Page 2 of 2 FirstFirst 12
Results 16 to 26 of 26

Thread: Album sales, digital or streaming, are plummeting

  1. #16
    RIP 2021 SEAWOLF97's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2006
    Location
    in "managed decline"
    Posts
    10,054
    sure, my son has his L-100's , SL-1200 and Sennheisers and fine appreciation for music, BUT all that is mainly because of his exposure to Dad. (me)

    He sells records on Discogs and of course is album oriented. BUT in my humble experience, he is an exception within todays music consumers. Think of all the process and maintenance involved in LP playback. Most post 1990 receivers dont even have phono inputs. CD's are now even too cumbersome . It's the "rent music, not buy" scheme. This facilitates the consumer to be "track pickers" , not full album/disk listeners. Most of us have our favorite concept album (SPLHCB, Realization, Eldorado, LVB's symphony's , The Wall, Tommy,DoFP, etc. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_concept_albums) and track cherry picking those just rather ruins the concept.

    He is, tho, among his group as being always hurried and mobile. With kids, his only real listening time on the JBL's is when the munchkins are asleep or away.

    His friends bring over their latest acquired disks to "see what they REALLY sound like" . Sure , there is still an appreciation for "HiFi" , but it comes with too much cost & bother for today's masses. A pod and buds suffice. IMHO.

    and YES, I suspect many LHFer's live in a music bubble. I do.
    Some kind of happiness is measured out in miles

  2. #17
    Administrator Mr. Widget's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2003
    Location
    San Francisco
    Posts
    9,720

    Tangentially Relevant Post

    Quote Originally Posted by SEAWOLF97 View Post
    Most post 1990 receivers don't even have phono inputs.
    That had been true. I don't know if it is marketing driven or market driven, but every AVR I have sold in recent years do once again include a mediocre phono preamp. And while the majority of the music systems we install are designed with Sonos as the sole input source, a growing number are also including a turntable.

    Quote Originally Posted by SEAWOLF97 View Post
    CD's are now even too cumbersome.
    For me they are. I see no benefit to handling the silver disc when I can rip it to a drive and not fuss with the jewel box ever again.

    For me, it is all about quality. If I can have convenience with no sacrifice in quality I'm all for it, if on the other hand that convenience comes at a quality cost, then I'll forgo the convenience. Circling back around to the topic of this thread it appears most music users/lovers are happy to give up a little (or in some cases a lot) of quality for convenience. Cost too I suppose. Most consumers seem willing to have poorer audio quality at a lower cost.


    Widget

  3. #18
    RIP 2021 SEAWOLF97's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2006
    Location
    in "managed decline"
    Posts
    10,054
    Quote Originally Posted by Robh3606 View Post
    I do lots of small venue shows and most of these artists are younger musicians with a following in their 20's. My point is many of them, close to half, have short run limited edition vinyl pressings available and at their shows at merch tables. It's the "kids" purchasing them.

    Rob
    Quote Originally Posted by Ducatista47 View Post
    I go to concerts, clubs and other gigs, I go to audio shows, I know some twentysomethings - my kids and their friends are all in their twenties - and I meet many more. I know why they want vinyl and they think they will get great sound with a hundred dollar table.
    I go to a couple of "record shows" a year. The clientele is roughly divided into 2 age groups. UNDER 35's & OVER 55's. virtually nothing in the middle.

    Portland has more "record stores per capita" than any major city in the US.

    Why ? Is it sound quality ? Ease of use ? Or is it cool ?

    I have a friend who sells TT's on craigs list. Ran across him in a thrift store where he was buying a cheap black plastic Wards Airline TT. I asked "you appreciate good gear, why are you buying this junk" ??

    His answer floored me. "this junk sells fast. the 20 somethings do NOT care about sound quality , the kids just want to tell their friends that they are "spinning' vinyl"


    Attached Images Attached Images   
    Some kind of happiness is measured out in miles

  4. #19
    Senior Member Ducatista47's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2005
    Location
    Peoria, Illinois
    Posts
    1,886
    Widget and Wolf, excellent observations and intel. Good to know.

    Around here, younger listeners are buying or wanting turntables because they have been convinced by advocates that vinyl is superior to digital in every way. The audiophile take on analog has made it out of the print outlets and shows to the street. And probably into folklore. I am also getting the "It is way cool" vibe here too.
    Information is not Knowledge; Knowledge is not Wisdom
    Too many audiophiles listen with their eyes instead of their ears


  5. #20
    RIP 2021 SEAWOLF97's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2006
    Location
    in "managed decline"
    Posts
    10,054
    Quote Originally Posted by Ducatista47 View Post
    Around here, younger listeners are buying or wanting turntables because they have been convinced by advocates that vinyl is superior to digital in every way.
    I'm NOT "into" tubes, but they spout the same selling point
    "tubes are better than solid state"

    that's a road too far for me.
    Some kind of happiness is measured out in miles

  6. #21
    Senior Member Ducatista47's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2005
    Location
    Peoria, Illinois
    Posts
    1,886
    Quote Originally Posted by SEAWOLF97 View Post
    I'm NOT "into" tubes, but they spout the same selling point
    "tubes are better than solid state"

    that's a road too far for me.
    Quite similar. Both came to prominence as Apples versus Oranges evaluations. Well-designed tube amps compared to early transistor amps from a time when preventing the bipolar device outputs from running away and destroying the amps was a victory. With the vinyl renaissance, expertly engineered vinyl titles vs the early era really crappy sounding CDs when hardly anyone knew what they were doing. I knew better; I had some Nimbus Records discs and they were superbly recorded and engineered. They still sound fantastic.

