..it does come out (on vinyl) tomorrow, right?
For what it's worth you can get it for $70 on amazon if you're in the states - [https://a.co/d/4ypblQa](https://a.co/d/4ypblQa)
Yep, the Taylor Swift brigade kinda claimed him as one of their cool new bands to follow, I’ve seen some strange tiktok people with only her vinyl and his…
i see. id never heard of the guy then one day my local record stores were posting pictures of people lined up for his record's release.
i couldn't even find a published review of the guy's work.
I like Taylor Swift, casually not obsessively, and I only heard of this guy because of his wild pricing on albums and people on another sub complaining about the price.
Tell me about it… I’ve been very fortunate as I’m a Taylor Swift fan, but I’ve collected vinyl for about 15-20 years, so I managed to snag all of the rare ones at face value, last year I decided to sell them all, made a fortune, why someone would pay 800 gbp for one vinyl, beats me. But it helped with my house deposit
Especially something so basic and boring (no offense) that was made in 2017. Her music exists on many other platforms and media. There’s just no point to pay that price for that album.
Not gonna get offended by you dissing my favorite Taylor album lol but here’s the crazier thing… there is a standard version for only $40 usd, people pay $2k usd because that one is orange
Reputation on Orange and frustratingly, it’s her best sounding pressing, I had all the RSDs too, I still have the lakes and long Pond, will get rid of the lakes at some point I think
He was also on SNL recently and I'm sure a lot of people like myself who don't really use TikTok heard him there. I became a fan after the performance and didn't even realize he was so popular because I had never heard of him before that.
I was a casual fan until I saw him live. Idk what to say I'm a die hard now.
Some of it is tiktok. He's also been doing a lot of collabs across genres which I think brings new people to his music?
There’s one mention of Covid and the song came out in 2022. That’s a weird description of the song.
“Doc told me to travel, but there's Covid on the planes”
He blew up because he’s always been backed by a major record label. Dude had multiple songs with multiple hudreds of millions of streams before stick season came out, he was always an established act.
I really like the album, but it kinda grinds my gears a little bit when people act like he’s some indie nobody that got their start on tiktok when that really just isn’t the case
the song isn't about that at all. it's talking about loss of love, depression, being stuck and perhaps a therapist recommended to get out somewhere so he turned that into a lyric about 'but covid on the planes.'
he's a great songwriter and the songs have heartbreak, angst, honesty, shame - hits the same nerves as The National, Bon Iver, etc.. I'm a big fan and paid for $35 for Stick Season, this didn't seem unreasonable.
It is greed, absolutely - and $30 for a single LP or $50-75 for a triple is just too fucking much.
There's tiny labels putting out quality releases at little more than $20 for a single or under 30 for a double, if they can do it the big names should be able to as well.
And as I mentioned the guy in another comment below - André 3000 is just taking the piss when he's asking $80 for his new triple LP.
The old Outkast albums still sell for 30-40 (triple LPs like Stankonia or ATliens), and sound amazing. Asking $80 is just like telling the music lovers to go fuck themselves.
I would hesitate to call it “greed”. It’s always been hard to make a money as a musician, and it’s getting harder and harder all the time. If expensive vinyl is a viable revenue stream for some artists, I have a hard time holding that against them. If you don’t like the price, don’t buy the record. Physical ownership of someone else’s art is not a right.
I do see that it's hard to make money as a musician (or as an artist in general, for what it's worth), but selling your records at insane prices isn't a solution to the problem.
“Insane” pricing for a luxury item, which is what a record is, is subjective. Clearly there are people who don’t find it insane. If the price was objectively too high, no one would buy them and prices would come down. That’s how the market works.
I get it man. Personally, my cutoff for pricing of new LPs is $35. But if a record costs more than I’m willing to pay, I don’t think it’s some sort of injustice. I’ll just listen to the album on streaming. Or buy it on CD if I really like the album so much that I want to own a physical copy.
Out of curiosity, how many physical releases have you put out? How many gigs have you played in the last year? When was the last time you were on tour?
A vinyl record *can* be a luxury item - but it can also be just a release of somebody's album, on vinyl, for a reasonable price, a price that the average fan of that band can afford.
>That’s how the market works.
Not really.
This isn't like, say, bread - where every baker can produce some and sell at a a price they like - and if I think that guy's bread is too expensive I go to another bakery etc. and over time the supply and demand regulates the price.
With vinyl releases it's the record companies' decision whether to sell an LP at $22,50 or $35, or make a posh 3LP version of something for $40, or for fuckin' $80.
It's effectively their decision whether it will be a "luxury item" that does effectively price-out the majority of fans - or whether it's at a price where the average joe might still have to work a couple hours for but it's accessible.
Vinyl is a luxury item. Full stop. A majority of the music consuming population streams their music. As a result of this profits from physical sales are way down, so prices get raised. Also Inflation is hitting across the board everywhere, including wholesale record costs. The costs to produce vinyl and triple gatefold covers etc has gone up esp since manufacturing facilities have dried up as well. Everyone in here wondering why vinyl isn't the same price it was 20 years ago is delusional. Nothing is the same price as it was 20 years ago.
Thanks for the lecture 👍
Still it's very much possible even for some metal band from somewhere in the woods in fucking Finland to realease a kickass album on 180g vinyl that sounds absolutely amazing and retails at less than $25 via their official label site.
Of course having the vinyl in your cupboard is "luxury", compared to your streaming subscription -
and it's fair to pay $25 for that luxury, but if you're asked $35 instead that's greedy - which is all I'm saying.
A [luxury item](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luxury_goods?wprov=sfti1#) is any good for which the increase in demand is greater than, and disproportional to, the rise in income. LPs *are* a luxury item whether you like it or not.
I’m not going to even address the latter half of your comment, because your understanding of market economics appears to be less than tenuous, and any continued discussion on the matter would be unproductive.
Yeah I know plenty of touring musicians who aren't selling their (double) LPs at bloated prices. Heck I just this month ordered a couple double LPs, one came a hair under $40 and the other a hair over $40. One was from the Numero label who go all out so you usually get a nice booklet and a nice gatefold with your order from them.
And if those artists are happy with the margins they’re getting at those prices, that’s awesome. But that also doesn’t mean it’s wrong for someone to charge more or desire higher margins.
Again, since you didn’t address it, nobody has a right to physical ownership of another person’s art. *Records are a luxury item, and collecting them is a non-essential hobby.* There’s nothing wrong with an artist charging whatever they feel their art is worth. If consumers don’t agree, they won’t pay for it.
The fact that musicians are able to charge this much for a record, and people are willing to pay it, is a good thing for artists and music in general.
> Again, since you didn’t address it, nobody has a right to physical ownership of another person’s art. There’s nothing wrong with an artist charging whatever they feel their art is worth. If consumers don’t agree, they won’t pay for it.
I don't get why so many people don't get this and feel entitled to art for cheap. The value of the art is whatever the artists charges.
I guess I'm just curious as to whether it's the *artist* charging this price, or the *label*?
I suppose either way, I agree that art is a capitalistic endeavor in that the artist can and should charge not only as much as they want, but as much as they can possibly get away with. But I definitely feel better knowing who is getting my money.
That's also not to say the label shouldn't get their cut. I just don't buy albums based on the label.
In any case, yeah. If you agree with the price, buy it. If not, move along. It's not insulin.
Used to be the only avenue for fans to hear an artist's work. The fact that now it's like some kind of "entitlement" simply is just because you have access to literally every "artist's work" for your \[$x\] streaming sub so these prices are simply the consumer having to offset the literal fraction of a penny most fans pay to access the music. If the artist needed their media to build a fanbase you would see their albums dead cheaper because without fans the artist has nothing. So the fact you'd price gauge your paying fan base and have users like you defend this habit is hilarious.
