The RSD Effect

[MrSneis]

Have heard from some of our local stores here that they do not support RSD and these are the shops that are definitely "the little guys."  I never saw it this way until I got to know the store owners but for the most part it's too expensive for them to buy in and people flock to the store just for the hot sellers and don't even bother coming back or checking out the rest of the store. 

 

I guess the problem is they need more vinyl (crack) addicts coming back for more.

[TheGhostOfRandySavage]

Have heard from some of our local stores here that they do not support RSD and these are the shops that are definitely "the little guys." I never saw it this way until I got to know the store owners but for the most part it's too expensive for them to buy in and people flock to the store just for the hot sellers and don't even bother coming back or checking out the rest of the store.

I guess the problem is they need more vinyl (crack) addicts coming back for more.

Not to mention that so many folks who pop in just for RSD and never come back vandalize or mess shit up/steal stuff that could have been sold to a regular because they don't care about the store.

[Out of Breath Records]

I used to work the register at Abercrombie when I was 19.  When there weren't enough of one denomination of bills in the tray, you know what we did?  We just waited until our boss to come with the money bag and refill the tray with more money.  Instead of whining, you should wait for your boss to come with the record bag and refill your tray with your indie orders.  All businesses deal with this exact issue and we all find a way to make it work.  It's part of being a business.

lol just lol

[slushy]

Asian Man may have slowed down the amount of albums they released on vinyl during the 2000's, but stuff was definitely still getting pressed.

 

There was a period where they definitely stopped releasing LPs full stop, made an announcement and did a sale on all existing stock. I remember because Mike Park talked about how people at shows always thought they were calendars. 

 

Laughing my fucking ass off at comparing Asian Man to any profit-minded enterprise. Please tell me more about how running a punk label out of your mom's garage for 20 years and pressing records on a new color of vinyl when they sell out is "being guilty of the same shitty tactics" as the multinational conglomerates shitting out live Bowie picture disc singles and goddamned Doors reissues. I'm all fucking ears.

 

Creating multiple variants of records intended for collectors to "collect em' all" is the same thing as all the labels churning out limited edition shit on RSD knowing that people will buy it just because it's limited edition and because it's RSD. It's on a smaller scale of course, but it's the same, and for that reason Mike Park is not the best person to be commenting on this issue when he is obviously guilty of doing similar things and has had his part in the creation of this new obnoxious level of limited edition/variant collecting that is now causing all of these problems for independent bands and labels.

[AlexH.]

There was a period where they definitely stopped releasing LPs full stop, made an announcement and did a sale on all existing stock. I remember because Mike Park talked about how people at shows always thought they were calendars.

Creating multiple variants of records intended for collectors to "collect em' all" is the same thing as all the labels churning out limited edition shit on RSD knowing that people will buy it just because it's limited edition and because it's RSD. It's on a smaller scale of course, but it's the same, and for that reason Mike Park is not the best person to be commenting on this issue when he is obviously guilty of doing similar things and has had his part in the creation of this new obnoxious level of limited edition/variant collecting that is now causing all of these problems for independent bands and labels.

So, are you basing this all of the Goddamnit reissue from 2008 and then you never checked out anything they did again? Because last I checked, Asian Man stuff comes out on 1, maybe 2 colors at a time, doesn't engage in any of the splatter/swirl/haze garbage, IS TWELVE FUCKING DOLLARS, and contains music that the label owner thinks deserves to be heard. You want to infer that there is even a hint of cynicism to their release strategy, never mind a blind thirst for $$$ comparable to the "specialty markets" division of Universal Media Group? Well that just makes me want to puke on your head, sir.

Also, if you're the kind of person who sees 4 variants or whatever and thinks "shit, now I have to buy 4 copies", then I hope you do, and I hope your bad investments in pop punk futures lead you to financial destitution. No sympathy for collector scum, as long as it doesn't distract from the music and I can still pick up a copy at a fair price I say play on.

