Article about vinyl resurgance in Boston Herald

[scottheisel]

Nothing incredibly new here besides the revealing of Warner Bros.' 50th anniversary vinyl reissues (which I hadn't heard about until now):

http://news.bostonherald.com/entertainment/music/general/view/2008_08_29_Record_labels__stores_make_room_for_vinyl/

Record labels, stores make room for vinyl

By Jed Gottlieb

Friday, August 29, 2008 - Updated 16h ago

It’s a slogan every record label should endorse. But in the present digital era of CDs and mp3s, sound quality has tanked as labels crank the volume and wash out the dynamic range audiophiles loved about vinyl. Indie labels kept putting out wax by underground artists long after the majors tried to kill off vinyl, but you were out of luck if you wanted to hear that warm bottom end vinyl gave Led Zeppelin, ZZ Top and countless other classic artists whose LPs went out-of-print during the CD boom.

Now, with the second coming of vinyl, the “Sound matters” slogan has been picked up again by Warner Bros. Records to promote a massive slate of big 12-inch reissues. In a strange everything-old-is-new-again twist, Warners and the other desperate majors are sinking money into the format they couldn’t get rid of fast enough in the ’80s.

Now Warners has launched an online vinyl store (Becausesoundmatters.com) as part of its fresh commitment to re-pressing many of its long-out-of-print catalog albums. Of course, committing to vinyl isn’t hard when obsessive fans are snapping up big-ticket sets: both the $30 double-album package of Metallica’s “Master of Puppets” and $60 three-disc box of Cream’s “Royal Albert Hall: London” sold out their initial pressings.

“Selling 3,500 copies of the ‘Royal Albert Hall’ set is pretty amazing,” said Warner Bros./Reprise Records VP Tom Biery, who’s in charge of the company’s vinyl initiative. “But it’s not about making huge profits, because vinyl sales are still a small fraction of overall sales. (About one percent of current music sales are vinyl). It’s about branding us. People at this big record company are really committed to having things sound right, sound great. And we want people to know.”

Next month the label plans to rollout a 50th anniversary archive series including James Taylor’s “Mud Slide Slim,” the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ “Blood Sugar Sex Magik” and more.

Following Warner’s lead with two equally impressive re-issue campaigns are Capitol/EMI and Sony BMG’s Legacy records. On Tuesday, Capitol/EMI launches its “From The Capitol Vaults” series with previously out-of-print-on-vinyl titles including the Beach Boys’ “Pet Sounds,” Steve Miller Band’s “Greatest Hits 1974-78” and the first six Radiohead studio albums. In mid-September, Legacy rolls out reissued platters by Charles Mingus, Boston, Johnny Cash and more.

“Who knows why people are interested in Blue Oyster Cult again?” asked Legacy A&R director Darren Salmieri. “Maybe it’s Guitar Hero? Who knows? What we do know is that people are craving better sound quality and they want these core classics.”

What began as a fringe trend in small, independent record shops is on the verge of coming above ground. Even Best Buy - which has slashed CD shelf space in the past decade - has started stocking vinyl in some stores. It’s a move that shows vinyl’s 37 percent sales spike in 2007 has finally trickled down to major retail chains.

“These stores don’t have extra space for anything,” said Universal/Motown sales VP Wayne Chernin. “So if they’re giving vinyl room, they really think it’s going to be profitable.”

If the world’s biggest record companies and Best Buy are onboard, can it be long before Target and Wal-Mart jump on the LP boom? EMI A&R and Creative VP Jane Ventom says yes.

“I hope (to see vinyl in more chains) but I don’t think it’s going to happen,” said Ventom. “I’m not even convinced this trend will go on much longer. The numbers just aren’t that significant. That said, we’ll happily take the sales we can get. There is that small, steady customer demand for vinyl, and we want to fill that demand whatever it is.”

Because for some people, sound really does matter.

[jhulud]

That's cool. Thanks for the link Scott.

[gileadbot]

This could be good or bad. Majors could destroy it, like they do everything else. Or dreams could come true and vinyl will become the only physical format.

We will see what happens!

[chiefwahoo]

The reissues were sorta kinda touched upon here awhile back. I only remember because I started the thread

http://vinylcollective.proboards79.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=general&thread=1248&page=1

[melikecheese]

The Sunday NY Times will also feature an article about this subject, vinyl love in the CD era. So keep a lookout I was supposed to be interviewed for it but I didn't get back to the reporter in time...booooo

[brentoage]

“I hope (to see vinyl in more chains) but I don’t think it’s going to happen,” said Ventom. “I’m not even convinced this trend will go on much longer. The numbers just aren’t that significant. That said, we’ll happily take the sales we can get. There is that small, steady customer demand for vinyl, and we want to fill that demand whatever it is.”

i don't really know why, but this portion bothers me.

