VC 7" series/Message Board label/ Invest in VC

[Guest Admin]

My good friends through music, I write this to you today to give you a few things to think about as it pertains to Vinyl Collective. I have planted a few seeds of ideas that are in my head and I wanted to put them together a bit more concisely. I will try to keep this short and simple:

1. Vinyl Collective 7" series - I have been quietly talking to bands about doing a series of split 7"s called Under the Influence where each act does a cover of a song that has influenced what they do today. I had originally thought of doing something like the Fat Wreck 7" of the month club, but I just am not dialed in with our pressing plant like Fat is with theirs and I don't need more stress to meet a monthly deadline. Instead, we will do a new pre-order for each 7". With luck, you will be interested enough to pick up the entire series. There are still a bunch of other things to figure out, but so far we have firm commitments to do splits with Chuck Ragan / Tim Barry, William Elliott Whitmore / Josh Small, Fake Problems / Look Mexico, Rocky Votolato / Chad Price (of Drag the River), O Pioneers! / New Bruises, Ben Nichols (of Lucero) / Jon Snodgrass (of Drag the River). I also have the following acts that are into the idea, but we are not yet sure who we are doing the flip side with: Cory Branan, Austin Lucas, Limbeck, Teenage Bottlerocket, LaGrecia, The Playing Favorites, Bomb the Music Industry (or Jeff from BTMI or both??), and I think that while hanging out with the American Steel guys in Vegas this weekend, I might have drunkenly got a verbal ok. Dont' hold me on that one. I am not sure yet when all these records will come out, but I hope to get this rolling as soon as this summer. Stay tuned.

2. Side Label through the Message Board that I mentioned in a recent thread - I invariably get emails to put out certain records on vinyl, records that are truly great, but it always tends to be by a band that had broken up and therefore might be a risky thing to do. I was thinking that it would be really cool to start a series of LPs where we collectively decide records like this to put out and then release the record together. We could do on record a month where we press either 500 or 1,000 copies. We set up a pre-order where each single LP would cost $10. That $10 contribution will get you the rarest version of the vinyl. If we can get 300 people to contribute, that would come pretty close to covering a pressing. Each of those first 300 people would then be involved in a vote to pick the album. I realize that there is a good chance that you might end up with a record you don't love. For example, if you love metal, you may end up with a punk record or vice versa but the record will be rare and would become good trading material down the road. It would be a fun process and my hope is that it would document some really great records on vinyl that might not normally see the light of day. With your help, we could come up with a cool way to find these records. We could have a nominating session which leads to certain individuals campaigning for certain titles and then those titles would go up for vote. Kind of like the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame where certain folks are nominated and then have to be voted in to make it. There would be a lot of details to work out, but it would be a great way to get some really great vinyl and be involved in more than just being the purchaser.

3. Invest in Vinyl Collective - I will only briefly touch on this. I feel like we have a really great business developing and I was trying to think of our next step and the bigger picture. I think that at some point in the near future, I am going to have to take a serious look at bringing on investors to raise enough capital to take this business in the direction I would like to see it go. I plan to work on a business plan that lays out where we are at, where I would like to see things, and what we will need to make this happen. I have a lot of things to figure out, but I think that offering all of you a piece of the business would be the best way to go. I have a lot of respect for each of you and have really appreciated the amount of support you have given us. I know that most of you care quite a bit about us which is really rare to see in this industry. I think that we have come a long way with our limited resources, but there comes a day when a business could benefit from outside help to reach that next level. I will talk about this more soon, but I wanted to get people thinking.

Please let me know what you think of these ideas.

[steventangent]

Please let me know what you think of these ideas.

I think I love you.

But more seriously, 1 + 2 I am seriously stoked on. Both are reasonably priced ways to get your hands on some cool music, and a great way of checking out new things. If it turns out you don't like it, you end up with stuff at least worth trading.

Part of what makes Vinyl Collective so great, besides carrying a lot of cool stuff, having good prices and excellent service, and supporting a company that seems to do it 'for the right reasons' (whatever those may be), is the whole "COLLECTIVE" aspect - anything that involves giving us (as purchasers) more of a say and facilitates more of a relationship that runs a little deeper than MERCHANT - CUSTOMER I am all for.

As for #3, it's hard for me to have an opinion without more specifics. I think a lot of people that are regular VC customers do feel a sort of 'personal investment' in it, like we do with some bands - we want to see it succeed and thrive, so we bang the drum loudly and try to get other people to shop here. It's totally a reciprocal relationship, where the better the company is doing, the better it can do for us. I guess the logical next-step of that might be monetary investment.

[xlovecolouredx]

i love to see your official message about our opinions.

i think 1 and 2 are awesome and i really wanna know how 3 will end on next time discussion.

never regret for find vinyl collective and paid for support you,virgil....

[ps]

Chuck Ragan / Tim Barry, William Elliott Whitmore / Josh Small, Fake Problems / Look Mexico, Rocky Votolato / Chad Price (of Drag the River), O Pioneers! / New Bruises, Ben Nichols (of Lucero) / Jon Snodgrass (of Drag the River)

I almost creamed my pants when I read this lineup.... this is gonna be awesome.