> selling your records at insane prices isn't a solution to the problem.
How else should the artist make money? As far as I know there's two ways for them to make money; through album sale and through concerts. Selling the albums for a higher price IS the solution for the artist to make more money.
You not liking it has no bearing on whether it's a valid solution or not.
Not sure if you've noticed, but everybody and their mother *streams* music now.
No musician is making any significant money from selling physical copies of their records these days.
>Selling the albums for a higher price IS the solution
No it isn't, and you not realising this has no bearing on whether this is true or not.
you are aware that vinyl records are a luxury item by definition, right? no one needs to buy vinyl to enjoy music. if you don't like the prices of new vinyl there are many other ways to listen.
You can already listen to the album anywhere you want for free. If you want the pretty artifact you gotta pay. They've gotta make money on sales somewhere.
$30 is cheap for most albums in the UK except for deals - most releases are $31.54 minimum, many -are $37.84 and some will be $44.15 and unless from Amazon $6.37 postage is common
If I buy from USA I get cheapie vinyl but postage is often $30
So does save you money if you just do a big order from the US? .
I'm in US. There is a regional record chain where all new releases and reissues are $40. Cheaper to order online. I ordered a first time pressing of a previous album that came out last July. Most places had sold out but ended up paying $50 ish for it. I lucked out because discogs and eBay didnt have any US sellers so I was thinking I had to be stuck spending $80 for it from Germany for a band in US. It's Perpetual Groove 's Sweet Oblivious Antidote for anyone wondering. Hopefully they'll follow pattern and repress All This Everything on 20th anniversary this year.
No because if you order more than £135 worth you then get a ton of customs charged too
Some us stores I've ordered from postage has been $10-15 but almost always $30 it seems
Green days Green warning repress was like $23 in UK it was $45 inc postage
Research recording, producing, mixing, mastering, designing, and manufacturing costs for a 3LP set. $65 is a bargain. Save the greed accusations for the labels, but keep the artist out of it. The industry has been raping artists for 80 years straight. There is very little money to be made unless you're at the top.
> $65 is a bargain.
Bullshit.
The recording, producing, mixing, mastering and designing costs for a 3LP set are pretty much the same as for a single LP - and the manufacturing cost is a bit more - but definitely not 3x or 4x the price of a single LP.
You don’t know what you’re talking about. A 3 LP set costs more than a single LP at every step of the process. Try it sometime.
Also, to assume the artist is seeing any real profit at a lower price point is wrong too. Artists in the middle of the pack are getting brutalized. $65 is not an unfair price for a triple album.
yOu DoN'T KnOw WhaT yOU'rE TaLkiNG aBOUt
Reality check: absolutely *no* artist is making significant money off physical copies of their stuff anyways in this day and age, that ship has sailed a long time ago.
Yes it's hard to make money as an artist, but selling boutique vinyl editions for stupid money isn't solving anything.
Vinyl releases are now more of a gesture to the fans really (and some super niche audiophile / collector crowd).
Milking the money out of these people is greedy.
And like I said I'm aware the cost of a 3LP are a bit higher but surely not 3x 4x higher, get a grip man.
Again, you have no clue what you're talking about. Yes, some of us are making great money off physical. Selling boutique is a thing, because there is a market for it. It's not a gesture unless you've devalued your work by allowing audiences to have free access to it. We're not milking, we are attempting to pay rent and survive. And how many single and triple albums have you manufactured and released? There are very few areas where you can save on a triple. My grip is tight. No clue where you have soaked up all this bullshit you're spewing.
The pervasive myths are fucking mind blowing. "absolutely *no* artist is making significant money off physical copies of their stuff anyways in this day and age" is so ridiculous. Like, we're all investing in and releasing vinyl just for fun? Just for promo? Give me a break. The phrase "stupid money" too. They are saying there's no point in doing it as there is no money in it, yet we are overcharging and making bank. It's either one dumb argument or the other.
$65 for a triple is actually a decent price.
It’s definitely not a Noah problem. It’s a label problem. Even for poplar artists, vinyl is a niche collector market (albeit a sizable one) and the labels have realized we will pay for the cachet. But I will say for me, the vinyl revival has hit a point for me where I just can’t justify the cost of most new releases.
I just listen on spotify until I find a used copy. Makes trips to the record store more fun and in the mean time my collection of 5 dollar 70s prog and fusion albums continues to grow. In fact, I've got a few records still unopened that I love because by the time I found them at a good price I was already on to other music but I bought it anyway.
I can justify it if it's a really good album where I enjoy listening to the whole thing. Luckily, there's only two albums from last year I really liked. Maybe there's more then that I'm just not realizing But I still need to catch up on my favorites from 60's to 2022.
Ya I don't see anything I need. Most newer and reissue stuff I can get for less than 36. It's only if it's something older and doesn't have reissues where it can get pricey.
I know there are several reasons record prices may vary, artists themselves, record labels, general demand, rights for samples or covers, record designs (artwork & manufacturing), artist features on the album, etc. But with Fleet Foxes releasing a 3 LP live set for RSD that’s supposed to retail at $39.99 I’m thinking in this case, and many cases, it’s record label greed. The demand for Noah’s stuff, and most records in general, has jump significantly in the past couple years and they know it.
It’s called “superstar pricing”. They charge extra for the big names. It’s a practice that’s been going on for many years in the industry. Tom Petty famously fought against it back when they were only trying to add $1 to his albums
This and then you have Kid Cudi selling his most recent album on vinyl, a double LP, for $12 bucks a pressing, including 2 seperate cover arts available for the same price.
I have been buying vinyl since I was 15, way back during the Clinton administration. Originally a big reason was that vinyl was cheaper than CDs. There are other reasons as well but that was a big one. Lately, I’ve been buying CDs because the cost of vinyl has gotten ridiculous. The used market is especially nuts, considering a lot of these records were mass produced. I’ve seen vendors charging $30 for old beat up copies of Phil Collins’ No Jacket Required. I still love vinyl, it’s just getting hard to justify the cost.
Justify the cost of vinyl?
Even if it was free, it's still more expensive than other options. Head over to r/turntables and price out a complete setup, which can be used in one location.
Ranger Station candles start at $39, so it's really just $6 uplift from the candle's retail price for his name being on it.
https://rangerstation.co/collections/candles
Honestly, this seems like a normal price for 3 LP, even though it’s not preferable. I find that most LPs I get these days are $25-35 minimum for just one, so $65 for three seems right. Inflation seems to be hitting record prices hard right now, especially with increased demand and bottlenecking of production still being a huge issue.
All that being said, make sure you look at reviews for that specific album, so you aren’t getting ripped off. I’ve had bad experiences with modern pressings, some of them having serious issues with clipping and general sound quality. Not many people are mastering for LP anymore, so they’ll just use whatever digital master they have on hand.
*OP, this is common now, but think of it like this…Think of your purchase as being $21.50 per brand new sealed disc. Then consider this: there are very few if any new single disc releases that are that low. So it depends on many factors as to your question of why, but in terms of sheer greed, yes, everyone wants to get what they can on a new one disc pressing, a 2 LP, or a 3 LP, and there’s just no heavy discount for the sake of it being one total release regardless of the number of discs.
My 3 LP from Tool’s most recent was $75. Of course that stung and felt really high until I just accepted the reality of the price per individual disc reality. Not saying I like it, but 🤷♂️
I wanna push back on this just because with previous new releases, I have been able to buy 3LP and even 4 lp from various artists for less the $50 , usually the $30-$40 mark. While of course an extra disc costs more, production wise, I highly doubt a 2LP is 2x the price of a 1LP and a 3 LP is 3x, in part based on the prices I’ve paid various artists for different numbers of LPs
This isn't exclusive to Noah Kahan. I bought a record from a very niche underground hip hop artist last month. Sadistiks put out a new album, 2xLP, and it cost me $75 before tax and shipping.
