Punknews.org’s editors all posted their tops of 2008 and many of them had discussions about the year that just passed. One editor, Justin, in his 2008 Year in Review said the following in his thoughts on the Vinyl Bubble:
I mean really — if you’re into buying it for the money, sell high, quick. Pressing eight colors and packaging them as a deal with a pint glass, beer stein and a bottle opener is quickly killing the joy of collecting. I’ve fallen prey to it myself — who wants a copy of the Falcon 10″? — and can see how it’s taking away the joy of actually finding rare vinyl. The Vinyl Collective approach has commoditized and ran into the ground the concept of colored vinyl. If you’re shopping for wall decorations it’s a nice, cheap way to get some pretty colored disks — but if you’re wanting to own a piece of history (in my eye, the purpose of “rare” vinyl), you’re just buying the Wal-Mart version of it. Sorry Virgil, this is no offense to you and I know you love what you do, but this isn’t fun anymore — it’s just tedious.
To be clear, I’m very pro- the institution of vinyl and colored vinyl as a special thing. What I take issue with is taking the fun, the danger and the hunt out of finding those rare pieces of wax — leading people to buy still-in-print 7″’s for 10 times the cost on eBay! I think everyone can agree that shit like that is ridiculous.
I had read it and hadn’t really thought about writing a response until I saw that our message board had over 130 comments about Justin’s Vinyl Bubble piece. Let me start by saying as Justin had mentioned, we are friends and I respect and value his opinions. Here is my take on what he had to say breaking up his Vinyl Bubble piece in segments:
I mean really — if you’re into buying it for the money, sell high, quick.
I agree. If you are into selling records for money, sell high, sell quick.
Pressing eight colors and packaging them as a deal with a pint glass, beer stein and a bottle opener is quickly killing the joy of collecting.
We have only pressed 8 colors of only 1 record (Minus the Bear’s Planet of Ice and that was over 3 pressings over a 2 years). In the past, we had pressed 4 colors of a record on a single pressing (Poison the Well’s Versions) and after doing so, I realized that was a bit excessive. Vinyl Collective is still relatively young and over the few short years, we have done quite a bit of experimenting. If you noticed, our releases generally are pressed on 2 different colors upon initial pressing.
Yes, there are labels that have pressed certain records on 8 or more colors. Sure, we carry some of those records. As a retailer, that is what we do.
With our deluxe sets, we have combined our love of music with our love of beer and have made packages with a pint glass, a coozie, a shirt, a cd, and vinyl. We have never, let me repeat never packaged 8 records in a deluxe set. No one is forced to pick up these sets and if anything, it allows a fan of one of our artists to get other collectibles. I noticed that a few people mentioned that they woulld prefer to have only 1 copy of the vinyl in our deluxe sets and maybe, we will do that in the future. We hardly invented the concept of merchandising and for the purchasers of those sets, we have received nothing but favorable comments. And with every deluxe set, you can pick up the vinyl separately. No one has been “forced” to buy limited pressings by buying into one of our deluxe sets.
Commenting on our bottle openers, we actually call them Shotgunators. Yes, they open bottles but more importantly they have made the world a better place to live. If making the act of shotgunning a beer easier is wrong, I don’t want to be right! Maybe Justin doesn’t like shotgunning beers.
I’ve fallen prey to it myself — who wants a copy of the Falcon 10″? — and can see how it’s taking away the joy of actually finding rare vinyl. The Vinyl Collective approach has commoditized and ran into the ground the concept of colored vinyl.
I think following up your complaint of our deluxe sets and of pressing 8 colors of vinyl and then giving the example of the Falcon 10″ is probably the worst example you could give. Only 1,000 copies were pressed of this 10″ and this release marks the first for our Vinyl Cooperative label, a really unique concept for a vinyl imprint. The unit holders nominate and vote on releases they would love to see pressed. I can’t imagine more joy coming from collecting than being a part of this cooperative. And when this record is sold out, it will never be pressed again.
