Records Outsell CD !

[MattHooper]

Nothing really surprising here. The majority of people have moved from CDs to streaming for all their music desires. A few stalwarts who refused to switch to CDs in the first place are still stubbornly clinging to their vinyl. (Hopefully there's no vinyl clinging to them; that would be a most disturbing sight.) Then there are the wannabe hipster millenials buying vinyl mostly to display next to their "vintage" (made in China, distressed to look old by equally distressed workers) trinkets. Many of them don't even own a turntable, so I'm told. Most people don't own a CD player either. The only thing the CD format has going for it is inconvenience, and vinyl has more of that plus nostalgia too. Of course it wins.

^^^ That is perhaps tongue in cheek, but it's also the type of superficial analysis one often sees about the vinyl revival. It's a form of "I myself don't find any reason to prefer vinyl, so good reasons don't exist; hence I will attribute shallow and illogical motivations to those who buy vinyl."

Far from just buying records for display, a huge portion of vinyl newbies are voicing enthusiasm for all aspects of vinyl including their listening experience, where they find a deeper attachment and richer experience with vinyl. In other words, they truly value the experience and trying to play it down to only wanting to be a hipster is a shallow misdiagnosis.

There have been countless articles on the vinyl revival and when you read the comment sections it's typically older people who grew up with records who tend to scratch their heads "I abandoned records long ago, and good riddance. What's gotten in to people now? Why would they want to go back to all those 'flaws.'"

 

[teched58]

When physical media are dead, what's to stop the streaming services from vastly raising their monthly prices???

I think this is the biggest unforeseen problem. Right now, we're like where cable TV was in 1992. Back then, it was reasonable, but it began to steadily creep upwards. The rise of cable bills to $200/mo and more for many families led directly to cord cutting. (And, of course, all the new video streaming services are starting to slowly raise this prices, so that in a few years they won't be much cheaper than cable TV was.)

Sure, $10/month for Spotify, Apple Music et al is a great deal today. But what happens when CDs and vinyl records are no longer carried at all by Amazon? (Or even, what happens when vinyl creeps up from its current $30/lp to levels that make it unaffordable to most; actually that's already happening.)

I am betting we will very shortly see audio streaming services go up to $25/month. And from there, who knows?

It's a vicious cycle...

 

[Sukie]

When physical media are dead, what's to stop the streaming services from vastly raising their monthly prices???

I think this is the biggest unforeseen problem. Right now, we're like where cable TV was in 1992. Back then, it was reasonable, but it began to steadily creep upwards. The rise of cable bills to $200/mo and more for many families led directly to cord cutting. (And, of course, all the new video streaming services are starting to slowly raise this prices, so that in a few years they won't be much cheaper than cable TV was.)

Sure, $10/month for Spotify, Apple Music et al is a great deal today. But what happens when CDs and vinyl records are no longer carried at all by Amazon? (Or even, what happens when vinyl creeps up from its current $30/lp to levels that make it unaffordable to most; actually that's already happening.)

I am betting we will very shortly see audio streaming services go up to $25/month. And from there, who knows?

It's a vicious cycle...

It depends entirely on market circumstances. Too early to tell.

 

[Robin L]

In any case, I've got SACDs and DVD-Audios and about a thousand CDs, will hang on to those, have 2000 albums as files. Meanwhile, I now have access [again] to music I love in very good sound and access to music I have wanted to listen to for a long time, for very little money. I'm a happy camper.

 

[Soniclife]

When physical media are dead, what's to stop the streaming services from vastly raising their monthly prices???

A timely reminder.

 

[Zensō]

When physical media are dead, what's to stop the streaming services from vastly raising their monthly prices???

The same market forces that kept the music industry from vastly raising prices of physical media.

Music is much cheaper now than it used to be and is likely to remain that way permanently due to Amazon, Apple, and Google using music as a value-added service to support their primary profit centers and encourage ecosystem lock in. Just look at Amazon HD pricing versus Tidal. The trend in pricing is downward.

 

[Frank Dernie]

With him how? In concluding that I'm an "equipment fanatic"? I'm not. My equipment is quite modest, and I very rarely mess around with it. I am also not a performance fanatic, which is what you and Frank appear to be. I simply derive no pleasure from always chasing after something slightly better, be it equipment or performances.

Of course all performances sound different. They're just not _sufficiently_ different for me to find any value in chasing down every last variation and studying them in minute detail.

Of course a great performance can make up for technical deficiencies in the recording. Within reason. If the only available copy of a specific performance has been recorded to cassette tape from a poorly tuned FM radio, then played back over a phone line using an old Walkman with nearly dead batteries, then I'll probably give it a pass. There's always going to be a much better recording of one that's just as good, even if subtly different.

Jazz is another matter. There various takes on the standards can be wildly different, the performers imparting much more of their own signature. That is (one reason) why I find jazz rather more interesting than classical.

Sorry, I didn't phrase it well.
I wasn't imlying you were an equipment fanatic but that you weren't a classical music lover.
The point was that your statement was the sort of thing a music lover wouldn't say but an equipment fanatic might.
Sorry for any upset.

 

[levimax]

When physical media are dead, what's to stop the streaming services from vastly raising their monthly prices???

Rather than raise prices I would guess it would be more along the lines of less selection and then using what selection is left to further the overall goal of locking you their "eco-system". Trying not to sound "foil hat" but I would not be surprised at all if Amazon "recommends" music that helps get you in the mood to buy what ever you have been searching for lately. Music will become just another tool of the giant platforms to lock you in and control you..... but at least the music will be "cheap / free". In many ways it has all ready happened.

 

[a2lowvw]

I can admit to purchasing vinyl however most of it has been second hand. I bought my wife a turntable for our wedding anniversary since we have had a crate of old records from her mom that had been sitting for over 10 years.

