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50% of U.S. vinyl buyers don't own a record player

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Re: 50% of U.S. vinyl buyers don't own a record player

#271

Post by threethirtytwo »

bayindirh wrote: post #256
bifftastic wrote: post #243

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> CDs are for listening to the music, and vinyl is for listening to yourself This is amazing

> This is amazing This is not a reply I was anticipating. Can you elaborate a little? =)

He’s reacting to an implication in your phrasing. “CDs are for listening to the music”. frames CDs as rational and objective. “Vinyl is for listening to yourself” reframes vinyl as something more inward and identity-driven. For many people, vinyl already sits in an intentionally irrational space compared to modern formats, worse fidelity, more friction, more ritual. So that line can be read as quietly calling vinyl navel-gazing or performative rather than about the music itself. Some readers find that observation insightful or funny, which is likely what prompted the “this is amazing” reaction, even if it wasn’t how you intended it.

these types of people used to be called “hipsters.” I don’t know if there’s a more modern term for it.

That’s what I guess he meant by “amazing” and also why it spawned the goat head and papyrus mockery.

Re: 50% of U.S. vinyl buyers don't own a record player

#272

Post by vertnerd »

As someone who grew up with only vinyl in the 60s and 70s, I would never choose it over a CD for audio quality.

BUT I would enjoy recreating the rituals that go with playing vinyl: obsessive cleaning of the disks, the gentle manipulation of a delicate tone arm, and the soft thud when the turntable cover drops. Playing a record was a minor event to be savored. I doubt the younger generations are getting all of that right.

Re: 50% of U.S. vinyl buyers don't own a record player

#273

Post by topranks »

numpad0 wrote: post #107
mrob wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The only additional data that (some) vinyl has over CDs is inaudible ultrasound. Ultrasound is intentionally omitted from CDs because they're intended for humans to listen to. In all audible aspects a correctly mastered CD release is closer to the original sound than any vinyl. And if you really want ultrasound (perhaps your dog enjoys it), you can get digital releases at higher sample rates.

People used to say human eyes can't perceive >60fps. It's also just CDs, not digital formats in general. Grab an audiophile and ask their opinions about digital PDM/PCM formats, high bitrate AACs even, against true vinyls. They wouldn't have as much opinions as they do against CDs. Also: 44.1kHz sampling rate != arbitrary waveform up to 22050Hz, unless music you're listening to consists of pure sine waves(and not eve…

Joseph Fourier enters the chat…

Re: 50% of U.S. vinyl buyers don't own a record player

#274

Post by conartist6 »

superultra wrote: post #129

I oversee pressing for over 150k+ records a year. We eliminated download cards a while ago because the redemption rate was so low. I wouldn’t doubt if the number of buyers who don’t own a record player is even higher tha 50%, and that the percentage of people who actually play the records is actually 10-20%. I don’t have data on that, it’s just a hunch. Many of us in the indie music industry (hip hop sustained record…

35. My record player is in storage, but I still buy records sometimes because they're beautiful art and I want people to keep making them. For now I lend/give them to my friend who has a proper player set up. Spotify's max-blandness shuffle algorithm is like having a wank compared to letting an artist give you a full performance

Re: 50% of U.S. vinyl buyers don't own a record player

#275

Post by AlecSchueler »

coldtea wrote: post #200
superultra wrote: post #129

I oversee pressing for over 150k+ records a year. We eliminated download cards a while ago because the redemption rate was so low. I wouldn’t doubt if the number of buyers who don’t own a record player is even higher tha 50%, and that the percentage of people who actually play the records is actually 10-20%. I don’t have data on that, it’s just a hunch. Many of us in the indie music industry (hip hop sustained record…

> It’s a lot of plastic. A lot of waste. Compared to the plastic waste produced daily it's a drop in the ocean. And at least this is kept and collected. > even though it arguably is the best and easiest income generator for artists Digital is nowhere "the best and easiest income generator" for musicians. A common complain from musicians is how, with the advent of online music, sales craterred, and musicians despite h…

> Compared to the plastic waste produced daily it's a drop in the ocean. And at least this is kept and collected.

Basically anything taken individually is a drop in the ocean. Problem is all those drops add up and that's what creates the ocean.

Re: 50% of U.S. vinyl buyers don't own a record player

#276

Post by bayindirh »

threethirtytwo wrote: post #271
bayindirh wrote: post #256

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> This is amazing This is not a reply I was anticipating. Can you elaborate a little? =)

He’s reacting to an implication in your phrasing. “CDs are for listening to the music”. frames CDs as rational and objective. “Vinyl is for listening to yourself” reframes vinyl as something more inward and identity-driven. For many people, vinyl already sits in an intentionally irrational space compared to modern formats, worse fidelity, more friction, more ritual. So that line can be read as quietly calling vinyl n…

Well, I interpreted the comment I responded in good faith. On the other hand, I respect and understand people who choose to mock me directly. Actually I'm pretty used to be mocked.

