Walked through a market Yesterday and noticed hoardes of people around one particular stall. What was it selling? Vinyl! As in records that is, looked like new releases to me, the kids were going ape for it.

And downloads are taking over are they?

Well maybe, but there's still no substitute for the hold in your hand, read and fondle product.

To kid's from the CD age vinyl must seem like it's something new.. will it continue?

I personally grew up with vinyl and then happily switched to CD and don't wish to change back.

Is it a phase? A trend?

I grew up with vinyl. Most of my collection is still vinyl. I have bought CDs, but only while no vinyl was available.

Would I switch back to vinyl?

Yes, gladly.

I've retained quite a bit of my vinyl, but largely for sentimental reasons. I can't remember when I last played a vinyl album.

CD is a preferable medium in almost every way, but I suppose to someone brought up in the CD age there might be a romance about taking a record out of its innner bag, reading a gatefold sleeve, etc.

Strange, as I never had the same feeling about 78s, or wind-up gramophones!

I too have or used to have an attraction to vinyl and I remember hoping
that CDs would never take off.

But everything changes and so do we - eventually.

Since this year I only buy music from on-line music stores
as digital downloads.

There's more choice, it's cheaper than CD's and I can plonk them
into my iPod very easily.

If I want to transfer them to CD then that's easy too - although I
generally don't bother. Apple iTunes Music Store is my favorite
and yes I do know they have DRM and that's a hot topic
right now. But DRM doesn't bother me - plus because I am
in the industry I actually rather like the idea of protecting the files
as these are commercial works and that's an important consideration
for any label.

There is a new vinyl manufacturing plant opened up in Sydney

Vinyl Factory Australia Pty Ltd
8 Chapel St MARRICKVILLE 2204
Ph 02 9557 0100
Fx 02 9557 0600
M 0419 291 510
ABN 85 115 368 495
www.vinylfactory.com.au
www.myspace.com/vinylfactoryaustralia

And they currently have a red hot special

Vinyl Factory White label Special

$1000

100 12" White label records with disco bags

OR

200 7" White label records with paper sleeves

So for those of you who are interested in manufacturing vinyl
this company looks good - they also have manufacturing plants
in the UK (the parent company).


Regds,

David

18/7/2006..A Vinyl Story: Roy Matthews-Engineering and Production Director Vinyl Factory Group

When I left technical college the UK was at its peak as a centre of manufacturing and where I lived at the western edge of London there existed a number of large companies offering 5 year apprenticeships.
These included aircraft builders, Fairey Aviation (later Westland Helicopters), AEC who made heavy goods vehicles and buses, Nestle of coffee and chocolate fame and EMI. All of these offered engineering training schemes with time off to study for HNC and after careful thought I plumped for EMI.

As its full name implies, Electric and Musical Industries not only epitomised the fully integrated manufacturing organisation of the time it also had an intriguingly diverse range of products. Although still heavily involved with its foundation business of records and record players, studio equipment and magnetic tape, activities on the site included; radar equipment, military electronics, commercial electronics, radios and televisions, domestic heaters and, through its Morphy-Richards subsidiary, a wide range of domestic electrical items such as fridges and cookers.
What was so fascinating was the extent to which virtually everything was made in-house.
Metal pressings, castings, plastic mouldings, wooden cabinets, metal cabinets, all the necessary tooling and even nuts, bolts and screws were all produced on site.
The whole of this was run by some 14,000 people and was serviced by electricity from its own generating station and water from deep artesian wells.

After a five year tour of all these activities there was a choice to make and I had no difficulty in opting for the company

Yep, I've said on here before that vinyl is coming back and it's not all down to budding DJ's!

Death Cab For Cutie's last two releases came out as two part vinyl singles, Pet Shop Boys new single is out on 7", the Kooks vinyl album came with a free album featuring tracks unavailable elsewhere!

So CD's didn't kill the vinyl star and I don't think digital downloads will either!

