41 million vinyl recordings compared to only 33 million CDs. CD sales are in decline... I haven't purchased either this century.
JR
JR
2022 vinyl sales eclipsed CDs
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user 37518
Well-known member
There is really no good reason to buy either CDs or vinyl records, other than for sentimental value. So, in that case, I guess Vinyl has a bigger advantage over CDs, but the price they are being sold for is very high in my opinion to justify it. Again, many fans of certain bands will disagree with me.
Hardcore fans and collectors would obviously disagree -- both of which I am not.
Leaving aside arguments of aesthetics, acquired taste and tactility, there is one thing that comes to mind why vinyl might have a place again : it's the length or rather concision of an authored vinyl album release where every song counts, as opposed to comprehensive (read: overly lengthy, often too long) CD album releases -- unless of course they force BDSM on listeners and do double album vinyl releases these days...
Leaving aside arguments of aesthetics, acquired taste and tactility, there is one thing that comes to mind why vinyl might have a place again : it's the length or rather concision of an authored vinyl album release where every song counts, as opposed to comprehensive (read: overly lengthy, often too long) CD album releases -- unless of course they force BDSM on listeners and do double album vinyl releases these days...
Again is the wrong word. The death of vinyl was highly overrated. It never went away. When physical media sold these numbers would have been barely worth looking at. It only looks good now because nothing is selling like it used to.
The surprising part of the current climate is that big pop artists like Taylor Swift and Adele are releasing on vinyl. I expect that to go away. The good stuff has always come out on vinyl and as far as I can tell will continue without an end in sight.
user 37518
Well-known member
Vinyl is a fad, and will continue, probably, but in a niche market. When it stops being cool for tiktokers, it will disappear from the mainstream, and, as you say, continue to live only with the collectors, audiophiles, and similar.
A fad is something that comes and goes. Vinyl records have been around over 100 years. It never went away and is a perpetual fad every time someone who doesn’t pay attention notices.
If you look at the demographics of who is buying it is young people. The audiophile part of it is small. The reason young people buy records is that the cool shit comes out on records.
AnalogPackrat
Well-known member
I still buy CDs (and have a small vinyl collection but no turntable). I don't want to pay for crappy lossy compression. I wish 24-bit lossless formats had taken off before the great loss wars of the millenium (mp3.com and early crappy portable players). I do have a couple hundred CDs ripped to ogg on my phone for listening while driving (and on headphones at work before I retired).
I still have a working turntable (I used to design phono preamps), but I haven't played a record for more than a decade. I have a CD player I don't use either... I do play CDs in my car, because radio here sux...
JR
JR
A friend's band still sells cassettes, but no vinyl.
I have a few turntables, but not connected atm. No vinyl appeared that was worth digitizing in the last few years. Tape OTOH brought along a few things worth saving. A School radio tape from the early seventies and a master for some local band I've never heard of. But I've only checked about 10% of the latest arrival.
I have a few turntables, but not connected atm. No vinyl appeared that was worth digitizing in the last few years. Tape OTOH brought along a few things worth saving. A School radio tape from the early seventies and a master for some local band I've never heard of. But I've only checked about 10% of the latest arrival.
I have a turntable hookup in my studio and a large record collection from up to the 90s. I play records but also listen to my iTunes in the car. I’m not a snob about records vs anything. These days and maybe always it’s about the song. It’s hard to beat a mark Knopfler cd for sound quality. I should get one of his LP release of his newer albums to see if I notice something. At 72 the recording engineer thrill is gone. The songs live on.
Brian Roth
Well-known member
I'm a "fly on the wall" re. vinyl production, but here I know for a fact that vinyl production has been on an upwards trend for many years. It seems to exploded over the past few years; QRP here in Salina can't keep up with the demand. Six months+ leadtimes even with 15 (?) presses running two daily shifts. Kassem would run three shifts, but it's tough to find qualified folks to maintain the plant 24 hours. Many things involved like boilers and chillers for the presses, compressed air distro, etc. besides doing routine work on the DECADES old (very well restored) presses.
Folks complain about the price of vinyl releases these days. I tried to recall what I would have paid in 1980 for a "standard" album (not a MoFi, etc) and entered $10.00 in an "inflation calculator". $36.51 in 2023.
