she's always loved the artwork.

There are precious few places to buy vinyl in and around Exeter, and I've grown up playing CDs; I'd have to seriously consciously re-calibrate my music-playing rituals if I was to switch to vinyl.

i dunno how many used vinyl shops there are left in london apart from the MVE chain. but yeah, i love buying stuff i didnt know i wanted too. i also hate buying stuff i didnt know i wanted then going home and finding out there was a reason i didnt want it in the first place. lol.

There are precious few places to buy vinyl in and around Exeter

Shit yeah, when my mum lived there a couple of years back I combed the whole town and found pretty much fuckall, apart from I think the first Birthday Party album in some weird place in an arcade

I'm moving house in a few weeks which is ushering in the very real possibility of not having enough space to house all my music. I really don't want to store a bunch of stuff away in boxes if it's shit I actually want to keep

I don't do the buying stuff I didn't know I wanted anymore, since the advent of downloading. My list of stuff I do know I want is about 2000 long as it is.

i dunno how many used vinyl shops there are left in london apart from the MVE chain

Quite a few still - off the top of my head:
Intoxica! (Portobello Road)
Out On The Floor (Camden)
Beano's (Croydon)
Flashback and Haggle Vinyl (Essex Road)
The shop on Hanway Street whose name I can never remember but used to be Vinyl Experience
Revival Records (Berwick Street - the shop formerly known as Reckless)

I'm not getting any more vinyl though because I've got enough music in the house as it is and my wife will be bringing an equally huge amount of music from Canada when she comes over, plus there is the perennial digestive biscuits problem (i.e. shelves of vinyl records smell like digestive biscuits).

CDs still exist as a great medium for bands doing home-production stuff, e.g. to sell on tour. you can't make vinyl at home (well, you *could* obviously. but you'd be insane), and telling people to go out and d/l stuff is all very well, but lacks the immediacy of "have it now" (+ will people actually even remember the web address/band name?) and as, say, a souvenir from a show.

that's true. these days more and more though it's like a CD is a car that drives music to your computer. and then you throw it away. so it's a disposable car. ok the analogy's not perfect.

you can't make vinyl at home

The Presto disc cutter!!! (tenth photo down)

http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Venue/7980/dmphotos.htm

Vinyl is around because of nostalgia, and provided it becomes irrelevant (hopefully never will) the CD will also be around for the same reason.

CDs deteriorate and will become unplayable. some made in the 80's are already doing this.

None of my 80s CDs have done that. My only problem with the is that health organisations have gotten portable CD/headphones producers to bring down the max level of their players to protect listeners' hearing, and because of the current loudness war going on, it is impossible to turn up the volume at a satisfactory level when playing 80s CDs.

If you've only got low-fi equipment (e.g., headphones, speakers, etc.) at your disposal it is impossible to turn up the volume at a satisfactory level when playing 80s CDs (or at least that's been my going from low-fi to higher-fi experience).

that's true. these days more and more though it's like a CD is a car that drives music to your computer. and then you throw it away. so it's a disposable car. ok the analogy's not perfect.

-- Tracer Hand, Friday, 11 January 2008 12:44 (3 hours ago) Link

Not really, in my case. I don't end up ripping most of my music, and I play the actual cds (on the home stereo, in the car) much more than mp3s, anyway.

Then again, I never owned an mp3 player until about two weeks ago.

It's been more a convenience (for instance, I can take it jogging) than a liberation for me.

It's been more a convenience (for instance, I can take it jogging) than a liberation for me.

Wait 'til the convenience rears its uglier head; I count maintaining my encoding (ensuring everything's accurately labeled/categorized, etc.), and the resulting encoded collection (keeping the external drives defragged and/or healthy, etc.), among the least enjoyable music-related tasks in my life.

and because of the current loudness war going on, it is impossible to turn up the volume at a satisfactory level when playing 80s CDs.

Get a better stereo for the love of god. With a decent amplifier you can get the quietest CD more than loud enough.

Apologies if this self-described rant's already been posted here (or elsewhere), but I found Fastnbulbous' take on things, Analog Vs. Digital Redux, very persuasive.

I agree with practically everything he says there.

Get a better stereo for the love of god. With a decent amplifier you can get the quietest CD more than loud enough.

Oh wait he's talking about on headphones, I dunno there cos I only listen to music on headphones on my ipod, where everything's been mp3gained to the same level.

The direct headphone loops on most CD players are generally too fucking loud anyway...

Or get a dedicated headphone amp!

dblcheeksneak has a good point about the maintenance involved with non-CD digital music - it is insanity.

Good article, FnB.

For what it's worth I had about 8 projects I was trying to push through the pressing plants (I use 2) around the 1st of Dec.

One said that he hadn't been this busy since the 90s and RAN OUT OF VINYL for a couple of days.

The other stayed open Xmas week (one of the 2 traditional closing times for US pressers, the other being 4th o July). They would have been open on the 24th if they could have gotten their crew in.

Your free market economy at work...

On the downside Syntax AND Unique closed their doors in the last couple of weeks, 2 of the biggest vinyl distributors in the states. Well... more for me.