    Another factor, the elephant in the room really, was/still is the highly euphonic nature of vinyl and tubes. That has proved for most to be a tough habit to break. Such things prompted me to coin my aforementioned "Everyone has their favorite distortion". Don Gort, now gone but half of the team at the local audiophile shop, loved and was a true believer in tubes and vinyl. He would not at all like the way my current systems sound. He was a world class great guy and a good friend, so it was all good. I don't use any of the gear I got from him anymore, but I still find it difficult to part with.
    Information is not Knowledge; Knowledge is not Wisdom
    Too many audiophiles listen with their eyes instead of their ears


  7. #22
    Administrator Mr. Widget's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2003
    Location
    San Francisco
    Posts
    9,720
    A bit off topic but, in my experience the vast majority of my customers who seek tubes and/or vinyl are after the “cool factor”. Few are after a performance upgrade which in my opinion is not guaranteed by going with either of those technologies anyway.


    Widget

  8. #23
    RIP 2021 SEAWOLF97's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2006
    Location
    in "managed decline"
    Posts
    10,054
    Quote Originally Posted by Mr. Widget View Post
    A bit off topic but, in my experience the vast majority of my customers who seek tubes and/or vinyl are after the “cool factor”. Few are after a performance upgrade which in my opinion is not guaranteed by going with either of those technologies anyway.


    Widget
    sure, as you know ...SOME LP's can sound very good. BETTER ?? not usually.

    part of the attraction for me is; there just is some material that is NOT available
    in any other form. For me, there is some fun digging thru boxes and finding forgotten gems.

    Plus, to be a dedicated "vinyl spinner" you have to be rather process oriented and somewhat AR.
    Cool ... really doesn't come into my equation. It's just the format that got me into music appreciation.

    IF I were starting at ground zero (no gear at all), vinyl would probably not be in a future system.
    Some kind of happiness is measured out in miles

  9. #24
    Senior Member Fritz The Cat's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2015
    Location
    St. Gallen Switzerland
    Posts
    3,075

    Some LPs can sound very weak

    Quote Originally Posted by SEAWOLF97 View Post
    sure, as you know ...SOME LP's can sound very good. BETTER ?? not usually.

    part of the attraction for me is; there just is some material that is NOT available
    in any other form. For me, there is some fun digging thru boxes and finding forgotten gems.

    Plus, to be a dedicated "vinyl spinner" you have to be rather process oriented and somewhat AR.
    Cool ... really doesn't come into my equation. It's just the format that got me into music appreciation.

    IF I were starting at ground zero (no gear at all), vinyl would probably not be in a future system.
    Agree. You have to compare the different pressings of vinyl issues. Country? First 10'000 pressings? Original pressing? Reissue of a master tape? Quality of reissue, mastering by ....? Weight and quality of vinyl? Storage conditions? Caregiving.........
    Many many many vinyl-LPs are junk,(they are known!) Some pressings are superior. Some pressings are fantastic. But these are mostly expensive. Therefore it's nearly impossible to start a vinyl-collection today. Therefore the fanatic collectors are 50 years +. But soon these collections will be in the hand of their daughters and sons.
    -= { Creek Destiny | Reson Rota + MM-Ortofon| Epos Encore Speakers | Nessie Washing Machine }=-

  10. #25
    RIP 2021 SEAWOLF97's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2006
    Location
    in "managed decline"
    Posts
    10,054
    Album sales, digital or streaming, are plummeting

    Album sales

    talked to my son last night, he may not agree about plummeting...

    last week the secondary site where he sells LP's tagged him as
    "featured seller". In 3 days he had over $2,000 in orders. Took
    4 days of boxing/shipping to catch up.
    Some kind of happiness is measured out in miles

  11. #26
    RIP 2021 SEAWOLF97's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2006
    Location
    in "managed decline"
    Posts
    10,054
    Quote Originally Posted by SEAWOLF97 View Post
    talked to my son last night, he may not agree about plummeting...
    Oh yeah, one thing I forgot to mention from our conversation; the owner of his secondary selling site referred a CNBC reporter to Chris and did a 20 minute phone interview about the used LP business, watching a 3 y.o. son at the same time and general background.

    Not sure if/when it will be published, but he was honored with the attention
    Some kind of happiness is measured out in miles

Thread Information

Users Browsing this Thread

There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)

Similar Threads

  1. ECM Streaming
    By Ducatista47 in forum Music
    Replies: 9
    Last Post: 12-14-2015, 12:40 PM
  2. Greatest ALBUM ever ??
    By SEAWOLF97 in forum Music
    Replies: 53
    Last Post: 10-21-2011, 07:43 AM
  3. How Do You Convert an Album/LP to CD/Digital?
    By Punch in forum General Audio Discussion
    Replies: 18
    Last Post: 02-17-2011, 03:36 PM
  4. New Album
    By speakerdave in forum Music
    Replies: 1
    Last Post: 04-21-2007, 09:57 AM

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •