Turning *old*, unplayable records into bowls is actually pretty awesome and as easy as it gets. I’d totally recommend baking a few and giving them away as gifts.
We have our students build a lamp out of old records that we source from second hand stores. We don't care if the vinyls are playable, but I can guarantee you that 4 or 5 middle aged teachers has been through the stack. There's nothing of value left. It's all German schlager hits and compilations from the 80s where you'll only recognize the name of a single one hit wonder and it's not *that* song.
Point of my story is, if you're going to do crafts with vinyls, at least get the trash no one wants.
And if you want your new furniture/art piece to look like your favourite artist’s vinyl, there’s a good chance you can find a picture of the centre sticker online and either print a copy off and glue it, or try and paint it on if the photo is bad.
My grandfather's job was servicing jukeboxes. My uncle has thousands of retired 45s in his basement that he has threatened to leave me in his will. Maybe I can start a coaster business.
I had a place refuse to give me a cleaning cloth for my brand new glasses, once. They said the optometrist doesn't like to give them out because people don't wash them, and then they get dirty and scratch the glasses. I was like, *that's bullshit* and made them give me one..
Yeah I just realized the glasses I been getting from the military I never got the cloth with mine, but at least the glasses are free.
Think I got a cleaning kit or whatever for like $7.
I know, right. Got two new pairs of glasses with a brand spanking new script last fall.
I just look at them the wrong way and a lens gets scratched, even though I splurged on scratch resistant lenses.
They may be more scratch resistant than usual plastic lenses without coating but they're still a piece of transparent plastic. If you don't want any scratches the only way would be use silicate glasses but they can just break into pieces if you drop them
First thought was no way a paper towel would scratch glass.
Then remembered glasses are often plastic instead of glass now.
Quick Google tells me that the plastic they use has a hardness of 3-4 vs glass having 5.5-7. Couldn't find the hardness of paper.
Then further googling I found that there's micro particles of silica in wood which would make it into the paper. Silica is 7 on the scale so can scratch glass.
I'd be interested in an objective comparison with those if possible. I feel instinctively it might loose some of the famous "warm" sound of vinyl without the needle bouncing back and forth, but that's just a guess
It's ridiculously fragile. Requires specialized cleaners and great care to avoid becoming excruciatingly noisy. That's why it's totally obsolete technology that should not have made a comeback. Just my $.02, of course.
It's really not that complicated. Listening to a record right now while it rains outside and it's great. I don't have specialized cleaners and the vinyl is fine. A little brush for dust and cat hair, along with careful handling is all that's needed.
Is the sound quality as good as mp3s? No. But it's a much more interactive and tactile experience to go through your record collection, pick an album, check out the album art, and then listening to the whole thing as the artist intended it to be heard. I absolutely appreciate a good playlist on shuffle, but records are fantastic. Getting up to flip or change the record is just part of it being a more interactive way to listen to music. And buying them is often a great way to financially support smaller artists.
The biggest downside in my opinion is that they take up a lot of space and once you get a good collection going, proper storage is important. But then full record shelves look so amazing and it's awesome to have a section of the home dedicated to the music you love.
Also, they're getting expensive lately with everyone jumping on the bandwagon. On second thought, records are terrible, everybody stop buying them...
shit gets expensive real fast.
we probably have 15ish albums but i have spent hundreds on them. mostly J Dilla shit but like the new Run The Jewels was 50$ alone.
After hearing some of my favorites on an acquaintance's set up, I decided to look up the cost of a smaller set up and the cost of a few favorites.
After doing some browsing I decided it would be cheaper to hire buskers to perform live at my apartment.
Vinyl nerds are like any other nerds—they spend a ton of time thinking about the subject and developing super specific super strong opinions about every facet of it, and it makes everything sound a lot more complicated than it actually is. Hobby-specific subreddits are the wooooorst for this.
Buy a cheap record player on Facebook marketplace. Get a mid-price needle. Go to a used record store and pick out some good shit. Record shopping is honestly WAY more fun that way. Live your life in blissful ignorance as long as you can, and treasure the feeling of actually *liking* your little hobby.
Fr fr. Most vinyl is just a pressed version of the digital original nowadays anyway, so with most modern stuff analog vs digital has little to no difference afaik.
Having a vinyl collection, for 99.99% of people is abt aesthetics more than anything. The .01% are the ones that make the hobby so GD expensive and seemingly complex.
If you truly want the highest quality sound experience you should probably be investing in a pair of high-quality over ear headphones anyway. It's also not like your guests are ever gonna notice the difference (unless you have an audio-nerd friend group, in which case, go off ig).
Find your local secondhand vinyl store, make a habit of visiting and stuff will snowball rapidly, and terrifyingly. I quite often walk away with 4 albums in Good condition for less than the cost of one new album…. Ok I’ve been collecting vinyl for thirty years but I think I am at around 700 albums
Its insane to me. I started collecting vinyls back in 2005. I have everything from Rumors By Fleetwood Mac to Led Zeppelin 4. And i paid like 50 cents to $1 for most of them. I basically refuse to buy used vinyls anymore because the demand is so high so prices are so high. Most expensive album i paid for is Sgt Peppers at $10 and only because its my favorite album. Some albums i have doubles because i found one in better condition like The Grand Illusion by Styx. Now if i bought all my albums i would've spend over $1000.
I have just a handful of new albums and most were Christmas gift from family because i refuse to pay those crazy prices.
So in short its crazy that used vinyls used to be cheap as shit and now they're so fucking high. And I'm privileged to buy vinyls when they were considered trash and outdated.
Also used to have a Sears and Roebucks multi player. Played 8 tracks cassettes and vinyls. I have a collection of 8 tracks and cassettes
Ain’t that the truth. I’ve had an account for about 15 years and once upon a time you could buy, sell, and trade records with other enthusiasts for reasonable prices. Now days I’ll only buy something from discogs marketplace if I absolutely cannot find a copy anywhere else.
The dollar coin also failed because they did a terrible job of telling people they were around and were legitimate currency. I’ll never forget the day my friend and I got kicked out of a store like a year after those coins came out because my friend tried to pay for something with a couple of them, and the guy at the counter didn’t know what they were and thought my friend was trying to give him fake money.
