Records?

Written by Tommi on 18.11.2009 12:46:47

The music market came down about 25% from last year.

Every time I talk to people about how records - in a large scale - are a thing of the past, they always hop into defense mode. "But I still buy records like I used to". Every single one.

So I'll be the first to admit: I really really really do not buy records anymore. I don't really even listen to records anymore. I use vinyls as a fetish item and for their decorative purposes, but 99.9% of my music is consumed in non-physical form.

I just packed 1500+ cds to be taken to the basement in the flat I'm moving to soon. I realised I hadn't touched them in a year or two, so it's time to get rid of them.

Who's with me? Who's willing to admit their music consumer habits have changed dramatically in the past few years?

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18.11.2009 14:27:05 Bääbs wrote : "I admit.."

I´m guilty as charged. Cant remember when was the last time I bought a record in physical form.

18.11.2009 14:39:07 Tonio wrote : "Amen, brother"

I still buy vinyl occasionally (apparently to help keep rest of the collection upright since my turntable is busted at the moment) but can't recall when I last bought a CD - or played one. I've actually thought of getting rid of the majority of my records but just can't figure out what would be the best way to do it.

18.11.2009 14:41:36 Kari Hynninen wrote : "Records?"

I moved from flat to another and got rid off plenty of records that I haven't been listening for years. I still have lots of cd's but I sold and gave away hundreds of 'em. And I feel free!

18.11.2009 14:42:11 Lentojätkä wrote

In the last year I've bought more paintings than cds. My cds are still in the piles I made in march when we moved into our new appartment.

18.11.2009 18:11:25 Fegs wrote

Nope. I use Spotify every now and then when I'm at the computer, but I try to listen to real records with a proper hifi-system as much as possible. I have bought around 50 vinyl records this year.

18.11.2009 18:22:36 Mikko Meriläinen wrote

Guilty. I still buy almost as many cd's as previous years, but I just rip them and never touch them again. Expect when borrowing for friends.
It's just stupid. My cd shelf is totally full, and I really shouldnt buy a new one, instead I should rip all of them and get rid of them.
But the thing is that I do want to pay for the music I like to own, and I'm just not comfortable for paying just for the mp3s. For some strange reason. Although I do pay for Spotify...

18.11.2009 18:38:34 Tommi wrote

Step #1 for me was a subscription to eMusic coupled with an iPod around 2005. That changed a LOT. Around then I realised that for a large portion of music, physical products didn't really mean all that much as long as I "own" the music.

Then came Spotify and taught me that I don't really care where the music comes from, as long as it's there for me 24/7 to consume - on a whim.

Of course rarities and obscurities are a different animal, but I just listen to easy-to-find mainstream stuff nowadays anyway. :)

20.11.2009 13:35:12 te wrote : "No"

I still buy records, plenty of them, in addition of vinyls. Even though the majority of my listening happens in digital forms, I still hold a great value in my physical music collection of record and vinyl goodness.
So there you go.

I say bring back c-casettes!

20.11.2009 21:54:43 Oskar wrote

Te summed my point up quite good (apart from the c-cassette bit hehe). I still also feel that some exceptional records are worth to be owned in physical form, which is the reason why I ordered the limited vinyl of the new Converge record. Can't wait to get it.

21.11.2009 10:48:23 Kim wrote

I guess a fair amount of people (like me) still have this retarded need of harvesting physical stuff, like lps and cds. I just love planning my buys i forehand by listening to music online, pick the gems from the peas, then go to selected stores and buy the good stuff. As long as you support artists that you truly consider sincere (as far as their music goes anyway), I don't see any big issues here...

25.11.2009 23:53:46 Hydor Kephale wrote : "records? records!"

Talk about a force of habit. Or is it a way of life? I spend most of my waking hours around records. I sell them for living. I price them, value them, store them - hell, sometimes I even LISTEN to them. My overtime hours turn into endless bags full of records that I carry home in an withering hope that some sunny day I'm going to have time to listen to all of them. I'm sorry, sir - you're way past that window, I'm afraid. My time on this earth will not be long enough. I know when I finally kick the bucket, my kids will haul all these endless piles down the seaside and dump them. 'Funny man, he was, collecting all this crap - silly old bugger. Ok, on three...'. Luckily at that point I couldn't care less. This is for me.

I don't use much digital means in obtaining music. Well, I don't have to, do I? It's all there. I do have an iPod for getting rid of the outside world on my way to work & back. That's just about it. No spotify, no podcasts, no streaming, no whatever is the latest thing.

And I must admit that the only kick nowadays comes from second hand vinyl, stuff found from flea markets & garage sales, obscure and amazingly bad records that make one go 'why?'. That keeps me going. I'm an addict by nature, that's why I'd rather collect some shitty 7"s than do dope. (that's my plan for retirement years - I will be permanently stoned after I turn 65 - if i'm lucky enough. At that point I'll have plenty of high-priced antique objects to trade for some ultrastrong weed. Mission accomplished. And i'll probably be deaf anyway.)