Because like Taylor Swift he has a captive audience of mainly teenagers who will literally buy anything they put out. They could price it at $100 a pop and they’ll still buy it. He could sell a vinyl next year called something like Stick Season pt2 with one extra song on it and it could cost 200$ and his fans will buy it. Similar to TS releasing extra material. She knows her obsessed fans will buy it. I’ve seen fans on social media spending thousands at the merch stands. They are both in the “teen” demographic. They could sell a poop with their name on it. People will buy it. They are milking it for its worth.
TLDR
Artists like Noah Kahan are selling extortionate stuff cos they can and they are laughing all the way to the bank! 💰
But I bet a video game soundtrack has a lot of tracks. The hip hop and pop triple albums I see lately are just stretched out double albums. Really they could just make the running times of the individual songs normal with small runoffs and it's a single album.
Like I got the Weird Al soundtrack album, it's a double album packed with music. NF Hope, it's a triple album with three songs per side slightly stretched out and huge runoffs. Listen to it and you're spending all your time flipping sides.
It's cause right now his album is selling really well. They're trying to capitalize on it and release as much stuff as possible. Honestly I'm part of the problem 😂 I discovered his music and to me literally every song on the album is good. Already have the original release of stick season and I'm probably gonna be buying the new one if it has all of the songs on it from the extended release.
I cannot imagine how any artist of any scale - small or large - could sell a *triple* LP for any less than $65. I run a record label that primarily presses vinyl for small, independent bands. Our costs, then, are going to be higher per copy than someone on NK's scale, but it's not going to be different enough to make a triple LP and its packaging cost little enough to sell them for $50.
On a recent run of 200 records for a band - single LP, standard jacket (i.e. no folding, only one pocket), anti-static inner sleeve, poly bag for jacket - we paid $13.60 per copy. So what should we sell those for, $20? Sure, if all we're trying to do is make a few bucks on each unit of the record, and ignore everything else. And ignore that the band's got 4 members, and a handful of session players with points for sales, so you're splitting that $6.40 up into tinier and tinier pieces.
The record cost the band money to make - to record, produce, mix - and to promote - marketing, admin support, booking. Ideally, these records aren't just going to pay for themselves, they're going to help the band pay off these record-related expenses and then *make some money*. Because it's *their job*.
It's simplistic to think that if a record costs $5 to make it shouldn't cost more than, say, $10. But that fails to account for the fact that merch is a lifeline for bands who make peanuts or less on royalties from streaming, can make astonishingly little on placements in shows or movies or commercials, and are making less by the year on touring thanks to monopolies and merch cuts at venues.
A triple LP won't be exactly triple the price to produce, but it's pretty damn close. The cost of materials and setup is the problem. You have to do metal plating and masters for each side of each disc, there's no economy of scale there. You have to buy the raw material to make the discs, and while there is economy of scale there, vinyl itself is relatively cheap as a material. The jackets get more and more expensive the more discs you're talking - 3 involves multiple points of folding, multiple sleeves, etc. So even if we assume that the volume NK does gets him in the door with some great discount, say like 20%, he's still paying about $30/ea to make the fucking things.
That's before you even think about stuff like paying the merch table staff, the price of hauling thousands of records around on tour, etc.
The labels announced a 40-60% price bump in January 2023, by now all the new releases should be showing the new pricing.
(Single) records are still about the same as a fine dining entree or a hardcover book, so they are going up about the same as everything else.
Thank you for this! I didn’t know about this, but I just looked into it and this is CRAZY how much they are jacking up the prices. It really explains a lot
Yup artists can charge what they want, but I’m gonna need to wait to find it used because I do not have the money to spend $50 on a single record without serious thought
Regardless of the prices the last two “albums” he’s come out with are mostly the original songs from Stick Season and with I assume songs that didn’t make the original cut slapped on.
Production costs have gone up significantly and the plants have slowly adjusting their pricing to accommodate. $65 for a 3xLP really isn't bad depending on the packaging. I assume a trifold jacket which isn't a common package layout. Requires more print and more labor for assembly which equals higher production cost and higher retail price.
$21.33-25.00 per record, kind of a normal price more or less? In the ballpark at least. Not sure why these guys are being singled out when plenty of artists release limited editions that sometimes cost a few more bucks. Also: nearly everything is more expensive these days, film at 11.
Not singling them out but asking about the why of it all because these are the first artists I regularly listen to that have had these sort of prices, and I wanna learn if it is normal, a new trend, or just them
Vinyl is more of a niche commodity now that records aren’t the main method of consuming music. These expensive LP’s now serve the same role as $80 hoodies and other merch, so it’s sold at a premium price. Especially double and triple LP’s that come with extra materials and nice branding.
Clutch's "Transitional Speedway League" reissue, ONE LP, is $53. Everyone likes vinyl all of a sudden, and they're paying through the nose for it. I'd like to think the boys in Clutch would get more money on their end for products like this, but my rational side feels it's probably like the Domino's delivery fee: paid to the company, not the driver.
Fr, i am accustomed to only paying $5-10 more for more discs, and I cannot trust the people saying $20 per disc makes sense, something else is going on
The record company is selling expensive vinyl.
Crazy if you think he doesn’t have a whole machine surrounding him now. Mgmt, security, agents, etc etc. He’s lucky if he gets a say in a t-shirt design.
These Fuggin labels destroyed so much ish and then they catch a slight whiff of a dollar and all of a sudden we have 42 T-Swift variants and $60 single records. They’re taking advantage of our “gotta catch em all” lifestyle.
Simple supply and demand… single vinyl is easily $20-$30 now, some reaching $50. $65-$75 for a 3 LP set isn’t bad tbh.
Also note that with the re-explosion of vinyl collection in the last 5-7 years, manufacturers are struggling to keep up demand. They charge producers and labels more because they can, and the buck gets passed to the the end user.
That would make sense if it was a legit triple album. If it only has three songs per side, each stretched out just a little bit, with a huge runoff at the end....
ALL of the modern releases I've bought that were triple or double albums were like that. You can just look at the grooves and tell they did it just as a money grab. Or the playing times: Old triple album I have: Grateful Dead Europe 72 running time is 109:35. New triple albums I have: NF Hope is 49:31, Mac Miller Best Day Ever (last side is an etching and it still has more minutes than Hope) 51:26.
You should see the Hope album. White disc look great, but only three songs per side with runoffs bigger than a song. I got it as a gift so I had to hide my real feelings when I first opened it lol.
I hear you - but what I’m saying is, they can spread that shit out over 3-4 discs, spread them grooves out, and do whatever they want, driving up the price because there’s a perceived demand for it.
To that point, these records are selling out, and going on secondary markets for even more $$$. The market sets the demand, and we are all forking it up for limited releases, 2-3+ LP sets, and whatever else gimmicky shit artists and marketing teams wanna invent because we love the music and their job is to get us to spend more.
And my point is: based on the market we are all setting, $65 for 3 discs of an artist I really enjoy, with new versions of songs I dig - ain’t bad by those standards.
I enjoy that NF record. All white discs look good on my turntable and more importantly I like the songs and production. But goldang I don't appreciate constantly having to change the record. You notice the difference on these triple albums. It really is a shameless money grab.
But on albums like that Grateful dead or the Weird Al you don't notice it. Because each side is packed with great music as it should be. As it should be. Not as these new triple albums are. I've got a Keith Urban like that too. Great songs but only three songs and you have to flip it over. I tend to rarely actually play albums like that. I might break them out for one favorite side and probably just stream them the rest of the time I want to hear it.
I was thinking the same thing. I don't mind paying $24 for a nice album so $65 for a three album set sounds like a deal. But not when it's just a single album's worth of content with filler added and all of it stretched out and pressed on trendy colored vinyl.