Bri
Folks complain about the price of vinyl releases these days. I tried to recall what I would have paid in 1980 for a "standard" album (not a MoFi, etc) and entered $10.00 in an "inflation calculator". $36.51 in 2023.
Bri
I caught a DJ Red Alert on WBLS last Saturday. He still puts on a quality show. It has to be over 25 years.
He DJ’d nights at the Palladium when I worked there in the 1990’s. The whole block would shake. There were a couple of times I was in the basement with the dance floor above I thought it would all come crashing down, the place was bouncing so hard. Made me misty eyed.
When I lived in Boston in the late 60s, and then outside of NYC in the 70s there were lots of small college FM radio stations that didn't suck. I recall listening to the Dr Demento show regularly.
JR
JR
pucho812
Well-known member
This is because streaming and downloads offer the same as you find on a cd. Unlike a vinyl, there is no ritual with a cd. Cd you pop it in and hit play. The book has such tiny print that it’s hard to read. Vinyl offers a ritual. You pull it out, place it on a turntable and drop the needle on the record. Then you have large print to read.
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Brian Roth
Well-known member
Once Upon A Decade Ago, I was determined to have a career in radio. Most all stations were independent and locally owned. Any "station group" was limited by the FCC to own 7 TV, 7 FM and 7 AM stations NATIONALLY by FCC regulations. I think it was in the 1980's that those regs went out the window.
So we ended up with mega companies like I-Heart and Cumulus buying thousands of stations.
Once I actually worked in radio as a youngster, I quickly pivoted into recording and live PA work. I still kept my foot in the radio biz, however. I would be hired as a contractor for specific audio projects at the few remaining locally owned radio stations.
I recall when the last locally owned FM station was sold to Caribou (which was sucked into Cumulus). Clear Channel (now I-Heart) owned most of the other stations.
What is interesting to me in these days is the fact most of the "non-commercial" FM stations at the lower end of the FM radio band are owned by "religious" organizations. They pray (prey) on their listeners for tax-free donations!
Bri
There still are. WFMU is independent but is that eclectic style. They have a huge library and still have live bands. There are also a few other college stations that are good. The one from Fordom and the one from Columbia are great.
Brian Roth
Well-known member
I guess I'm lucky being associated with a vinyl company here. A great pressing on a great turntable system can sound stunning. I can't put my finger on it but carefully manufactured vinyl has "something" when I hear it. I don't think it's all nostalgia.
Indeed...gatefolds etc. make vinyl a unique user experience.
Bri
After having live bands play in my living room, recordings lost a lot of their magic.
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These days I do appreciate good surround sound movie mixes.
JR
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These days I do appreciate good surround sound movie mixes.
JR
Know what you mean.
A friend of mine and I had developed the habit of listening to music all over the place and cross genres, styles etc and then guessing the year it was recorded, judging only from the music itself and the recording. Is it original? Ahead of it's time? And if so by how many years? Who is it influenced by? Who did it influence? Etc etc. Good to have a medium for that with the release year printed on it for quick check. Vinyl or CD, even cassette (the few that I kept) to me that doesn't really matter -- Yes, could look up the year on the nets.
Another habit is that my collection (although I wouldn't call it that, rather hoarded media) is in a conscious state of blissful mess. Records to records and CDs to CDs, sure. But apart from that... ... At some point I was forced to get rid of CD plastic cases, cos 'collection' had gotten too large (vinyl is bulky after all ; and as for CDs, I don't like Digipaks or other special packaging much). It's all thin CD slipcases now (CD, two covers, & booklet) piling up all around, over here, over there, stuffed in long boxes or just stacked on the floor... Why? Well, for one, I am too lazy to catalogue and put in order (also what order?) and, second, I simply love having to flip thru the lots to find something specific. This way, I most often end up listening to other stuff than what I initially had in mind -- stuff that I had forgotten about, or forgotten that I had it, or had not listened to in a long time, or stuff that has some kind of connection to what I originally had in mind (Isn't there a similar syncopation in that one piece of classical music, which part was it?) -- Yes, could shuffle or randomize digital collection, but that is a different type of randomness, more like random random, while over here it's nice chaos
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