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Jason Tate: "Yes, vinyl prices are going up. No, I don't feel bad."


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i'm probably fucked by now, oh well.

heh. jason just hired a new girl over at apnet and she managed to post about being super wasted at a show and being a teacher in the same thread. later deleting the teacher post, which i thought was a smart move since you never know what parents will do, except for once it's on the internet it's there forever.

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heh. jason just hired a new girl over at apnet and she managed to post about being super wasted at a show and being a teacher in the same thread. later deleting the teacher post, which i thought was a smart move since you never know what parents will do, except for once it's on the internet it's there forever.

 

and whined about a brand new setlist in the sam thread too! and to top it off she's a POZ writer too!!!

another step in the right direction by mister jason tate

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Also, I usually disagree with anything Jason Tate has to say (this piece included). Dude is well-intentioned but just straight up doesn't get it IMO. It's like he wants Absolutepunk to be Mashable and you just can't look at this niche through that kind of scope. SMH all the dang time.

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(i don't have the patience to read through 10 more pages and i really have to pee, so forgive me if i repeat key points.)

 

tate's talking about supply and demand, but if he really wants to get into economics...

 

there are a lot of factors at play in the vinyl market. in perfect competition, firms will be price takers -- that is, if everyone produces the same exact good at the same exact cost, anyone trying to exploit a margin by pricing up the item will be weeded out as consumers revert to the cheaper option. the problem with the vinyl market is it doesn't operate that way at all. no record is alike, nor is any given record produced by multiple sellers; labels typically have (or award) exclusive rights to albums. therefore, the label that produces an album theoretically has full market power, in a very microcosmic sense. we already missing the component that keeps prices competitive, aka "in check."

 

with market power comes the ability to control supply and prices. what some vinyl collectors affectionately refer to as "limited edition" can be seen as economic withholding, or the act of a firm (label) driving more profit by selling fewer units at an inflated cost. basically, labels can artificially create shortages of their product to justify price gouging.

 

even if a firm doesn't withhold, its market power gives it the ability to price gouge if it detects inelastic demand (inelastic = a large increase in price will only lead to a small decrease in demand) -- which, in my opinion, is part of what's happening. if you ignore differences in music and view vinyl as what it universally is -- a 12" plate of composite material in a cardboard sleeve -- then what's happening can be easily perceived as collusion. it's worth noting one of the federal trade commission's responsibilities is to prevent collusion.

 

now, over time, demand will become less inelastic, and people will react more strongly to price changes. but as long as labels have exclusive rights to individual albums, this kind of monopolistic market power will exist.

 

just because they can fix prices, however, doesn't make it ok.

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