I`m still a vinyl fan, and failing that downloads.
I actually hate jewel cases on cds, but I like the cardboard ones, which must indicate that I like things wrapped in pulped wood, much like my fag packets I suppose:whistle:
I was very dissapointed in the megastore yesterday at the once again lack of new vinyl, but nearly bought a boxed set of Madonna re-mixes because it looked nice. I wouldn`t have looked twice at the cd set of it.
There must be a large contingent of us that require something we can see and behold for our pennies.
I have discovered much new music purely because it was on vinyl and attracted my interest, much like it used to in the seventies. Also on the Pro-ject system, with it`s pre-amp that I bought, you simply cannot tell the difference, between the product and a cd, and it stuffs the average mp3.
Besides which, I would never have bought the Cat Stevens lp I adore, had it not been 99p!

"Going Ape"? Doesn't everything that has a rarity value produce some interest?

If there had been a stall selling penny farthing bicycles there would have been a crowd !

Try opening another competiting stall on the same market - one will go bust within a week.

Specialists will succeed in a modest way because as others cease to sell their specific product line people are forced to scour an even bigger area to find what they want. The total numbers though are very small.

personally, since the advent of downloading, i've bought very few CD's.
whats the point when you can downlaod the same thing in minutes.

what i will go out of my way to do though, is buy vinyl....

.....it seems that all the mp3 revolution is doing is making digital music more throwaway, whereas with vinyl you have a possesion you can treasure for ever....?


myspace.com/thesilvertongues

Dave I wouldn't go quite to those lengths.

We're living in the 21st century and communications and technology
have move vastly forward just in the space of a few years.

It is the product of today that music and films be distributed
over high speed internet and mobile networks.

It really does make perfect sense - As much as I like the
art/tangible aspect of vinyl record - their physicality -
they aren't a relevant means of delivering music content
in todays world. That's stating the truth - Just like how email and
electronic bill payments and mobile phones and SMS have changed
so much of how we do things from how we did things years ago.

Pay digital download singles and albums are the way now - because
these are the times we live in. Record stores may carry 5000 titles
on CD (and vinyl) but iTunes and the others carry over a million -

Choice, convenience and price make downloads the way
for consumers to buy their music and film entertainment.

This will become even more so the case once broadband usage
reaches critical mass.

7" vinyl is an artifact - and has merit - but is not a
21st century entertainment carrier.

David

I'm a 21st Century music buyer, and I prefer to buy vinyl over other formats. I know I'm not alone.

Yes, download sites provide more choice, but give me vinyl anyday. It's my choice of 21st Century music carrier.

Al you are perfectly right to elect what is relevant as you are the consumer and it's the consumer who makes the decision.

If I may indulge a bit of a metaphor (partly tongue in cheek)

Horse and buggy are still the choice for some just like the motor car
and airplane is for others.

However, although they both serve the same purpose i.e. transport,
it's the car and the plane (and trains, trams & busses) that
transport the bulk of us around.

The world would have a very hard time trying to convince everyone
of the merits of horse and buggy - and of course there are merits.

There would be a lot less oil consumed and a lot less pollution -
but most people would feel it's kind of a backward step.

Vinyl Records require quite a bit of energy to get from manufacturer
to consumer .. firstly they require a complex manufacture process
and printing of labels/covers, then you have to organize transport
to get these physical products into the warehouse, and then
after your sales teams have convinced the retailers to order copies
of your masterpiece you have to get them to the stores on board
diesel trucks buzzing up and down the motorways.

You probably get my drift - it's costly and intensive with every step. .

It really is an antiquated way of distributing music and
getting a commerce flow.

That's not to say vinyl records are bad -
but when compared to what technology has given us -
with it's global reach distribution, transparent accounting,
e-commerce payment and unlimited product availability
it really is a time of fantastic opportunity for labels
& artists to reach consumers with their music.

