I collect a significant amount of new vinyl and listen to it relatively frequently, but digital music is so much more convenient. That can be a detriment though, I find a lot of the value I get out of listening to vinyl is the "intentional listening" experience. I think Henry Rollins called it carbohydrate listening or something to that effect, listening to things you like that you've heard a million times and isn't exactly stimulating in the same way a new album or artist would be. Music feels a whole lot more consumable and disposable when its just on constant instant playback. Forcing yourself to flip the record and drop the needle keeps you more engaged I feel.
All that to say I mostly just like collecting colored vinyl, and supporting small bands and artists you like by buying a product significantly more profitable than millions of Spotify streams is pretty cool.
Thanks for making the Henry Rollins' carbohydrate reference. It's a great way to label these two modes of listening that we all experience.
----
"I have two basic food groups of music: protein and carbohydrate.
The protein listening is new music, where it’s unfamiliar to me so I’m listening, sometimes taking notes, researching the band while the music is playing. I do quite a bit of this, usually during the week.
On the weekends, I will allow for some carbohydrate listening, which would be records I’m familiar with, that I’ve been playing for years. This music is not exactly background, but more of an environmental asset for elevation of mood."
It's exactly the same for me. Yes, vinyl is more inconvenient, expensive and may even sound "worse" unless you have an expensive audio setup.
That said, the deliberate experience of sitting in your couch, doing/thinking nothing else but the music you're listening, is for me an invaluable ritual. It's like meditation.
Sometimes I prefer the original vinyl sound compared to the digitally remixed version of the old songs.
But most of my vinyl is of old albums that nobody bothered to re-release on CD. It's fun to buy them cheap at the thrift store, wash them, and see what's on them.
Good points. Just to expand, I find with instant on digital music I never really listen to it with as much attention as vinyl.
In fact I love everything about vinyl except the sort durarion of each side, but even that makes me focus more closely on the experience. I know I'll have to turn it over shortly...
Dedicating time to listen to a specific album. My kids may never understand it. An album is an interesting art form, it captures a few pieces of time: when it was made and then then it was consumed. The cover art and liner art. The order of the songs. All assembled with intention. There are albums I’ve heard hundreds of time and I will still hear little new bits I never quite noticed before.
I do love digital music and having it everywhere, but it is special to just listen and take it I’m.
Digital music resparked my interest in vinyl. With streaming you have a great tool to figure out what you really love and need to have on vinyl. Less is more.
I got rid of most of my LP's over the past few years as I realized I'd gradually just started to play them from Spotify instead (convenience slowly converted me), over the same speakers. Then I sold my turntable.
But I kept around 20 of my favorites and just rotate them for display on my bookshelf. If I'm playing one of them on Spotify, I'll even rotate to show that LP while I play it. The really bizarre thing is, there's a particular old album I'm thinking of purchasing just to be able to display its cover, because of what it means to me.
It's the same with books -- my favorite ones are in my bookshelf, but even if I read a book I own physically, I pull it up on my iPad because I prefer to be able to highlight, look up words, adjust text size, read in a dark room, etc.
So I'm shocked to discover that I like having the physical artifacts even when I still consume them digitally. It's almost like bringing back souvenir knick-knacks from a vacation. This is not an outcome I ever would have expected.
Patience! Try putting on a record and listening with friends or dancing to the beat with your significant other. Don't try to cherrypick just one song or conversely listen to endless AI generated mix while your mind is elsewhere. Afterwards, have a conversation about what the artist was trying to express and moments in your own life the songs reminded you of. THEN tell me you didn't have a unique experience compared to what Spotify provides you with.
To avoid this outcome I started a family tradition where we play a record every time we sit down at the dinner table to eat. We take turns picking an album and let guests pick when we have guests.
Might I guess that the albums are either Pink Floyd or Led Zeppelin? Even when I listen to those two digitally, I like to see the album cover. That has been ingrained as part of the experience for me.
I don't want to start a flame war. This said, I think vinyl sucks; it's my opinion and not some absolute statement about the universe so please respect it! It was the state-of-the art technology when I was kid, but I was so glad it was gone. Digital music is SO much better and I remember the joy of replacing vinyl by CDs and then by high quality digital files.