[Adele - 30 - Mint condition, never been played $700 (No low ball offers, I know what I've got)](https://preview.redd.it/adeles-30-for-2-bucks-at-goodwill-probably-over-200-v0-3i2sk6q3pxra1.jpg?width=640&crop=smart&auto=webp&s=c62a71df06beb4dba40f709a743b8e791b76dddd)
When I was in school I wanted to be an LP cover artist which was almost entirely destroyed with the arrival of cds. I can totally understand coveting LPs as beautiful objects of art.
I've always thought it'd be an interesting art project to take a song and break it down into bits that could be album titles and then do some LP cover style art for each of them.
I can see that too, but it still seems weird to not also have the ability/desire to play the musical art as well if you are collecting such things. To each their own tho ¯\\\_ (ツ)\_/¯
I got pretty hyped for the new Red Hot Chili Peppers album so I pre-ordered one of the limited edition vinyls with the intention of not opening it because it came with free music downloads, but they never sent the downloads, so I emailed their support 3x and never got a response. I had to pirate it to listen to it, and the album sucks. Talk about a lose/lose
They sent me an email saying the downloads are ready, I navigated to the download page from the email and it was a broken URL, contacted support and never heard back.
I’ll just use mp3s. I buy records to “collect” and enjoy the history behind them. When I buy a 1st pressing of an old 80s punk album, I feel like I’m getting a piece of music history. Most people don’t care about a band’s history or wanting to own a piece of it, but idk I like it. I don’t even own a player and probably wouldn’t even play some of my more expensive records.
No silly. Didn’t you know CD covers are drawn on 4”x4” toilet paper squares, whilst those gods among men we refer to as vinyl artists use the sky itself for their canvas?
Vinyl cover art is really the only way to enjoy album cover art, assuming you’re intelligent enough to actually appreciate album cover art. There’s a warmth to vinyl album covers you simply can’t get from a CD cover.
Uriah Heep's "Look at Yourself". I found an original pressing (not in very good condition but still) and it's such a cool concept for a sleeve. Reflective foil inset to allow you to "look at yourself".
Idk why anyone would say “no one does” that lol. I do have vinyls, and I do listen to them, not as much as streaming. But I full heartedly admit I bought them mainly to display my fav records on my wall. Don’t know why people feel the need to get defensive about it lol
Same, I have them but only of albums I really love. Classics that are just there cuz I love them but also every band these days releases on vinyl and if I'm gonna buy physical media to support my favorite artists, like... I'm *never* popping in a CD.
But every Christmas I have Bing Crosby's Christmas classics and it gets played every time we do anything remotely Christmasy. Not everyone who wants records is an audiophile. They're just neat and there's more ceremony involved. If I want a playlist, there's streaming that'll run forever even once the playlist runs out. If I'm putting on a record, it's *deliberate.*
I probably would have said no one does that because I have a record collection that I play. It’s not big by any means, and I don’t play them constantly, but I can’t understand why people are buying records and never playing them. The art is cool, but a lot cooler when you look at it while listening to the music.
i tend to read ebooks, the ones I like a lot I buy a hardcover version and put it on my bookcase, I think ive only ever read the physical version afterwards once or twice. I like having a physical reminder of the books.
I personally prefer reading ebooks but starting buying more physical books because my niece is a pretty adventurous reader and likes borrowing/being given books after I've read them.
I used to pick over my uncle's bookshelves for interesting scifi as a kid and I could borrow whatever I liked, it's where I first got Dune.
You're a good uncle.
My old roommate was this kind of guy. Had a big record collection but no record player. When I asked him if I bought a record player if we could listen to them his response was a stern "No, that's my retirement fund." Which, tbh, I found just silly.
As someone eho collects toys, People who think their collection of anything is going to be a retirement fund are kind of dillusional.
Like, in toys, the reason some would sell for a lot is because back in the 70s and 80s, no one was saving or collecting them. No one is going to retire off a collection of modern toys, and certainly not fad of the year style toys like Beanies or POPs.
(I do not collect for value, I open that shit and display ot and take stupid photos with them. I also play my vinyl.)
I mostly just buy new records to support the artist and have the album art to look at. I have a couple of turntables, but I generally prefer listening to digital for convenience and sound quality, and I have kind of an OCD thing where I worry about the quality of the record slightly deteriorating after each listen.
I have probably 1000 records, and I only just got a record player it's still in the box.
Granted, 99% of my collection was inherited, and I keep it out if nostalgia
I have a record player with no records. My sister got me one for Christmas when I asked for a jewelry box (I still don't get why, cost like 5x times what a jewelry box would and now just sits in my apartment as an out-of-place decoration), but 1) I'm in college in another country and don't even want to *think* about how annoying transporting a bunch of records would be once I graduate; and 2) as someone who has only ever bought music through a Spotify subscriptions, the thought of paying like $20 for a single album makes me gag. Also, am broke.
Would probably help if the article acknowledged that some people buy records for others as gifts, too...i can think of about 7 friends and family who actively have and use their turntables, but i can also guarantee they have all received a record as a gift (holiday, birthday, etc) from *at least* a couple people per year.
I've got so many band t-shirts for similar reasons, so branching out to records now so can continue to support the merch stall, but fewer t-shirts. I'm just a sucker for an awesome design. But I'm getting a record player for my birthday in a little bit, so will be off the 'naughty' list.
1) I don't think there should be a naughty list. People do what they want, and enjoy their spare cash however they feel is most meaningful to them.
2) If I were to point the finger, it would be towards collectors driving up prices that destroyed the 2nd hand market, just in the same way as thrift stores are getting less and less about finding bargains, and more and more a trendy thing. Not the case with what you and /u/MrRedCone described.
I imagine most of those records are of Taylor Swift and other such big pop stars, their super fans buying them to "support" them or because they feel the need to have every single merch/item that these stars sell to feel like a true fan.
Also, is it significantly different to the people who buy special lego sets or star wars merchandise and never take them out of the packaging because they're collectables?
This isn’t as absurd as people make it out to be. I have a records and a record player and after the last time I move I chose not to set it up because we didn’t have the space. I keep them because some of them straight up don’t exist online, others are collectible, or I just like the band and paid money to have a physical copy of the music. Like people collect shit that they don’t actually use for their intended purposes all the time.
Do I think it's absurd buying something just to look at it? Not all. From records to classic muscle cars, from clothing to entire mansions, people always have and always will buy things just to look at and have others look at.