Actually i'm really fed up of this 'the death of records' subject. Who cares? All the good music is already made. There's plenty of records already for everybody (you only need about 259 if they're good enough). So enjoy while you can, spin the black circle.

The kids will ruin everything eventually.

When they grow up.

Go on, give up. I know you will. Cause that's how we are: we like things that are easy. Some already-chewn gum, missus? Thought so.

The thrill is gone.

Piss off.

26.11.2009 17:22:56 Triani wrote : "Records"

I buy more records than ever. i also get a lot of free music for which i know I'm lucky.
I've been buying records for 30 years. I'm a dying breed i guess. But the aesthetic quality of great vinyl or a well packagerd cd with crisp mastering and a great sound will always survive until all the old fuckers like me are finally dead. It's your attitude to music Tommi that has changed. Maybe as a creative concept it doesn't excite you anymore and that's something else. There always has been trash music out there and always will be. The good and bad have co-existed for years but the good tends to endure. I know for me i will be buried with my favourite music. Bottom line for me is that the mp3/stream whatever sounds shit.

26.11.2009 18:59:33 hydor kephale wrote : "records"

The Children Of The Revolution will be be the last to carry the torch. You kids, you will gradually forget, like those jellyfish stuck in a mountain lake forgot their abolity to sting. You'll become soft-bellied and helpless. Matrix, anyone? So long, goodbye, ta-ta.

26.11.2009 22:04:38 Tommi wrote

To sum up the rationale you guys seem to have with records:

Force
Of
Habit

02.12.2009 20:50:24 Arttu wrote : "Force fo Habit?"

Yes, force of habit. In the end, you can use that phrase to explain the rationale behind much human activity, private and in larger groups...

Big whoop.

Even when food comes in space age pills, there'll be a force of habit that makes people, on occasion, eat so-called real food.

Anyway, I've quit buying cds, mostly. Vinyl I still buy and I love it if it comes with an mp3 download code.

Mp3s I mostly listen to when running or as demos of stuff I'm working on or stuff I need to transcribe or learn.

17.12.2009 18:50:57 Lassi wrote

Force of habit, yes, but is it necessarily such a bad thing?

I enjoy the listening process more when I'm dealing with physical records. I just like to put some thought into what I'm doing. It's difficult for me to really concentrate on a MP3 playlist.

02.01.2010 23:02:27 Jon wrote

Late to the party... but here's my sad story.
I ripped all of my CDs after realising I only listen to music through computer or iPod anyway. For the best part of two years, my entire music collection has been on the hard disk of my desktop, with a copy on an external hard drive and another on the iPod.

Now the computer broke down, and nothing can be salvaged from the practically melted hard drive. When trying to connect the external drive to another computer it (the external drive) started to emit smoke. And guess what? Nothing to salvage there either.

Luckily, I had the iPod. Untill it dropped from my pocket and rolled under the wheels of a bus.

Well, I still have a few CDs with special value to me, by bands I have heard when travelling abroad. But the rest is floating in the air as electronic charges (or whatever happens to music when it dies). If you catch any, feel free to use it as you see fit!

13.01.2010 22:24:39 Aapo wrote : "must admit..."

I have to admit a change too. My consumer habits have changed to buying records when I can have them cheap, meaning midprice records or sales (like the If Society sale, just spent 70 eur on that :)).

Also, I have to admit my slight defence mode on these conversations. My defence is that my habits have changed also due to other reasons than "records being stupid". Recently my girlfriend moved in with me and this of course meant that I would no longer have my massive record collection in the living room :) So, lack of space is one reason for the change. Well, I have to say that I feel like an idiot telling this, but now I would much rather buy vinyl, because I still have some space for that part of my record shelf. All the CD storage space is filled :/ This is why I sometimes settle for Spotify listening if the album is "semi-good".

Still, there are some must-buy items, for example the last Varjo album, which will be released in a couple of weeks. I'm not even considering whether to buy it or not. Probably I'm going to buy a CD and two vinyls, the second one to store as a collectors' item :)

I like to listen to my iPod when I'm walking to work, but I'm terrified by the idea that the iPod and Spotify would be my only sources of music. I'm a music freak of that kind, that the albums don't seem complete to me without the cover art and every detail written on the cover. Of course Apple has now introduced its new iTunes format with pictures, video and all kinds of graphical material attached to the albums, but having the cover art in that format would just mean spending more time on the computer and I certainly do not want that.

27.03.2010 14:41:51 Janne wrote : "on LPs"

Downloading is killing cd sales because cd does not have too much substance as a product. At the same time almost forgotten vinyl is getting stronger and stronger because listening to LP is more real and authentic experience than digital listening.

27.03.2010 18:30:36 Tommi wrote

Janne: Agreed, yet vinyl sales will never again get to a commercially substancial level. CD has crashed and vinyl has multiplied sales, but if you multiply a tiny tiny number, it's still a pretty small number.