[degausser]

brand new the devil and god are raging inside me, in that vinyl collective imprint thingy, we should all vote. that'd be rad.

[billybob]

Chuck Ragan / Tim Barry, William Elliott Whitmore / Josh Small, Fake Problems / Look Mexico, Rocky Votolato / Chad Price (of Drag the River), O Pioneers! / New Bruises, Ben Nichols (of Lucero) / Jon Snodgrass (of Drag the River)

I almost creamed my pants when I read this lineup.... this is gonna be awesome.

Here! Here! Seriously though with Virgil at the helm i would definitely be happy with 1,2 and 3. Fuck world stock markets...Invest in something/someone you truly believe in!

[machiel]

I Like the ideas, but I would rather have a pre-order for a complete 7" set instead of a pre-order for each.

[patron]

I Like the ideas, but I would rather have a pre-order for a complete 7" set instead of a pre-order for each.

Same.

[skumbucket]

i agree, the first two sound like pretty amazing ideas. i'd be worried that the second one could be a little bit dangerous, but as long as the releases are good i suppose that would negate that fear. i'd hate to see a lot of people verbally back such an idea then fail to come through on the purchase end -- that could definitely hurt a small business. but if you can make it work, it'd be awesome.

[benchwarmer]

I think they are all great ideas, and while I may not be able to invest in #3, I can always offer support in a graphic design sort of way.

[flood]

personally i think virgil should start a "label collective" and act as a one stop for vinyl for smaller labels. I distrust distributors for the most part, but i'd totally trust virgil with my releases.

[adamlikesmusic]

Hot.

[qskapunk]

i love you man

[Guest Admin]

personally i think virgil should start a "label collective" and act as a one stop for vinyl for smaller labels. I distrust distributors for the most part, but i'd totally trust virgil with my releases.

flood, I have been thinking about offering distribution beyond just our site to many of the labels we work with. I think this would be part of our overall business plan. I will definitely be talking to guys like you when we start figuring this out. I just need a bigger space to warehouse records. Steph would kick my ass if I took on this kind of distro while in our house.

I am glad that people are into the ideas so far. I will flesh it out more.

[flood]

especially since isn't most vinyl sales through distro one way? i know i can't return anything thru the guys i used to buy from.

[lostapostle]

I love the ideas.

Can't wait to read more about this in the coming months.

[lokithelion]

Love them all.

[troymess]

I think these ideas are a great future for Vinyl Collective. I really like the "side label" idea. I'm psyched for the Under the Influence club as well...

[kirbypuckett]

I'm for it!

[dietrich]

the ideas sound great!

[devilstrombone]

Please let me know what you think of these ideas.

I think I love you.

But more seriously, 1 + 2 I am seriously stoked on. Both are reasonably priced ways to get your hands on some cool music, and a great way of checking out new things. If it turns out you don't like it, you end up with stuff at least worth trading.

Part of what makes Vinyl Collective so great, besides carrying a lot of cool stuff, having good prices and excellent service, and supporting a company that seems to do it 'for the right reasons' (whatever those may be), is the whole "COLLECTIVE" aspect - anything that involves giving us (as purchasers) more of a say and facilitates more of a relationship that runs a little deeper than MERCHANT - CUSTOMER I am all for.

As for #3, it's hard for me to have an opinion without more specifics. I think a lot of people that are regular VC customers do feel a sort of 'personal investment' in it, like we do with some bands - we want to see it succeed and thrive, so we bang the drum loudly and try to get other people to shop here. It's totally a reciprocal relationship, where the better the company is doing, the better it can do for us. I guess the logical next-step of that might be monetary investment.

I wholeheartedly agree whith this. I'm sure we are all ready to do whatever we can to make VC the best it can be.

[akross]

These are fantastic ideas!

[dylan]

I think a lot of people that are regular VC customers do feel a sort of 'personal investment' in it, like we do with some bands -

i couldnt agree with that more. you already make the people who are on this message board and who buy from you feel like they are a part of something. and to further that feeling by letting them have an actual involvement in decisions about what is going to be released, and putting their own money behind that, i think all 3 are ideas that cannot fail, not with the community you have established here

-dylan

[adammuzzy]

I feel like if you were to do a singles club, where you subscribe and receive all of them, it would probably make your sales better. Personally, I only want 2 of the 6 mentioned splits, but I would still buy the set if it were the only way to get the two that I want.

[dante3000]

I like the ideas and would actually consider all three (depending what the minimum investment would be, as I'm sure you'd like to avoid 10 $4 investments).

The board assisted label sounds interesting but it sounds quite tricky. Mostly because (depending on how it's done) people would be pre-ordering an album they don't know anything about and it may not come out for months if it's not decided on until after the 300 (or so) pre-orders are made. If dudes don't like the previous release they may feel burned and be less apt to take part in future pre-orders as well. As a fan $10 is not much and I'd gladly pre-order, as I love the idea, but I do think there could be issues.

Also, I'd totally invest if it meant I got free VC releases.