5 ms·

As a musician, I've always been just used CDs as a surface for which people can feel good about giving me a bigger tip at the small places I play; lots of folks

As a musician, I've always been just used CDs as a surface for which people can feel good about giving me a bigger tip at the small places I play; lots of folks are fine with high markups on merch, but won't tip musicians at all for some reason. I've been on vinyl albums... I don't think they are great for a lot of reasons. They do encourage folks to give you money, though. And they certainly show a commitment to artistry that CDs never quite had. If you just want the music, streaming is better on almost every front. If you collect them and need to move, they get to be super heavy. They are bad for the environment. Your acoustics are probably the limiting factor in your listening environment, so on and so forth. It's an interesting moment to mark, to me, not because vinyl is selling more, but because the industry is doing so poorly in general that the relatively niche format has overtaken what was the dominant physical medium for decades. That is to say, this is the point where we might understand physical recording distribution to have finally died.

bonestamp2 5y ago
Vinyl is about active listening. Yes, it's much easier to put on a CD or stream the music, but when I want to sit down and really listen to the music... Vinyl is the perfect medium for that ritual. It's about the more visceral experience, not the fidelity or simplicity.
xondono 5y ago
> And they certainly show a commitment to artistry that CDs never quite had. To me that’s one of the ironies of the whole thing. Producing vinyl records is way harder for a starting up musician. I don’t know how hard is to get listed on Spotify/Apple Music, but I would be curious about if starting has become easier or harder in net terms.
- smoldesu 5y ago
  Adam Savage did a pretty cool tour video[0] where he went through the Third Man Record's vinyl production process. It's not a particularly deep dive into the processes used, but it gives a great idea of how much work it takes to publish truly analogue recordings. Plus, Jack White makes an appearance to chat about the ways digital recording shaped music production. I don't really like vinyl that much either, but I love music and simply can't help but respect the few people dedicated to such an arduous process. [0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PF4A4wdnXkU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PF4A4wdnXkU
- ehutch79 5y ago
  If you have the recordings it's pretty simple to toss some .wav files up on distrokid.
- FalconSensei 5y ago
  I'm on Spotify and discovered by accident. I did record a few tracks as freelancer for a band, and they put my name there on Spotify so, hey, I have a page ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
nine_k 5y ago
Another thing is that vinyl discs, the actual discs, can be made incredibly fancy. Various colors, translucence, patterns, etc. Just look what kind of vinyls people now offer on bandcamp. CDs, due to their nature, can't be made as gimmicky, so vinyls are a better conversation item and a better collector value, among other things.
- tzfld 5y ago
  Optical discs may not be that costumizable, but you can still have some options with them too. For example: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shaped_compact_disc https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shaped_compact_disc
- AlbertCory 5y ago
  "Alone Together" (Dave Mason) is a great example of that. (No, I don't have that one anymore. Great record, though.)
- scarecrowbob 5y ago
  That's all true. Having moved a 300-record collection.... holy cow it weighs so much.
agumonkey 5y ago
Some youtube guitar teacher said the streaming generation is even less commited than the CD era. The kids come up with a spotify generated playlist and ask "how to play .. that".
- oblio 5y ago
  The thing is, it doesn't matter. In the age of the internet any remotely interesting has an order of magnitude more practitioners, just because the barriers to entry are so low.
  - agumonkey 5y ago
    5 passionated students vs 1000 bored ones ?
    - scarecrowbob 5y ago
      As a practicing musician, now is the easiest time to learn whatever you want. Sucks to try and make a living at music worse than any time in the 20th century. Technology killed that gig. But learning? Better than ever. I'll take 1000 slightly interested folks over 5 dudes who think they are SRV because they can play variations over everything Hendrix ever wrote.
      - agumonkey 5y ago
        It's not just the ability to learn. It's true internet facilitates and accelerate this by a wide margin. It's about grit and passion. Something in this whole field has shifted.
        scarecrowbob 5y ago
        I've played with a whole lot of musicians who learned to play in the 50s, 60s, 70s, etc. I think that if anything has changed, it's gotten better. Like, the Beatles on Sullivan was a turning point for most of the 70-year-olds I play with. They all quit their music lessons, got into a garage band, and started playing shitty 3-chord rock. That might setup a situation where "grit and passion" become, uh, marginally more important than the actual music. But making the posturing of the musician more important than the music isn't a big win for the general state of the art.
dogman144 5y ago
What you leave out is vinyls are a way to own music, not rent it. Then, between CDs, vinyl, and tapes, vinyls win out for the reasons you say and more, which generally summarize to ~better artistry/sound. You don't "have" the music if you're streaming it. You're renting it for $10.99/mo from Spotify, and routinely certain song access will drop from complete records on a streaming service for unknown reasons. Vinyl is a small but important way to properly incentive property ownership, and and I think that's why it's so popular at its root. Digital access is not digital ownership.
- drpfenderson 5y ago
  This is probably the main reason I tend to purchase my favorite music as vinyl. It is one of the few formats that is unencumbered by major patents, hardware requirements for the most basic listening, and roadblocks on the decryption/decoding side. If I want to hear a record in the most dire of circumstances, I can manually spin it with my hands and use a needle and paper sheet shaped into a cone. The record is, itself, a visual waveform representation of the music in one of its most straightforward forms. The power can be out, no batteries around, no computer in sight, and I can still handcrank my music on a portable set. And I own it, DRM-free. And, as mentioned above, most records now come with a code for a digital copy of the album. Best of both worlds.
  - KennyBlanken 5y ago
    "I could listen to it with a needle and paper sheet taped into a cone while spinning the record with my hands" has to be about the dumbest justification for buying vinyl I've ever heard. The chances of society deteriorating to the point where an mp3 player running off a rechargeable AA battery isn't achievable are slim to none, and even if they do get to that point, I think you're going to be far more concerned about the basic business of staying alive.
    - drpfenderson 5y ago
      Well, the main reason, as I stated, is ideological. That it is not encumbered by patents, like mp3 is/was. The "paper cone" example was the most extreme hyperbole that came to mind. I just think it's neat that I would still have tunes, even in that extreme, unlikely situation. However, in response to that: This past winter my apartment went without power for over 3 days, thanks to frost damage taking out major parts of our grid. UPC ran out of power in a couple hours, phones near the end of the day, any rechargables near mid-second-day. It was really nice to have the hand-crank player with built-in speaker while huddled up under a heavy blanket and reading. The same experience even more recently while staying at a fairly remote cabin, without streaming, signal, or convenient power. Had board games, a handful of records, and a nice lantern. Good times.

