Shady scams and other silly business ideas to take advantage of earnest new vinyl collectors

So many 180g reissues of dollar bin mainstays out there now... not talking about legit awesome Friday Music issues or the like, these ones I see know are just part of the "vinyl is hip/back" thing that is taxing the poor vinyl presses

It really is quite stupid.

I started giggling when I saw Whipped Cream & Other Delights reissued and for sale at B&N

Yeah B&N has so much of that junk! And everything is at least $25 and it makes me sad

might not be a shady scam, but the amount of crap they package with these records is ridiculous. that guy from Nest Magazine should really have one of these artisan mixtape services. if he is still alive.

https://www.vinylmoon.co/

https://www.vinylmoon.co/thecollection/

i have no idea about the music but this one is kinda far out.

http://s3.amazonaws.com/cratejoy_vendor_images/65e9ffdd7c8749a0bf449ba2cc310fcd.jpeg

http://www.shop.vinylmoon.co/shop/product/1327023046

i do like that there are no words/type on the covers. they look cool. someone should do this kind of thing for music i like.

I made it through 18 seconds of one song on one of those vinyl moon comps. totally a scam insofar as you need packaging like that to sell these bands

Oh I think those look amazing and would love to own. Couple of those if the price is not insane.

I do not know any of the artists in there though, suspect all the artwork and packaging is compensating on the quality of the actual music.

When the actual music is tertiary to "OMG vinyl" and gimmicky packaging, it becomes like comic books and baseball cards in the early 90s when everything had to be a Collector's Edition regardless of merit.

a scary comparison but yeah one figures there has to be a bursting of the bubble at some point. after the $50 reissue of Use Your Illusion I & II i saw at a bookstore i mostly stopped keeping track of the insane and inexplicable who's-going-to-buy-enough-of-these-that-retailers-aren't-going-to-ultimately-take-a-bath items. i was killing time in a barnes and noble a couple weeks ago and saw sooooo much $28 shit nobody needs to own. don henley's most recent solo album was in there! but also so much shit like the big Asia album. who's that for? are Asia popular again? do people who were teens when "heat of the moment" came out really miss their old copy but can't be bothered with the dollar bins? i know we've been over this many times but it continues to boggle my mind. like at least i can understand some of the other stuff - - - the Stranger Things soundtrack would be desired by the kind of people who have cash to burn on this stuff, i get that.

I alternate between "Omg I has an original pressing" and "Whoa I have a pristine repress" all the time.

For instance, I got the recent "Sun Zoom Spark" Beefheart set, even though I have Clear Spot already, but I've already played the box more than the original (oh, and the Decals more than my mid seventies reissue, but then the sound is much improved)

I did get the cd box at the time but wasn't very fussed for some reason. Maybe I'd overdosed on Beefheart at that point, or maybe it suits home rather than car listening, or maybe I was so chuffed at getting the LP box for £20..

Mmm I have the original Asia album that belonged to my father... it’s fairly mint and I don’t care for it... might sell it on discogs if the demand for Asia is back.

stealing this from a friend's facebook. record store day releases. column h is wholesale and column g is retail. long live record stores....

https://scontent.fbed1-2.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/28795774_10155538768213528_6030469263706861567_n.jpg?oh=351f0d2e316010dc8d6c8a72e328bf5b&oe=5B4997FC

lol, love that last one. must be a typo. but it kinda FEELS like that.

I was just about to ask!

looool

I take it those are Light In The Attic releases and not Lita Ford back catalogue?

jesus christ what a scam

It's OK record clerks make all their money in tips anyway.

I'm just thinking of the number of times I've requested a couple records at my local place and the owner has quoted me a price and then knocked a few dollars off when I picked them up for being a good customer

$13.99 for a seven inch? JFC.

$2 per inch is standard now

10% markups? Those are grocery margins!

$2 per inch, excelsior

surely that vinylmoon biz has to be a pay-to-play kinda thing for the bands/musicians on there.

oh totally

Shady scams and other silly business ideas to take advantage of earnest indie bands

The packaging of that vinyl moon stuff is beautiful. The fact that it is has seemingly no connection whatsoever to the music contained therein seems sketchy, shady, screwy and something I'd want nothing to do with.

btw i totally purchased a "flipped" vinylmeplease pressing of Buhloone Mindstate last month because it was cheaper than any copy of that album I'd ever seen and worried I'd feel played, but it sounds like a dream and hey I guess I think vinylmeplease isn't a terrible idea now (though I could never afford to subscribe) (and wouldn't want to as I don't need someone else to curate my record collection)

vinyl me please is so corny but yeah i figured its product was pretty ok

i wonder if it's "pay-to-play" for the artists/designers too! why not.

xp

someone here go under cover, submit some music or art, and see what it costs. then report back.

daaamn scott, I imagined it was smth like that but seeing it is sad

I submitted my band, we'll see if they ever write back. I wouldn't die if I had a song on one of these.

goddamn that record store day data is so depressing

really wonder what LITA's margin is on those

https://pitchfork.com/news/high-definition-vinyl-is-happening-possibly-as-early-as-next-year/

The HD vinyl process involves converting audio digitally to a 3D topographic map. Lasers are then used to inscribe the map onto the “stamper,” the part that stamps the grooves into the vinyl.

so etching the stamper rather than cutting a wax and electroplating it to get the negative? seems like it would work. kind of surprised laser etching/3D printing isn't already in use (tho i guess any plants still around are probably old tech)

outside of the "HD" name, it seems like it could be a good idea for squeezing in more tracks with a process that's better for the environment. there's always the possibility that it's actually worse for the environment, though.

this could be very good... or very bad

is this just digitally encoding the music onto wax? do you need a special needle/equipment? or is this just a different manufacturing method

it sounds like instead of wax+electroplating they are going to just manufacture the stamper in one go, with lasers, cos 2018

the phrase "converting audio digitally" will not win this many fans among vinylphiles, methinks

when they find out how this record was actually made, let's just hope they catch it on schillervision

"Plus, the new-school HD vinyl LPs would still play on ordinary record players" = ok this is interesting.

Is it still truly analog if it's encoded by a digital laser?

I mean, how is this different than vinyl sourced from CDs sound-quality wise?

i've always been a fan of late-70s/early 80s digital vinyl. there are classical albums from that era that sound amazing. deutsche grammophon and rca were good at it. although even better was when rca japan was doing 45 rpm audiophile pressings in the 70s. that shit kicks ass.