In fact retail is probably the most threatened space on the block because
90 per cent of record shops are dead and the remaining 10 per cent
are clasping for life by selling "entertainment" in a broader sense.

Here are my plusses for going digital:

Yes to unlimited product availability.
Yes to Worldwide distribution -
Yes to reaching a global consumer marketplace.
No costly physical manufacturing or warehousing.
No chasing little record stores in the back of beyond for payment.
No horrible truck loads of returned stock.
No going broke because of over-runs in production

Records do have positives never-the-less:

Vinyl records do have a unique market position unto their own
and do attract "record collectors" which may be different to
"pay download collectors".

You do get a physical work of art to hold and admire
in your hands as opposed to an invisible audio file
inside your iPod or computer.

It can sit on your shelf at home and form part of
a wider collection just like books do in a library.

They can be traded for sums of money in perhaps
a way that excludes invisible audio files.

So there are good points all round - but for my dollar
and for the many benefits that I have listed
I still think pay digital downloads as the winning carrier
for selling and consuming music entertainment.

Same applies for films and archived TV programs.


David

I have been following this thread with keen interest as it is a subject close to my heart.

Firstly i share both David and Al's points for very different reasons and i want to set what i believe is the happy medium for both points of view.

1. Digital is the logical way for anyone outside of the major record companies to go and even for the majors it is in their best interests long term. However they do have the retailers to consider and have a certain loyalty towards the retailers that they would not jump 100% into digital at the moment. I have no such affiliations and have launched my label as a digital label.

2. Vinyl is the logical physical product labels can support because it is the only format which users cannot cost effectively clone so there is a certain value an authentic vinyl record release can have and as a result it grows in value.

3. Vinyl is the format i started my label with because i started in dance music and it was the format of choice for DJs. There is a certain 'fetish' element to vinyl which cannot be matched by any product at the moment.

4. Vinyl can be manufactured on demand if you are wise and know a few little tricks of the trade. However vinyl should be sold by the label/artist DIRECT from their website or from ebay or GEMM or Amazon. It should be considered a merchandise item and therefore should be released in the following manner.

A: ON demand prestige version. Released with original signed posters, comments, lyric-sheets, photos or any other 'merchandise' element at a premium. You can manufacture these at a cost of perhaps 20.00-30.00 GBP and sell for 50.00GBP. Only the ardent fans will snap this up and these must be hand made customised in some way so that they are limited to around 10 copies.

B: Once you sell out of these contact www.gzvinyl.com and master your production on demand run and obtain 6 test pressings or more. Then build up an advance order list of vinyl junkies who want your album/single and sell it to them on ebay alongside printed posters (not signed) etc or anything you can think of.

The above will cater for the minority fans or collectors who will buy your record and store it as a value added item.

5. Digital will get better and better and soon anyone will be able to make perfect copies of the digital single. CDs will become relics of the past and DVDs will rule the roost for 5 mins before the IPOD or its successor becomes ubiquitous.

6. In spite of this i predict that sale of music as an item in itself will not last 5 years before the Napster model of Ad sponsored music becomes the eventual market leader. At the moment Napster do not know how to make it work, but is currently like digital singles before Itunes took over.
I predict that some smart alec marketing company with quality advertisers will make a kick ass hardware player with the ads integrated in a clever way linked to a website of course will eventually crack this model and things will change again.

7. We may not like to hear this but music will become free and if you as a label are not keeping one eye on this model and preparing yourself for it you will not survive.

8. Vinyl will now become even more important when music becomes free because premium vinyl will bring a new dimension to life when digital music becomes free to the consumer. It will become a collectors product of choice and will hold much value.

9. There will be lots of money to be made from music still as the ad sponsored model will make google look like child's play because the amount of time people listen to music will explode.

This is what my crystal ball tells me.

AH - Good old vinyl!! Every crackle and skip tells a story. I love the warm cozy feel of a gatefold on a chilly winters night. CDs are too clean and clinical. Vinyl has much more personality.