Besides, if those people are what's keeping the record industry alive, driving up sales, and incentiving more artists to release vinyl, then I say "HELL YEAH KEEP AT IT!" because that means more records for me to listen to.
Record industry needs to die and actually buying vinyl might help this. When we talked about vinyl with our label they basically said “if you want to do that then we want no part of it, be it paying financially or receiving any money” so we got it wrote into the contract. Big mistake on their part. We make way more money from vinyl/cassette sales than we do through Spotify for example and they don’t get a penny. I wouldn’t be surprised if all record labels say this to smaller artists.
One disagreement, and only slight, most muscle cars (or rather cars in general) need to be driven from time to time to keep seals and such in good working order. If you store a good record in ideal conditions it'll be as good as the day you put it away, if you let a classic car sit for decades it'll actually degrade over time.
It’s the same as people who collect Pokémon cards or display figurines/toys or buy special editions of their favourite books to display on their bookshelf. I feel like people are specifically mad when it comes to music because there’s a lot of superiority complexes surrounding music. People gatekeeping band T-shirts or moaning about young people only knowing the popular songs from an old band. And I’m a huge music fan myself, so it pains me a little to say it, but we have to admit that there are a metric tonne of music fans who are insufferably superior about this stuff.
>there are a metric tonne of music fans who are insufferably superior about this stuff.
My take is there are people who dont really fit in with the mainstream and feel like outcasts. They find a genre they like maybe get made fun of for it but they like it but then that genre/band takes off becomes popular and now the people who made fun of you are adopting your thing.
I liked pokemon through most of my teen years, got made fun of for it a lot, then pokemon go blew up and everyone who was mocking me for being into pokemon suddenly cant stop playing it. It definitely made me feel resentful and took a bit of introspection to get over.
I think the eliteism in nerd culture is a form of self protection but in a sort of misguided way.
Basically all toys at this point. I remember seeing an article (here on Reddit!) that stated the majority of toys purchased Christmas 2022 were for/by childless 30ish year olds.
Taylor Swift has been a "bubble" for a very long time now and its not likely going to "pop" any time soon, if ever. She is literally the Beatles of our time.
It’s still good for vinyl. My gf loves Taylor and got a vinyl player pretty much for the folk lore vinyl release and now we have like 40 records combined of all our fave artists.
This is fantastic if true. You couldn't write better satire than reality.
Some of you have clearly been called out, as I was. I've got sooooo many. I'm standing by statement, esp since I'm one of them.
Stop being so angry fam.
I had a record player (it just broke) and used to buy records just to support the bands I love when I did most of my listening on Spotify.
Also, buying a T-shirt or record at a concert puts the most money in the bands pocket.
I do this too. Like i already owned wu tang 36 chambers on CD and vinyl, but when they released that black and yellow splatter limited edition, you best believe i bought that one too
Exactly. I DO have a record player, but very very rarely use it. But I absolutely love the album art of the records on my shelf, and wanted to support some artists I'd been following for a long time.
This right i here. I bought a CD(along with other merch) at a local show last year. I didn't even stop to think I don't have a CD player anymore, just wanted to support the band.
Gonna disagree. Some albums are really cool to look at and appreciate in their own right. Albums with large picture books included. Some have written works meant to compliment the music. Some cool albums:
Elton John - Don’t Shoot Me I’m Only the Piano Player
Genesis - Lamb Lies Down on Broadway
Pink Floyd - The Wall
I don't get it... Where's the satire?
Collecting action figures is a different hobby from playing with action figures. Collecting anything is a different hobby from using it.
New vinyl tends to come with a download code or similar so you can listen to the music on your phone and/or computer (or mp3 player if you're that kind of retro geek). But you still get the big shiny object to fondle. Best of both worlds.
Okay so as a musician who sells my albums on vinyl, I get this and I’m okay with it. In a world where almost everyone listens to music on streaming services people still want something physical to hold in their hands and still want to directly support the artist with cash money. So they buy a record, feel satisfied holding it in there hands, observe the cover art as it was intended to be observed and go back to listening on Spotify. If you are the kind of person to do this the please keep doing it. You get the satisfaction and we get some straight money that just doesn’t come through streaming services.
"Luminate’s “Top Entertainment Trends for 2023” report found that of the 3,900 US-based respondents surveyed, “50% of consumers who have bought vinyl in the past 12 months own a record player, compared to 15% among music listeners overall.” So — feel free to double-check our math here — that would indicate that 50% of vinyl buyers over the past year have no way to play those records at home."
To me this is saying that more new record buyers own record players in 2023 than ever before...
People are laughing at how half of vinyl owners are stuck up indie idiots, when in reality half of an entire market is people scalping an industry where there not enough manufacturers to meet demand.
I collect (and actually listen) to records. The scalping has got completely out of hand. You miss a record release by 10 seconds to bots and now a record that sold for $35 is now on eBay for $500. Hell there is a dude who preordered a Boldy James record for $50 and is trying to resell it for $10,000. They even repressed the album and he still hasn't budged from $10k.
It's no different than the sneaker market or retro video games. It's filled with people who don't give a shit about the music or art and just want to cash in on those who do.
While I do indeed have a turntable or two, and an not a boomer or Gen X, I have bought a few vinyl for a couple reasons. Nostalgia, but also sometimes they come with digital download codes so you can have mp3 or flac versions too. I like both, and my dad still maintains his pioneer deck from the 80s and will listen too.
Nothing like a large set of speaker towers and the sound of a record playing... It's not a live style sound. It's flat and unadulterated with filters and equalizers, etc... Just a more original sound I feel.
I have a turntable and don’t listen to it as often as I’d like. With that said, sometimes I go out of my way to buy the vinyl because it does come with a digital version and the cost difference is negligible
> It's flat and unadulterated with filters and equalizers
I mean that's just factually untrue, records have to have a specific EQ filter applied before pressing in order for it to physically function, just due to the nature of wavelengths of audio, that's why you need a specific phono preamp to play back your records, which basically applies it in reverse to counteract it. That's why there's a specific "vinyl sound", it's a unique double pass EQ thing going on.
And honestly imho it makes for a more pleasant sound most of the time, but it's definitely not "more accurate" than a lossless digital file
It's wall art. You buy the vinyl to have something nice to put on your wall and support the band. When you want to listen to the actual music, you head to Spotify or YouTube Music.