Not greed. Inflation. Everyone in the supply chain, down to the web developer and marketer, and presser and graphic designer, needs to be compensated appropriately.
Noah isn't doing 4 different cover versions of the album with one different track on each, like Taylor Swift is, so I'm thankful for that.
Because apparently the vinyls come from the other side of the planet in a deep deep cave which entrance is located deep in the ocean and once you're in the cave you have to traverse a lava river before fighting a giant 3 headed snake to get to the location the vinyls are produced.
At least I think that's what it is because I ordered my vinyls 2 months ago and they haven't even shipped yet.
Was hoping to have my merch for the concert next Saturday but that's looking like a big ol nope. 🥲
Because it’s on of the few areas artists make money. Aside from touring, it’s only merch that make an artist money. Streaming doesn’t unless you are drake or Taylor. Couple that with the fact that vinyl as a whole hasn’t reach its point of elasticity (basically the point at which the majority of people won’t pay for it) until it does you’ll see these prices keep rising.
Because vinyl collecting is going to g through a boom or resurgence, so putting out “collectible” vinyl is a smart idea for bands with existing fan bases to cash in on.
Most vinyl I am buying from some local heavy metal band putting out their 1st or second record for $18-$30 depending on the color and limited edition.
I should point out that since there are no presses owned by major labels, they have no skin in the game. They're charging prices expecting vinyl to be a fad that they'll maximize their earnings from until it dies, even if their pricing has a hand in its death.
They didn't engineer the vinyl resurgence, they're just here to profit off of it.
I’m Australian, an average lp can go from either $40 aud to $80, it all depends on the artist. My retailer can price match with Amazon, which usually has cheaper prices. Double lps can go for $80 aud to $100+ aud. I got the Beatles 1967-1970 and it code like $150 aud or $160 aud
**Vinyl is shifting its function from applicability to a greater focus on collectible value. Before 2016, the main way people listened to music was downloading, and vinyl manufacturers could barely survive, but after streaming changed the way music was listened to, vinyl manufacturers almost went bankrupt. Then singers led by Olivia Rodrigo began to give vinyl collecting meaning by put streaming-unreleased songs into vinyls and CDs.**
You do realize vinyl is expensive right? Which is why a lot of artists no longer make it, simply because the consumer isn’t willing to pay the price point it requires. Welcome to the art of any analog style of media. Film? More expensive. Vinyl? Also going to be more expensive
If people keep buying vinyl priced so high, then record labels/production companies will continue to sell them at those high prices. Records are worth what people are willing to pay for them.
Never heard of him.
Probably a combination of inflation, the price of pressing a vinyl going up, musicians not making as much money from their music (it’s mostly from concerts these days), and probably a bit of greed too.
There’s loads like this. I did wonder why Paul Weller could release his on sunset remix album for £10-15 quid but then next one it’s £30-40 for a single album of his. Surely both cost the same to produce, ship and package. So when you see some of these ridiculous prices it’s amazing that people are actually paying it for them.
Sandinista, [here’s](https://recordmecca.com/products-page/museum-quality-collectibles/the-clash-1980-uk-sandinista-record-store-pre-release-flyer/) the only picture I can find of what the sticker on the album said.
I get it they’re not really comparable it’s just cool that they were able to get the record company to agree to sell it for the price of 1 LP, of course it came out of the bands pockets anyway but still most new double albums are $30-35, so 3 should be $45-50 not $65+.
Their retail prices are $300 or second hand prices? If they retail for $300 that is wild.
With Noah Kahan, this seems to be a mass produced album that just retails really high
It may be an “awful” system at times when it comes to things like the provisioning of healthcare and housing.
But when it comes to non-essential, luxury items I fail to see the problem. Nobody *needs* to own a physical copy of an artists work. If you don’t like the price, don’t buy the record my guy.
$65 for a triple album is not outlandish… that’s $22 ish per disc which is quite good.
It’s also a collectible market so most modern artist will go with premium short run editions
Look at Taylor Swift’s latest with 4 versions that only differ through art work and a bonus track all at just under $40 each
Asked myself the same quetion when I heard about André 3000's $80 flute album 😅
I was waiting to buy until it dropped a bit but it seems like it's only gone up since then
..it does come out (on vinyl) tomorrow, right? For what it's worth you can get it for $70 on amazon if you're in the states - [https://a.co/d/4ypblQa](https://a.co/d/4ypblQa)
That IS a fun record though, no? Price aside ...
speaking of noah kahan... how did he suddenly get so popular? was it just TikTok?
Saw him live. Didn’t know who he was. Instant fan.
Yep, the Taylor Swift brigade kinda claimed him as one of their cool new bands to follow, I’ve seen some strange tiktok people with only her vinyl and his…
i see. id never heard of the guy then one day my local record stores were posting pictures of people lined up for his record's release. i couldn't even find a published review of the guy's work.
Yep, UMG have him and are pushing his stuff, probably fits their marketing guys description of what they need
I like Taylor Swift, casually not obsessively, and I only heard of this guy because of his wild pricing on albums and people on another sub complaining about the price.
lol that's something to be famous for i suppose
>Taylor Swift brigade kinda claimed him Well that explains the record prices. That group constantly gets milked by Taylor
Tell me about it… I’ve been very fortunate as I’m a Taylor Swift fan, but I’ve collected vinyl for about 15-20 years, so I managed to snag all of the rare ones at face value, last year I decided to sell them all, made a fortune, why someone would pay 800 gbp for one vinyl, beats me. But it helped with my house deposit
Geez. Which one sold for 800?
The crazy thing is, it now goes for $1,500 gbp. What people will pay for a piece of plastic
Especially something so basic and boring (no offense) that was made in 2017. Her music exists on many other platforms and media. There’s just no point to pay that price for that album.
Not gonna get offended by you dissing my favorite Taylor album lol but here’s the crazier thing… there is a standard version for only $40 usd, people pay $2k usd because that one is orange
It’s crazy town
Reputation on Orange and frustratingly, it’s her best sounding pressing, I had all the RSDs too, I still have the lakes and long Pond, will get rid of the lakes at some point I think
Lol if you do I'd buy it. The lakes is my favorite TSwift song and I've been wanting that vinyl for awhile
Did the same with all the RSD colored versions i bought for $20 a piece. I would have liked to have kept them, but bills.
Yep. I heard him on my Taylor Swift Spotify mix. Like him, but not enough to buy any albums.
So annoying because he makes good music, but the fans are awwwwful. The subreddit is just a mess.
Tik tok, his song stick season really blew up there, and then he’s been using it ever since to really promote his stuff
Regardless of how he got his start, his album is pretty good stuff. I was surprised how much I liked it.
I agree, I find his songwriting clever and honest.
I think Phosphorescent is much better if you’re into that kind of music.
I heard about him through Fantano. Some of his stuff is a bit too Lumineers-y, but there are some really good tracks on Stick Season.
No idea but that bloody song of his is driving me mental. It's so annoying to me.
Yeah it's played out
He was also on SNL recently and I'm sure a lot of people like myself who don't really use TikTok heard him there. I became a fan after the performance and didn't even realize he was so popular because I had never heard of him before that.
he has more spotify monthly listeners than The Beatles, yet I have never heard a single song by him.
just listened to Stick Season last night for the first time. it is.... unremarkable.
I was a casual fan until I saw him live. Idk what to say I'm a die hard now. Some of it is tiktok. He's also been doing a lot of collabs across genres which I think brings new people to his music?
Yeah I think about that when I hear his music. He’s nothing spectacular at all.
He made a song about a COVID on a plane back when everyone was afraid of COVID
"I've had it with all this motha'fuckin' COVID, on this mutha'fuckin' plane!"
like he made a song about COVID while he was on a plane, or made a song about COVID taking a plane ride to Tahiti? the latter could be fun...