And because of all of the above, I understand why a lot of the buyers don't have actual record players. Vinyl is a bit like 8-bit cartridge gaming, it's a mix of nostalgia with physicality, holding something fun and cool in your hands. It's more like buying a book... The albums had pretty covers, and I do remember liking to hold them in my hands, read lyrics (often included in an insert) while listening to the music. That was a nice aspect of it, but it was overall so cumbersome and lossy that I'll keep my FLACs, thank you.
Most vinyl records are sold as vinyl + digital anyway.
The appeal to the vinyl is the ritual that we kind of lost buy going digital. I've also gone back to start reusing CDs, at least the little I kept. I donated most of my CD collection when I moved country and kind of regret it.
People keep talking about quality to praise digital media. But most people saying this listen to music through crappy bluetooth speakers nowadays. There is a very small amount of users still using decent hi-fi equipment.
> “50% of consumers who have bought vinyl in the past 12 months own a record player, compared to 15% among music listeners overall.”
No way in hell do 15% music listeners own record players.
Assuming Luminate's numbers are not entirely made up, their sampling method must be deeply flawed, which brings into question their ability to determine how many record buyers own a record player. Maybe they asked the question in some idiotic way that confused the respondents.
> No way in hell do 15% music listeners own record players.
That's also a weird statement in general, sure there might be a group of people who actively avoid music, but aren't most of us music listeners. Perhaps there's some special meaning to "music listeners" as a term.
15% of music listeners probably don't have a record player set up ready to be used.
Record players, however, are a really common sight in garages and the back of closets. Even younger folks have picked them up from estate sales and flea markets on a whim and never used them.
Limited edition type stuff or just eclectic music I enjoy.
I bought an Audio-Technica AT-LP120BK-USB (and a cartridge, because, the one which came with my 300 record player was "trash") after I had accumulated a handful of them. Picked out the TRON: Legacy soundtrack and got it all hooked up.
For some context, I have a nice sound system which is optimized for movies/tv though I listen to a fair bit of music too.
If you're not aware, the TRON: Legacy soundtrack was produced by Daft Punk and Daft Punk was made for TRON: Legacy and TRON: Legacy was made for Daft Punk and the result is magical.
Started playing and the sound was great. Flipped over to Spotify and played the same album and the sound was also great.
Honestly, couldn't tell the difference.
Played one or two other things, but, the record player went on a shelf that day and is still there.
I still collect records, especially rare or limited ones of things I particularly like, or ones where there's something unique or special about the vinyl copy, but, I don't listen to them anymore.
> the record player went on a shelf that day and is still there.
When I moved I never plugged in my amplifier and speakers for my record player because I couldn't figure out where to put them. Eventually I realized that they didn't need to be on the floor "waiting" for me to set them up -now they're in the garage while the records/player are out on display. I just listen to music via a smart speaker and streaming most days.
I still buy the occasional vinyl though. I like them as gifts because they're physical and also personal. I tell everyone to give me a record of an album that means a lot to them so I can think of them when I play it (because gifts are about emotions, even if I don't play them directly).
Whether you can hear a difference is going to depend partly on the equipment and mostly on the particular album you’re playing. I don’t think tron legacy got a vinyl specific master/mix so it’s basically just a recreation of the digital mix - if anything you might lose a little detail because it takes a pretty high end turntable to be 100% as transparent as a decent digital setup. On the other hand, if you look at a catalog like Blue Note’s for example, all of their vinyl releases are remasters made specifically for the format. Especially compared to the Rudy Van Gelder 90s digital remasters on streaming, there’s a pretty immediately obvious difference in sound. Not really a “if know what to look for” thing either, on some recordings it is very obvious.
This goes beyond vinyl vs digital too. What mix/master was used can make a difference in any context with different formats. Giorgio Moroder’s From Here to Eternity hasn’t gotten a transfer from the master tapes in decades, and the version on streaming is actually a rip from a vinyl record or another poor quality or worn transfer. If you seek out a CD mastered directly from the tape, there’s an incredible difference in the dynamic range.