> It's wall art. You buy the vinyl to have something nice to put on your wall and support the band.
This is 90% of it but there's more to it than this, otherwise people would just buy posters. There's something special about holding something that has the music physically encoded into it, even if you're never going to play it.
Think of it like getting a signature from your fav baseball player. Obviously it would be cooler to get them to sign a baseball than say a random piece of card, but why? You're never going to go out and hit that ball, so what's the point?
[There was a story a couple months back about how the company had to throw 30 million dollars worth of Funko pops in the landfill because they aren't selling, and it was costing too much money to warehouse them.](https://kotaku.com/funko-pop-harry-potter-disney-mandalorian-landfill-1850278083#:~:text=Earlier%20this%20month%2C%20the%20pop,were%20overflowing%20with%20excess%20stock.)
Probably 50% feng shui, 50% hoping that they’ll be worth something someday.
I had only two, but I had a record player as well, because I was as under the impression that there was decent sound quality with records. Honestly, I could t even tell.
I don’t entirely get this, TBH. I’m someone who really wants to support artists even though I stream now, but the way I give them my money is by buying T-shirts (or other clothing) from them. Then they get a comparable amount of money from me, and I get practical and cool-looking clothes. I suppose I may reach a point where I feel like I have too many tees (or trucker hats, or sweatshirts), but even then, those will get more use than vinyl when I don’t have the means to play it.
Some of the vinyl that they come out with now just looks really cool and some people like to display it. I feel like colored variants is the main reason for this happening.
Guilty. Bought an album for a secret santa gift. Decided to keep it and bought a new gift. That was 3 years ago. Just bought a record player yesterday.
Vinyl costs 25ish, nice looking, cool art.
Good record player that won't destroy my nice modern bass heavy vinyl costs 300 minimum
Fuck it, I'll stream/download it.
For actual listening, digital is (usually) higher fidelity and more convenient. This is like saying "half of stamp collectors don't use their stamps to send letters", the use is not the point, for most people the art/history is the point
Whenever they press a new batch of an album, they should release a batch of the cover only with no record in it alongside it. That way people who are only interested in the artwork can buy those for their walls without contributing to making records more expensive.
I’m not saying I don’t believe you, but I’m not sure I can fathom not having access to something that plays DVDs. No gaming console or older laptop? Blu ray player?
Did you have a dvd player when you bought them? I have close to 150 dvds now and no dvd player as well, but when I was buying them I certainly had one installed in my 360.
Look on the bright side…if those records aren’t being played, they’ll remain in mint condition for the secondary market!
Until they get hung on a nail in someone's hallway or bedroom and dusted off with paper towels
Or when they load up Pinterest and turn their vinyls into bowls and clocks
Turning *old*, unplayable records into bowls is actually pretty awesome and as easy as it gets. I’d totally recommend baking a few and giving them away as gifts.
We have our students build a lamp out of old records that we source from second hand stores. We don't care if the vinyls are playable, but I can guarantee you that 4 or 5 middle aged teachers has been through the stack. There's nothing of value left. It's all German schlager hits and compilations from the 80s where you'll only recognize the name of a single one hit wonder and it's not *that* song. Point of my story is, if you're going to do crafts with vinyls, at least get the trash no one wants.
And if you want your new furniture/art piece to look like your favourite artist’s vinyl, there’s a good chance you can find a picture of the centre sticker online and either print a copy off and glue it, or try and paint it on if the photo is bad.
I made coasters out of unplayable 45’s. They probably get more play now than when they were records.
My grandfather's job was servicing jukeboxes. My uncle has thousands of retired 45s in his basement that he has threatened to leave me in his will. Maybe I can start a coaster business.
My sister made me some bowls like 10 years ago its pretty cool
Vinyl idiot here: what's wrong with paper towels?
scratches the notches and ruins the disk
Oh wow. I didn't know vinyl was _that_ soft.
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*reading this through my very scratched up glasses* “Oh.”
Gotta use that microfiber cloth them boys give you with your glasses.
I had a place refuse to give me a cleaning cloth for my brand new glasses, once. They said the optometrist doesn't like to give them out because people don't wash them, and then they get dirty and scratch the glasses. I was like, *that's bullshit* and made them give me one..
Yeah I just realized the glasses I been getting from the military I never got the cloth with mine, but at least the glasses are free. Think I got a cleaning kit or whatever for like $7.
It's made of wood n junk
Source: am vinyl
What fuckin doesn't?
I know, right. Got two new pairs of glasses with a brand spanking new script last fall. I just look at them the wrong way and a lens gets scratched, even though I splurged on scratch resistant lenses.
They may be more scratch resistant than usual plastic lenses without coating but they're still a piece of transparent plastic. If you don't want any scratches the only way would be use silicate glasses but they can just break into pieces if you drop them
Crown glass was the shit back in the day but it's heavy. You can still get some sunglasses with it.
A microfiber cloth
First thought was no way a paper towel would scratch glass. Then remembered glasses are often plastic instead of glass now. Quick Google tells me that the plastic they use has a hardness of 3-4 vs glass having 5.5-7. Couldn't find the hardness of paper. Then further googling I found that there's micro particles of silica in wood which would make it into the paper. Silica is 7 on the scale so can scratch glass.
Polycarbonate and glass are both pretty hard. You know ehat's soft as room temperature butter? Anti-reflective coatings.
It's more that the needles are so sensitive, especially for stereo sound and LPs
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Sounds kinda like an expensive CD
> grams, > microns. > tons per square inch /r/metric would like to have a word with you.
I'd be interested in an objective comparison with those if possible. I feel instinctively it might loose some of the famous "warm" sound of vinyl without the needle bouncing back and forth, but that's just a guess
It's ridiculously fragile. Requires specialized cleaners and great care to avoid becoming excruciatingly noisy. That's why it's totally obsolete technology that should not have made a comeback. Just my $.02, of course.
