artto Posted January 11, 2011 Share Posted January 11, 2011 http://wxrt.radio.com/2011/01/07/vinyl-rules/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Islander Posted January 11, 2011 Share Posted January 11, 2011 Well, that's good news. Thanks for sharing! I wish Panasonic had read it and kept making SL-1200s... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mallette Posted January 11, 2011 Share Posted January 11, 2011 First of all, I am SHOCKED! [] Second, this reflects WHO is buying, not a real "trend" in recorded music. Sales of recorded music continue to decline. Those who were buying other media aren't switching aren't so much switching. They are just not particular in the first place and either are quiting buying or switching to downloads of mp3s and such. Just MHO, and I didn't really research so feel free to correct. Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Travis In Austin Posted January 11, 2011 Moderators Share Posted January 11, 2011 I wrote the following in another thread on here back in August of 2008, I don't think a lot has changed since then: TheBes, I was reading your post with great interest, as I am usually prone to do given your gift of prose and spinning a yarn. As a matter of fact, I am was having a bit of hot tea in your honor as I read the responses. It figures that CBS is way off in their numbers. They are not even close. As you know, I am a big vinyl fan, have lots of it, and am always looking for more of it. I really wish it was true, that vinyl got it's groove back, but the fact of the matter is that vinyl is insignificant in the total U.S. music market. So why do they continue to make it? Because it is a high markup item, and idiots like me are more then willing to pay twice what a cd costs for perceived (actual in most cases) superior sound , collectibility, nostalgia, to justify high $ turntable rigs, etc. Thus, on a limited scale it is still profitable. LP's are now made in much smaller runs, 1,000, 2,000 maybe 5,000, and then they sell what they make. Depending on how fast they sold they may, or may not, run another batch. The day's of cutouts and bargin bins are pretty much over. All new vinyl is pretty much a limited edition, whether it is marketed that way or not. Why the growth last year? I am not really sure but I think it is for a number of reasons, some previously stated in this thread. Things like folks, like me, that grew up with the lp format will continue to buy in that format as long as we can. Others see that it is still out there a plenty and that it is relatively easy get back into it and so they have. Others have found, to their own ears, that it provides something that the digitial formats do not and so they have taken the splurge. You hear their stories in threads of this forum all the time. Now the real question. Why was it big news this year? Because it was about the only positive thing that the music industry had to report. CD sales have been in a decline for 4 years and even with downloads, total music sales have also been on a 4 year skid. So some music industry executive when asked about the 20% decline in sales responds with some good news: "Well that is true, but downloads sales are skyrocketinng and vinyl is making a comeback. Vinyl sales are up nearly 50% from last year." You sit back and get a warm fuzzy feeling inside with visions of giant vinyl retailers poping back up again, advertising that they stay open 'till midnight every day of the year with thousands of square feet of vinyl as far as the eye can see. Then you realize that when you look at the numbers, vinyl is not even a drop in the bucket. I too had romantic ideas of vinyl being stocked in every department and drug store once again when I heard the stories about vinyl sales on the rise. I was brought back to harsh reality by my bean counting wife's uncle. Her uncle used to be a top A&R man at A&M records until H & J sold it to Segrams. He then went to Nielson Soundscan, i.e, Billboard, the company that is charged with tracking music sales. He is really into vinyl, and we were sitting playing some of mine when they were in town earlier this year and I brought up the Wired article that came out in the spring that suggested that vinyl was going to be the death of the CD. He laughed and said, "I hate to burst your bubble but . . . ." He then went on to explain that it was true that LP shipments were in fact up over 35% from '06 to '07. He then had me guess what the total number of lp's shipped were in '07. I thought 5 million so I said 3 million cause I knew it was a trick question. He said that the units shipped went from 900,000 units to 1.3 million. Well not bad right, I mean, that's 400,000, units, not chump change. The shape of things to come right? He explained that was a jump of $15,000,000 to almost 23M in sales, and that was the key to seeing it continue. I thought that was pretty impressive jump, but the numbers sounded so low. I then thought, well this is all relative, and I asked him what do these numbers really mean in relation to the whole picture. He said that was the other part of the story that was not being presented because the industry was searching to put a positive spin on anything in light of all of the bad news. In '07 over a half billion CD's were shipped, with sales of over 7.4 billion. That's billion with a B. The total U.S. music market in '07 was 10.3 billion, down almost 1.5 billion from '06. CD's were 83% of the market. Vinyl? 7/10 of 1%, a whopping 1/10 of 1% up from '06 (down 2/10 from '04, where vinyl was almost 1% of the market). To put that in perspective, SACD's accounted for 6/10 of 1% of sales. You remember SACD? That is the format that everyone is saying that is all but dead and gone. DVD-A sales are 1.2% of the market. It's not back, it's not even close to being back. But it is steady, and appears to be profitable to the extent that we are getting both great reissues and new stuff. Hopefully it will continue to be profitable for companies to be able to offer it at a price, while more expensive then CD/downloads, is still within the realm of reason. I agree with all of the atributes that have been mentioned by others here as to why it continues to be made and sold when the market has obviously gone for the CD. Now the good news I got today was that Tascam was talking about going back into making reel to reel machnes and I am dreaming of big return of reel to reel pre-recorded tapes (I'm a subscriber to the Tape Project, a total of 10 tapes that pop out 1 every couple of months). Well I can dream can't I? Travis Well I don't think Tascam got back into making reel to reel machines, the Tape Project continues to issue tapes, pre-recorded tapes have not made a comeback. I keep waiting though. Travis Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