I buy a lot of new rap vinyl because having a physical copy is the only way to guarantee the music doesn’t change (unless you can find and download the files online which can be hard)
Many artists don’t clear samples and are forced to make updates or remove them entirely.
While streaming has given us quick access to almost any music, it has also created a new impermanence in the industry that’s very frustrating.
On top of that, it’s not uncommon for rap albums on vinyl to come with the instrumentals that are never made available on streaming at all. I’ve been ripping them to have the MP3s on the go
It's CDs that ensure music doesn't change. The music changes every time you play a vinyl record, as well as simply while the LP is on the shelf. CDs by contrast store an immutable copy of the music.
A friend made me a copy of Robyn Hitchcock’s “Black Snake Diamond Röle” when I was 16 or so. Totally floored me, it’s imprinted on my brain.
It was re-released a few years ago, but the opening track is missing the sax because they no longer could find the master tapes with it. The song on Spotify and new pressings is just not the same at all.
That’s my reason for always buying a physical copy if I can.
An excellent point. A prime example of this is "Captain Murphy - Duality", which currently costs 1300$ on Discogs. It's a record released in 2013 in limited copies with high unlikely chance it gets reissued due to sample clearance restrictions.
Great point. I'm annoyed every time I listen to Biggie and the songs have been changed. Luckily I have most of the original CDs, but have been too lazy to re-rip.
It’s great that musicians can sell a high cost item (vastly greater revenue vs streams per customer), but I do worry the labels are over-indulging here and heading the market towards a Funkopop like crash. Most record stores I go into have reoriented towards very mainstream new releases and overpriced ‘rare’ vintage albums. Meanwhile the more serious collectors market has moved to Discogs and Bandcamp/direct. So when the market turns on vinyl, physical stores will be the biggest direct losers. And even an average shop in the neighborhood is better than none at all.
I don't know if it is guys like me skewing the numbers here, but I have a not insignificant LP collection that I've had for over 30 years now. I got rid of my record player decades ago when moving house but carted my LPs around, with the intent to buy a decent home stereo setup once I got established again and had the disposable income to buy something decent.
I am at that stage now, so will invest in a decent HiFi kit sometime this year. I guess I am also a bit old school in that I don't really listen to music while working etc., so things like Spotify and Apple Music etc. are not my thing. I treat listening to music as a bit of an event, that harkens back to my younger days of having album 'listening parties', so I expect I will still consume my music that way again once I get my record player.
I (sometimes) buy vinyl and don’t (currently) own a record player. I like to support artists however I can, and especially for works I particularly appreciate. I also like to have the physical liner notes and accompanying artwork, especially in large format. Having the actual recording on a physical medium which I control is a nice bonus and can come in handy even for lifetime purchases when access to digital purchases might expire or their providers might vanish (this happened with one of my albums before I ever got a download code, but since it came with the physical album I don’t need to go online to try to resolve it by whatever means I might need to).
This is obviously bunk, but I'm sure these people do exist, because I was previously one of them (in a pre-Spotify era).
I felt guilty for pirating some of my favourite albums, so I bought them on vinyl because it seemed cool to get a tangible, physical representation of my contribution. Meanwhile I continued to listen to the FLAC's.
50% figure for vinyl sounds plausible to me, considering cost of turntable and hassle of actually using it (unless you enjoy the ritual and experience of physical media). And vinyl makes great merch.
Pretty sure there’s a lot of vinyl gifting going on. Rich dudes are hard to shop for, but they don’t shut up about their record collection, simple solution for secret Santa this year.
As a rich dude, there's pretty much zero chance that anyone is going to be able to buy me a record for my record collection that I don't shut up about unless I specifically tell them what to buy.
For the bands I really like, I mostly have everything I want. But if you did manage to figure out a record I want, you would need to know which version of the release I want. For some records there are dozens. Maybe I want the first release, maybe I want the first US release, maybe I want a higher quality reissue, maybe I want a colored vinyl release. But whichever one I want, if you get me a different one it goes in the trash and I keep the release I want on my want list.
