IS NEW VINYL HERE TO STAY? Record companies seem to be pressing more vinyl records than they did a few years ago. Is it a fad, or are new records here to stay? https://trouserpress.com/forum/read.php?1,16873,16873#msg-16873 Wed, 22 Apr 2026 22:18:37 -0500 Phorum 5.2.23 https://trouserpress.com/forum/read.php?1,16873,22912#msg-22912 Re: IS NEW VINYL HERE TO STAY? https://trouserpress.com/forum/read.php?1,16873,22912#msg-22912
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A worn stylus quickly makes some groovy friends!

Oddly enough, I cleaned out the car this evening and found a cassette case of "London Calling" that had a wayward (???) copy of "Queen's Greatest Hits" inside it. No telling how long it had languished under the passenger seat. Several months, at least. Ahem.

Along with that and all of the other junk, there was a desiccated fortune cookie that had that EXACT phrase on the fortune!

... So weird that it defies belief. Certainly.]]> HollowbodyKay Trouser Press Thu, 10 Sep 2009 00:23:38 -0500 https://trouserpress.com/forum/read.php?1,16873,22873#msg-22873 Re: IS NEW VINYL HERE TO STAY? https://trouserpress.com/forum/read.php?1,16873,22873#msg-22873 hoip chiggs Trouser Press Wed, 09 Sep 2009 01:26:38 -0500 https://trouserpress.com/forum/read.php?1,16873,22869#msg-22869 Re: IS NEW VINYL HERE TO STAY? https://trouserpress.com/forum/read.php?1,16873,22869#msg-22869 blasmo Trouser Press Tue, 08 Sep 2009 22:00:17 -0500 https://trouserpress.com/forum/read.php?1,16873,22866#msg-22866 Re: IS NEW VINYL HERE TO STAY? https://trouserpress.com/forum/read.php?1,16873,22866#msg-22866 breno Trouser Press Tue, 08 Sep 2009 20:54:04 -0500 https://trouserpress.com/forum/read.php?1,16873,22865#msg-22865 Re: IS NEW VINYL HERE TO STAY? https://trouserpress.com/forum/read.php?1,16873,22865#msg-22865 blasmo Trouser Press Tue, 08 Sep 2009 17:33:33 -0500 https://trouserpress.com/forum/read.php?1,16873,22862#msg-22862 Re: IS NEW VINYL HERE TO STAY? https://trouserpress.com/forum/read.php?1,16873,22862#msg-22862 breno Trouser Press Tue, 08 Sep 2009 16:51:53 -0500 https://trouserpress.com/forum/read.php?1,16873,22861#msg-22861 Re: IS NEW VINYL HERE TO STAY? https://trouserpress.com/forum/read.php?1,16873,22861#msg-22861
I wonder how many musicians Igor refuses to listen to due to lineage?]]> Michael Toland Trouser Press Tue, 08 Sep 2009 16:37:56 -0500 https://trouserpress.com/forum/read.php?1,16873,22859#msg-22859 Re: IS NEW VINYL HERE TO STAY? https://trouserpress.com/forum/read.php?1,16873,22859#msg-22859
Nosepail speaks for me, too.

]]> Delvin Trouser Press Tue, 08 Sep 2009 15:44:28 -0500 https://trouserpress.com/forum/read.php?1,16873,22858#msg-22858 Re: IS NEW VINYL HERE TO STAY? https://trouserpress.com/forum/read.php?1,16873,22858#msg-22858 blasmo Trouser Press Tue, 08 Sep 2009 15:36:35 -0500 https://trouserpress.com/forum/read.php?1,16873,22857#msg-22857 Re: IS NEW VINYL HERE TO STAY? https://trouserpress.com/forum/read.php?1,16873,22857#msg-22857
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> Nosepail speaks for me.

And me.
And me.
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(Psst! Don't tell him Ira's Jewish!)
Or that Nile is too.

]]> Nile Trouser Press Tue, 08 Sep 2009 15:29:52 -0500 https://trouserpress.com/forum/read.php?1,16873,22855#msg-22855 Re: IS NEW VINYL HERE TO STAY? https://trouserpress.com/forum/read.php?1,16873,22855#msg-22855
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Nosepail speaks for me.
And me.

(Psst! Don't tell him Ira's Jewish!)]]> MrFab Trouser Press Tue, 08 Sep 2009 15:08:46 -0500 https://trouserpress.com/forum/read.php?1,16873,22848#msg-22848 Re: art object https://trouserpress.com/forum/read.php?1,16873,22848#msg-22848
I'm installing a reel to reel in my car. Is the new Metallica out in that format?]]> madisdadi Trouser Press Tue, 08 Sep 2009 12:50:59 -0500 https://trouserpress.com/forum/read.php?1,16873,22847#msg-22847 Re: IS NEW VINYL HERE TO STAY? https://trouserpress.com/forum/read.php?1,16873,22847#msg-22847 blasmo Trouser Press Tue, 08 Sep 2009 12:46:35 -0500 https://trouserpress.com/forum/read.php?1,16873,22846#msg-22846 Re: IS NEW VINYL HERE TO STAY? https://trouserpress.com/forum/read.php?1,16873,22846#msg-22846
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You speak for every poster on this board, do you?

