In this troubled economy, when just about every industry in America is on the verge of collapse, any scrap of sound business advice is worth savoring. And that goes double for the music industry, which also has to deal with the increasing obsolescence of its product. CD's are caught in a strange middle ground, with more convenient portable music devices on one side and better quality vinyl records on the other. So what are the options for a record label in this scenario?
According to Matador's Patrick Amory, its quite simple. You embrace the interactivity of Web 2.o, you embrace the quality of vinyl, and you stop pushing CD's so much. According to Amory, Matador's blog has doubled traffic to its website, and therefore increased business at its webstore. And if any labels out there are still stuck on the brick and mortar concept, Amory advises to go for vinyl. If customers are going to pay for a record, they want a quality product, and vinyl will beat out compact discs every time. So all those purists proselytizing about the resurgence of vinyl may have been making sound business sense after all. [Hypebot]
I agree vinyl is far superior as a product compared to CD in every way. Vinyl has superior sound quality as well as better packaging. Vinyl is tried, tested and trusted. Vinyl's value increases while cds are disposable offering no value to collectors. If labels can offer vinyl to consumers and include a coupon for online digital download formats with the vinyl purchase they will probably win some customers back and finally offer a great product again. SAVE THE VINYL!