Then you've got to figure out what condition to buy it in. If it is something I'm getting to collect rather than to listen to, it needs to be near mint. If you get me very good condition instead of near mint, it goes in the trash, and I keep it on my want list. If it is something I'm getting to listen to rather than to collect, VG+ is fine. You can get it near mint, but you just wasted $50 because near mint is hard to find, and it isn't going to be near mint after I listen to it a few times.
So skip the vinyl for Xmas, if you're going to get me a gift, money works. I'm not picky about condition or version. Cash, money orders, bonds, it's all good. Or real estate.
But if you insist on gifting vinyl, I'm looking for the Weirdos "We Got The Neutron Bomb" single, 1978 release, near mint, the unofficial colored vinyl Beastie Boy singles from Paul's Boutique, I want them all but if you can only get one, "Car Thief", near mint, and the 1987 "Gimme Fever" single by Shake Appeal (first band Adam Franklin from Swervedriver was in, along with his brother), VG+ is fine.
Vinyl is imperfect, heavy, fragile, and difficult to maintain.
The sound is objectively less precise than digital, and playback comes with surface noise, pops, and all.
Choosing a cartridge affects the quality of the sound so much that it can be an expensive part of the setup (and needles need to be regularly changed!).
Vinyl has a lot of drawbacks but vinyl is offline, private, and a cherished possession. The lack of dynamic is actually what I love about it.
I have 2 20years old record players (Technics MK2), a mixer (Rane TTM56) and Taruya Cartridges.
I love to play vinyls selections with very little mixing technique. I record each little session, and broadcast them on my very own little icecast server.
The Vinyl culture is a great one. We don’t always need what is the most convenient or the most precise. We just need what feels good to us.
Interesting trend overall. I got my dad a vinyl record for Christmas, and he only recently got a record player to listen to it. I wonder about vinyl buying vs listening demographics and how age correlates: my partner and I, along with some similar-generation friends, are avid vinyl listeners. We still use Spotify to listen to music together, either collaborative or generated playlists, and we generally set a high standard of matching the music we select to our mood, but the process of discovering and listening to records together has become one that we treat differently from digital listening. We are more forgiving and open (less “you picked this?” and more going with the flow) and have some irreverent discs that have established themselves as favorites through this process :)
When I was young, I amassed an extensive and impressive collection of vinyl both common and rare, bankrolled mostly by my saintly grandmother. I would stroll around the mall with her on a Sunday and pop into the Wherehouse or the indie record store, and enjoy chatting up a much older blonde clerk before filling my arms with more music than I could ever listen to during the ensuing week.
When I was older and shopped for myself, I'd drive my friends to Tower or the far-flung indie stores, and it was at the latter where I really developed a taste for the rare and near-unobtainables. Then I began to purchase Goldmine magazines, which was the sine qua non for collectors, and I got hooked up with "Record Finding Services" in the UK, which was some dude who'd walk into a store on your behalf and pick up something that wasn't even available on import in the US.
I don't know how many records in total I had, but I proudly boasted of over 100 items by The Cure alone. And you know that old question "Did you read all these books on your shelves?" well I did certainly get around to listening to almost all of the music... at least once.
When CDs came out I embraced the tech and branched out. That didn't entirely put an end to my vinyl purchases, as that was still where the rare and desirable stuff was at, for a long time.
Fast forward to my move to the desert, and in the throes of impending homelessness, I began to sell off my vinyl for pocket money. I wasn't able to keep this up and make rent on the storage locker. My records were eventually sold to the highest bidder. It was a tragedy to be sure.
Then I entered a period where I realized that I didn't need to consume massive amounts of music, and I didn't purchase anything. In fact, my choral activities gave me many opportunities to make my own music, such that it was much more interesting than passive grooving.
Fast forward to 2023: I don't own any device that plays music other than my computers. I have no turntable, no CD drive at all. My music purchases remain firmly at $0. The best music is all over YouTube as much as I want, and on-the-go I am very satisfied with public domain cuts of prayers, classical pieces, and ambient instrumentals while I work.
I am rather glad to be relieved of an insatiable thirst to consume new music; it was an expensive vice, and I was often exploited by my favorite artists as they released endless "collectibles" that I had to catch like Pokémon.