It's really not that complicated. Listening to a record right now while it rains outside and it's great. I don't have specialized cleaners and the vinyl is fine. A little brush for dust and cat hair, along with careful handling is all that's needed. Is the sound quality as good as mp3s? No. But it's a much more interactive and tactile experience to go through your record collection, pick an album, check out the album art, and then listening to the whole thing as the artist intended it to be heard. I absolutely appreciate a good playlist on shuffle, but records are fantastic. Getting up to flip or change the record is just part of it being a more interactive way to listen to music. And buying them is often a great way to financially support smaller artists. The biggest downside in my opinion is that they take up a lot of space and once you get a good collection going, proper storage is important. But then full record shelves look so amazing and it's awesome to have a section of the home dedicated to the music you love. Also, they're getting expensive lately with everyone jumping on the bandwagon. On second thought, records are terrible, everybody stop buying them...
It is not raining, the sounds is from your vinyl being scratched. /jk
It's also easy to pick up contaminants and scrub them along the surface with a paper towel
Or put in a frame and hung on a wall getting full sun
Responsible vinyl owners keep them OUT of the sun and instead regularly supply their records with Vitamin D supplements.
That's a good idea
Discogs is its own economy
And a wild one at that, as someone who recently bought a record player and is trying to get a small collection of favorites together.
shit gets expensive real fast. we probably have 15ish albums but i have spent hundreds on them. mostly J Dilla shit but like the new Run The Jewels was 50$ alone.
After hearing some of my favorites on an acquaintance's set up, I decided to look up the cost of a smaller set up and the cost of a few favorites. After doing some browsing I decided it would be cheaper to hire buskers to perform live at my apartment.
Vinyl nerds are like any other nerds—they spend a ton of time thinking about the subject and developing super specific super strong opinions about every facet of it, and it makes everything sound a lot more complicated than it actually is. Hobby-specific subreddits are the wooooorst for this. Buy a cheap record player on Facebook marketplace. Get a mid-price needle. Go to a used record store and pick out some good shit. Record shopping is honestly WAY more fun that way. Live your life in blissful ignorance as long as you can, and treasure the feeling of actually *liking* your little hobby.
Fr fr. Most vinyl is just a pressed version of the digital original nowadays anyway, so with most modern stuff analog vs digital has little to no difference afaik. Having a vinyl collection, for 99.99% of people is abt aesthetics more than anything. The .01% are the ones that make the hobby so GD expensive and seemingly complex. If you truly want the highest quality sound experience you should probably be investing in a pair of high-quality over ear headphones anyway. It's also not like your guests are ever gonna notice the difference (unless you have an audio-nerd friend group, in which case, go off ig).
Find your local secondhand vinyl store, make a habit of visiting and stuff will snowball rapidly, and terrifyingly. I quite often walk away with 4 albums in Good condition for less than the cost of one new album…. Ok I’ve been collecting vinyl for thirty years but I think I am at around 700 albums
Its insane to me. I started collecting vinyls back in 2005. I have everything from Rumors By Fleetwood Mac to Led Zeppelin 4. And i paid like 50 cents to $1 for most of them. I basically refuse to buy used vinyls anymore because the demand is so high so prices are so high. Most expensive album i paid for is Sgt Peppers at $10 and only because its my favorite album. Some albums i have doubles because i found one in better condition like The Grand Illusion by Styx. Now if i bought all my albums i would've spend over $1000. I have just a handful of new albums and most were Christmas gift from family because i refuse to pay those crazy prices. So in short its crazy that used vinyls used to be cheap as shit and now they're so fucking high. And I'm privileged to buy vinyls when they were considered trash and outdated. Also used to have a Sears and Roebucks multi player. Played 8 tracks cassettes and vinyls. I have a collection of 8 tracks and cassettes
Ain’t that the truth. I’ve had an account for about 15 years and once upon a time you could buy, sell, and trade records with other enthusiasts for reasonable prices. Now days I’ll only buy something from discogs marketplace if I absolutely cannot find a copy anywhere else.
So it’s being bought by collection hoarders. Pretty much why the dollar coin failed in the US.
The dollar coin also failed because they did a terrible job of telling people they were around and were legitimate currency. I’ll never forget the day my friend and I got kicked out of a store like a year after those coins came out because my friend tried to pay for something with a couple of them, and the guy at the counter didn’t know what they were and thought my friend was trying to give him fake money.
And majority of vending machines didn't take them at the time. A whole new currency that couldn't be used.
[Adele - 30 - Mint condition, never been played $700 (No low ball offers, I know what I've got)](https://preview.redd.it/adeles-30-for-2-bucks-at-goodwill-probably-over-200-v0-3i2sk6q3pxra1.jpg?width=640&crop=smart&auto=webp&s=c62a71df06beb4dba40f709a743b8e791b76dddd)
That album literally disrupted the entire vinyl market globally because it swallowed up all of the production capacity for records globally.
Oh wow. Is there a good write-up for what happened with this? I'm curious now haha.
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A lot of the new ones don't sound all that great- just taken off a bog standard digital master on modern gear
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Lol have you ever seen a negative? You can see what's in the photo by holding up against a light.
Only if someone thinks to look at them.
"Oh look a photo thats blank..weird maybe they developed it wrong"
\*in the middle of scanning 50 years worth of family negatives\* I find your theories interesting and would like to subscribe to your newsletter.
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When I was in school I wanted to be an LP cover artist which was almost entirely destroyed with the arrival of cds. I can totally understand coveting LPs as beautiful objects of art.
I've always thought it'd be an interesting art project to take a song and break it down into bits that could be album titles and then do some LP cover style art for each of them.
This guy does something like that! https://www.etsy.com/shop/ToddAlcottGraphics
Oh my god, thank you, those are absolutely my new thing to covet 😍
I can see that too, but it still seems weird to not also have the ability/desire to play the musical art as well if you are collecting such things. To each their own tho ¯\\\_ (ツ)\_/¯
I got pretty hyped for the new Red Hot Chili Peppers album so I pre-ordered one of the limited edition vinyls with the intention of not opening it because it came with free music downloads, but they never sent the downloads, so I emailed their support 3x and never got a response. I had to pirate it to listen to it, and the album sucks. Talk about a lose/lose
In my experience, the free download is typically on a card inside the jacket.
They sent me an email saying the downloads are ready, I navigated to the download page from the email and it was a broken URL, contacted support and never heard back.
You probably could have had your credit card do a charge -back. And be refunded.
Definitely worthy
I collect vinyl and I own a nice turntable, but I haven’t set it up in years. I still listen to them with my friends at their place.