I checked out your blog. Nosepail speaks for me.]]> breno Trouser Press Tue, 08 Sep 2009 12:37:01 -0500 https://trouserpress.com/forum/read.php?1,16873,22844#msg-22844 Re: IS NEW VINYL HERE TO STAY? https://trouserpress.com/forum/read.php?1,16873,22844#msg-22844
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> Of course there will be no 8-Track revival, as there
> will be no revival of the Edison Phonograph Cylinder. 8-track
> players were atrocious mechanical monstrosities that, had
> sanity prevailed over marketing, would never have been
> produced.

What was wrong with them? My recollection is that they sounded
better than cassettes. Didn't they use wider tape, or run at a
faster speed?
I recommend you read Wikipedia's 8-track tape entry. My experience was that most 8-track players were cheap, sloppily made units that had high levels of wow and flutter, lots of hiss and attenuated treble. They used a crude transport mechanism that made accurate control of tape speed impossible. The stereo 8 track layout reduced the usable track size, reducing fidelity and increasing tape noise. And the need to fit music onto small loops butchered albums. Once Japanese manufacturers started making huge improvements to cassette technology the 8-track was toast.

]]> Nile Trouser Press Tue, 08 Sep 2009 07:29:15 -0500 https://trouserpress.com/forum/read.php?1,16873,22843#msg-22843 Re: art object https://trouserpress.com/forum/read.php?1,16873,22843#msg-22843
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That's not quite how I remember it. CDs were introduced once in
the early to mid 80's and the format flopped. It wasn't until
the late 80's/early 90's, when the major distributors
effectively forced vinyl off the market, that CDs came to
dominate.
Not really. CDs were introduced in October 1982 but weren't hugely popular until at least 1985-86 after the US had pulled out of early 1980s recession and the prices of players started to drop to a reasonable consumer price point (under $200). Devices like the Sony CD Walkman ("Diskman") introduced in 1984 made the format very popular, particularly after Sony incorporated ESP (Electronic Skip Protection) to make the unit resistant to motion-induced dropouts. It was only after a large number of consumers had purchased their CD players and new media purchases started to shift away from vinyl records that the distributors took their cue and hastened the shift to compact discs.
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> CD players offered a significant improvement in the
> accuracy of reproduction over comparably priced turntables and
> had the advantage of being more portable and easier for stores
> to stock.

Unfortunately, CDs were also considerably more expensive to the
consumer.
You are correct. Nonetheless, consumers eagerly bought CDs. For years it vexed and puzzled me, particularly when the quality of the audio on most early CDs was atrocious.
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> When car CD players became available CDs allowed you to
> play your music in your house and your car and quickly outsold
> cassette tape players.

I don't recall car CD players becoming common until the 90's.
Even in the late 90's, a lot of cars still came with a cassette
player.
When I bought my Toyota Camry in 1994 the shift to CD players was already well under way. Almost equal numbers of CD and cassette players were sold. Within a couple of years the majority of new autos were selling with CD players. Yes, you could still choose between a CD or cassette deck, but by 1990 most purchasers were choosing the CD player.

Note that in 1994, when given the choice between a CD or cassette player for my car, I chose the cassette deck. Why? Because I owned a TDK 3 head cassette tape deck I could use to dub to tape my records and the few CDs I had at the time. I didn't have enough CDs to justify a car CD player, and it wasn't practical or economical to burn your own CDs until many years later.]]> Nile Trouser Press Tue, 08 Sep 2009 07:04:09 -0500 https://trouserpress.com/forum/read.php?1,16873,22842#msg-22842 Re: IS NEW VINYL HERE TO STAY? https://trouserpress.com/forum/read.php?1,16873,22842#msg-22842
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Maybe everyone should say fuck it and kill every format except for downloads. There's no longer any practical reason to press a record, CD or tape.

You've just explained in a nutshell why the record industry is on its deathbed. Mp3 is king, and the majority of people don't pay for their mp3s.

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The thing that surprises me is that the vinyl trend didn't die when oil got up to over $147.00 a barrel, back in July. Shouldn't expensive oil be the final nail in the coffin for vinyl records? I find it hard to believe that it makes any economical sense to press vinyl records.

I think it's one of those things like how fluctuations in the price of gold don't seem to affect the price of gold fillings or how fluctuations in the price of silver don't seem to affect the price of photographic film. Maybe they stockpile the raw materials when they're cheap so they can keep their prices down during the spikes.