bonestamp2 5y ago

Vinyl is about active listening. Yes, it's much easier to put on a CD or stream the music, but when I want to sit down and really listen to the music... Vinyl is the perfect medium for that ritual. It's about the more visceral experience, not the fidelity or simplicity.

xondono 5y ago

> And they certainly show a commitment to artistry that CDs never quite had. To me that’s one of the ironies of the whole thing. Producing vinyl records is way harder for a starting up musician. I don’t know how hard is to get listed on Spotify/Apple Music, but I would be curious about if starting has become easier or harder in net terms.

smoldesu 5y ago
Adam Savage did a pretty cool tour video[0] where he went through the Third Man Record's vinyl production process. It's not a particularly deep dive into the processes used, but it gives a great idea of how much work it takes to publish truly analogue recordings. Plus, Jack White makes an appearance to chat about the ways digital recording shaped music production. I don't really like vinyl that much either, but I love music and simply can't help but respect the few people dedicated to such an arduous process. [0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PF4A4wdnXkU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PF4A4wdnXkU
ehutch79 5y ago
If you have the recordings it's pretty simple to toss some .wav files up on distrokid.
FalconSensei 5y ago
I'm on Spotify and discovered by accident. I did record a few tracks as freelancer for a band, and they put my name there on Spotify so, hey, I have a page ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

nine_k 5y ago

Another thing is that vinyl discs, the actual discs, can be made incredibly fancy. Various colors, translucence, patterns, etc. Just look what kind of vinyls people now offer on bandcamp. CDs, due to their nature, can't be made as gimmicky, so vinyls are a better conversation item and a better collector value, among other things.