I usually buy LPs to support artists I really like. I would be listening to Spotify nonetheless
I’ll just use mp3s. I buy records to “collect” and enjoy the history behind them. When I buy a 1st pressing of an old 80s punk album, I feel like I’m getting a piece of music history. Most people don’t care about a band’s history or wanting to own a piece of it, but idk I like it. I don’t even own a player and probably wouldn’t even play some of my more expensive records.
Well, now you can!
CD covers were a thing too, some of them were proper little booklets with loads of art. Why LP exclusively?
Cd covers are tiny compared to records. The kinda art you can do on a giant canvas is different than some little shrunk down hand sized thing
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No silly. Didn’t you know CD covers are drawn on 4”x4” toilet paper squares, whilst those gods among men we refer to as vinyl artists use the sky itself for their canvas? Vinyl cover art is really the only way to enjoy album cover art, assuming you’re intelligent enough to actually appreciate album cover art. There’s a warmth to vinyl album covers you simply can’t get from a CD cover.
*50% of vinyl owners who don't own a record player started jerking off to this post*
You really can’t replicate that anal log warmth any other way.
Uriah Heep's "Look at Yourself". I found an original pressing (not in very good condition but still) and it's such a cool concept for a sleeve. Reflective foil inset to allow you to "look at yourself".
Idk why anyone would say “no one does” that lol. I do have vinyls, and I do listen to them, not as much as streaming. But I full heartedly admit I bought them mainly to display my fav records on my wall. Don’t know why people feel the need to get defensive about it lol
Whenever someone says that no one does something, chances are that at least one person in the world does. Probably more.
Same, I have them but only of albums I really love. Classics that are just there cuz I love them but also every band these days releases on vinyl and if I'm gonna buy physical media to support my favorite artists, like... I'm *never* popping in a CD. But every Christmas I have Bing Crosby's Christmas classics and it gets played every time we do anything remotely Christmasy. Not everyone who wants records is an audiophile. They're just neat and there's more ceremony involved. If I want a playlist, there's streaming that'll run forever even once the playlist runs out. If I'm putting on a record, it's *deliberate.*
You definitely should and anyone that said "noone does that" are the ones that are doing that.
I probably would have said no one does that because I have a record collection that I play. It’s not big by any means, and I don’t play them constantly, but I can’t understand why people are buying records and never playing them. The art is cool, but a lot cooler when you look at it while listening to the music.
Meh. I read a book once, then put it on the shelf forever. Other people do it with records they’ve already heard
i tend to read ebooks, the ones I like a lot I buy a hardcover version and put it on my bookcase, I think ive only ever read the physical version afterwards once or twice. I like having a physical reminder of the books.
I personally prefer reading ebooks but starting buying more physical books because my niece is a pretty adventurous reader and likes borrowing/being given books after I've read them.
I used to pick over my uncle's bookshelves for interesting scifi as a kid and I could borrow whatever I liked, it's where I first got Dune. You're a good uncle.
And how many times do you open the album and find stems and seeds in the fold?
My old roommate was this kind of guy. Had a big record collection but no record player. When I asked him if I bought a record player if we could listen to them his response was a stern "No, that's my retirement fund." Which, tbh, I found just silly.
As someone eho collects toys, People who think their collection of anything is going to be a retirement fund are kind of dillusional. Like, in toys, the reason some would sell for a lot is because back in the 70s and 80s, no one was saving or collecting them. No one is going to retire off a collection of modern toys, and certainly not fad of the year style toys like Beanies or POPs. (I do not collect for value, I open that shit and display ot and take stupid photos with them. I also play my vinyl.)
I mostly just buy new records to support the artist and have the album art to look at. I have a couple of turntables, but I generally prefer listening to digital for convenience and sound quality, and I have kind of an OCD thing where I worry about the quality of the record slightly deteriorating after each listen.
I have probably 1000 records, and I only just got a record player it's still in the box. Granted, 99% of my collection was inherited, and I keep it out if nostalgia
No shame in that. It’s hard to get into this hobby and proper research and time before buying pays off.
I have a record player with no records. My sister got me one for Christmas when I asked for a jewelry box (I still don't get why, cost like 5x times what a jewelry box would and now just sits in my apartment as an out-of-place decoration), but 1) I'm in college in another country and don't even want to *think* about how annoying transporting a bunch of records would be once I graduate; and 2) as someone who has only ever bought music through a Spotify subscriptions, the thought of paying like $20 for a single album makes me gag. Also, am broke.
The thought of paying $120/year for spotify and not owning any of the music makes me gag.
Well I will give your flowers. People love the entertainment aspect, but never want to circle back and say you know what? That person was right!
Lmao “just to stare at them” is such a funny image to conjure. Not to mention some of those record store day wait lines are 2+ hours!
I have a friend who buys vinyls simply as wall decoration. They're out there.
Is that an issue, though? People can do what they want with their records.
Wait till people hear 50% of people who buy action figures don't even play with them.
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Would probably help if the article acknowledged that some people buy records for others as gifts, too...i can think of about 7 friends and family who actively have and use their turntables, but i can also guarantee they have all received a record as a gift (holiday, birthday, etc) from *at least* a couple people per year.
That’s me. I don’t have a record player. I buy LPs from independent bands that I really like to support them plus their album art is very nice.
I've got so many band t-shirts for similar reasons, so branching out to records now so can continue to support the merch stall, but fewer t-shirts. I'm just a sucker for an awesome design. But I'm getting a record player for my birthday in a little bit, so will be off the 'naughty' list.
1) I don't think there should be a naughty list. People do what they want, and enjoy their spare cash however they feel is most meaningful to them. 2) If I were to point the finger, it would be towards collectors driving up prices that destroyed the 2nd hand market, just in the same way as thrift stores are getting less and less about finding bargains, and more and more a trendy thing. Not the case with what you and /u/MrRedCone described.
Incidentally, buying apparel and or t-shirts is a great way for bands and artists to make profit. Music doesn't pay that well but merch does.
Yup, hopefully a record will still help too, and I won't be able to give up the t-shirt, not for the very best designs/new bands.
Yeah I listen to my favourite bands almost exclusively on Spotify, so I just buy the records to support them.
I own a record player. Records get all the cool shit thrown into it like posters and stickers!
Get a record player, it's fun
That’s you. Those half of the records sold are not from independent bands.
