Ish done changed... or has it?
waximilien
352 Posts
Anyone involved in releasing music currently can't have failed to realise how the way in which people buy music has changed. We had the indie 12"s era, the mashup/bootleg craze, we've seen the cd/dvd packages... but where the fuck are we now? more and more releases are being sold via places like itunes, bleep etc. or straight flat out jacked via whatever peer2peer network you care to hang your hat on. it seems like less and less vinyl is getting pressed and more often than not, cd only releases dominate the album market. yes, hip-hop has managed to maintain more vinyl sales than most other genres, but where do we stand now? i kind of feel like my shit isn't out there if it isn't out there on vinyl, but the costs of pressing and the increasing difficulty to get reliable distribution is forcing the hand of labels i'm working with into only pressing CDs and now moving into largely digital-only territory. with artists doing more and more work for video game soundtracks, ad campaigns and corporate clients (the LCD soundsystem release for nike, for example) are we reaching a point whereby corporate brands are the new major labels? is it more viable for artists to release an album that comes free with a pair of kicks than it is to shop shit to a label and go the traditional route?obviously i've got my own feelings on this, but i know we have a lot of collective knowledge and opinion on here and i'm curious to see what thoughts other people have.for what it's worth, i'm looking towards doing more individual things - hand printed sleeves in packages with things other than just music (whether that's dvds, posters, stickers, tees, magazines... or whatever). whilst it might involve more work on my part, i'd be happier to do that than to have another jewel case on the shelf in a time when i only really buy those things from artists when they're touring (case in point: the last 2 cds i bought were from mr lif and ra the rugged man at their respective live shows)what do i know tho? let me know what your thinking
Comments
Where we at with what we record on and what we press on? Does the evolution of studio equipment and consumer medium go hand in hand or what?
i agree, i see vinyl as being less affected by the new forms of technology and distribution than CDs but the cost of manufacturing and distributing vinyl is meaning that a lot of labels seem to press CD-only albums these days
"These days" meaning like the last 15 years?
After years of making music I???ve finally had an album released by a small indie label and it???s a CD only release, there was just no way they could justify pressing the album on vinyl, its just too expensive to do an album. 12 inches yes but full LP no.
I gutted about it even though it???s a proper release it just doesn???t feel the same as a vinyl release.
I don???t see the situation getting better, I???m just happy labels like Rhymesayers are still dropping shit on vinyl.
haha - word, but it still HURTS like it was recently, dammit!
that's a good point about the range of DJs who used to buy shit. when i was studying (which was, fuck, a decade ago now) there were more people who had decks and considered themselves DJs than who didn't, it seemed like. whilst it was heavily weighted in favour of DnB and dance DJs, the vinyl shops near me, at least, could have happily got by on student trade alone. on a side note, if they're not buying music any more, what the fuck are they spending their loot on? is it their fault there's hardly any weed around right now? hehe
remember the vestax vinyl press? around ??20-??25 for a blank 12" and it cut it right there. looked kind of like a turntable with some kind of mad military tone arm
exactly - i've been seeing the same thing, but then in the last year both my favourite record stores in sheffield shut down. it just doesn't add up, to me
what label, mate? with Needlework, 2tall and I managed to get one 12" out each and since then it's been CD only with no sight of vinyl anywhere in the future either
EXACTLY. that's how i feel man. i look at the 12" i did and it feels like it has some kind of value, i look at the album it looks like all the piles of shiny silver discs that litter my studio space. yeah, the artwork on the cover is nice but it's so damn small!
Interesting that you think the 7" will outlast the 12", as I've always been told by indie musicians that the 7" is hands down the hardest format of music ot make your money back on. Maybe that's changed...
Could it be that hip hop became too DIY and now that everybody is a rapper or producer or whatever, there's way too much shit being pressed up and nobody's buying it? Overall sales of vinyl might be doing fine, people just might not want to buy each of the 150,000 myspace artists' projects... So the hip hop cats you know might not be selling albums because the market is flooded with DIY hop hop records. Just a thought...
funny you mentioned this cause I just logged in to speak on it. IMO, the drop in expense of building a home studio HAS flooded the hip hop market with an over-abundance of mediocre releases. I remember when the indy hip-hop scene really took off in the mid-90's with Fondle Em, Stones Throw, all the Kool Keith stuff, Godfather Don, Project Blowed, Living Legends, etc. etc. At first I was like
After about 3 years I was like
So yeah, as a working DJ, if it's tepid, but I need it for a gig, I'll download it and would much rather spend my money on some funk record a la Quantic Soul Orchestra, or something alternative a la Nine Inch Nails/DFA, or some more expensive raer jawn that I would usually pass up in the past.
you can bet that all numbers are down, especially in the 12" market. When you had sales of 20k a few years ago, you can be really lucky now if you do 5k or 3k even. And I do agree, the 7inch is the hardest format to make money on, but the customers are most loyal imo, thus, if you have a dope 7 and manage to sell around 2k, it's worth it. Sexy format still and totally sufficient. I dont need 40 tracks on one album, just give me 2 tracks that rock and i'm fine...
2nd hand records and special stuff - small labels with a loyal fanbase, some electronica, some reissues aso will stay for a while.
Does that still fetch some bucks anywhere? I used to love the beats on that EP. That's one of those fondle'ems that never get repressed or reissued at all and I know they were going for a grip way back when...