3 ms·

I think the hipster obsession with vinyl paraphernalia can definitely be gimmicky, but I wouldn’t discount the value of having a physical representation of musi

I think the hipster obsession with vinyl paraphernalia can definitely be gimmicky, but I wouldn’t discount the value of having a physical representation of music, whether that’s a vinyl album cover or some other future thing. People live in a physical world and digital files, while more convenient and technologically superior, lack tactility.

dale_glass 4y ago
Well, that's kinda why I think that the music industry, evil as they are, got the right idea. Vinyl's resurgence has nothing to do with its technical qualities, and as a result it's enough to dig up some ancient tech and pander to people a bit.
- empyrrhicist 4y ago
  Profit-wise, that's probably right (especially if people are listening on $5 plastic mechanisms crammed into a $99 decorative suitcase), but I'm now pretty careful to check the reviews on Discogs before I pick up a new pressing. Nothing worse than throwing on a beautifully packaged record to hear a muddy, poorly mastered mess. It doesn't cost all that much more to make sure the pressing sounds good when played on good equipment.
rnd0 4y ago
It is a gimmick and I think people are right to call out it being over sold as a superior experience -that aspect feels scammy to me. I think that's a large part of the negative reaction from myself and other people. That doesn't mean that the appeal of holding a record, reading the cover and liner notes while relaxing to the music, comparing the labels of different eras of the record company (something that's preserved on my Black Sabbath cds though that's a little confusing because I thought they were on Rhino but I haven't checked either), the detail of the art and all of that -doesn't have value, and isn't worthwhile. Sure -it's totally worthwhile but having lost my record collection 25 years ago I don't feel it's compelling enough to spend all of that money replacing it and giving it the physical space in my home -especially when I have everything I had then and much more either on mp3 or some streaming service or another.

dale_glass 4y ago

Well, that's kinda why I think that the music industry, evil as they are, got the right idea. Vinyl's resurgence has nothing to do with its technical qualities, and as a result it's enough to dig up some ancient tech and pander to people a bit.

empyrrhicist 4y ago
Profit-wise, that's probably right (especially if people are listening on $5 plastic mechanisms crammed into a $99 decorative suitcase), but I'm now pretty careful to check the reviews on Discogs before I pick up a new pressing. Nothing worse than throwing on a beautifully packaged record to hear a muddy, poorly mastered mess. It doesn't cost all that much more to make sure the pressing sounds good when played on good equipment.

rnd0 4y ago

It is a gimmick and I think people are right to call out it being over sold as a superior experience -that aspect feels scammy to me. I think that's a large part of the negative reaction from myself and other people. That doesn't mean that the appeal of holding a record, reading the cover and liner notes while relaxing to the music, comparing the labels of different eras of the record company (something that's preserved on my Black Sabbath cds though that's a little confusing because I thought they were on Rhino but I haven't checked either), the detail of the art and all of that -doesn't have value, and isn't worthwhile. Sure -it's totally worthwhile but having lost my record collection 25 years ago I don't feel it's compelling enough to spend all of that money replacing it and giving it the physical space in my home -especially when I have everything I had then and much more either on mp3 or some streaming service or another.