 

[bt3]

Love the convenience of my digitized file library. Ditto my digitized film collection.
Grew up when vinyl was king. Visits to dusty used record stores was a treat back in the day.
Hours spend looking for obscure blues performers, musical soundtracks and potty-mouthed comedians.
After high school, straight to US Army overseas 70's. Got the HiFi equipment bug over there.
Purchased a Revox A77 and a Dual CS721 in Frankfurt, Germany. Back stateside sold my HIFi gear to pay bills.
Last old school music medium for me being CD's, owned an Esoteric K-05. Sold that one not so long ago. Don't miss it one iota. They used to tell us we were living through the second wave of a HiFi equipment boom. Bah humbug on all that old stuff. Much prefer my 20,000+ hires files I can stuff in my coat pocket if I want. These are the good times in HIFi IMO..and all those arena concerts people wax on nostalgically about? It left me mostly with damaged hearing and lots of second hand exposure to cigarette (and other kinds of) smoke. Those LP covers with all that info on back? I'd rather read a good book about any musical artists I like. I learn so much more that way. Cheers!

 

[MattHooper]

Love the convenience of my digitized file library. Ditto my digitized film collection.
Grew up when vinyl was king. Visits to dusty used record stores was a treat back in the day.
Hours spend looking for obscure blues performers, musical soundtracks and potty-mouthed comedians.
After high school, straight to US Army overseas early 70's. Got the HiFi equipment bug over there.
Purchased a Revox A77 and a Dual CS721 in Frankfurt, Germany. Back stateside sold my HIFi gear to pay bills.
Last old school music medium for me being CD's, owned an Esoteric K-05. Sold that one not so long ago. Don't miss it one iota. They used to tell us we were living through the second wave of a HiFi equipment boom. Bah humbug on all that old stuff. Much prefer my 20,000+ hires files I can stuff in my coat pocket if I want. These are the good times in HIFi IMO..and all those arena concerts people wax on nostalgically about? It left me mostly with damaged hearing and lots of second hand exposure to cigarette (and other kinds of) smoke. Those LP covers with all that info on back? I'd rather read a good book about any musical artists I like. I learn so much more that way. Cheers!

I enjoy vinyl, but your view makes plenty of sense to me as well.

Also, you don't have to put up with the variability in quality. I rolled the dice and spent more than usual on a new LP only to find it quite disappointing in both pressing, condition (crackly!) and sound quality. Someone streaming would easily avoid such problems. (Though I think that some of the bad sound quality was also due to the actual production quality).

 

[watchnerd]

and all those arena concerts people wax on nostalgically about? It left me mostly with damaged hearing and lots of second hand exposure to cigarette (and other kinds of) smoke.

#YOLO

 

[Beershaun]

When physical media are dead, what's to stop the streaming services from vastly raising their monthly prices???

Rather than raise prices I would guess it would be more along the lines of less selection and then using what selection is left to further the overall goal of locking you their "eco-system". Trying not to sound "foil hat" but I would not be surprised at all if Amazon "recommends" music that helps get you in the mood to buy what ever you have been searching for lately. Music will become just another tool of the giant platforms to lock you in and control you..... but at least the music will be "cheap / free". In many ways it has all ready happened.

I don't think it's a retailer selection or price cutting problem. I think it's a problem of how does an artist make a living.

Artists used to make a lot more money with phyiscal media sales. They make a lot less with streaming. They have to try and make up the shortfall with touring. Touring is expensive, hard, and a rough lifestyle. So the question will be how do artists make more money streaming than they do now?

That may lead to things like paywalls and exclusive content deals or breaking away into their own direct marketing and distribution methods. When the labels and distributors no longer a good value proposition to the artists then what happens...

 

[Soniclife]

Artists used to make a lot more money with phyiscal media sales. They make a lot less with streaming.

Inflation adjusted revenue is back to pre CD levels, and going up. I think the real problem is there are a lot more artists than there used to be, and I expect costs are much higher. I don't know if a lower % if the revenue goes to artists than in previous decades.

 

[Mnyb]

Well it actually seems to be real , in my local record store they sells old plastic turntables from the 80’s for laughable prices and they have a lot of vinyl more so than CD , so wonder if the vinyl will survive CD . I bought a used CD no vinyl , my old systemdeck developed a fault where one of the screws carried 230v ac “ music to die for “ not for me

 

[MattHooper]

I had 5 places selling vinyl within walking distance and was amazed they all weathered the lockdowns. To my surprise, just recently yet another fairly large record store opened up around the corner and seems to be quite busy! So the news of vinyl's continuing ascendance seems born out in what I'm seeing where I live.

 

[StefaanE]

Well it actually seems to be real , in my local record store they sells old plastic turntables from the 80’s for laughable prices and they have a lot of vinyl more so than CD , so wonder if the vinyl will survive CD . I bought a used CD no vinyl , my old systemdeck developed a fault where one of the screws carried 230v ac “ music to die for “ not for me

You still have a local record shop? Lucky you.

 

[StefaanE]

I had 5 places selling vinyl within walking distance and was amazed they all weathered the lockdowns. To my surprise, just recently yet another fairly large record store opened up around the corner and seems to be quite busy! So the news of vinyl's continuing ascendance seems born out in what I'm seeing where I live.

And last week, our local Aldi had a selection of 180g vinyl records in its specials.

 

[watchnerd]

And last week, our local Aldi had a selection of 180g vinyl records in its specials.

In the Seattle airport there is a souvenir store that sells LPs of famous Seattle hometown musicians (e.g. Jimi Hendrix, Nirvana, etc.).

 

[Mnyb]

You still have a local record shop? Lucky you.

It’s two record stores in the whole town , they serve several nearby smaller cities that have none . In my home town 100km from where I live the last record store has closed