In a previous comment you brought up Var as a more fitting example of a trü vinyl punx. Asian Man has always stuck in my mind as a very close spiritual cousin of No Idea, with very similar ethics and passion for music above all else. I would guess that AMR would've been happy to keep pressing vinyl too, if they were a bigger operation, and if they'd had a few more Fuel for the Hate Game/Reinventing Axl Rose type releases to bankroll it, but if each new release just added boxes to your garage and took money from your bands' checks, what would you do? It's cool that some labels pressed vinyl even when no one was buying it, but you can't pay rent in punk points, man.

[Out of Breath Records]

So, are you basing this all of the Goddamnit reissue from 2008 and then you never checked out anything they did again? Because last I checked, Asian Man stuff comes out on 1, maybe 2 colors at a time, doesn't engage in any of the splatter/swirl/haze garbage, IS TWELVE FUCKING DOLLARS, and contains music that the label owner thinks deserves to be heard. You want to infer that there is even a hint of cynicism to their release strategy, never mind a blind thirst for $$$ comparable to the "specialty markets" division of Universal Media Group? Well that just makes me want to puke on your head, sir.

Also, if you're the kind of person who sees 4 variants or whatever and thinks "shit, now I have to buy 4 copies", then I hope you do, and I hope your bad investments in pop punk futures lead you to financial destitution. No sympathy for collector scum, as long as it doesn't distract from the music and I can still pick up a copy at a fair price I say play on.

In a previous comment you brought up Var as a more fitting example of a trü vinyl punx. Asian Man has always stuck in my mind as a very close spiritual cousin of No Idea, with very similar ethics and passion for music above all else. I would guess that AMR would've been happy to keep pressing vinyl too, if they were a bigger operation, and if they'd had a few more Fuel for the Hate Game/Reinventing Axl Rose type releases to bankroll it, but if each new release just added boxes to your garage and took money from your bands' checks, what would you do? It's cool that some labels pressed vinyl even when no one was buying it, but you can't pay rent in punk points, man.

 

Damn fresh. 

 

Honestly though, if you're comparing the plights of independents to majors in any way there is something seriously wrong with your thinking, regardless if it's a "business" or not. 

[cemeterytapes]

Have heard from some of our local stores here that they do not support RSD and these are the shops that are definitely "the little guys."  I never saw it this way until I got to know the store owners but for the most part it's too expensive for them to buy in and people flock to the store just for the hot sellers and don't even bother coming back or checking out the rest of the store. 

 

I guess the problem is they need more vinyl (crack) addicts coming back for more.

 

This pretty much hits the nail on the head. I mean, I don't want to go so far to say that, in the store I work at at least, there haven't been some new customers introduced to the store because of RSD. But is a little bit of "awareness" worth (most likely) several thousand-to-tens-of-thousands of dollars in merchandise that is gonna sit on the shelves for years on end? I mean, shit, there are still some records from 2012/2013 RSD in the store. Probably not. And that's why it's a losing endeavor on the store front.

[slushy]

So, are you basing this all of the Goddamnit reissue from 2008 and then you never checked out anything they did again? Because last I checked, Asian Man stuff comes out on 1, maybe 2 colors at a time, doesn't engage in any of the splatter/swirl/haze garbage, IS TWELVE FUCKING DOLLARS, and contains music that the label owner thinks deserves to be heard. You want to infer that there is even a hint of cynicism to their release strategy, never mind a blind thirst for $$$ comparable to the "specialty markets" division of Universal Media Group? Well that just makes me want to puke on your head, sir.

Also, if you're the kind of person who sees 4 variants or whatever and thinks "shit, now I have to buy 4 copies", then I hope you do, and I hope your bad investments in pop punk futures lead you to financial destitution. No sympathy for collector scum, as long as it doesn't distract from the music and I can still pick up a copy at a fair price I say play on.

