Yeh I’ve got nothing against Lankum at all and glad something different is getting recognition. It’s two things -
It’s clearly premeditated that they’re going to press and print some stuff with the idea that they’ll sell over Christmas - and I’m guessing the labels don’t do that if they’re not guaranteed a return and maybe a handshake on some list placing. As I said, fair play to Lankum and getting this type of music more exposure but if this becomes even more normal practice then it’s not going to stop bigger record labels pushing sales for acts that don’t need the exposure.
It’s turning a bit Record Store Day. “Thanks to all the fans who bought the Lankum album the first time round. If you want the different cover, different variant and two different types of LIMITED EDITION screen print you’re going to have to fork out again”. Fair play to Norman for incentivising it with a donation to charity.
It’s great news that vinyl pressing times have come down but it can’t be true in all cases. Tirzah’s latest album was released at the start of September but the vinyl isn’t out until the end of this month (and has been delayed so maybe December).
Also apparently not in RT top 100. I mean it’s all subjective etc I guess
Think we’re pretty much on the same page here.
“Oh why aren’t these LPs selling like they did before (but for £30 a pop)?”
A: We suspect the ‘real’ limited edition will be out in a few months with added bells and whistles
It’s not just the pressing though, there’s the negotiations between labels and stores as well. I’d be very surprised if this process wasn’t started in the summer, if not before
If it was selling well and stock was low or it was out of print, those chats will have been happening. Distributors chat to stores all the time.
I sold Anchoress records directly into a bunch of stores. It’s not hard to have direct contact with shops. And even easier if the staff are into an album.
Getting the mastering done for vinyl may have taken longer than CD / digital.
Getting the lacquer / stamper may have been a backlog if lots of records are backed up
Their label / manufacturer don’t have pre-allotted time with certain plants (Key Production look after this for the DiS label)
Any issues with the test pressing (a prototype to check the gaps and sound) meaning they would need a new lacquer
If the vinyl has any specific colouring requirements it may take longer than black or eco mix
Any particularly different card type or non standard packaging (setting up to cut custom sleeves probably nudges jobs down the queue). Even things like stickering can cause delays.
If they’re doing mailout themselves they may need time to create packages, sign stock, etc
Distributors may have suggested dates to best sell in to shops and will have lead times as often stock has to go into a warehouse for distributor and there to HMV’s warehouse or somewhere else. Shops like stock a few days before release.
Anyway it might be some, none or all of those factors combining.
I was anticipating 6-9 months turn around, not less than 2 months.
I can’t remember quite how bad it got but definitely heard 9 months at one point and 6 months wasn’t unheard of in the build up to record store day in years gone by
Worth remembering that a repress is quicker as you don’t need to get the lacquer or test pressing which is about half the time from paying the invoice and getting the stock for a first pressing
I’m still a bit hmmmm on this. I have literally decades of experience in music retail, and the idea that some guys are sitting around compiling a list in September or October and saying ‘hey, that Lankum record’s good, let’s ring up the label and see if they can do us a special edition to sell in a month or two’ doesn’t seem realistic to me. I’m still pretty sure these things are agreed way further in advance, quite possibly even as part of the launch strategy for the record
With some of these shops (rough trade for sure) they do so many special editions and exclusives. That I think its not so much ‘lets get the high up because we have this exclusive’ but more ‘lets make sure our list contains plenty of exclusives’.
In this case its an actual rough trade record though. So I guess they skip the middle man and as a record store are probably good at reaching out to other record stores.
Pretty good looking list this. Looking forward to checking out Beqa Ungiandz. Good to see placings for a lot of albums I might have expected to be overlooked gems: Craven Faults, Hannah Diamond, Yussuf Dayes, Tirzah, John Francis Flynn, Titanic…
I’m truly impressed by the homogenization of the songs lists. I thought it was a strange phenomenon to happen only in albums, but it seems that this year not even the tracks escaped it.