Post Edited (09-08-09 03:19)]]> Igor_Alexander Trouser Press Tue, 08 Sep 2009 05:16:47 -0500 https://trouserpress.com/forum/read.php?1,16873,22841#msg-22841 Re: IS NEW VINYL HERE TO STAY? https://trouserpress.com/forum/read.php?1,16873,22841#msg-22841
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Of course there will be no 8-Track revival, as there will be no revival of the Edison Phonograph Cylinder. 8-track players were atrocious mechanical monstrosities that, had sanity prevailed over marketing, would never have been produced.

What was wrong with them? My recollection is that they sounded better than cassettes. Didn't they use wider tape, or run at a faster speed?]]> Igor_Alexander Trouser Press Tue, 08 Sep 2009 05:04:47 -0500 https://trouserpress.com/forum/read.php?1,16873,22840#msg-22840 Re: art object https://trouserpress.com/forum/read.php?1,16873,22840#msg-22840
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I hadn't thought about it, but satellite radio is probably a bigger factor than downloads for cutting into the industry's pie.

Doesn't the industry get a form of royalties when its material is aired on the radio?

]]> Igor_Alexander Trouser Press Tue, 08 Sep 2009 05:00:03 -0500 https://trouserpress.com/forum/read.php?1,16873,22839#msg-22839 Re: art object https://trouserpress.com/forum/read.php?1,16873,22839#msg-22839
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By the time oil prices started to drop in the early 1980s Compact Discs players were becoming affordable and CDs started to displace LP phonograph records in the market.

That's not quite how I remember it. CDs were introduced once in the early to mid 80's and the format flopped. It wasn't until the late 80's/early 90's, when the major distributors effectively forced vinyl off the market, that CDs came to dominate.

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CD players offered a significant improvement in the accuracy of reproduction over comparably priced turntables and had the advantage of being more portable and easier for stores to stock.

Unfortunately, CDs were also considerably more expensive to the consumer.

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When car CD players became available CDs allowed you to play your music in your house and your car and quickly outsold cassette tape players.

I don't recall car CD players becoming common until the 90's. Even in the late 90's, a lot of cars still came with a cassette player.]]> Igor_Alexander Trouser Press Tue, 08 Sep 2009 04:48:24 -0500 https://trouserpress.com/forum/read.php?1,16873,22838#msg-22838 Re: IS NEW VINYL HERE TO STAY? https://trouserpress.com/forum/read.php?1,16873,22838#msg-22838
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There was a period of time where every band’s cassette sold, and then there was a period when only the most popular band’s cassettes sold, and there was no point in making cassettes for the smaller bands.

The nice thing about cassettes for smaller bands is that it wasn't a problem to do a run of say, 100 or 200. A lot of CD pressing plants wouldn't consider an order of less than 1000.

]]> Igor_Alexander Trouser Press Tue, 08 Sep 2009 04:38:57 -0500 https://trouserpress.com/forum/read.php?1,16873,22837#msg-22837 Re: IS NEW VINYL HERE TO STAY? https://trouserpress.com/forum/read.php?1,16873,22837#msg-22837
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i live in kansas, i've heard much worse than that when i go to a bar

Sounds like I should move to Kansas.]]> Igor_Alexander Trouser Press Tue, 08 Sep 2009 04:15:17 -0500 https://trouserpress.com/forum/read.php?1,16873,22836#msg-22836 Re: IS NEW VINYL HERE TO STAY? https://trouserpress.com/forum/read.php?1,16873,22836#msg-22836
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If you actually cared about what's appropriate to this board you wouldn't have bothered to respond, let alone re-post/quote the comments.

I don't understand. What are you referring to?

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Igor's kind lusts for attention,

Don't we all?

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and to feel persecuted.

I think you have me confused for a jew.

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Let's just drop the whole thing.

I'm not the one pursuing this.

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If he doesn't have the self-control to shut up, that's his problem.

It's a message board. Why should I "shut up" on a message board?

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Let's not fuel it.

Don't you think you're fueling "it," whatever "it" is, by telling people not to fuel it?]]> Igor_Alexander Trouser Press Tue, 08 Sep 2009 04:06:21 -0500 https://trouserpress.com/forum/read.php?1,16873,22835#msg-22835 Re: IS NEW VINYL HERE TO STAY? https://trouserpress.com/forum/read.php?1,16873,22835#msg-22835
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Vinyl kicks ass. Its survival into the age where all information -- audio, video, or otherwise -- is humdrum and accessible to any suburban tweener is a testament to persistent humanity.