There's a lot to like about vinyls. I could list many things but the thing that stands out for me is that it forces careful curation. It also leads to a unique form of selection in that I can browse my selection and find something that I really want to listen to that I would not have otherwise thought of. Sure you can browse endless lists of digital music, but the visual cue of the cover and the labels and the idiosyncratic sorting methods (or lack thereof) leads to a different kind of set list.
I only bought stuff on vinyl back in the 80s if I was pretty sure I’d never find it on CD (this was back when being able to buy music relied on it being in whatever record store you happened to go into). In the early 90s I sold it all and it turned out my expectation of not being able to find most of that stuff on CD was correct. On the plus side, there’s very little of that which I can even remember (the only ones I can remember are some Mike Rutherford solo albums from before Mike + the Mechanics).
I do still buy music, but it’s now almost exclusively in the form of digital downloads. I know a lot of what I have is not on most of the streaming services and quite possibly never will be.
It's funny how in the early 2000's, everybody was selling their Technics and buying expensive Pionner CDJ 2000 (like $2000 a pair), and now the CDJs are basically worthless while a pair of MKII can fetch $1000 on Ebay.
CDJs still are the go-to thing for 90% of DJs though.
The difference is, being a digital thing with some sort of basic computer in them, they keep updating them.
So your CDJ1000’s with no support for USB drives are worth very little. Pioneer realise they’ve a nice racket and will keep releasing newer models with slight improvements to make the older ones “obsolete”. But CDJs in general are still very much sought after.
Whereas your 1210 is just as useful as it was back when you first got it. Also the fact they stopped making them helps.
This sounds absurd. Are that many people compulsive hoarders or using them as hipster decorations? If so, no wonder I can't find El-P's early shit on Discogs.
I've got a tiny-ass collection of maybe 500 records.
2 turntables with AT microline cartridges and all the damn leveling, mirrors, gauges, and force measuring accoutrement.
Then there's the shit for dust including the static gun and the toxic chemicals.
And you got your giant Orbeeze needle cleaner.
I could give a left rat ball about analog purity or vacuum tubes of know-nothing audiophile snobs. It's ADC'ed at the mixer and sent 100' (~30 m) around the room over an active HDMI cable to the amp.
"This sounds absurd. Are that many people compulsive hoarders or using them as hipster decorations?"
Indeed. I know plenty of people like this. In some rare cases they have a record player but it's less expensive than individual albums, and they don't really use it, except for listening to it once or twice.
[+] [-] ndeast|2 years ago|reply
All that to say I mostly just like collecting colored vinyl, and supporting small bands and artists you like by buying a product significantly more profitable than millions of Spotify streams is pretty cool.
[+] [-] manaskarekar|2 years ago|reply
----
"I have two basic food groups of music: protein and carbohydrate.
The protein listening is new music, where it’s unfamiliar to me so I’m listening, sometimes taking notes, researching the band while the music is playing. I do quite a bit of this, usually during the week.
On the weekends, I will allow for some carbohydrate listening, which would be records I’m familiar with, that I’ve been playing for years. This music is not exactly background, but more of an environmental asset for elevation of mood."
https://www.discogs.com/digs/music/henry-rollins-food-groups...
[+] [-] endorphine|2 years ago|reply
That said, the deliberate experience of sitting in your couch, doing/thinking nothing else but the music you're listening, is for me an invaluable ritual. It's like meditation.
[+] [-] WalterBright|2 years ago|reply
But most of my vinyl is of old albums that nobody bothered to re-release on CD. It's fun to buy them cheap at the thrift store, wash them, and see what's on them.
[+] [-] hungryforcodes|2 years ago|reply
In fact I love everything about vinyl except the sort durarion of each side, but even that makes me focus more closely on the experience. I know I'll have to turn it over shortly...
[+] [-] TheCondor|2 years ago|reply
Dedicating time to listen to a specific album. My kids may never understand it. An album is an interesting art form, it captures a few pieces of time: when it was made and then then it was consumed. The cover art and liner art. The order of the songs. All assembled with intention. There are albums I’ve heard hundreds of time and I will still hear little new bits I never quite noticed before.
I do love digital music and having it everywhere, but it is special to just listen and take it I’m.
