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Price of new vinyl and a CD revival?

the arc

the arc

pfm Member
Just been having a conversation with a couple of friends about the last time any of us bought a full price vinyl LP - new release or reissue – and all of us struggled to remember the last time we did that. Trawling back through my own purchase history on Amazon, my last full price vinyl purchase was June 2023!

However, in the time since them, I've bought a ton of CDs (which was definitely not a trend I would have predicted a few years ago when I hardly ever bought CDs).

Streaming obviously contributes to a slackening off, but it certainly seems that I'm being priced out of new vinyl now and that, for me, CD is undergoing a massive revival.

Is this the future for physical media - vinyl sales shrinking back, CDs rising again?
 
I’m buying more new vinyl than ever before because so much new stuff is released in very, very limited editions. Certainly a FOMO aspect in play here, but having a shop just means some nice future stock if I decide not to keep something.
 
I've bought much more new vinyl in the past couple of years than I ever have done. Not to say I dont have a decent collection from the past, just buying more frequently than usual rather than mixing between vinyl and CD.
The main reason for this upsurge is due to many upgrades I've done to my TT making it a much more pleasurable experience to listen to over the past.
 
I've got used to new vinyl being £20 and upward and CD's being half that or even peanuts secondhand. Some CD's, I have, seem to attract no interest at all on Ebay.

The exception being the hard to find desirable CD's.
Usually have to look abroad for these and pay twice the price of the easily available vinyl.

Eg. Crescent by Coltrane.
 
Minio said:
The exception being the hard to find desirable CD's.
Usually have to look abroad for these and pay twice the price of the easily available vinyl.

Eg. Crescent by Coltrane.
Click to expand...
Do you have a Discogs account? Often has a bit more choice than Ebay/Amazon. I just took a look there and Crescent CDs start at a fiver.
 
I've bought more new vinyl this past couple of months than I did in all of 2022....

Awaiting the new double 50th Anniversary "Band on the Run" tomorrow, along with the 50th "Who's Next"; just received a new "Pretzel Logic" and some jazz re-presses and went a bit daft in December buying up the 50th "Red/Blue" box, and Spoon and Phish vinyl....

But it is WAAAAAY over-priced. All of it.
 
It is the 180 grams that puts me off buying new vinyl.

My old Pink Triangle Anniversary nearly bottoms out under the weight.

The CD alternative then looks attractive at half the price.
 
paulfromcamden said:
Do you have a Discogs account? Often has a bit more choice than Ebay/Amazon. I just took a look there and Crescent CDs start at a fiver.
Click to expand...
I've looked and the Coltrane: Crescent CD seems to be Japanese in origin.

OTH the vinyl is plentifully available in this country for less.

I'm sure that applies to quite a few titles where CD is rarer and consequently higher price than vinyl.

Not the general rule admittedly.
 
Minio said:
I've looked and the Coltrane: Crescent CD seems to be Japanese in origin.

OTH the vinyl is plentifully available in this country for less.

I'm sure that applies to quite a few titles where CD is rarer and consequently higher price than vinyl.

Not the general rule admittedly.
Click to expand...
Here you go...

1996 reissue £5: https://www.discogs.com/sell/item/2016056759?ev=bp_img
2008 reissue £8: https://www.discogs.com/sell/item/2698661242
2016 Japanese reissue £9.50: https://www.discogs.com/sell/item/2766158677?ev=bp_det

The other thing to factor in with jazz vinyl is that an awful lot of what's in the shops is basically pirated. Slightly different artwork is always a clue but anything on DOL/Doxy/Waxtime etc is an unauthorised release that's not been anywhere near a master tape. Apologies if you're already well aware.
 
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I think we’re in a golden age for CDs, at least for classical reissues. Multi box sets are often amazingly cheap and tempt the completist in me. The Tchaikovsky symphonies by Mariss Jansons was well received in the 90s and I bought them as they came out. I don’t recall what I paid but I would guess £80 - 90 for the 7 discs and in the rather more valuable £s of the time. These have been reissued as a box at £32 so, amazingly cheap given inflation in the meantime.

TCHAIKOVSKY PYOTR IL'YICH - COMPLETE SYMPHONIES: Amazon.co.uk: CDs & Vinyl

Buy TCHAIKOVSKY PYOTR IL'YICH - COMPLETE SYMPHONIES by Oslo Phil:Jansons from Amazon's Classical Music Store. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders.
www.amazon.co.uk
Interestingly, this now lacks the price information - one has to jump when they first come out.
Another of my favourite Tchaikovsky symphonies is even cheaper at £24, the Pletnev cycle which includes more short pieces like Romeo And Juliet.

Tchaikovsky: The Symphonies (DG Collectors Edition): Amazon.co.uk: CDs & Vinyl

Buy Tchaikovsky: The Symphonies (DG Collectors Edition) by Russian National Orchestra, Tchaikovsky, Mikhail Pletnev from Amazon's Classical Music Store. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders.
www.amazon.co.uk
 
This site contains affiliate links for which pink fish media may be compensated.
Contrary to some here, I've bought more CDs over the last year than I have for any similar period in a very long time (maybe for a decade or two). Vinyl records are ridiculously-priced, often $10 or more for common records in so-so condition. CDs are so 'uncool' and unloved generally and I am happy to pay a few $ compared to the 10X or more for the equivalent record. All the usual arguments for the 'superiority' or collectability of records over CDs don't really hold water for me. It's just a fetishization of the vinyl medium.
 
Let's see... First a vinyl revival, then a cassette revival, then a CD revival. Soon there will be a vinyl revival on the vinyl revival ;)
 
CDs can be a great buy but there won't be a CD revival as such because the technology doesn't really make sense in the streaming era. The same is true of vinyl but nostalgia, big sleeves and sometimes more dynamic range are advantages, none of which apply to CDs.
 
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