Is it worth whille releasing anything on vinyl these days?
- Thread starter Dubsta
- Start date
An increase in the number of records will somewhat reduce the costs (per unit). Mastering is also a fixed cost, so the more records you print and sell, the less the mastering costs per unit. But yeah, still not a lot of money in it at all. I suppose labels are trying their best to remain loyal to vinyl buyers, not a bad thing at all.
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- Apr 18, 2012
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It would be worth it if you sold them a few months before the digital release IMO
Not a bad idea actually. I always find myself more inclined to purchase vinyl only tracks. That seems like a reasonable compromise
It's a nice idea that. However I suspect it would cull the sales of tunes which aren't big releases, people would just forget about some tracks.
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- Jul 17, 2009
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- London/Sheffield
Why does this matter to you?
Unless you are thinking of starting a vinyl record label it seems kind of irrelevant??
I have thought a lot about starting a vinyl only label, and hopefully I will get round to it at some point, and the aim would be to have fun and do what I love, not to make money. I used to sink hundreds of quid into the pub each month, and now I've given up booze I know I would get a lot more enjoyment out of my money by taking a loss on selling records that I love. Cost has nothing to do with vinyl anymore IMO
Unless you are thinking of starting a vinyl record label it seems kind of irrelevant??
I have thought a lot about starting a vinyl only label, and hopefully I will get round to it at some point, and the aim would be to have fun and do what I love, not to make money. I used to sink hundreds of quid into the pub each month, and now I've given up booze I know I would get a lot more enjoyment out of my money by taking a loss on selling records that I love. Cost has nothing to do with vinyl anymore IMO
This would be detrimental to the label as a whole. Why should the majority of buyers (digital) suffer because a handful of people are still resistant to change?
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- Jul 21, 2010
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- Decin, Czech Republic
Just lol.
It's true. Why should somebody be entitled to get music earlier because they play a certain format? I'm one of the oldest members on the forum and played vinyl for a long, long time and I still think it's ridiculous.
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- Aug 24, 2008
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- Liverpool / London / Toronto
"Months" (plural) might be a bit much because of the nature of DNB and tracks being "old" 3 weeks after being released to a lot of people. It also really spreads out your campaign and hype cause say now it's Feb and you're like "NEW SO & SO RECORD OUT NOW ON VINYL"... then like 3 months later when you're like "SO & SO RECORD OUT NOW ON DIGITAL" you're not going to get much traction.
However, I'd definitely recommend the practice of some kind of exclusivity period as you've suggested. There's a DJ mentality of exclusives that will never die in this genre. If I send out a new release 2 months before release way more DJs will play it then if I send it 2 weeks before release, regardless of track quality. So the same applies to your vinyl buyers (who one would assume are mainly DJs).
So try doing say a 2 week exclusive on vinyl before digital, or if you want to get really creative: Vinyl >> 2 weeks later exclusive shop date (Beatport, Juno, etc.) >> 2 weeks later full release (iTunes, everyone else). The latter can help you focus your sales on one shop and hopefully gives you a better chance of charting (which is always tough when you're first starting out) and at the same time it helps build rapport with the digital shops (BP, TID, Juno, DNBA, etc).
Oh and don't listen to your distro if they don't want to do exclusives, they're just being lazy. I know a lot of the smaller distros people start up with when you ask them to set up a 2-week Beatport exclusive or set-up an iTunes pre-order or whatever, it's like saying "hey can you build me a fusion reactor plant?". It's beyond simple to do.
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- Mar 10, 2009
This has to be the stupidest thing i've ever read
You'd be happy to take a loss putting vinyl for enjoyment? I must've missed that bit in Money Management 101...
Unless you got rich parents, work an exceptionally paid job to be able to run a label in your spare time or are happy to just fritter your money away because you're a moron, you should never really be happy to take a loss on anything. I respect people who still put out wax but I'm sure anyone doing who was losing money would see carrying on is futile. Unless you're any of the descriptions mentioned above.
I'm all about doing stuff for the love and the art but a bit of business sense has to be in there too and LOSING money doesn't make any to me
blumarten
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Nov 28, 2006
windowing like that is a nice idea but a moot point unfortunately. If you release vinyl only it will be ripped and up for download by pirates by about 8am on the day of release, so anyone searching for your release will be able to download it free in the format they prefer.
All you're doing by delaying the digital is abandoning the customers who will actually pay for it.
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- Jul 17, 2009
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- London/Sheffield
I have wasted thousands on drugs and alcohol in the last few years, and spent a lot on vinyl too. Guess which makes me happier.
I do not want to make a loss, but then again it would never be a career so making money out of it isn't a goal either. I'm guessing you probably have more than one hobby which costs you money. And if you don't, get a fucking life. If I get to spent days hanging out with friends, making and listening to music, planning nights etc.... that doesn't sound so bad to me.
On another note saying that shit about money management immediately after I have said it's not about money is... backwards and nonsensical at best.
Samurai Music
Active Member
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- Mar 4, 2012
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- Berlin
Yes it is! But not just *anything*. Horo does pretty good and the shitty vinyl rips must not be making people content as they're still hounding us for them to be released digitally and each 12" is selling out.
- Joined
- Mar 10, 2009
Sorry, but anyone who says things like 'it's not about money' is in someway lying to themselves, even though they'd not like to admit it and have their head in some cloud of hippie thought nonsense
To do something like run a label, put out product or any form of invovement in music is always about money, or if not always, a large consideration of it is. You'd be naive (or incredibly well off) to think otherwise tbh. You telling me you wouldn't want to see a little return so it feels somewhat worth it? I'd be bang up for putting some singles out, getting music i like out there with my crew but.... I'd also like to see a small something from it, if not immediately then sometime down the line if I hadn't stopped because putting out the music was becoming costly and a cost i couldn't afford
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- Jul 21, 2010
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- Decin, Czech Republic
This is always the argument. There are DJs and true fans and there are cunts. Cunts will download the vinyl rip/digital ilegally no matter what. Fans and DJs will buy the vinyl or wait those 2+ weeks to get the digital. Simple as that. And those guys are the reason you're doing what you're doing as well as the ones who are making it able for you to do it. Don't get me wrong, I get that it's not easy these days and it's no charity either, I respect everyone who's putting out music in any way he sees fit yet I disagree with the point about abandoning your customers if you put out vinyl a few weeks before the digital.
As most of the DJs do not spin vinyl anymore they'll just wait for their release date and wouldn't care much about some exclusivity or tune getting old because there's gonna be like 20 guys playing it at the very best which is still hell of a lot less than all those DJs getting the unreleased stuff from labels months/weeks before the release date.
blumarten
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Nov 28, 2006
well you're free to disagree, of course.. i'm just speaking from my personal experience. Several of your points are inaccurate or idealistic rather than realistic. There are some labels out there who can make that sort of thing work (samurai is a good example), but they are the exception rather than the rule. It would certainly be a disastrous move for a label like ours.