[+] [-] HellDunkel|2 years ago|reply
[+] [-] topranks|2 years ago|reply
Except I hate coloured vinyl. But hey each to their own :)
[+] [-] Rincon15|2 years ago|reply
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[+] [-] crazygringo|2 years ago|reply
But I kept around 20 of my favorites and just rotate them for display on my bookshelf. If I'm playing one of them on Spotify, I'll even rotate to show that LP while I play it. The really bizarre thing is, there's a particular old album I'm thinking of purchasing just to be able to display its cover, because of what it means to me.
It's the same with books -- my favorite ones are in my bookshelf, but even if I read a book I own physically, I pull it up on my iPad because I prefer to be able to highlight, look up words, adjust text size, read in a dark room, etc.
So I'm shocked to discover that I like having the physical artifacts even when I still consume them digitally. It's almost like bringing back souvenir knick-knacks from a vacation. This is not an outcome I ever would have expected.
[+] [-] cat_plus_plus|2 years ago|reply
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[+] [-] pasta-menu|2 years ago|reply
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[+] [-] danielrpa|2 years ago|reply
And because of all of the above, I understand why a lot of the buyers don't have actual record players. Vinyl is a bit like 8-bit cartridge gaming, it's a mix of nostalgia with physicality, holding something fun and cool in your hands. It's more like buying a book... The albums had pretty covers, and I do remember liking to hold them in my hands, read lyrics (often included in an insert) while listening to the music. That was a nice aspect of it, but it was overall so cumbersome and lossy that I'll keep my FLACs, thank you.
[+] [-] prmoustache|2 years ago|reply
The appeal to the vinyl is the ritual that we kind of lost buy going digital. I've also gone back to start reusing CDs, at least the little I kept. I donated most of my CD collection when I moved country and kind of regret it.
People keep talking about quality to praise digital media. But most people saying this listen to music through crappy bluetooth speakers nowadays. There is a very small amount of users still using decent hi-fi equipment.
[+] [-] kazinator|2 years ago|reply
No way in hell do 15% music listeners own record players.
Assuming Luminate's numbers are not entirely made up, their sampling method must be deeply flawed, which brings into question their ability to determine how many record buyers own a record player. Maybe they asked the question in some idiotic way that confused the respondents.
[+] [-] mrweasel|2 years ago|reply
That's also a weird statement in general, sure there might be a group of people who actively avoid music, but aren't most of us music listeners. Perhaps there's some special meaning to "music listeners" as a term.
[+] [-] astura|2 years ago|reply
Record players, however, are a really common sight in garages and the back of closets. Even younger folks have picked them up from estate sales and flea markets on a whim and never used them.
[+] [-] prmoustache|2 years ago|reply
People who don't move on a regular basis don't really take the time to assess what it is worth keeping or not.
[+] [-] pavlov|2 years ago|reply
[+] [-] AdamJacobMuller|2 years ago|reply
Limited edition type stuff or just eclectic music I enjoy.
I bought an Audio-Technica AT-LP120BK-USB (and a cartridge, because, the one which came with my 300 record player was "trash") after I had accumulated a handful of them. Picked out the TRON: Legacy soundtrack and got it all hooked up.
For some context, I have a nice sound system which is optimized for movies/tv though I listen to a fair bit of music too.
If you're not aware, the TRON: Legacy soundtrack was produced by Daft Punk and Daft Punk was made for TRON: Legacy and TRON: Legacy was made for Daft Punk and the result is magical.
Started playing and the sound was great. Flipped over to Spotify and played the same album and the sound was also great.
Honestly, couldn't tell the difference.
Played one or two other things, but, the record player went on a shelf that day and is still there.
I still collect records, especially rare or limited ones of things I particularly like, or ones where there's something unique or special about the vinyl copy, but, I don't listen to them anymore.
[+] [-] vineyardmike|2 years ago|reply
When I moved I never plugged in my amplifier and speakers for my record player because I couldn't figure out where to put them. Eventually I realized that they didn't need to be on the floor "waiting" for me to set them up -now they're in the garage while the records/player are out on display. I just listen to music via a smart speaker and streaming most days.