In a previous comment you brought up Var as a more fitting example of a trü vinyl punx. Asian Man has always stuck in my mind as a very close spiritual cousin of No Idea, with very similar ethics and passion for music above all else. I would guess that AMR would've been happy to keep pressing vinyl too, if they were a bigger operation, and if they'd had a few more Fuel for the Hate Game/Reinventing Axl Rose type releases to bankroll it, but if each new release just added boxes to your garage and took money from your bands' checks, what would you do? It's cool that some labels pressed vinyl even when no one was buying it, but you can't pay rent in punk points, man.

 

Once again, I am talking about the article using Asian Man as the example of "the only clients keeping these few pressing plants in business through the darkest and least popular era of the vinyl format’s lifespan", when the reality was that they did in fact drop the format during this era.  AND secondly, it feels very hypocritical as AMR have done the same silly collector baiting shit the article is talking about (for the record, not just the Goddamnit reissue, they did similar stuff when pressing the Lawrence Arms records with all the variant covers and shit). These are both more criticisms of the article than AMR, mostly just pointing out that the author of the article didn't pick their interview subjects as well as they could have.

 

I completely understand and agree that a major label reissuing Fleetwood Mac's "Rumours" and AMR releasing a Lawrence Arms record with multiple variant covers are two completely different levels of unnecessary shitful-ness, but both are still super lame. I'm not slamming the label that hard, they've released plenty of records I have enjoyed and purchased, and I will no doubt purchase from them in the future. I'm just saying that rather than trying to paint AMR as this perfect, completely altruistic effort, lets be fair and acknowledge that they've done their fare share of lame stuff that has in some way contributed to this problem independent labels are now facing.

[Shitty Rambo]

Also, if you're the kind of person who sees 4 variants or whatever and thinks "shit, now I have to buy 4 copies", then I hope you do, and I hope your bad investments in pop punk futures lead you to financial destitution.

[Satan]

Anyone talking shit on Mike Park/Asian Man can go fuck right the fuck off.

Carry on.

[caninesapien]

I assume all those bitching about RSD have no intentions of going? I would also assume you don't own any RSD issues either. Otherwise, that would be hypocritical.

 

I won't be going this year, definitely. I am interested in one or two things and through a friend I can make sure another store reserves them for me. I didn't go last year either, but my girlfriend wanted a few LPs the year before that so we queued for a little while. It was bullshit, I fucking hate queuing.

 

 

Yes it's Part 2 of The Prestige Collection. Part 1 came out last RSD

 

Awesome, thank you. It completely passed me by.

 

I have to admit that I do feel the attraction when the RSD lists come out. I skim through and I'm usually "oh nice, I'll get that. That looks good, I'll get that." etc. I have to take a step back and thing whether I actually want to bother with the queue, with the tussles in the shop, and then think about whether I want to spend a premium to get a RSD exclusive. What I'm trying to do more and more is estimate what I could possible spend on RSD releases, and then spend that on second hand stuff elsewhere in other indie stores (and get a lot more for my money) or spend the same in the RSD-participating shop at a later date... with no fucking queues.

[hickey]

Ha!

"I'm not going to RSD. I'm boycotting. Plus, I have friends picking up RSD titles for me!"

[Out of Breath Records]

I assume all those bitching about RSD have no intentions of going? I would also assume you don't own any RSD issues either. Otherwise, that would be hypocritical.

 

Nope and nope. Unless it is something put out by an independent there's no chance you'll see me picking up glow in the dark copies of Ghostbusters

[caninesapien]

Ha!

"I'm not going to RSD. I'm boycotting. Plus, I have friends picking up RSD titles for me!"

 

I'm guessing that was aimed at me? I'm not boycotting - I didn't say I would be, I'm just not going to queue up for hours to fight through hordes of people to pick up something I would ideally like to pre-order (like any other album being released) and pick up on any other day. It's something that will likely not sell out but I'd rather give the store the business and ask them to get it in so I can, you know, buy it.