[melikecheese]

Yeah, probably because we are part of that small steady customer demand. Lets face it, even with all the talk about vinyl, we are still part of a very very small niche.

I hope he is wrong! would love to see the trend continue and I think it can. Just like comics dies down and then resurged, vinyl can too. I think we are heading toward a "golden age" in vinyl records.

[bicyclepirate]

The majors still don't seem to get it. Maybe there is a market for new, expensive copies of Boston, Blue Oyster Cult, and other shit that fills up dollar bins, by why waste the resources and time rereleasing albums that just about any used record store has? I'm astounded every time I get updates from elusivedisc.com about new pressings from Abba, Def Leppard, the Police, Frampton Comes Alive and on and on...

[skanknsmile]

it's going to be hard for majors to relate to the collector base though. We've been doing it on our own for so long and the independents have a smart way of going at it. But I could be wrong

[kouka]

The majors still don't seem to get it. Maybe there is a market for new, expensive copies of Boston, Blue Oyster Cult, and other shit that fills up dollar bins, by why waste the resources and time rereleasing albums that just about any used record store has? I'm astounded every time I get updates from elusivedisc.com about new pressings from Abba, Def Leppard, the Police, Frampton Comes Alive and on and on...

I could care less too, but it makes sense. If you're a big-ass record label, you want to make the most profit possible. So if you decide to re-issue albums on vinyl, you're gonna choose your overall top sellers. that's my guess as to why they'd choose these artists/releases anyways..

[xxmartinxx]

The majors still don't seem to get it. Maybe there is a market for new, expensive copies of Boston, Blue Oyster Cult, and other shit that fills up dollar bins, by why waste the resources and time rereleasing albums that just about any used record store has? I'm astounded every time I get updates from elusivedisc.com about new pressings from Abba, Def Leppard, the Police, Frampton Comes Alive and on and on...

A lot of that vinyl is in dollar bins because they're beat to shit and smell like a basement. If you really want to listen to it, it's probably worth the extra $ to get a sealed new copy that won't destroy your stylus and stink up your house.

[numanoid]

The majors still don't seem to get it. Maybe there is a market for new, expensive copies of Boston, Blue Oyster Cult, and other shit that fills up dollar bins, by why waste the resources and time rereleasing albums that just about any used record store has? I'm astounded every time I get updates from elusivedisc.com about new pressings from Abba, Def Leppard, the Police, Frampton Comes Alive and on and on...

This is right on the money. And this is why the "vinyl resurgance" will never happen for major labels. I've passed up at least 200 copies of "Frampton Comes Alive". Hell, I bet you could find an original sealed copy and pay no more than $3 for it. No one cares, and anyone who does already has an original pressing which is more worth owning than some reissue.

These are terrible choices for re-issues. Majors have huge backlogs of stuff to release, from really bizarre bands that sell for hundreds on ebay, to stuff that was mastered badly the first time, to classics that need to be re-issued (and no, Abba, Boston, and the Police don't count...) Even the choice to re-issue the Radiohead back catalog is a bit strange. They're all readily available as is, anyone who wants them already has them, and the 10" albums will still be 10" albums. Makes no sense.

It'll come down to the same people keeping it alive. And that won't be the majors.

[xxmartinxx]

The majors still don't seem to get it. Maybe there is a market for new, expensive copies of Boston, Blue Oyster Cult, and other shit that fills up dollar bins, by why waste the resources and time rereleasing albums that just about any used record store has? I'm astounded every time I get updates from elusivedisc.com about new pressings from Abba, Def Leppard, the Police, Frampton Comes Alive and on and on...

This is right on the money. And this is why the "vinyl resurgance" will never happen for major labels. I've passed up at least 200 copies of "Frampton Comes Alive". Hell, I bet you could find an original sealed copy and pay no more than $3 for it. No one cares, and anyone who does already has an original pressing which is more worth owning than some reissue.

These are terrible choices for re-issues. Majors have huge backlogs of stuff to release, from really bizarre bands that sell for hundreds on ebay, to stuff that was mastered badly the first time, to classics that need to be re-issued (and no, Abba, Boston, and the Police don't count...) Even the choice to re-issue the Radiohead back catalog is a bit strange. They're all readily available as is, anyone who wants them already has them, and the 10" albums will still be 10" albums. Makes no sense.

It'll come down to the same people keeping it alive. And that won't be the majors.

$3?

http://www.popsike.com/php/detaildata.php?itemnr=230077387791

More like $57.

Sealed copies of old records are exceeding rare.

Radiohead vinyl has been out of print for years and most of their records go for a bit of money on the used market. They're a great band to have their back catalog reissued.