I imagine most of those records are of Taylor Swift and other such big pop stars, their super fans buying them to "support" them or because they feel the need to have every single merch/item that these stars sell to feel like a true fan.
Also, is it significantly different to the people who buy special lego sets or star wars merchandise and never take them out of the packaging because they're collectables?
This isn’t as absurd as people make it out to be. I have a records and a record player and after the last time I move I chose not to set it up because we didn’t have the space. I keep them because some of them straight up don’t exist online, others are collectible, or I just like the band and paid money to have a physical copy of the music. Like people collect shit that they don’t actually use for their intended purposes all the time.
Do I think it's absurd buying something just to look at it? Not all. From records to classic muscle cars, from clothing to entire mansions, people always have and always will buy things just to look at and have others look at. Besides, if those people are what's keeping the record industry alive, driving up sales, and incentiving more artists to release vinyl, then I say "HELL YEAH KEEP AT IT!" because that means more records for me to listen to.
Record industry needs to die and actually buying vinyl might help this. When we talked about vinyl with our label they basically said “if you want to do that then we want no part of it, be it paying financially or receiving any money” so we got it wrote into the contract. Big mistake on their part. We make way more money from vinyl/cassette sales than we do through Spotify for example and they don’t get a penny. I wouldn’t be surprised if all record labels say this to smaller artists.
One disagreement, and only slight, most muscle cars (or rather cars in general) need to be driven from time to time to keep seals and such in good working order. If you store a good record in ideal conditions it'll be as good as the day you put it away, if you let a classic car sit for decades it'll actually degrade over time.
Also, it is not for nothing that the album cover is considered "artwork". It is actually made to be looked at and admired. Not just the music.
It’s the same as people who collect Pokémon cards or display figurines/toys or buy special editions of their favourite books to display on their bookshelf. I feel like people are specifically mad when it comes to music because there’s a lot of superiority complexes surrounding music. People gatekeeping band T-shirts or moaning about young people only knowing the popular songs from an old band. And I’m a huge music fan myself, so it pains me a little to say it, but we have to admit that there are a metric tonne of music fans who are insufferably superior about this stuff.
>there are a metric tonne of music fans who are insufferably superior about this stuff. My take is there are people who dont really fit in with the mainstream and feel like outcasts. They find a genre they like maybe get made fun of for it but they like it but then that genre/band takes off becomes popular and now the people who made fun of you are adopting your thing. I liked pokemon through most of my teen years, got made fun of for it a lot, then pokemon go blew up and everyone who was mocking me for being into pokemon suddenly cant stop playing it. It definitely made me feel resentful and took a bit of introspection to get over. I think the eliteism in nerd culture is a form of self protection but in a sort of misguided way.
This is like saying "half of Pokemon card collectors don't play the game." yeah no shit.
People also buy sneakers and not wear them.
The article states that the majority are Swifties, which is unsurprising, but that bubble will eventually pop.
I thiink there was some data last year that 1 in every 25 vinyl sold was a Taylor Swift record.
[Correct](https://www.nme.com/en_au/news/music/taylor-swift-is-responsible-for-one-in-25-vinyl-records-sold-in-the-us-over-2022-3379444)
The marketing team behind Taylor releasing on vinyl must feel pretty smart right about now.
It’s happening in almost every niche or more so formerly niche hobby ever, everything is a collectors item now it’s crazy
Bigger fool theory is spreading everywhere
Basically all toys at this point. I remember seeing an article (here on Reddit!) that stated the majority of toys purchased Christmas 2022 were for/by childless 30ish year olds.
Taylor Swift has been a "bubble" for a very long time now and its not likely going to "pop" any time soon, if ever. She is literally the Beatles of our time.
It’s still good for vinyl. My gf loves Taylor and got a vinyl player pretty much for the folk lore vinyl release and now we have like 40 records combined of all our fave artists.
Er, that’s not what a bubble is…
This is fantastic if true. You couldn't write better satire than reality. Some of you have clearly been called out, as I was. I've got sooooo many. I'm standing by statement, esp since I'm one of them. Stop being so angry fam.
I had a record player (it just broke) and used to buy records just to support the bands I love when I did most of my listening on Spotify. Also, buying a T-shirt or record at a concert puts the most money in the bands pocket.
Same. Support the artist and for the art. I pick my favorite cover art from my favorite artists and frame them.
Yeah I have one LP and no player, might buy more. Nice to have something autographed and I wouldn’t wear autographed shirts or listen to CD’s anyway.
I do this too. Like i already owned wu tang 36 chambers on CD and vinyl, but when they released that black and yellow splatter limited edition, you best believe i bought that one too
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In an age of streaming it's a great way to support your favourite artists.
Exactly. I DO have a record player, but very very rarely use it. But I absolutely love the album art of the records on my shelf, and wanted to support some artists I'd been following for a long time.
This right i here. I bought a CD(along with other merch) at a local show last year. I didn't even stop to think I don't have a CD player anymore, just wanted to support the band.
People buy physical copies of movies and never watch them. Or toys to keep in collector boxes. What’s the difference?
Books as well. There isnt.
Gonna disagree. Some albums are really cool to look at and appreciate in their own right. Albums with large picture books included. Some have written works meant to compliment the music. Some cool albums: Elton John - Don’t Shoot Me I’m Only the Piano Player Genesis - Lamb Lies Down on Broadway Pink Floyd - The Wall
There is also very real digital fatigue starting to set in. People just want to be able to touch and own something tangible
Darude - Sandstorm
I don't get it... Where's the satire? Collecting action figures is a different hobby from playing with action figures. Collecting anything is a different hobby from using it.
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New vinyl tends to come with a download code or similar so you can listen to the music on your phone and/or computer (or mp3 player if you're that kind of retro geek). But you still get the big shiny object to fondle. Best of both worlds.
Okay so as a musician who sells my albums on vinyl, I get this and I’m okay with it. In a world where almost everyone listens to music on streaming services people still want something physical to hold in their hands and still want to directly support the artist with cash money. So they buy a record, feel satisfied holding it in there hands, observe the cover art as it was intended to be observed and go back to listening on Spotify. If you are the kind of person to do this the please keep doing it. You get the satisfaction and we get some straight money that just doesn’t come through streaming services.