I still buy the occasional vinyl though. I like them as gifts because they're physical and also personal. I tell everyone to give me a record of an album that means a lot to them so I can think of them when I play it (because gifts are about emotions, even if I don't play them directly).
[+] [-] mustacheemperor|2 years ago|reply
This goes beyond vinyl vs digital too. What mix/master was used can make a difference in any context with different formats. Giorgio Moroder’s From Here to Eternity hasn’t gotten a transfer from the master tapes in decades, and the version on streaming is actually a rip from a vinyl record or another poor quality or worn transfer. If you seek out a CD mastered directly from the tape, there’s an incredible difference in the dynamic range.
[+] [-] unknown|2 years ago|reply
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[+] [-] stephencoyner|2 years ago|reply
Many artists don’t clear samples and are forced to make updates or remove them entirely.
While streaming has given us quick access to almost any music, it has also created a new impermanence in the industry that’s very frustrating.
On top of that, it’s not uncommon for rap albums on vinyl to come with the instrumentals that are never made available on streaming at all. I’ve been ripping them to have the MP3s on the go
[+] [-] ummonk|2 years ago|reply
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[+] [-] jzb|2 years ago|reply
It was re-released a few years ago, but the opening track is missing the sax because they no longer could find the master tapes with it. The song on Spotify and new pressings is just not the same at all.
That’s my reason for always buying a physical copy if I can.
[+] [-] endorphine|2 years ago|reply
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[+] [-] cyberferret|2 years ago|reply
I am at that stage now, so will invest in a decent HiFi kit sometime this year. I guess I am also a bit old school in that I don't really listen to music while working etc., so things like Spotify and Apple Music etc. are not my thing. I treat listening to music as a bit of an event, that harkens back to my younger days of having album 'listening parties', so I expect I will still consume my music that way again once I get my record player.
[+] [-] eyelidlessness|2 years ago|reply
[+] [-] plantain|2 years ago|reply
I felt guilty for pirating some of my favourite albums, so I bought them on vinyl because it seemed cool to get a tangible, physical representation of my contribution. Meanwhile I continued to listen to the FLAC's.
[+] [-] saba2008|2 years ago|reply
50% figure for vinyl sounds plausible to me, considering cost of turntable and hassle of actually using it (unless you enjoy the ritual and experience of physical media). And vinyl makes great merch.
[+] [-] ryancnelson|2 years ago|reply
Buyer doesn’t have a turntable.
[+] [-] rufus_foreman|2 years ago|reply
For the bands I really like, I mostly have everything I want. But if you did manage to figure out a record I want, you would need to know which version of the release I want. For some records there are dozens. Maybe I want the first release, maybe I want the first US release, maybe I want a higher quality reissue, maybe I want a colored vinyl release. But whichever one I want, if you get me a different one it goes in the trash and I keep the release I want on my want list.
Then you've got to figure out what condition to buy it in. If it is something I'm getting to collect rather than to listen to, it needs to be near mint. If you get me very good condition instead of near mint, it goes in the trash, and I keep it on my want list. If it is something I'm getting to listen to rather than to collect, VG+ is fine. You can get it near mint, but you just wasted $50 because near mint is hard to find, and it isn't going to be near mint after I listen to it a few times.
So skip the vinyl for Xmas, if you're going to get me a gift, money works. I'm not picky about condition or version. Cash, money orders, bonds, it's all good. Or real estate.
But if you insist on gifting vinyl, I'm looking for the Weirdos "We Got The Neutron Bomb" single, 1978 release, near mint, the unofficial colored vinyl Beastie Boy singles from Paul's Boutique, I want them all but if you can only get one, "Car Thief", near mint, and the 1987 "Gimme Fever" single by Shake Appeal (first band Adam Franklin from Swervedriver was in, along with his brother), VG+ is fine.
[+] [-] futurecat|2 years ago|reply
The sound is objectively less precise than digital, and playback comes with surface noise, pops, and all.
Choosing a cartridge affects the quality of the sound so much that it can be an expensive part of the setup (and needles need to be regularly changed!).
Vinyl has a lot of drawbacks but vinyl is offline, private, and a cherished possession. The lack of dynamic is actually what I love about it.
I have 2 20years old record players (Technics MK2), a mixer (Rane TTM56) and Taruya Cartridges.