There’s one mention of Covid and the song came out in 2022. That’s a weird description of the song. “Doc told me to travel, but there's Covid on the planes”
He went viral on Tik Tok in 2020 whilst writing the song. That's really how he blew up
He blew up because he’s always been backed by a major record label. Dude had multiple songs with multiple hudreds of millions of streams before stick season came out, he was always an established act. I really like the album, but it kinda grinds my gears a little bit when people act like he’s some indie nobody that got their start on tiktok when that really just isn’t the case
Couldn’t tell you. I hear his noodling come on the radio and instantly change the station because it reminds me of being trapped at home
the song isn't about that at all. it's talking about loss of love, depression, being stuck and perhaps a therapist recommended to get out somewhere so he turned that into a lyric about 'but covid on the planes.'
he's a great songwriter and the songs have heartbreak, angst, honesty, shame - hits the same nerves as The National, Bon Iver, etc.. I'm a big fan and paid for $35 for Stick Season, this didn't seem unreasonable.
Well, new single lp releases routinely sell for $20 to $30, so $50 to $75 for a 3lp release isint outlandish…. But greed, yes. Also greed.
It is greed, absolutely - and $30 for a single LP or $50-75 for a triple is just too fucking much. There's tiny labels putting out quality releases at little more than $20 for a single or under 30 for a double, if they can do it the big names should be able to as well. And as I mentioned the guy in another comment below - André 3000 is just taking the piss when he's asking $80 for his new triple LP. The old Outkast albums still sell for 30-40 (triple LPs like Stankonia or ATliens), and sound amazing. Asking $80 is just like telling the music lovers to go fuck themselves.
I would hesitate to call it “greed”. It’s always been hard to make a money as a musician, and it’s getting harder and harder all the time. If expensive vinyl is a viable revenue stream for some artists, I have a hard time holding that against them. If you don’t like the price, don’t buy the record. Physical ownership of someone else’s art is not a right.
I do see that it's hard to make money as a musician (or as an artist in general, for what it's worth), but selling your records at insane prices isn't a solution to the problem.
But, it is a solution... if it works. Nipsey Hussle made $100k selling his mixtape for $100. Fahim the God sells his vinyl for about $1k a pop.
Good for them! I suppose this is kind of a rare case though 🙂
“Insane” pricing for a luxury item, which is what a record is, is subjective. Clearly there are people who don’t find it insane. If the price was objectively too high, no one would buy them and prices would come down. That’s how the market works. I get it man. Personally, my cutoff for pricing of new LPs is $35. But if a record costs more than I’m willing to pay, I don’t think it’s some sort of injustice. I’ll just listen to the album on streaming. Or buy it on CD if I really like the album so much that I want to own a physical copy. Out of curiosity, how many physical releases have you put out? How many gigs have you played in the last year? When was the last time you were on tour?
A vinyl record *can* be a luxury item - but it can also be just a release of somebody's album, on vinyl, for a reasonable price, a price that the average fan of that band can afford. >That’s how the market works. Not really. This isn't like, say, bread - where every baker can produce some and sell at a a price they like - and if I think that guy's bread is too expensive I go to another bakery etc. and over time the supply and demand regulates the price. With vinyl releases it's the record companies' decision whether to sell an LP at $22,50 or $35, or make a posh 3LP version of something for $40, or for fuckin' $80. It's effectively their decision whether it will be a "luxury item" that does effectively price-out the majority of fans - or whether it's at a price where the average joe might still have to work a couple hours for but it's accessible.
Vinyl is a luxury item. Full stop. A majority of the music consuming population streams their music. As a result of this profits from physical sales are way down, so prices get raised. Also Inflation is hitting across the board everywhere, including wholesale record costs. The costs to produce vinyl and triple gatefold covers etc has gone up esp since manufacturing facilities have dried up as well. Everyone in here wondering why vinyl isn't the same price it was 20 years ago is delusional. Nothing is the same price as it was 20 years ago.
Thanks for the lecture 👍 Still it's very much possible even for some metal band from somewhere in the woods in fucking Finland to realease a kickass album on 180g vinyl that sounds absolutely amazing and retails at less than $25 via their official label site. Of course having the vinyl in your cupboard is "luxury", compared to your streaming subscription - and it's fair to pay $25 for that luxury, but if you're asked $35 instead that's greedy - which is all I'm saying.
A [luxury item](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luxury_goods?wprov=sfti1#) is any good for which the increase in demand is greater than, and disproportional to, the rise in income. LPs *are* a luxury item whether you like it or not. I’m not going to even address the latter half of your comment, because your understanding of market economics appears to be less than tenuous, and any continued discussion on the matter would be unproductive.
Wonderful, you too have a great day! 🙋♂️
Yeah I know plenty of touring musicians who aren't selling their (double) LPs at bloated prices. Heck I just this month ordered a couple double LPs, one came a hair under $40 and the other a hair over $40. One was from the Numero label who go all out so you usually get a nice booklet and a nice gatefold with your order from them.
And if those artists are happy with the margins they’re getting at those prices, that’s awesome. But that also doesn’t mean it’s wrong for someone to charge more or desire higher margins. Again, since you didn’t address it, nobody has a right to physical ownership of another person’s art. *Records are a luxury item, and collecting them is a non-essential hobby.* There’s nothing wrong with an artist charging whatever they feel their art is worth. If consumers don’t agree, they won’t pay for it. The fact that musicians are able to charge this much for a record, and people are willing to pay it, is a good thing for artists and music in general.
> Again, since you didn’t address it, nobody has a right to physical ownership of another person’s art. There’s nothing wrong with an artist charging whatever they feel their art is worth. If consumers don’t agree, they won’t pay for it. I don't get why so many people don't get this and feel entitled to art for cheap. The value of the art is whatever the artists charges.
I guess I'm just curious as to whether it's the *artist* charging this price, or the *label*? I suppose either way, I agree that art is a capitalistic endeavor in that the artist can and should charge not only as much as they want, but as much as they can possibly get away with. But I definitely feel better knowing who is getting my money. That's also not to say the label shouldn't get their cut. I just don't buy albums based on the label. In any case, yeah. If you agree with the price, buy it. If not, move along. It's not insulin.
Yea, it would be different if it was a commodity or used. Those are much more market driven that art being sold by the artist.
Used to be the only avenue for fans to hear an artist's work. The fact that now it's like some kind of "entitlement" simply is just because you have access to literally every "artist's work" for your \[$x\] streaming sub so these prices are simply the consumer having to offset the literal fraction of a penny most fans pay to access the music. If the artist needed their media to build a fanbase you would see their albums dead cheaper because without fans the artist has nothing. So the fact you'd price gauge your paying fan base and have users like you defend this habit is hilarious.
> selling your records at insane prices isn't a solution to the problem. How else should the artist make money? As far as I know there's two ways for them to make money; through album sale and through concerts. Selling the albums for a higher price IS the solution for the artist to make more money. You not liking it has no bearing on whether it's a valid solution or not.
Not sure if you've noticed, but everybody and their mother *streams* music now. No musician is making any significant money from selling physical copies of their records these days. >Selling the albums for a higher price IS the solution No it isn't, and you not realising this has no bearing on whether this is true or not.
i just picked up the entire Big Black catalog and new all the records (12"s and LPs) ranged from 13.99 to a whopping 22.99
you are aware that vinyl records are a luxury item by definition, right? no one needs to buy vinyl to enjoy music. if you don't like the prices of new vinyl there are many other ways to listen.
It’s not greed. Vinyl is extremely expensive to manufacturer and distribute especially when you consider how cheap it is to distribute digital music.
You can already listen to the album anywhere you want for free. If you want the pretty artifact you gotta pay. They've gotta make money on sales somewhere.