I also do not agree with your use of commoditized with regards to Vinyl Collective. A commodity exists when items with no differentiation are sold across a market. So much love and care goes into every release we put out and we pay particular attention making each pressing special. And in the event that we repress a record, we do so because there are folks out there who still want a copy of the album on vinyl and when our bands tour, we want them to have something on their merch table that they are likely to be able to sell. We repress records on new colors to distinguish each pressing from another.
I think your complaint has more to do with how easy we have made it for people to get limited edition pressings and colors, but no one has forced you to spend your money with us. If you are looking for the thrill of the hunt, you can continue to find those hard to find records at mom and pop record stores across the land. I think that most of our customers not only buy from us, but they buy from their favorite record stores, and they also take advantage of all the great online resources to trade for records they don’t have.
The internet has changed the way we do so many things. I remember quite a few years back having to read about Punk News in the many print zines out there and until sites like Punkbands, Punknews, and Pastepunk came along, there really wasn’t an easy way to get the latest music news. I feel that Vinyl Collective has done for vinyl fans what Punknews has done for music fans. We provide an option for vinyl collectors to purchase, trade, and have a forum for discussion on most things vinyl.
If you’re shopping for wall decorations it’s a nice, cheap way to get some pretty colored disks — but if you’re wanting to own a piece of history (in my eye, the purpose of “rare” vinyl), you’re just buying the Wal-Mart version of it. Sorry Virgil, this is no offense to you and I know you love what you do, but this isn’t fun anymore — it’s just tedious.
I tried not to take offense to this comment, but I really can’t help but be bummed that you would compare us to anything close to Wal-Mart. If anything, I would think that a Punknews’ editor would celebrate the fact that a few of the good guys in independent music have been able to overcome some really tough times to find themselves having the best year of their career. I personally am having more fun running a label in 2008/2009 than at any point in our history. And the vinyl format has helped otherwise obscure indie labels like Asbestos, Team Science, Kiss of Death, and Underground Communique connect with bigger audiences for their bands and to be able to sell enough records to be able to finance pressing more releases. And being able to press more records from more bands creates more Punk News.
I agree that at times, pressings and repressings can be tedious. But those early pressings and even the represses are still a part of history. Sure, we get bummed out when certain customers care more about the pressing numbers than the way the album sounds, but we are glad that people care and we know that most of our collectors are really excited about music.
To be clear, I’m very pro- the institution of vinyl and colored vinyl as a special thing. What I take issue with is taking the fun, the danger and the hunt out of finding those rare pieces of wax — leading people to buy still-in-print 7″’s for 10 times the cost on eBay! I think everyone can agree that shit like that is ridiculous.
Not to toot our own horn, but I think we have inspired a lot of people to get excited about music again. I am not sure how much it has to do with Vinyl Collective, but I have noticed so many more people starting labels and pressing records. That, to me, is a good thing. I have found out about so much incredible music because of these newer labels and I think that vinyl has helped so many bands find audiences that they might not normally have. That, too, is a great thing.
Your point about Ebay, sure, we hate to see people spend 10 times the cost of a record on Ebay, but as long as people are willing to spend 10 times the cost, people are going to sell records for a profit. We hardly invented the concept of auctions and we realize that many of our customers buy records to resell. That’s the market we live in, but again no one is forced to pay those high prices. We always try to offer records as inexpensively as we can. We offer inexpensive shipping options. And one can argue that we repress records so that people are not forced into buying records for 10 times the cost as their only way to get an album on vinyl. And for those people who pay 10 times the cost of an in print record, that is just silly.
I realize that we can’t make everyone happy. We often try, but we know we can’t. With Vinyl Collective, we provide a retail destination for vinyl enthusiasts. I think we do a pretty good job, and as I look back on the past few years, I still can’t believe we have been able to do all the things we have been able to do. With our help, albums that have never seen the light of day on vinyl have been pressed. We have created a community of vinyl collectors. We were able to move our business back from out of our house and into an office. And we are having a blast. I consider all of our customers our friends through music and I have more friends now than at any point in my life.
I almost forgot to thank Justin for including us in his post. It has created a lot of discussion about vinyl and vinyl collective. Thanks.
Vinyl Collective