tzfld 5y ago
Optical discs may not be that costumizable, but you can still have some options with them too. For example: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shaped_compact_disc https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shaped_compact_disc
AlbertCory 5y ago
"Alone Together" (Dave Mason) is a great example of that. (No, I don't have that one anymore. Great record, though.)
scarecrowbob 5y ago
That's all true. Having moved a 300-record collection.... holy cow it weighs so much.

agumonkey 5y ago

Some youtube guitar teacher said the streaming generation is even less commited than the CD era. The kids come up with a spotify generated playlist and ask "how to play .. that".

oblio 5y ago
The thing is, it doesn't matter. In the age of the internet any remotely interesting has an order of magnitude more practitioners, just because the barriers to entry are so low.
- agumonkey 5y ago
  5 passionated students vs 1000 bored ones ?
  - scarecrowbob 5y ago
    As a practicing musician, now is the easiest time to learn whatever you want. Sucks to try and make a living at music worse than any time in the 20th century. Technology killed that gig. But learning? Better than ever. I'll take 1000 slightly interested folks over 5 dudes who think they are SRV because they can play variations over everything Hendrix ever wrote.
    - agumonkey 5y ago
      It's not just the ability to learn. It's true internet facilitates and accelerate this by a wide margin. It's about grit and passion. Something in this whole field has shifted.
      - scarecrowbob 5y ago
        I've played with a whole lot of musicians who learned to play in the 50s, 60s, 70s, etc. I think that if anything has changed, it's gotten better. Like, the Beatles on Sullivan was a turning point for most of the 70-year-olds I play with. They all quit their music lessons, got into a garage band, and started playing shitty 3-chord rock. That might setup a situation where "grit and passion" become, uh, marginally more important than the actual music. But making the posturing of the musician more important than the music isn't a big win for the general state of the art.

dogman144 5y ago

What you leave out is vinyls are a way to own music, not rent it. Then, between CDs, vinyl, and tapes, vinyls win out for the reasons you say and more, which generally summarize to ~better artistry/sound. You don't "have" the music if you're streaming it. You're renting it for $10.99/mo from Spotify, and routinely certain song access will drop from complete records on a streaming service for unknown reasons. Vinyl is a small but important way to properly incentive property ownership, and and I think that's why it's so popular at its root. Digital access is not digital ownership.

drpfenderson 5y ago
This is probably the main reason I tend to purchase my favorite music as vinyl. It is one of the few formats that is unencumbered by major patents, hardware requirements for the most basic listening, and roadblocks on the decryption/decoding side. If I want to hear a record in the most dire of circumstances, I can manually spin it with my hands and use a needle and paper sheet shaped into a cone. The record is, itself, a visual waveform representation of the music in one of its most straightforward forms. The power can be out, no batteries around, no computer in sight, and I can still handcrank my music on a portable set. And I own it, DRM-free. And, as mentioned above, most records now come with a code for a digital copy of the album. Best of both worlds.
- KennyBlanken 5y ago
  "I could listen to it with a needle and paper sheet taped into a cone while spinning the record with my hands" has to be about the dumbest justification for buying vinyl I've ever heard. The chances of society deteriorating to the point where an mp3 player running off a rechargeable AA battery isn't achievable are slim to none, and even if they do get to that point, I think you're going to be far more concerned about the basic business of staying alive.
  - drpfenderson 5y ago
    Well, the main reason, as I stated, is ideological. That it is not encumbered by patents, like mp3 is/was. The "paper cone" example was the most extreme hyperbole that came to mind. I just think it's neat that I would still have tunes, even in that extreme, unlikely situation. However, in response to that: This past winter my apartment went without power for over 3 days, thanks to frost damage taking out major parts of our grid. UPC ran out of power in a couple hours, phones near the end of the day, any rechargables near mid-second-day. It was really nice to have the hand-crank player with built-in speaker while huddled up under a heavy blanket and reading. The same experience even more recently while staying at a fairly remote cabin, without streaming, signal, or convenient power. Had board games, a handful of records, and a nice lantern. Good times.