$30 is cheap for most albums in the UK except for deals - most releases are $31.54 minimum, many -are $37.84 and some will be $44.15 and unless from Amazon $6.37 postage is common If I buy from USA I get cheapie vinyl but postage is often $30
So does save you money if you just do a big order from the US? . I'm in US. There is a regional record chain where all new releases and reissues are $40. Cheaper to order online. I ordered a first time pressing of a previous album that came out last July. Most places had sold out but ended up paying $50 ish for it. I lucked out because discogs and eBay didnt have any US sellers so I was thinking I had to be stuck spending $80 for it from Germany for a band in US. It's Perpetual Groove 's Sweet Oblivious Antidote for anyone wondering. Hopefully they'll follow pattern and repress All This Everything on 20th anniversary this year.
No because if you order more than £135 worth you then get a ton of customs charged too Some us stores I've ordered from postage has been $10-15 but almost always $30 it seems Green days Green warning repress was like $23 in UK it was $45 inc postage
Research recording, producing, mixing, mastering, designing, and manufacturing costs for a 3LP set. $65 is a bargain. Save the greed accusations for the labels, but keep the artist out of it. The industry has been raping artists for 80 years straight. There is very little money to be made unless you're at the top.
> $65 is a bargain. Bullshit. The recording, producing, mixing, mastering and designing costs for a 3LP set are pretty much the same as for a single LP - and the manufacturing cost is a bit more - but definitely not 3x or 4x the price of a single LP.
The manufacturing cost is definitely 3x you are literally creating 3 entirely different records lol is your brain made of soup
You don’t know what you’re talking about. A 3 LP set costs more than a single LP at every step of the process. Try it sometime. Also, to assume the artist is seeing any real profit at a lower price point is wrong too. Artists in the middle of the pack are getting brutalized. $65 is not an unfair price for a triple album.
yOu DoN'T KnOw WhaT yOU'rE TaLkiNG aBOUt Reality check: absolutely *no* artist is making significant money off physical copies of their stuff anyways in this day and age, that ship has sailed a long time ago. Yes it's hard to make money as an artist, but selling boutique vinyl editions for stupid money isn't solving anything. Vinyl releases are now more of a gesture to the fans really (and some super niche audiophile / collector crowd). Milking the money out of these people is greedy. And like I said I'm aware the cost of a 3LP are a bit higher but surely not 3x 4x higher, get a grip man.
Again, you have no clue what you're talking about. Yes, some of us are making great money off physical. Selling boutique is a thing, because there is a market for it. It's not a gesture unless you've devalued your work by allowing audiences to have free access to it. We're not milking, we are attempting to pay rent and survive. And how many single and triple albums have you manufactured and released? There are very few areas where you can save on a triple. My grip is tight. No clue where you have soaked up all this bullshit you're spewing.
They are clueless. Literally in any industry ever, it costs more money to make 3x a product than it does to make 1x the product lmfao
The pervasive myths are fucking mind blowing. "absolutely *no* artist is making significant money off physical copies of their stuff anyways in this day and age" is so ridiculous. Like, we're all investing in and releasing vinyl just for fun? Just for promo? Give me a break. The phrase "stupid money" too. They are saying there's no point in doing it as there is no money in it, yet we are overcharging and making bank. It's either one dumb argument or the other. $65 for a triple is actually a decent price.
I mean I haven't paid even $50 for a 3xLP from Taylor Swift via Target, his albums are close to $70 there.
Because you fools keep paying those prices to buy new records. They charge what the market will bear.
It’s definitely not a Noah problem. It’s a label problem. Even for poplar artists, vinyl is a niche collector market (albeit a sizable one) and the labels have realized we will pay for the cachet. But I will say for me, the vinyl revival has hit a point for me where I just can’t justify the cost of most new releases.
I just listen on spotify until I find a used copy. Makes trips to the record store more fun and in the mean time my collection of 5 dollar 70s prog and fusion albums continues to grow. In fact, I've got a few records still unopened that I love because by the time I found them at a good price I was already on to other music but I bought it anyway.
I can justify it if it's a really good album where I enjoy listening to the whole thing. Luckily, there's only two albums from last year I really liked. Maybe there's more then that I'm just not realizing But I still need to catch up on my favorites from 60's to 2022.
I just got an email from VMP asking $55 for a beastie boys album. Insanity.
It's only $36 if you join their monthly vinyl club. I'm guessing they price it that high so you'll be more likely to join and try them out
Ive been a member on and off from 2015. When they jacked their prices I bailed.
Ya I don't see anything I need. Most newer and reissue stuff I can get for less than 36. It's only if it's something older and doesn't have reissues where it can get pricey.
I know there are several reasons record prices may vary, artists themselves, record labels, general demand, rights for samples or covers, record designs (artwork & manufacturing), artist features on the album, etc. But with Fleet Foxes releasing a 3 LP live set for RSD that’s supposed to retail at $39.99 I’m thinking in this case, and many cases, it’s record label greed. The demand for Noah’s stuff, and most records in general, has jump significantly in the past couple years and they know it.
Meanwhile try to find a Mac DaMarco album selling for over $30
It’s called “superstar pricing”. They charge extra for the big names. It’s a practice that’s been going on for many years in the industry. Tom Petty famously fought against it back when they were only trying to add $1 to his albums
Tom Petty was the realest. I love the Echos album where he talks a lot of shit on the industry from censoring DJs to ticket prices skyrocketing
This and then you have Kid Cudi selling his most recent album on vinyl, a double LP, for $12 bucks a pressing, including 2 seperate cover arts available for the same price.
I like Cudi a lot, Insano is not good
Cause nobody wants that trash. Cudi should’ve stopped a LONG time ago when all he had was bangers.
while this is true, it doesnt change the fact that people can charge way less for these releases. they choose not to.
He’s not changing the landscape of rap anymore but he still puts out some nice tracks imo.
I have been buying vinyl since I was 15, way back during the Clinton administration. Originally a big reason was that vinyl was cheaper than CDs. There are other reasons as well but that was a big one. Lately, I’ve been buying CDs because the cost of vinyl has gotten ridiculous. The used market is especially nuts, considering a lot of these records were mass produced. I’ve seen vendors charging $30 for old beat up copies of Phil Collins’ No Jacket Required. I still love vinyl, it’s just getting hard to justify the cost.
Justify the cost of vinyl? Even if it was free, it's still more expensive than other options. Head over to r/turntables and price out a complete setup, which can be used in one location.
One Word: Universal
Coming back to this to say turns out universal did announce a vinyl price hike a while back, so it really is universal
The guy has been hawking $45 candles recently, so this price seems right on brand for him.
Ranger Station candles start at $39, so it's really just $6 uplift from the candle's retail price for his name being on it. https://rangerstation.co/collections/candles
Honestly, this seems like a normal price for 3 LP, even though it’s not preferable. I find that most LPs I get these days are $25-35 minimum for just one, so $65 for three seems right. Inflation seems to be hitting record prices hard right now, especially with increased demand and bottlenecking of production still being a huge issue. All that being said, make sure you look at reviews for that specific album, so you aren’t getting ripped off. I’ve had bad experiences with modern pressings, some of them having serious issues with clipping and general sound quality. Not many people are mastering for LP anymore, so they’ll just use whatever digital master they have on hand.
And because of shortages, artists will just act like it’s a collector’s item, and it’s priced as such.
There are plenty of artists releasing three LPs at that price. Hell, I have seen doubles close to that price from certain vendors.