artto Posted January 11, 2011 Author Share Posted January 11, 2011 One of the things I've also personally noticed is that while much more new and re-issued music becomes available on vinyl again, and with the majority of it available for purchase online or via specialty retailers, I'm beginning experience the same thing with CD/SACD. Virtually every CD I've purchased within the last year has not even been available in the brick and mortar stores ~ I've had to order every one of them online, often with a 4-8 week backorder. Maybe it's just my taste in music these days, but I suspect there is a trend developing. (music servers - pay-as-u-go, no more silly things to physically store) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skonopa Posted January 11, 2011 Share Posted January 11, 2011 One of the things I've also personally noticed is that while much more new and re-issued music becomes available on vinyl again, and with the majority of it available for purchase online or via specialty retailers, I'm beginning experience the same thing with CD/SACD. Virtually every CD I've purchased within the last year has not even been available in the brick and mortar stores ~ I've had to order every one of them online, often with a 4-8 week backorder. Maybe it's just my taste in music these days, but I suspect there is a trend developing. (music servers - pay-as-u-go, no more silly things to physically store) I am in the same boat. Other than the better known of the types of artists that I listen to, such as Kamelot's or Blind Guardian's new album, both of which I actually managed to find at Best Buy, I have to go to the specialty retailers or on-line myself (such as Nightmare Records, Laser's Edge, or CDInzane, which are three of the main places where I source my music, in addition to eMusic for downloads) to order what I want to listen to. For example, what is the likely hood you'd find something like Silent Memorial or Knight Area or Mindflow at Best Buy (these are some pretty small-time, obscure power/progressive metal bands). Unless you are staying strictly within the big name, big label, top-40, mainstream artists, you are pretty much going to have to source your music via the speciality shops or on-line. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boxx Posted January 11, 2011 Share Posted January 11, 2011 No shock here.... what goes around comes around. lol... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jacksonbart Posted January 11, 2011 Share Posted January 11, 2011 I wrote this, "Top Notch", back in 2004 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Travis In Austin Posted January 12, 2011 Moderators Share Posted January 12, 2011 I wrote this, "Top Notch", back in 2004 I'm trying to start the year off right with a "top notch" right off the bat. The number of "top notch" monikers I received in 2010 was down 8 percent from '09 and I am setting out to reverse that trend. Travis Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garymd Posted January 12, 2011 Share Posted January 12, 2011 I'm pretty sure I represent about a third of the increase. I just can't help myself. No more need for gear so almost all my audio dollars go toward new vinyl. There are some amazing new reissues out there (more than a few disappointments too). Travis - You need to show up more than twice a year to get those "top notch" monikers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SSnyder Posted January 13, 2011 Share Posted January 13, 2011 This hipe is ex-agerrated proffoundly Note; bigest seller was Beetles' Abby Rd at > > > > > > > > > > >> 35,000 unit Beetles once sold in MILLONs when no. is teeny to begin a teeny increese make for big %per cennt but almost meaningless in raw sale Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebes Posted January 13, 2011 Share Posted January 13, 2011 I'm sorry Travis, your previous kind words not-withstanding but I'm afraid I'll have to intervene and revoke your top notch status. Iit's true that NEW vinyl l sales are small relative to the industry as a whole. However, the upward trend takes on new meaning if you're at all inclined to include the trade in USED wax, which I bet is easily double or triple new sales. Until recent years the vinyl trade was the exclusive purview of old coots and dj's . The "scratch" crowd and sales of dance hall music, disco and rap grabbing the lion share of sales. However, more and more, I see college-age kids starting to collect, sure mostly used, but some new sales will surely follow. Question is, is this a trend or simply a fad. Does it have staying power. Certainly it can't resurrect a moribund music industry, only new talent that youth can get their collective ears around will do that. Still happy am I. Indeed I'm feeling rather top notchy today. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mallette Posted January 13, 2011 Share Posted January 13, 2011 Iit's true that NEW vinyl l sales are small relative to the industry as a whole. However, the upward trend takes on new meaning if you're at all inclined to include the trade in USED wax, which I bet is easily double or triple new sales. Your onto something there, ol chap. I've purchased several hundred used LP's over the past few years, along with a handful of new ones and a few CD's and other digital media. Whilst the trove of ditched vinyl is ebbing and the prices going way up from the 25 cents to a buck I was spending 10 years ago, it's still a bargain and I suspect the impact on the music business is more significant that any of the official numbers suggest. Still not huge, mind you, but significant. Anyway, gotta love it! My older brother "harrumphed" at any suggestion that the vinyl business was anything but dead and that turntables and the like were on the ash heap of history. He also said "Wired" magazine was too slick and wouldn't last a year when it came out. He needs to stick to engineering... Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SSnyder Posted January 13, 2011 Share Posted January 13, 2011 Your onto something there, ol chap. I've purchased several hundred used LP's over the past few years, along with a handful of new ones and a few CD's and other digital media. You are not your posessive Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mallette Posted January 13, 2011 Share Posted January 13, 2011 You're onto something there, ol chap. I've purchased several hundred used LP's over the past few years, along with a handful of new ones and a few CD's and other digital media. You are not your posessive Thank you, 'fessor. Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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