[vinyl addict]

Ha!

"I'm not going to RSD. I'm boycotting. Plus, I have friends picking up RSD titles for me!"

Exactly. Gotta love it huh. People shit on it declare its a joke and still participate. Hypocritical idiots. Not old enough to know what "boycott" means?

[caninesapien]

Exactly. Gotta love it huh. People shit on it declare its a joke and still participate. Hypocritical idiots. Not old enough to know what "boycott" means?

 

okay.

 

edit - see above

[vinyl addict]

okay.

 

edit - see above

LOL...YOU see above

The first post of mine you quoted...you completely contradict yourself...and you continue to do so with each of your posts in here.

[caninesapien]

Well, thanks for keeping tabs on me, chum. I appreciate it.

 

Just for the record, my point is that I am not going to participate in the day's events this year (because I don't want to queue up to visit a store I visit and spend money in every week of the year). But I haven't contradicted myself because my original point wasn't that I will be boycotting RSD.

 

My personal opinion (stated above) would be that I think it would be great if more stores considered boycotting RSD, like a few stores I know will be doing this year. I know of local stores/sellers that still have stock from 2010/2011 that they haven't been able to shift. My point being that it's possible that more and more stores feel the pressure to stock unreasonable amounts of RSD exclusives for fear of losing potential sales, but only end up with surplus stock at (sometimes) unreasonable prices.

 

Just because some releases this year are dropping on RSD doesn't mean that I shouldn't get them? Or is there a rulebook I don't know about?

 

Either way, good chat.

[vinyl addict]

Lol more contradictions. Atick to your guns...or dont.

[BuzzersonKillwell]

Haha. I like how he downvotes each of your posts, just so you're clear he doesn't agree. 

[jonnywreck]

In this thread:

 

- People who don't understand how business works.

- People who think they understand how business works, but can't deal with the reality, and then just whine about how their "unique business model" isn't working.

- People who need to experience real problems, because if all you're worried about is not being able to spend hard earned dollars on records for a few months a year, then your life probably rules.

[just a normal guy kevin]

Yeah. You are all stupid and terrible.

[TheGhostOfRandySavage]

Everything is garbage.

[TFP]

Evened some posts out, because I wanted to.....

[thrillho]

I go to RSD most years. At first it was great, there was never any sort of line, you just had to be there within the first hour of the store opening. There were only about 3-4 releases I wanted, and the total number of RSD items was a fraction of what it is now. But over the next few RSDs, there were more and more people showing up. 

 

Eventually I went and had to stand in line outside my favorite store (that never has more than 10 people in it on non-RSD days) then walk through the store in single-file and choose the items I wanted, cafeteria-style. That fucking sucked and it was the last time I went for a couple of years. Then, last year, I wanted an RSD release and managed to get the morning off of work. I went, and again, encountered a line - but this time for whatever reason I looked at it differently (read: like an old person), I knew that these kids were getting taken for a ride for the music they loved. And I think at some level they knew it too, but that's part of the trade of loving music in modern times.

 

You're going to get gouged for money in some way for the thing you love, whatever it may be, and that level of gouging is based on a person's perceived "love" for that thing. Before vinyl got out of hand, it was paying $25 for an 11 track CD or facing the total price of tickets before Ticketmaster was forced to adjust their fees. I paid them in my teens, and paid them happily - because the music meant that much to me. It will never be a perfect world, and there will never be a way to appease everyone when it comes to the relationship between art and money

 

I still go to RSD, and I stand in line with my friend, and we chat with people about what they're getting or what music they like. It's the atmosphere, it's being around people that enjoy the same thing that I've enjoyed for 12 years (other than porn). Thankfully, the single-file line rule is gone at my store and people can freely browse. I don't go for many RSD releases anymore, I go and pick up a bunch of used LPs - I can get like 10-15 records for $30. I guess I like the feeling of being in a record store that's full of people for a change.