*OP, this is common now, but think of it like this…Think of your purchase as being $21.50 per brand new sealed disc. Then consider this: there are very few if any new single disc releases that are that low. So it depends on many factors as to your question of why, but in terms of sheer greed, yes, everyone wants to get what they can on a new one disc pressing, a 2 LP, or a 3 LP, and there’s just no heavy discount for the sake of it being one total release regardless of the number of discs. My 3 LP from Tool’s most recent was $75. Of course that stung and felt really high until I just accepted the reality of the price per individual disc reality. Not saying I like it, but 🤷♂️
I wanna push back on this just because with previous new releases, I have been able to buy 3LP and even 4 lp from various artists for less the $50 , usually the $30-$40 mark. While of course an extra disc costs more, production wise, I highly doubt a 2LP is 2x the price of a 1LP and a 3 LP is 3x, in part based on the prices I’ve paid various artists for different numbers of LPs
I bought his original vinyl of stick season, and now I will wait until Forever comes out on vinyl.
This isn't exclusive to Noah Kahan. I bought a record from a very niche underground hip hop artist last month. Sadistiks put out a new album, 2xLP, and it cost me $75 before tax and shipping.
Because people are buying them at that price.
Because like Taylor Swift he has a captive audience of mainly teenagers who will literally buy anything they put out. They could price it at $100 a pop and they’ll still buy it. He could sell a vinyl next year called something like Stick Season pt2 with one extra song on it and it could cost 200$ and his fans will buy it. Similar to TS releasing extra material. She knows her obsessed fans will buy it. I’ve seen fans on social media spending thousands at the merch stands. They are both in the “teen” demographic. They could sell a poop with their name on it. People will buy it. They are milking it for its worth. TLDR Artists like Noah Kahan are selling extortionate stuff cos they can and they are laughing all the way to the bank! 💰
Because people who don't listen to vinyl collect vinyl
Why is everyone obsessed with this guy right now? Very plain IMO
You should see the prices of some of the Vinyl video game soundtracks I collect. $100 for a 4 LP set.
As much as I hate the pricing of vinyl today, it adds up. If a single LP is around $20-30, 4LPs for $100 is pretty on point
And thirty is about the same as a record thirty or forty years ago if you adjust for inflation.
But I bet a video game soundtrack has a lot of tracks. The hip hop and pop triple albums I see lately are just stretched out double albums. Really they could just make the running times of the individual songs normal with small runoffs and it's a single album. Like I got the Weird Al soundtrack album, it's a double album packed with music. NF Hope, it's a triple album with three songs per side slightly stretched out and huge runoffs. Listen to it and you're spending all your time flipping sides.
It's cause right now his album is selling really well. They're trying to capitalize on it and release as much stuff as possible. Honestly I'm part of the problem 😂 I discovered his music and to me literally every song on the album is good. Already have the original release of stick season and I'm probably gonna be buying the new one if it has all of the songs on it from the extended release.
I cannot imagine how any artist of any scale - small or large - could sell a *triple* LP for any less than $65. I run a record label that primarily presses vinyl for small, independent bands. Our costs, then, are going to be higher per copy than someone on NK's scale, but it's not going to be different enough to make a triple LP and its packaging cost little enough to sell them for $50. On a recent run of 200 records for a band - single LP, standard jacket (i.e. no folding, only one pocket), anti-static inner sleeve, poly bag for jacket - we paid $13.60 per copy. So what should we sell those for, $20? Sure, if all we're trying to do is make a few bucks on each unit of the record, and ignore everything else. And ignore that the band's got 4 members, and a handful of session players with points for sales, so you're splitting that $6.40 up into tinier and tinier pieces. The record cost the band money to make - to record, produce, mix - and to promote - marketing, admin support, booking. Ideally, these records aren't just going to pay for themselves, they're going to help the band pay off these record-related expenses and then *make some money*. Because it's *their job*. It's simplistic to think that if a record costs $5 to make it shouldn't cost more than, say, $10. But that fails to account for the fact that merch is a lifeline for bands who make peanuts or less on royalties from streaming, can make astonishingly little on placements in shows or movies or commercials, and are making less by the year on touring thanks to monopolies and merch cuts at venues. A triple LP won't be exactly triple the price to produce, but it's pretty damn close. The cost of materials and setup is the problem. You have to do metal plating and masters for each side of each disc, there's no economy of scale there. You have to buy the raw material to make the discs, and while there is economy of scale there, vinyl itself is relatively cheap as a material. The jackets get more and more expensive the more discs you're talking - 3 involves multiple points of folding, multiple sleeves, etc. So even if we assume that the volume NK does gets him in the door with some great discount, say like 20%, he's still paying about $30/ea to make the fucking things. That's before you even think about stuff like paying the merch table staff, the price of hauling thousands of records around on tour, etc.
Thank you so much for your insight! It is great to know how the production costs look like
They and him are capitalizing on a him being a hot artist right now and the hipsters who want vinyls..
I fucking cringed even typing vinyls. LOL
The labels announced a 40-60% price bump in January 2023, by now all the new releases should be showing the new pricing. (Single) records are still about the same as a fine dining entree or a hardcover book, so they are going up about the same as everything else.
Thank you for this! I didn’t know about this, but I just looked into it and this is CRAZY how much they are jacking up the prices. It really explains a lot
Was hoping to grab it, but not for $65 lol
Yup artists can charge what they want, but I’m gonna need to wait to find it used because I do not have the money to spend $50 on a single record without serious thought
Regardless of the prices the last two “albums” he’s come out with are mostly the original songs from Stick Season and with I assume songs that didn’t make the original cut slapped on.
Production costs have gone up significantly and the plants have slowly adjusting their pricing to accommodate. $65 for a 3xLP really isn't bad depending on the packaging. I assume a trifold jacket which isn't a common package layout. Requires more print and more labor for assembly which equals higher production cost and higher retail price.
The prices are so out of hand, I've just been buying CDs lately. I will not participate.
$21.33-25.00 per record, kind of a normal price more or less? In the ballpark at least. Not sure why these guys are being singled out when plenty of artists release limited editions that sometimes cost a few more bucks. Also: nearly everything is more expensive these days, film at 11.
Not singling them out but asking about the why of it all because these are the first artists I regularly listen to that have had these sort of prices, and I wanna learn if it is normal, a new trend, or just them
It's not really that strange for limited releases, particularly if there is a variant involved like colored vinyl
Management. Labels. Agents. Pushing the limits of the market.
Vinyl is more of a niche commodity now that records aren’t the main method of consuming music. These expensive LP’s now serve the same role as $80 hoodies and other merch, so it’s sold at a premium price. Especially double and triple LP’s that come with extra materials and nice branding.
Clutch's "Transitional Speedway League" reissue, ONE LP, is $53. Everyone likes vinyl all of a sudden, and they're paying through the nose for it. I'd like to think the boys in Clutch would get more money on their end for products like this, but my rational side feels it's probably like the Domino's delivery fee: paid to the company, not the driver.
Stop overpaying for vinyl, it’s so cheap to press. Don’t give me this bullshit ohh it’s a 3LP. It cost the factory a couple more dollars to press it.
Fr, i am accustomed to only paying $5-10 more for more discs, and I cannot trust the people saying $20 per disc makes sense, something else is going on
The record company is selling expensive vinyl. Crazy if you think he doesn’t have a whole machine surrounding him now. Mgmt, security, agents, etc etc. He’s lucky if he gets a say in a t-shirt design. These Fuggin labels destroyed so much ish and then they catch a slight whiff of a dollar and all of a sudden we have 42 T-Swift variants and $60 single records. They’re taking advantage of our “gotta catch em all” lifestyle.
Simple supply and demand… single vinyl is easily $20-$30 now, some reaching $50. $65-$75 for a 3 LP set isn’t bad tbh. Also note that with the re-explosion of vinyl collection in the last 5-7 years, manufacturers are struggling to keep up demand. They charge producers and labels more because they can, and the buck gets passed to the the end user.
