I heartily endorse John Haley's comments re vinyl in his post today.

DDR

On Wed, Feb 3, 2016 at 11:28 AM, John Haley <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> It's the old question--do you want fame or money? Many "artists" of today
> apparently keep their day jobs and go for fame by giving it away, thinking
> fortune will follow. Seems like it seldom does, and this has very little
> to do with basic talent. It's a recipe for a lousy pop music world, which
> to my ancient ears is just what is happening. Meanwhile any third-rate pop
> artist from the past can sell out a hall today. Thank goodness they are
> there.
>
> As for vinyl, it's a blip and a fad. If it gets people listening who
> otherwise wouldn't be, then fine, I like it, but we who ought to know
> better mustn't kid ourselves. As a format, vinyl is a dead one, and it
> deserves to be. Of course I'm not tossing out my record collection, but as
> a person who restores old records in modern formats, I have no nostalgic,
> romantic illusions about vinyl's supposed virtues. If people are happy
> listening to it, then be happy and go for it. But as "audio people" let's
> not go fooling ourselves.
>
> Best,
> John Haley
>
>
>
>
>
> On Wed, Feb 3, 2016 at 9:09 AM, Tom Fine <[log in to unmask]>
> wrote:
>
> > Interesting stats from Nielsen:
> >
> >
> http://www.theverge.com/2016/1/22/10816404/2015-album-sales-trends-vinyl-catalog-streaming
> >
> > Soundscan does not pick up the whole market, but the trends seem
> credible.
> > Interesting that Adele fans are also vinyl fans in such a pronounced
> way. I
> > wonder if the back-catalog trend was just a blip because so much of it is
> > now in print either as downloads or physical media, just about every
> > "golden age" audiophile favorite is not out in new-remaster vinyl, and
> what
> > CDs are left in the pipeline are heavily discounted. But, that said, the
> > market to create great new music is not really there -- artists make more
> > just touring and releasing a song here and there via download or video
> > streams. So why get in a studio and create great art? There was also an
> > interesting interview in the latest issue of TapeOp magazine with the
> > Minneapolis hip-hop collective Doomtree. One thing they said that stuck
> in
> > my mind is that there is a penalty today for taking the time to write
> > great, meaningful lyrics. The music-buying public wants catchy phrases
> and
> > well-worn stereotype statements set to music, they want simple ditties,
> and
> > simple sells.
> >
> > This report looks at unit sales for the first half of 2015:
> >
> >
> http://www.musicbusinessworldwide.com/us-album-sales-fall-4-in-first-half-of-2015-as-cd-rules-market-just/
> > The problem that isn't documented in unit sales is that copyright owners,
> > artists and everyone else with a stake in making quality music get
> pennies
> > on the dollar from these streaming services, and that's the main growth
> > area as far as consumer uptake (yes, the vinyl niche is thriving, but
> it's
> > a tiny niche compared to overall music sales, and does not produce enough
> > revenue to float any artist or major copyright owner). I think it was
> very
> > foolish for the record companies to surrender to streamers on the cheap.
> > They should be charging royalties like radio, plus a download fee, and
> the
> > streamers should be forced into a model where everyone who streams pays a
> > monthly fee. Most of the streaming is freebie streaming, and that just
> > doesn't produce enough revenue. If I were an artists, I'd say you get
> > nothing for free streaming, and if I'm a hit-making artist I'd say you
> get
> > nothing without paying me regular download fees.
> >
> > -- Tom Fine
> >
>



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