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!
absolutely...after buying cds pretty much exclusively since '90 or so, over the last 3-4 years i'd say that 75% of the stuff i buy is back to vinyl. much more permanence about it...i'm sure the next digital format is around the corner, and cds will be obsolete like floppy discs. records still can be played and sound great (if you get a nice pressing).
January 18, 2009 at 3:22 p.m.
encosion
Some, like myself, will never go back to vinyl - it's a niche and unportable format... I definitely see the value in it for fans, but I can't accept the 'superior quality' argument - it's prone to aging, degradation and noise / dust...
The future, for digital kids, is the lossless FLAC file format... It is a direct and instant digital replacement for CDs, and there are many people already out there ripping their vinyl collections at higher than CD quality (24bit 96khz) to FLAC, in attempts to share and preserve this quality before it starts to age or gets damaged... This is something the labels could offer direct from the studio in an unprecedented pristine state... The future of recorded music is definitly digital...
As for physical product, it's certainly not dead... Artists can and should focus on supplementing their income via tickets and 'souvenir' items such as T-shirts, bags, etc... Yes, vinyl can and should be part of this, but it'll never be mainstream again... I don't expect it to last much more than a few decades at best. Perhaps I'm wrong and it'll survive as a small part of the "1% : freemium model" that subsidises free MP3 downloads...
And yes, they need to be doing this already (releasing their music free)... Currently the release of new music is primarily in the hands of the 'pirates' who care more about ratio credits and egos than promoting / supporting any one artist or label... Labels / artists need to be the source of these free online releases - then they can control it, dress it in artwork and provide the pathways for the consumer to support (purchasing tickets for upcoming tours, T-shirts and the like). It's a massive opportunity that's very much unexploited...
http://encosion.com/
January 19, 2009 at 3:40 p.m.
christian
i know you think digital is better because it can't get scratched, but your argument makes it sound like it's one or the other...which it isn't. and that's why smart labels offer high quality download with the purchase of vinyl. I don't think I will buy a CD ever again in my life, but I continue to buy records almost weekly. Just because a record isn't portable, doesn't mean I can't listen to music in my car. People can have multiple formats, and that's why records are even better now than they were originally. You get the product (better artwork, warm sound, etc.) and aren't limited because of the availability of digital music and mp3 players. buying vinyl is a win-win. support artists and labels, enjoy a product, enjoy music. really, i would never spend the money on a CD, but i continue to buy records of albums ive already downloaded for free... i think matador knows what's up.
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!