That's an optimistic view of the future you have there, considering we're in the beginning stages of the Greatest Depression and WWIII may be right around the corner.]]> Igor_Alexander Trouser Press Tue, 08 Sep 2009 03:57:16 -0500 https://trouserpress.com/forum/read.php?1,16873,22834#msg-22834 Re: IS NEW VINYL HERE TO STAY? https://trouserpress.com/forum/read.php?1,16873,22834#msg-22834
If you actually cared about what's appropriate to this board you wouldn't have bothered to respond, let alone re-post/quote the comments.

To everyone else,

Igor's kind lusts for attention, and to feel persecuted. Let's just drop the whole thing. If he doesn't have the self-control to shut up, that's his problem. Let's not fuel it.



Post Edited (09-08-09 01:49)]]> M. Johnson Trouser Press Tue, 08 Sep 2009 03:40:57 -0500 https://trouserpress.com/forum/read.php?1,16873,22833#msg-22833 Re: IS NEW VINYL HERE TO STAY? https://trouserpress.com/forum/read.php?1,16873,22833#msg-22833 personally, i'm less offended by you "weblog" (here's a few other good ones: "the holocaust is a mere footnote of history", "i do not believe that a lesbian can experience love towards a woman in the same way that a heterosexual experiences love towards a member of the opposite sex" - i live in kansas, i've heard much worse than that when i go to a bar) than by your telling nosepail to fuck off.... he may not speak for everyone, but he does speak for me (and i rarely post here, by the way, but read every day, and have contributed reviews here)...
why don't you go back to looking at those pictures of eels inserted into rectums you just happend to find and post on your "weblog"...
here's another quote, which accompanies said photo...
"As for male homosexuality being about “falling in love,” give me a break."

fuck off, igor...]]> jcakp Trouser Press Tue, 08 Sep 2009 03:37:32 -0500 https://trouserpress.com/forum/read.php?1,16873,22832#msg-22832 Re: IS NEW VINYL HERE TO STAY? https://trouserpress.com/forum/read.php?1,16873,22832#msg-22832
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There has always been a general audience for singles over albums, but it's really gotten ridiculous with iTunes "only buy the song you want". If an artist can't manage an album that isn't mostly keeper, then I'll simply not bother with them rather than piecemeal album tracks.

I once read that the reason so many major label top 40 albums have one or two good songs and then the rest is filler is because the record company hired someone to write the good songs in order to sell an otherwise lackluster album.



Post Edited (09-08-09 01:33)]]> Igor_Alexander Trouser Press Tue, 08 Sep 2009 03:32:06 -0500 https://trouserpress.com/forum/read.php?1,16873,22830#msg-22830 Re: IS NEW VINYL HERE TO STAY? https://trouserpress.com/forum/read.php?1,16873,22830#msg-22830
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Here's a particular nice one in your Jokes section:

Q. What’s the difference between a dead dog in the road and a dead jew in the road?
A. The dead dog has skid marks in front of it.

Glad you liked it. Don't forget to sign the guestbook as you leave.

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Why dont you just get the fuck off this board since none of the decent people here has any interest in any comment you could possibly make on music or any other topic?

You speak for every poster on this board, do you?

Kindly point out what rule I have violated on this board. Otherwise, I suggest you fuck off.]]> Igor_Alexander Trouser Press Tue, 08 Sep 2009 03:09:15 -0500 https://trouserpress.com/forum/read.php?1,16873,22829#msg-22829 Re: IS NEW VINYL HERE TO STAY? https://trouserpress.com/forum/read.php?1,16873,22829#msg-22829
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Interesting posts about the future of vinyl, Igor. Can I ask why your blog contains a bunch of frightening comments about Jews and The Holocaust?

Ha, "The Holocaust," capitalized not just once but twice. How reverent of you.

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Just curious....

Why don't you ask me that on my blog where it's appropriate rather than trying to hijack this thread?



Post Edited (09-08-09 01:04)]]> Igor_Alexander Trouser Press Tue, 08 Sep 2009 03:04:03 -0500 https://trouserpress.com/forum/read.php?1,16873,22828#msg-22828 Re: IS NEW VINYL HERE TO STAY? https://trouserpress.com/forum/read.php?1,16873,22828#msg-22828
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I've tried the same comparison tests with a lot of my anal audiophile friends, and most couldn't tell the difference any better than T.V.'s coin toss example above.

I doubt even the most golden pair of ears could tell the difference between a properly-encoded mp3 at 320 kbps and the source material. However, lossy formats like mp3 can still be problematic if ever you ever have to reencode them to another lossy format, as might happen if you were doing a podcast or creating a video. When I have the choice, I'll take a lossless format like .flac or .ape over .mp3.

Plus, I have to admit that I'm a purist and that just knowing that mp3 throws away most of the audio bothers me, even if I can't hear a difference.]]> Igor_Alexander Trouser Press Tue, 08 Sep 2009 02:56:46 -0500