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Sony plans to make vinyl records again

washingtonpost.com

11–20 of 347 posts

Re: Sony plans to make vinyl records again

#11
I confess, I am part of this trend. And I just got into it, so I get no "before it was cool"-claim to fame. Not sure where that leaves me on the hipster-scale.

Buying CD's used to be a weekly ritual for me and I missed it for years. Putting on a new album on a Saturday afternoon with a beer or glass of wine while I start cooking is a very enjoyable moment for me. Now, obviously this was for the most part because I would have access to new music. That experience has not come back as I can put on anything on my laptop. However, there is a nice sense to putting on an album and being "forced" to play it from one end to the other. With streaming, I have a tolerance of 10-20 seconds of jarring music before I lose my patience and skip the track. Which is good but also means that I miss out on some of the tracks that take more effort and are in the "acquired taste" category. And in my experience, those tend to stay pleasant whereas the hits suddenly reach a threshold after which I can't stand listening to them any more.

Re: Sony plans to make vinyl records again

#12
post #2

I must saw I am mystified by this - I grew up with LPs, singles and cassettes in the 70s and 80s and I can't say I miss them.

hipsters and fan-signalling. Its a means of being "more" of a fan. Not to say I disapprove just looking for means of explanation.

Or nostalgia, or artwork, or the satisfying tactile feel of changing tracks with the needle, or...

Re: Sony plans to make vinyl records again

#13
post #2

I must saw I am mystified by this - I grew up with LPs, singles and cassettes in the 70s and 80s and I can't say I miss them.

hipsters and fan-signalling. Its a means of being "more" of a fan. Not to say I disapprove just looking for means of explanation.

But your language choice means that you do disapprove. Clearly.

That's like the classic of saying "no offense" after you realise it was actually a obviously offensive thing to say. It doesn't change anything and is a semantically meaningless statement, and you still were offensive.

I dislike how HN'ers attach meaningless disclaimers like these at the end of every sentence they make because they're so afraid of getting downvoted. It just goes to show how much damage over-moderation, echo-chambers, and such things make to honest and legitimate discourse.

If you want to make a statement at least own it.

Re: Sony plans to make vinyl records again

#14
As long as nobody is claiming they sound better, and it's just for fun and nostalgia, I'm all for it. It really bugs me when vinyl buffs try to argue their rig sounds better or warmer or whatever than the same rig with a digital (or non-vinyl analog) source.

Re: Sony plans to make vinyl records again

#15

I confess, I am part of this trend. And I just got into it, so I get no "before it was cool"-claim to fame. Not sure where that leaves me on the hipster-scale. Buying CD's used to be a weekly ritual for me and I missed it for years. Putting on a new album on a Saturday afternoon with a beer or glass of wine while I start cooking is a very enjoyable moment for me. Now, obviously this was for the most part because I wo…

I'm not sure if this would work for you, but I like Spotify's Discover Weekly. Every Monday you get a playlist of 30 songs that you've never heard before. I listen to it from beginning to end without skipping and I often find songs that I end up liking a lot

Re: Sony plans to make vinyl records again

#18
post #2

I must saw I am mystified by this - I grew up with LPs, singles and cassettes in the 70s and 80s and I can't say I miss them.

To some degree I probably trick myself into thinking vinyl sounds better, but for me there's something special about putting on side A, listening through the whole way without skipping tracks, and then physically flipping to side B. It forces me to get to know an album in a way that doesn't happen when I use Spotify.

Re: Sony plans to make vinyl records again

#19
I wonder if they'll be manufactured differently if they're going for a wider audience. You can sell a 180-gram colored disc to a superfan for $40 but if you're aiming for 18% of the market, maybe they'll be more lightweight, brittle, even dingy-looking.

Re: Sony plans to make vinyl records again

#20
If you're into house/techno/disco all the best records get released (or rereleased) on vinyl first, before eventually getting out as a digital download.

Also for artists, the profit margins are higher selling an LP (or even better a cassette) then releasing it to a small fanbase on Spotify. It's a better way to connect with a band you like than just streaming a track on your iPhone. You get the artwork to look at, and it's fun to read the production notes.

I can't remember the last time I bought an album on iTunes or even beatport. If I really want the digital copy I'll look for it on bandcamp.

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