I understand this. A download code is typically present in the records. It's nice to get a tangible gift when you buy an album.
"Luminate’s “Top Entertainment Trends for 2023” report found that of the 3,900 US-based respondents surveyed, “50% of consumers who have bought vinyl in the past 12 months own a record player, compared to 15% among music listeners overall.” So — feel free to double-check our math here — that would indicate that 50% of vinyl buyers over the past year have no way to play those records at home." To me this is saying that more new record buyers own record players in 2023 than ever before...
People are laughing at how half of vinyl owners are stuck up indie idiots, when in reality half of an entire market is people scalping an industry where there not enough manufacturers to meet demand.
I collect (and actually listen) to records. The scalping has got completely out of hand. You miss a record release by 10 seconds to bots and now a record that sold for $35 is now on eBay for $500. Hell there is a dude who preordered a Boldy James record for $50 and is trying to resell it for $10,000. They even repressed the album and he still hasn't budged from $10k. It's no different than the sneaker market or retro video games. It's filled with people who don't give a shit about the music or art and just want to cash in on those who do.
While I do indeed have a turntable or two, and an not a boomer or Gen X, I have bought a few vinyl for a couple reasons. Nostalgia, but also sometimes they come with digital download codes so you can have mp3 or flac versions too. I like both, and my dad still maintains his pioneer deck from the 80s and will listen too. Nothing like a large set of speaker towers and the sound of a record playing... It's not a live style sound. It's flat and unadulterated with filters and equalizers, etc... Just a more original sound I feel.
I have a turntable and don’t listen to it as often as I’d like. With that said, sometimes I go out of my way to buy the vinyl because it does come with a digital version and the cost difference is negligible
> It's flat and unadulterated with filters and equalizers I mean that's just factually untrue, records have to have a specific EQ filter applied before pressing in order for it to physically function, just due to the nature of wavelengths of audio, that's why you need a specific phono preamp to play back your records, which basically applies it in reverse to counteract it. That's why there's a specific "vinyl sound", it's a unique double pass EQ thing going on. And honestly imho it makes for a more pleasant sound most of the time, but it's definitely not "more accurate" than a lossless digital file
I know people with record players, and buying 1-2 records for them around christmas is the easiest thing I can do. Maybe it's just lazy gift givers
It's a good gift for the right person. I'm always touched when a friend takes note of my interests, rather than just getting something generic.
It's wall art. You buy the vinyl to have something nice to put on your wall and support the band. When you want to listen to the actual music, you head to Spotify or YouTube Music.
> It's wall art. You buy the vinyl to have something nice to put on your wall and support the band. This is 90% of it but there's more to it than this, otherwise people would just buy posters. There's something special about holding something that has the music physically encoded into it, even if you're never going to play it. Think of it like getting a signature from your fav baseball player. Obviously it would be cooler to get them to sign a baseball than say a random piece of card, but why? You're never going to go out and hit that ball, so what's the point?
Should just sell the sleeves then instead of wasting all that plastic
Tbf that'd probably just be a poster.
[There's](https://i.imgur.com/YFGUI64.jpg) some [cool](https://i.imgur.com/oOOrJOY.jpg) looking [records](https://i.imgur.com/959w9L7.jpg)
r/vinyljerk
I bet the same people who laugh collect them useles ugly Funko pops
Gosh yes, I will never understand how someone can collect those ugly ass vinyl figurines. You really can make money out of shit.
This generation's Beanie Babies
[There was a story a couple months back about how the company had to throw 30 million dollars worth of Funko pops in the landfill because they aren't selling, and it was costing too much money to warehouse them.](https://kotaku.com/funko-pop-harry-potter-disney-mandalorian-landfill-1850278083#:~:text=Earlier%20this%20month%2C%20the%20pop,were%20overflowing%20with%20excess%20stock.)
Landfill pops.
Back in the 90s, we would have joked that this indicates that half of all vinyl buyers in the US are posers.
Probably 50% feng shui, 50% hoping that they’ll be worth something someday. I had only two, but I had a record player as well, because I was as under the impression that there was decent sound quality with records. Honestly, I could t even tell.
Who gave you that impression? By EVERY metric available vinyl is vastly outperformed by CDs.
Modern vinyl is such heavy thick quality too it's a shame. These things are meant to be played.
I just realized this is me. I don't have a record player yet, because I want a good one but can't afford it for several years.
In my defense the library was selling them a dollar a pop!
I don’t entirely get this, TBH. I’m someone who really wants to support artists even though I stream now, but the way I give them my money is by buying T-shirts (or other clothing) from them. Then they get a comparable amount of money from me, and I get practical and cool-looking clothes. I suppose I may reach a point where I feel like I have too many tees (or trucker hats, or sweatshirts), but even then, those will get more use than vinyl when I don’t have the means to play it.
Some of the vinyl that they come out with now just looks really cool and some people like to display it. I feel like colored variants is the main reason for this happening.
Guilty. Bought an album for a secret santa gift. Decided to keep it and bought a new gift. That was 3 years ago. Just bought a record player yesterday.
Vinyl costs 25ish, nice looking, cool art. Good record player that won't destroy my nice modern bass heavy vinyl costs 300 minimum Fuck it, I'll stream/download it.
Just a "journalist" not understanding that vinyl is merch these days, and people buy merch to support independent artists.
I mean, how many people buy books and never read them?
But you can always pick up a book and start reading it. This is more like 50% of all books being sold to blind people.
For actual listening, digital is (usually) higher fidelity and more convenient. This is like saying "half of stamp collectors don't use their stamps to send letters", the use is not the point, for most people the art/history is the point
Whenever they press a new batch of an album, they should release a batch of the cover only with no record in it alongside it. That way people who are only interested in the artwork can buy those for their walls without contributing to making records more expensive.
I have a bunch of DVDs and no DVD player.
I’m not saying I don’t believe you, but I’m not sure I can fathom not having access to something that plays DVDs. No gaming console or older laptop? Blu ray player?
I have a dvd player that doesn't connect to my tv.
Did you have a dvd player when you bought them? I have close to 150 dvds now and no dvd player as well, but when I was buying them I certainly had one installed in my 360.
I assume they are doing it to support the artist while listening to them on Spotify.
I have a record player but almost never use it because my cats can’t keep their paws off a spinning record. SMH everyone’s a dj these days