Will the vinyl renaissance last?

£89 minimum for lifeblood why?

Supply and Demand

Obviously but, for that specific album why? It’s a terrible album.

I assume there’s a lot of Manics collectors who just want them all and this is one of the harder ones to find.

Does it really?
I have this and it didn’t even sell out at my local for ages. Weird.

Anyone being a snob about it is a prick obviously.
I just like physical media and this is my preferred option.
As mentioned by others it’s like a bit of an event/Ritual too sometimes.
I wouldn’t look down on anyone who wasn’t into it.
Snobs can feck off.

4 Likes

There’s lots of different things getting mixed up in this thread.

Stupid prices being paid for things based purely on rarity/collectability is annoying. Record companies trying to exploit this by scalping people with prices for multiple ‘limited edition’ formats is also annoying, but both of these things only exploit people who choose to be exploited.

People who love music, like vinyl, and are lucky enough to be able to spend £20 buying a record they love and financially supporting the artist at the same time is a completely different thing.

It’s weird how vinyl arouses such strong emotions both for and against. Not sure where the moral high ground is but I’m pretty sure it’s not with those who exclusively consume music in ways that effectively give nothing to the artist.

2 Likes

I don’t even think the demand has to be high for prices to be high on discogs. All it takes is for one copy to sell at a high price and sellers see this as the minimum price they should get. People seem happy to just let records sit unsold for months or years on the off chance.
Then again discogs has opened up an international market so demand outside the UK may be totally different.

1 Like

It only takes one person with more money than sense to push up the price of something on Discogs if it is something that is not sold very often.

There’s a lot of focus on that small part of Discogs which involves high prices for rare vinyl. That part of the market has more in common with stamp collecting than it does with music loving, to be honest.

Discogs as a whole is great. I’ve sold stuff that I don’t listen to any more and used the money to buy lots of things that I do want to listen to. My highest sale price for an individual record is around £100 (although I’ve sold quite a lot at around that price) but I’ve never paid more than £30 for anything I’ve bought. Most things I buy are under £20. My experiences with it have almost universally been positive.

3 Likes

Yep that’s my experience too. Overall I think it’s a good resource. Maybe if you live in a big city with excellent record stores it seems pointless but I’ve found loads of records, at perfectly reasonable prices, I would never otherwise have found.

1 Like

I’m not against Discogs - far from it. I enjoy logging my collection, looking at what versions I have etc.
I do think it has taken away that nostalgic, maybe naive, outlook of getting yourself a bargain in a secondhand or charity shop.

I love second hand shops but even when you have access to a good one you never find the thing you go in wanting. That’s good in it’s own way - you’ll often find something you never thought of before that turns out to be great (or at least interesting). Discogs is a different thing - you’ll almost always find exactly what you want, the only question is whether or not you can afford it.

2 Likes

Seems records from the late 90s/early 2000s are very expensive. Because Cds were doing so well, very few copies were pressed to vinyl. I’m told that only 500 copies of Lifeblood were issued. And as the band apparently don’t like it, it is unlikely to get a reissue. Incidentally, it’s my favourite Manics album.

I had a lot of vinyl from this period by bands that I don’t listen to any more and it sold for fantastic prices. The first few Divine Comedy albums all sold for over £100 if I remember. It’s that stuff that comes from the period when CDs were taking over and is by acts with really devoted cult audiences that has become really valuable.

People were talking about vinyl renaissances ten years ago

1 Like

Indeed, that’s true. I think because sales keep increasing, every so often, an intern somewhere writes a piece on the renaissance of vinyl, and off we go again!
Records are like flares - keep coming back into fashion.

1 Like

That is why I always love pottering around second hand shops, there is such a thrill if you see something interesting. And the decision had to be made there and then (tempered slightly now as you can get on your phone and check discogs of course). When I saw the first QOTSA LP years back the owner told me they don’t take card so I hid it among some Des O’Connor compilations and ran to the nearest cashpoint, it was only a tenner. Subsequently found out it was a bit of a bootleg. I have far more valuable or interesting records but “bought it on Ebay, I think” isn’t quite the same.

2 Likes

There’s nothing like the thrill of finding something you really want unexpectedly. It’s our ancient hunter gatherer instincts kicking in - a taste of the thrill our ancestors had when they spotted a plump buffalo on the plains.

Getting it from Discogs is like ordering a steak from Ocado in comparison, but then who wants to go hungry?

4 Likes

+1 :+1:

4 Likes

Me too also by the end of this year i will have grown my collection by roughly 75ish which is just ridiculous.