Being more serious, I think it depends on one's relationship with music itself, and I don't expect everyone to have the same relationship with it. Personally, I met with music at a very young age, and funnily I started with CDs and open-reel. Vinyl came into my normal rotation pretty late, after its availability started to increase.

I worded my comment exactly like that intentionally, because the unwritten context here is my vinyl collection is solely composed of albums I already love to listen, and dedicate some time listening to. As a person who also performed in the past, I also understand that my relationship with music is a bit different when compared to today's consumerism-centered approach.

So, if spending some time with a favorite album, enjoying it and respecting the effort went into its production is worthy of mockery and being labeled as a hipster or being backward, let it be. I don't personally care.

Same goes for pen and paper, actually, but it's a subject for another day.

Re: 50% of U.S. vinyl buyers don't own a record player

#277

Post by j4nek »

superultra wrote: post #129

I oversee pressing for over 150k+ records a year. We eliminated download cards a while ago because the redemption rate was so low. I wouldn’t doubt if the number of buyers who don’t own a record player is even higher tha 50%, and that the percentage of people who actually play the records is actually 10-20%. I don’t have data on that, it’s just a hunch. Many of us in the indie music industry (hip hop sustained record…

>I think we all know that Spotify doesn’t pay artists appropriately and we want to help sustain the music we love.

not a big fan of all music streaming services, but they only keep about 30% of their revenue. the rest goes to the labels, and this is where most of the problem is. before the 2000s, very small artists hardly earned any income from the sale of (physical) media. I don't like the new platforms such as Spotify, Tidal, etc. either – but this kind of discussion often just distracts from the mafia-like structure of the major labels.

Re: 50% of U.S. vinyl buyers don't own a record player

#278

Post by finghin »

j4nek wrote: post #277
superultra wrote: post #129

I oversee pressing for over 150k+ records a year. We eliminated download cards a while ago because the redemption rate was so low. I wouldn’t doubt if the number of buyers who don’t own a record player is even higher tha 50%, and that the percentage of people who actually play the records is actually 10-20%. I don’t have data on that, it’s just a hunch. Many of us in the indie music industry (hip hop sustained record…

>I think we all know that Spotify doesn’t pay artists appropriately and we want to help sustain the music we love. not a big fan of all music streaming services, but they only keep about 30% of their revenue. the rest goes to the labels, and this is where most of the problem is. before the 2000s, very small artists hardly earned any income from the sale of (physical) media. I don't like the new platforms such as Spot…

It’s labels plus the limited revenue available due to competition.

15$ or so just doesn’t reflect the work that goes into a month’s worth of music listening.

Re: 50% of U.S. vinyl buyers don't own a record player

#279

Post by lucideer »

DavidPiper wrote: post #204
lucideer wrote: post #139

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd say it's varied & most often a combination of multiple things. - They want the cover art - They want a physical token representing an artist they like - They want to financially support the artist in a direct way - They speculate they might get a player someday (much akin to book buyers leaving books on their shelves unread for years on end) 1 of the above might be the primary driver for any given buyer but I'd a…

Makes me wonder if bands produced something like a Displate wall hanging (no promotion intended) whether that would satisfy the same itches. For my part, there's something visceral about owning a piece of "physical music", as it were, even if I never play it.

While I'm sure there are plenty of vinyl collectors out there with some Displates up, I feel like vinyl has a lot of elements that make its audience significantly broader (even excluding player owners) - mainly that it has a cultural history associated with it.

I also think people generally underestimate "potential playability" or aspirational record player ownership as factors in buying vinyl. A LOT of people who may never own a record player in their lifetime still think they might, & even if they don't their kids or grandkids might. Vinyl collections are heirlooms.

Re: 50% of U.S. vinyl buyers don't own a record player

#280

Post by lcnPylGDnU4H9OF »

coldtea wrote: post #200
superultra wrote: post #129

I oversee pressing for over 150k+ records a year. We eliminated download cards a while ago because the redemption rate was so low. I wouldn’t doubt if the number of buyers who don’t own a record player is even higher tha 50%, and that the percentage of people who actually play the records is actually 10-20%. I don’t have data on that, it’s just a hunch. Many of us in the indie music industry (hip hop sustained record…

> It’s a lot of plastic. A lot of waste. Compared to the plastic waste produced daily it's a drop in the ocean. And at least this is kept and collected. > even though it arguably is the best and easiest income generator for artists Digital is nowhere "the best and easiest income generator" for musicians. A common complain from musicians is how, with the advent of online music, sales craterred, and musicians despite h…

> And at least this is kept and collected.

Just to expand on this, there is a reasonable distinction made between multi-use and single-use plastics. Things like a shampoo bottle, plasticware, drink bottles, etc. are considered single-use. (Yes, even the shampoo bottle despite being in your bathroom for weeks because its thrown out when it's empty.) As the parent comment mentions, purchasing a vinyl record does little—practically nothing—to contribute to daily plastic waste, especially with how few customers there are (compared to shampoo bottles).

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