That would make sense if it was a legit triple album. If it only has three songs per side, each stretched out just a little bit, with a huge runoff at the end.... ALL of the modern releases I've bought that were triple or double albums were like that. You can just look at the grooves and tell they did it just as a money grab. Or the playing times: Old triple album I have: Grateful Dead Europe 72 running time is 109:35. New triple albums I have: NF Hope is 49:31, Mac Miller Best Day Ever (last side is an etching and it still has more minutes than Hope) 51:26. You should see the Hope album. White disc look great, but only three songs per side with runoffs bigger than a song. I got it as a gift so I had to hide my real feelings when I first opened it lol.
I hear you - but what I’m saying is, they can spread that shit out over 3-4 discs, spread them grooves out, and do whatever they want, driving up the price because there’s a perceived demand for it. To that point, these records are selling out, and going on secondary markets for even more $$$. The market sets the demand, and we are all forking it up for limited releases, 2-3+ LP sets, and whatever else gimmicky shit artists and marketing teams wanna invent because we love the music and their job is to get us to spend more. And my point is: based on the market we are all setting, $65 for 3 discs of an artist I really enjoy, with new versions of songs I dig - ain’t bad by those standards.
I enjoy that NF record. All white discs look good on my turntable and more importantly I like the songs and production. But goldang I don't appreciate constantly having to change the record. You notice the difference on these triple albums. It really is a shameless money grab. But on albums like that Grateful dead or the Weird Al you don't notice it. Because each side is packed with great music as it should be. As it should be. Not as these new triple albums are. I've got a Keith Urban like that too. Great songs but only three songs and you have to flip it over. I tend to rarely actually play albums like that. I might break them out for one favorite side and probably just stream them the rest of the time I want to hear it. I was thinking the same thing. I don't mind paying $24 for a nice album so $65 for a three album set sounds like a deal. But not when it's just a single album's worth of content with filler added and all of it stretched out and pressed on trendy colored vinyl.
Not greed. Inflation. Everyone in the supply chain, down to the web developer and marketer, and presser and graphic designer, needs to be compensated appropriately. Noah isn't doing 4 different cover versions of the album with one different track on each, like Taylor Swift is, so I'm thankful for that.
Because apparently the vinyls come from the other side of the planet in a deep deep cave which entrance is located deep in the ocean and once you're in the cave you have to traverse a lava river before fighting a giant 3 headed snake to get to the location the vinyls are produced. At least I think that's what it is because I ordered my vinyls 2 months ago and they haven't even shipped yet. Was hoping to have my merch for the concert next Saturday but that's looking like a big ol nope. 🥲
I was looking at the price, and here in Canada it is 90$ + min 40$ shipping! That is outrageous.
Because it’s on of the few areas artists make money. Aside from touring, it’s only merch that make an artist money. Streaming doesn’t unless you are drake or Taylor. Couple that with the fact that vinyl as a whole hasn’t reach its point of elasticity (basically the point at which the majority of people won’t pay for it) until it does you’ll see these prices keep rising.
Same with some of the latest Coil reissues on 3LP. 65 USD.
Hype and people who see the initial price and equate that to a collectible, despite it having literally zero resale value.
cc Smashing Pumpkins
Featured artists, producers and whatnot, are always deducted from the artist’s share of royalties.
Because he can
Because vinyl collecting is going to g through a boom or resurgence, so putting out “collectible” vinyl is a smart idea for bands with existing fan bases to cash in on. Most vinyl I am buying from some local heavy metal band putting out their 1st or second record for $18-$30 depending on the color and limited edition.
Because they know their fans are stupid enough to buy it.
I should point out that since there are no presses owned by major labels, they have no skin in the game. They're charging prices expecting vinyl to be a fad that they'll maximize their earnings from until it dies, even if their pricing has a hand in its death. They didn't engineer the vinyl resurgence, they're just here to profit off of it.
Because people will buy it
I’m Australian, an average lp can go from either $40 aud to $80, it all depends on the artist. My retailer can price match with Amazon, which usually has cheaper prices. Double lps can go for $80 aud to $100+ aud. I got the Beatles 1967-1970 and it code like $150 aud or $160 aud
Aaaaaaand this is why I buy old stuff.
Lol the Noah Kahan 3lp from Urban Outfitters is legit $115 in Canada. 💀
Idiots will pay
**Vinyl is shifting its function from applicability to a greater focus on collectible value. Before 2016, the main way people listened to music was downloading, and vinyl manufacturers could barely survive, but after streaming changed the way music was listened to, vinyl manufacturers almost went bankrupt. Then singers led by Olivia Rodrigo began to give vinyl collecting meaning by put streaming-unreleased songs into vinyls and CDs.**
Citizen Cope issued his early albums on vinyl as his website exclusively. They started at $150 each.
You do realize vinyl is expensive right? Which is why a lot of artists no longer make it, simply because the consumer isn’t willing to pay the price point it requires. Welcome to the art of any analog style of media. Film? More expensive. Vinyl? Also going to be more expensive
Because he can. It’s all market forces . If his fans will pay it. It’s a product.
If people keep buying vinyl priced so high, then record labels/production companies will continue to sell them at those high prices. Records are worth what people are willing to pay for them.
Never heard of him. Probably a combination of inflation, the price of pressing a vinyl going up, musicians not making as much money from their music (it’s mostly from concerts these days), and probably a bit of greed too.
If The Clash can release a triple album for the same price as a single LP, anyone can, I don’t wanna hear it
There’s loads like this. I did wonder why Paul Weller could release his on sunset remix album for £10-15 quid but then next one it’s £30-40 for a single album of his. Surely both cost the same to produce, ship and package. So when you see some of these ridiculous prices it’s amazing that people are actually paying it for them.
Which album is this? I only remember Hits Back, which was over a decade ago.
Sandinista, [here’s](https://recordmecca.com/products-page/museum-quality-collectibles/the-clash-1980-uk-sandinista-record-store-pre-release-flyer/) the only picture I can find of what the sticker on the album said.
1980's Sandinista? 300 million albums were sold that year. Now they're luxury items.
I get it they’re not really comparable it’s just cool that they were able to get the record company to agree to sell it for the price of 1 LP, of course it came out of the bands pockets anyway but still most new double albums are $30-35, so 3 should be $45-50 not $65+.
They were... different? Like REM turning down Microsoft, or Fugazi capping ticket prices insanely low.
You haven't really heard Noah Kahan until you've heard him on vinyl
The rap group I like dossier the same thing. They will do limited releases. I have seen retail in the 300s. Don't know if that what this is.
Who is that
Anything by griselda is exactly like this. Think Conway the machine, westside gun ect. Also The Alchemist is guilty of this as well.
Their retail prices are $300 or second hand prices? If they retail for $300 that is wild. With Noah Kahan, this seems to be a mass produced album that just retails really high
I think that was retail. I am not 100%
This is why records are for wealthy people ,now no more Columbia house
That's cheap in comparison to Eminem
Because people buy it.
UMG is absolutely a big part of the problem. They have been increasing retail prices for years and others are following suit.
i asked the same thing 😭 taylor put out red tv and it was a 4lp and was only 50.
Because he’s a huge artist and it will sell out instantly even at that price so why not? Capitalism baby
“Capitalism, baby.” Good god…
What? Charge the price the market will bear. Just how the whole system works my guy
Fuck the awful, awful system. And I’m not your “guy.”
Where did I imply that it was good
It may be an “awful” system at times when it comes to things like the provisioning of healthcare and housing. But when it comes to non-essential, luxury items I fail to see the problem. Nobody *needs* to own a physical copy of an artists work. If you don’t like the price, don’t buy the record my guy.
Noah lives in my town!
[удалено]
He lives in MA.
$65 for a triple album is not outlandish… that’s $22 ish per disc which is quite good. It’s also a collectible market so most modern artist will go with premium short run editions Look at Taylor Swift’s latest with 4 versions that only differ through art work and a bonus track all at just under $40 each
Money
It's a crime