Any views on weather the vinyl thing is working in Nz and Oz? Doing another cd run a waste of time? If vinyl is working better for getting the music out, where is good for pressing? Anything in Australia?

Hi Louis. I'd say it totally depends on the artist and what they are going for. I think vinyl is working for indie labels like Lyttelton Records with artists like Aldous Harding, Delaney Davidson etc... in NZ. I don't think it would work for all artists as some audiences still buy CDs at gigs etc... I've had stuff pressed in the Czech republic, and that has turned out excellent, I'm at the moment trying a project with discmakers.com (in the US) as they have recently introduced a vinyl service. Will be interesting to see if its any good...

Ben

Ben

Cheers mate. Let me know how you get on with disc makers. Why did you drop the Czech guys?

Cheers

Louis

From the POV of a buyer

I've recently bought vinyl when its come with a digital download. The vinyl came signed from artists like Gotye/The Basics, Pajama Club (Neil Finn). I would rather pay $30-$50 for signed vinyl and a digital download than a cd...

My 2c.

That's what I would have thought. I am the same. Would rather spend $30 on something like that than buy a cd

Why the sentiment against CD?

Nothing wrong with the cd, unless you try to sell it as a thing. It isn't the same substantial experience that an album size price of product gives you, so it is harder to compel people to not just stream the music rather than paying for it.
That's why cd sales are falling

For me - they take up space, they are rather fragile and a lot of people just rip to mp3 and store the cd away. I'm either listening on a laptop or using the aux in on my car - so a cd is not as convenient.

Rohan

I work for a major..we do most releases as physical, singles etc as well - am curious what percentage of sales are digital versus physical, I should ask really. I'd suspect for singles at least digital outstrips physical tenfold, but sometimes we have an artists only doing top 20-30 in digital who charts top 10 at the end of week ARIA charts (both singles and albums).

Vinyl only really happens for special releases/limited editions. Many of the artists releasing are pop, so of course they're not going to be selling vinyl...it's more the international artists and the more estoric local artists.

The indie/unsigned artists I work with are still having CDs made and selling at gigs. I don't know any that self-release vinyl, not to say it doesn't happen.

Good insight. ThNks bro

I love records - but often the price of them is prohibitive, both from the artist and the buyer perspective.

I went and saw Devin Townsend the other day and they had a double LP of his there for $80. I would up purchasing the same double disc on CD (JB) for $27.
A shame.. literally a case of me not having the cash for the $80 on me at the time.. but in retrospect I'm happy having the $50 to buy .. shock horror: food, or pay a bill.

At that amount, I doubt Devin is making too much money. Especially for lugging it around the world from Canada.

JB Hi-Fi at Waterside (Docklands) has a decent vinyl section now ; compared with an ever diminishing CD section. There were some recent releases in there as I recall.. along with some classics. Average was around the $35-$60 mark.

CD sales are falling due to utter crap mastering and poor source material. Nothing fundamentally wrong with CD technically.

I agree with the 2nd point. The fact that people are happy to listen to inferior sources for all their listening needs, vintage or modern, undermines the first. Most end users don't care about the loudness issues - hence the reason the "death magnetic" uproar was so unique - because for once the man in the street noticed.

All my music buying money is going back to vinyl these days, I just find it more rewarding musical experience.... when I've dropped $50 on an album I'm taking the time to actually sit, listen, and and give it the attention it deserves.

In terms of formats for stuff I'm doing, I'd say a third of them are pressing vinyl now. I'm mainly working with hip hop these days and a large chunk of those guys are record diggers anyway so have a natural affinity to that format anyway.

As form pressing, we got the Delta record pressed in Czech Republic (can't recall name) and it came back great

Hmmm, I think your talking the Company line here: Maybe Google Premium Vinyl and see what the uptake rate is in the UK and USA. It's only getting bigger and the physical product is hugely appreciated. An area to watch for sure!
TLB

Well, technically I'm freelance....and I do work woth a lot of unsigned/indie signed artists too! On of my UK acts has pressed vinyl...a few of the rockier/electronica artists on the label do limited runs. Most unsigned bands I've worked for haven't!

I'm sure it is on the increase, it's just not significant yet.

I understand the point of View, and I know Hargrave St is not ticking over as one might have wished, though my real point is now at last again...and in 2014 people on serious Promo are not holding up CD Covers for breakfast TV and Late night.....it's all Big Shiny Vinyl. On Indie.....Yeah, I fully understand, though Hi Res Download sites are gaining mass populous as itunes refuses to go 24 bit! I wonder why I have $4000 per unit compressors and FX /Dynamics and Mic's when it all goes to 64K Mp3 or even AAC.

Just my Point of View!
Regards
TheLastByte

It sounds basic but to play a vinyl you need a turntable. How many people do you know that have turntables?

I think of vinyls as merch. I always operate under the idea that you have to let the fans be fans... and a limited edition or signed vinyl is a great thing for a fan to have. You can also bundle them with stickers, bandcamp download codes, posters, USBs, whatever...

There are also genres of club music where some releases are vinyl only, and people will buy them because they want to spin them at gigs.

You can also start selling vinyls a few weeks before the release of the digitals with digital download codes.

I'm planning to sell my releases at gigs via bandcamp download codes printed onto business cards... low overheads, no hassle carrying CDs around, no hassle ripping CDs and finding artwork etc... when people get home. Hope that helps

I do.....A Marantz Turntable and Stereo System that in 1978 Cost around $1200 Bucks, now worth around $7000 Bucks! I actually think far more people want the idea of Ideally priced Vinyl or Decent Cost Turntables etc....then we may think. This format is far from dead, the USA was still releasing Vinyl in the early 1990's to Mid 1990's!

So Marantz
Speakers
Turntable
Stylus (Diamond)
RCA Plugs and DIN Plugs (Later to become Midi)
Voila--------!
Magic!
And around 10000 records!

Cheers
TLB!

I'm not too sure... plenty of those turntables are gathering dust in peoples garages and I'm not sure many people still actually listen all that much to vinyl... of course there's a passionate minority that do, but it's more of merch thing than it is a medium for distributing your music.