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£30 for a new record when the CD is £8

Paul Mc

pfm Member
I spend too much time in Manchester (and other) record shops. I feel like shouting at the young fellas dropping £30 on a new album to wise up, when they can have the CD for around a third of the price.

Our youngsters are being robbed once again in the pursuit of cool.
 
I buy both CD and vinyl, but question the worth of some new vinyl compared to CD. Especially when you consider that the recording, mastering, and pre-press work will all have been done in the digital domain. Are you really gaining that much by reproducing that digital recording on an analogue replay system?
 
You could argue that it is crazy paying for £8 for the CD when it is more than likely available on Spotify which will sound no worse on the vast majority of systems that people outside communities like this will be using.
 
which is a discussion I often have with myself, why buy any format when I can stream over the net. The argument that wins for me is, there may come a time when I don't want to may for high speed internet access, plus a monthly streaming fee. Having bought now, I will hopefully be able to play later.
 
I spend too much time in Manchester (and other) record shops. I feel like shouting at the young fellas dropping £30 on a new album to wise up, when they can have the CD for around a third of the price.

Our youngsters are being robbed once again in the pursuit of cool.

If they buy the right stuff at the right time it likely won’t be too long until the £30 LP is worth £50-70 and the CD is worth £3!
 
I spend too much time in Manchester (and other) record shops. I feel like shouting at the young fellas dropping £30 on a new album to wise up, when they can have the CD for around a third of the price.

Our youngsters are being robbed once again in the pursuit of cool.

People (young or old) buy what they want and can afford for their own reasons, it`s not really anybody elses business, however foolish it may appear to others.
 
which is a discussion I often have with myself, why buy any format when I can stream over the net. The argument that wins for me is, there may come a time when I don't want to may for high speed internet access, plus a monthly streaming fee. Having bought now, I will hopefully be able to play later.

Indeed. I see streaming as the logical way forward because of the lack of physical space it takes up, price and variety. The cost of internet access has fallen over the years and the speed has increased. You might not want to maintain access in years to come, but it is going to become increasingly essential to have one for reasons other than music/entertainment.

Despite that logic, I maintain and add to a massive collection of vinyl records which I see being my main source of listening for years to come. My secondary source is my own iTunes collection which is ripped from CDs I still own that are taking up yet more space. Streaming is purely for multi-room and occasional on-the-move use for me.

If I was starting again or if I was 20 years younger, I expect things would be rather different...
 
I'm not sure the current LP fad will last and modern vinyl doesn't hold its value like classic stuff does. Having just catalogued my collection in Discogs I can see what is and isn't worth having in which formats - but my vinyl collection is expanding faster than my CD at the moment.

I weigh up CD or LP cost when buying new. If the LP comes with a free lossless download, then I usually get that rather than the CD, otherwise like the OP I find it hard to justify the cost of LP vs CD when the difference is that large
 
I have to agree, new vinyl is largely a rip-off. I still buy some new records but it's always at the back of my mind that nearly all new music is digitally recorded. I tend to spend no more than £20 and stick to the ones that include a lossless digital download. Bandcamp is quite good for these kinds of deals.
 
but it's always at the back of my mind that nearly all new music is digitally recorded.

This may be true but the two versions (CD and LP) are more often than not different. I find lots of CD to have a massively compressed dynamic range compared to the LP version.
 
If they buy the right stuff at the right time it likely won’t be too long until the £30 LP is worth £50-70 and the CD is worth £3!
Yes, but thrifty folk may be inclined simply to wait until the cd is £3. It's certainly less of a gamble than banking on the vinyl increasing in value to help justify its purchase price.

I've just reinstated a turntable into my system as I have several boxes of vinyl in the loft, but tbh I don't expect to buy many new albums on vinyl at all.
 
I love vinyl and digital but find myself moving away from new vinyl because of this price differential. Generally, new releases are now bought on CD or streamed by me; I just can't justify the additional cost.
 
I also spend too much time in Manchester record shops, and I often wonder if it is really worth spending the money I spend. I keep telling myself to limit purchases to records that I really like and will definitely play a lot, but it never seems to happen. I've made a NY resolution to limit myself to £30 per month on music, so we will see how that goes. I've probably been blowing more like a ton a month recently.
 
The cost of some modern vinyl is just plain bonkers - it's being marketed as a luxury product rather than just another format.

I honestly don't see how record companies can justify a different in price of £15-£25 between the formats. The cost of recording and promoting the music is the same whatever the format. Look at the price list at somewhere like GZ Vinyl - pressing a record costs a couple of quid.

When Jazz Re:freshed put out Nubya Garcia's debut last year the download was £5, the CD was £5 and the vinyl £11.99. Which is obviously super-cheap but it shows it can be done.
 


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