Vinyl Is Poised to Outsell CDs For the First Time Since 1986

[Fozzie Bear]

downloading is the most enviro friendly format for obvious reasons - streaming by far the least now ( as it's outstrips physical so hugely )

Yes that's what I assumed too. You would need to factor in the cost of making the flippin' computers it gets stored on though I guess.

But a petrochemical product which is extracted from the ground, transported to a factory, stamped into a record, wrapped in bits of dead tree and then flown around the world is hardly going to be good for the environment is it...

This study about the environmental aspect of streaming gave me pause for thought though:
Streaming music is worse for the environment than CDs, vinyl: study

 

[8115]

I love CDs. When you say streaming do you mean a pay service like Spotify or something else and if so, what?

Would a normal laptop with a better speaker plugged in be adequate to listen to streamed music?

I'm asking because I love my CDs but they do take up space and tbf I don't listen to them that often.

 

[cantsin]

me too - at least partly because it's getting increasingly hard to arrange turntables ad-hoc, and most venues don't have a set anymore.

Last summer I did a ragga jungle set off two walkmans - that was fun.

I sometimes like to restrict myself to specific formats for a day, as it totally changes what I listen to and how I listen to it.

played off CDJ's as usual in Ireland for my annual old fart gig in Jan, local lad who came on after me, as well being admirably off his head, played off vinyl, and I was genuinely taken aback by the contrast in sound - old cliches, but the increase in warmth, range and depth was just...obvious.

I never feel like I'm short changing playing wavs off CDR ( and mixing (averagely, as ever) ), but I totally get why DJs in some better clubs still go with vinyl, it's not just hipster fetishism ( tho also sympathise with the youngsters having a twitter spat with warhorse Trev Jackson re: format elitism etc this week, and how ridiculous it would be for anyone to expect youngsters Dj's trying to stay afloat in this day and age to be worrying about £8.00 12"s )

 

[rutabowa]

This study about the environmental aspect of streaming gave me pause for thought though:
Streaming music is worse for the environment than CDs, vinyl: study

That is pretty surprising

 

[pinkychukkles]

played off CDJ's as usual in Ireland for my annual old fart gig in Jan, local lad who came on after me, as well being admirably off his head, played off vinyl, and I was genuinely taken aback by the contrast in sound - old cliches, but the increase in warmth, range and depth was just...obvious.

I never feel like I'm short changing playing wavs off CDR ( and mixing (averagely, as ever) ), but I totally get why DJs in some better clubs still go with vinyl, it's not just hipster fetishism ( tho also sympathise with the youngsters having a twitter spat with warhorse Trev Jackson re: format elitism etc this week, and how ridiculous it would be for anyone to expect youngsters Dj's trying to stay afloat in this day and age to be worrying about £8.00 12"s )

Good points. Having built up an approximate 5k record collection over the past 25+ years and now, reluctantly and slowly, getting rid of it, after staunchly being vinyl-only for so long because Vinyl Sounds Better Than Any Other Format… well, along with having long ceased DJing and even then, not on huge systems, well with my middle-aged ears now am I going to notice any difference? I ask myself.

Sure, there's a bit of confirmation bias thinking here in that, since I'm selling my vinyl, I'm scrabbling around for anything to make my decision more palatable to myself!

 

[editor]

I used to play vinyl, but given the extremely wide range of music demanded at the gigs I do, I'd need a forklift to bring sufficient vinyl to cover all eventualities. I still prefer CDs to laptops partly because my badly organised collection means that I can't always find the tracks I'm looking for in time and that means I can't coast a gig - and my last minute "fuck I'll play this!" selection proves to be a better choice.

Plus scrolling around on a laptop usually looks crap unless the DJ makes some effort.

 

[pinkychukkles]

Yes but worth being aware tracks mastered to CD may be very different to the vinyl pressing, especially true for bassy dance music.... Only really an issue if playing out loud though.

Sometimes the CD version can be better too though

Yeah, true but I simply don't have the luxury of time to compare which sounds best and if it's the vinyl, rip & keep that over the CD version. At the moment, I assume all CD FLAC rips will be as good as a FLAC ripped off the vinyl itself.

WEB FLACs are a different story though… I've had to educate myself on generating and interpreting spectrograms for any WEB FLACs I get to spot any lossless ones that are transcodes of lossy masters, it doesn't happen a lot but it's frequent enough to be a concern.

 

[ATOMIC SUPLEX]

There was something a little special in the past about not being able to play a song if you didn't have a copy. My daughter really can't see the point of having a physical copy of anything, but for me it's too deeply routed.
She actually wrote me / the tooth fairy a letter that I read this morning, that asked me to stop wasting money on records (and guitars).

 

[killer b]

She actually wrote me / the tooth fairy a letter that I read this morning, that asked me to stop wasting money on records (and guitars).

this is what childhood rebellion looks like in 2019. my eldest is always telling me to turn that racket down.

 

[ATOMIC SUPLEX]

this is what childhood rebellion looks like in 2019. my eldest is always telling me to turn that racket down.

Yeah, mine too. Poo.
I put a record on in the front room to wash up or cook too, and my daughter will just turn it down.
Bit disappointing, but the music she likes is b b b b boring. . . . Or abba.

Or the flash Gordon soundtrack (because it has the talking dog song from the flash liquid advert on it)

 

[cantsin]

I used to play vinyl, but given the extremely wide range of music demanded at the gigs I do, I'd need a forklift to bring sufficient vinyl to cover all eventualities. I still prefer CDs to laptops partly because my badly organised collection means that I can't always find the tracks I'm looking for in time and that means I can't coast a gig - and my last minute "fuck I'll play this!" selection proves to be a better choice.

Plus scrolling around on a laptop usually looks crap unless the DJ makes some effort.

don't spend any time in clubs now ( havent for ages ), but I get the impression that laptops are frowned upon / looked down on in some places ?

 

[pesh]

I used to play vinyl, but given the extremely wide range of music demanded at the gigs I do, I'd need a forklift to bring sufficient vinyl to cover all eventualities. I still prefer CDs to laptops partly because my badly organised collection means that I can't always find the tracks I'm looking for in time and that means I can't coast a gig - and my last minute "fuck I'll play this!" selection proves to be a better choice.

Plus scrolling around on a laptop usually looks crap unless the DJ makes some effort.

Finding a tune on laptop doesn't take more than a second or 2... Start typing into the search box and off you go... If its taking you longer than flipping through a massive CD wallet then something has gone horribly wrong.

 

[rutabowa]

Finding a tune on laptop doesn't take more than a second or 2... Start typing into the search box and off you go... If its taking you longer than flipping through a massive CD wallet then something has gone horribly wrong.

I suspect that he is fairly experience in both those ways and made the decision based on that...

me personally I don't want to be looking at a screen when i'm djing, + I have bad eyesight and it tires me, and that's even before you take into account getting totally wasted.

 

[pesh]

I have been known to have to shut one eye to successfully navigate Serato

 

[editor]

Finding a tune on laptop doesn't take more than a second or 2... Start typing into the search box and off you go... If its taking you longer than flipping through a massive CD wallet then something has gone horribly wrong.

You're missing the point completely. I don't like the fact I can find and get the next song ready in 2 seconds on a laptop. I like the random alternative choices that are sometimes introduced when I'm desperately trying to find a song on a CD. Plus there's a bit more theatre and movement involved.

 

[pesh]

You're right, I was totally missing your point, I thought you ment your laptops music library was all over the place...

Genuine lol at the theatre of loading a CD though

 

[editor]

You're right, I was totally missing your point, I thought you ment your laptops music library was all over the place...

Genuine lol at the theatre of loading a CD though

Not the loading, the flapping through the CD libraries, with the odd CD making a break for it towards the crowd. Not as exciting to watch as vinyl of course, but sheer white knuckle cinema compared to clicking a mouse and the sitting around for the song to end.

Of course the best bit about not having a laptop is that people can't assume that you're able to instantly download whatever shitty request it is they're demanding,

 

[8115]

Not the loading, the flapping through the CD libraries, with the odd CD making a break for it towards the crowd. Not as exciting to watch as vinyl of course, but sheer white knuckle cinema compared to clicking a mouse and the sitting around for the song to end.

Of course the best bit about not having a laptop is that people can't assume that you're able to instantly download whatever shitty request it is they're demanding,

Have you got anything by Timberland?

 

[8ball]

Have you got anything by Timberland?

I used to have some shoes.

 

[ATOMIC SUPLEX]

I used to have some shoes.

Yeah I used to like them. Light brown timberlands for good, and high top white hi techs for play.

 

[editor]

And there you have it!

Music fans in the US purchased more vinyl records than CDs in the first half of 2020, marking the first time since the 1980s that CDs were not the top selling physical format.

According to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), vinyls contributed a staggering $232 million (£181 million) to total physical sales of $376 million in the first half of 2020.


The latest step in the continued revival of vinyl comes after online music marketplace Discogs revealed that global sales on the platform in the first half of 2020 increased dramatically during lockdown.

According to their mid-year report released last Friday (August 28), physical sales on the Discogs Marketplace rose 29.69 per cent – 4,228,270 orders – between January and June this year, compared to the same period last year.

Vinyl outsells CDs for the first time since the 1980s

Music fans in the US purchased more vinyl records than CDs in the first half of 2020, marking the first time since the 1980s that CDs were not the top selling physical format.

www.nme.com

 

[killer b]

ha - I ordered a new CD this week for the first time in years...

 

[platinumsage]

Seems a bit wasteful when nowadays you can just add some vinyl effects to your digital files and have a single vinyl disc which spins solely for the visual aesthetics.

 

[NoXion]

Maybe laser turntables will one day replace those needles which physically wear out your record collection. At the moment you can get a laser turntable for 15 grand(!), which seems a very steep price for even the most dedicated of collectors.

 

[platinumsage]

Maybe laser turntables will one day replace those needles which physically wear out your record collection. At the moment you can get a laser turntable for 15 grand(!), which seems a very steep price for even the most dedicated of collectors.

One day never. Here’s a review of that same turntable from 1990:

The Finial Laser Turntable Reviewed - HomeTheaterReview

Mr. Powers, you've noticed that the sharks have laser beams on their heads. "I have one simple request which is to have sharks with fricken laser beams on their heads" "What do I have here?" SEABASS. Mutated seabass.

hometheaterreview.com

 

[NoXion]

One day never. Here’s a review of that same turntable from 1990:

The Finial Laser Turntable Reviewed - HomeTheaterReview

Mr. Powers, you've noticed that the sharks have laser beams on their heads. "I have one simple request which is to have sharks with fricken laser beams on their heads" "What do I have here?" SEABASS. Mutated seabass.

hometheaterreview.com

Given the resurgence in popularity of vinyl, I would not completely rule out the possibility that further industrial research in that direction will be carried out.

Although now that I think about it, a lot of record companies and similar entities probably like the notion of perishable media, as they think it means more purchases. Shame, really.

 

[editor]

Blimey:

UK sales of vinyl records are set to reach a three-decade high as fans unable to attend live music events during the pandemic channel their spare cash into building up their record collections.

Vinyl sales are up almost 10% this year, well on track to break the £100m mark by the end of 2020, making for the best year since 1990 when Sinead O’Connor and New Kids on the Block topped the charts. Sales by volume are also set to beat last year’s 4.3m.

It marks a remarkable bounce back given the market for physical music, from vinyl and CDs to cassettes and DVDs, plunged by almost half in April as the first lockdown shut high streets across the nation.

Top-selling vinyl albums of 2020 so far
1. (What’s the Story) Morning Glory? – Oasis (Sony Music)

2. Rumours – Fleetwood Mac (Warner Music)

3. Back to Black – Amy Winehouse (Universal Music)

4. Nevermind – Nirvana (Universal Music)

5. Ultra Mono – Idles (Partisan)

6. Fine Line – Harry Styles (Sony Music)

7. MTV Unplugged – Liam Gallagher (Warner Music)

8. Disco – Kylie Minogue (BMG)

9. Chromatica – Lady Gaga (Universal Music)

10. Greatest Hits – Queen (Universal Music)

Back on track: UK vinyl sales heading for best year in three decades

Fans unable to go to gigs in Covid pandemic spend money instead on record collections

www.theguardian.com

 

[klang]

Blimey:

Back on track: UK vinyl sales heading for best year in three decades

Fans unable to go to gigs in Covid pandemic spend money instead on record collections

www.theguardian.com

On the downside, waiting times for vinyl pressing are well up. A label I work for has just told me to get stuff sent off now to have it pressed by July. There are simply not enough plants to keep up with demand.

 

[killer b]

there'd be plenty of capacity for pressing new stuff if the market wasn't 80% reissues mind

 

[Ground Elder]

On the downside, waiting times for vinyl pressing are well up. A label I work for has just told me to get stuff sent off now to have it pressed by July. There are simply not enough plants to keep up with demand.

The Apollo Masters fire hasn't helped