I love to play vinyls selections with very little mixing technique. I record each little session, and broadcast them on my very own little icecast server.
The Vinyl culture is a great one. We don’t always need what is the most convenient or the most precise. We just need what feels good to us.
[+] [-] notduncansmith|2 years ago|reply
Interesting trend overall. I got my dad a vinyl record for Christmas, and he only recently got a record player to listen to it. I wonder about vinyl buying vs listening demographics and how age correlates: my partner and I, along with some similar-generation friends, are avid vinyl listeners. We still use Spotify to listen to music together, either collaborative or generated playlists, and we generally set a high standard of matching the music we select to our mood, but the process of discovering and listening to records together has become one that we treat differently from digital listening. We are more forgiving and open (less “you picked this?” and more going with the flow) and have some irreverent discs that have established themselves as favorites through this process :)
[+] [-] NoZebra120vClip|2 years ago|reply
When I was older and shopped for myself, I'd drive my friends to Tower or the far-flung indie stores, and it was at the latter where I really developed a taste for the rare and near-unobtainables. Then I began to purchase Goldmine magazines, which was the sine qua non for collectors, and I got hooked up with "Record Finding Services" in the UK, which was some dude who'd walk into a store on your behalf and pick up something that wasn't even available on import in the US.
I don't know how many records in total I had, but I proudly boasted of over 100 items by The Cure alone. And you know that old question "Did you read all these books on your shelves?" well I did certainly get around to listening to almost all of the music... at least once.
When CDs came out I embraced the tech and branched out. That didn't entirely put an end to my vinyl purchases, as that was still where the rare and desirable stuff was at, for a long time.
Fast forward to my move to the desert, and in the throes of impending homelessness, I began to sell off my vinyl for pocket money. I wasn't able to keep this up and make rent on the storage locker. My records were eventually sold to the highest bidder. It was a tragedy to be sure.
Then I entered a period where I realized that I didn't need to consume massive amounts of music, and I didn't purchase anything. In fact, my choral activities gave me many opportunities to make my own music, such that it was much more interesting than passive grooving.
Fast forward to 2023: I don't own any device that plays music other than my computers. I have no turntable, no CD drive at all. My music purchases remain firmly at $0. The best music is all over YouTube as much as I want, and on-the-go I am very satisfied with public domain cuts of prayers, classical pieces, and ambient instrumentals while I work.
I am rather glad to be relieved of an insatiable thirst to consume new music; it was an expensive vice, and I was often exploited by my favorite artists as they released endless "collectibles" that I had to catch like Pokémon.
[+] [-] juve1996|2 years ago|reply
[+] [-] pgreenwood|2 years ago|reply
[+] [-] vondur|2 years ago|reply
[+] [-] dhosek|2 years ago|reply
I do still buy music, but it’s now almost exclusively in the form of digital downloads. I know a lot of what I have is not on most of the streaming services and quite possibly never will be.
[+] [-] throw_m239339|2 years ago|reply
[+] [-] topranks|2 years ago|reply
The difference is, being a digital thing with some sort of basic computer in them, they keep updating them.
So your CDJ1000’s with no support for USB drives are worth very little. Pioneer realise they’ve a nice racket and will keep releasing newer models with slight improvements to make the older ones “obsolete”. But CDJs in general are still very much sought after.
Whereas your 1210 is just as useful as it was back when you first got it. Also the fact they stopped making them helps.
[+] [-] 1letterunixname|2 years ago|reply
I've got a tiny-ass collection of maybe 500 records.
2 turntables with AT microline cartridges and all the damn leveling, mirrors, gauges, and force measuring accoutrement.
Then there's the shit for dust including the static gun and the toxic chemicals.
And you got your giant Orbeeze needle cleaner.
I could give a left rat ball about analog purity or vacuum tubes of know-nothing audiophile snobs. It's ADC'ed at the mixer and sent 100' (~30 m) around the room over an active HDMI cable to the amp.
[+] [-] whstl|2 years ago|reply
Indeed. I know plenty of people like this. In some rare cases they have a record player but it's less expensive than individual albums, and they don't really use it, except for listening to it once or twice.