Records, how long will labels keep pressing them?

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I’m not talking about majors here but record labels we all love and admire. With pressing prices going way up, and I’m assuming the rest of the supply chain not holding back either I’m just wondering.

I know the guys at Numero have alluded to the fact that they don’t see themselves pressing records for much longer so I’m just wondering all of your thoughts.

Also, are kids buying records now? I heard from a record shop owner out here that the way they buy records is very different, they just walk in looking for what they want, don’t browse and leave.

I’ve also noticed during my initial forays into the digital world that there is a lot of music out there that will never get pressed that probably would have been 10 years ago.

Is the vinyl revival bubble bursting and how do we get labels to stop pressing colour variants of records available for cheap second hand?

Sorry a lot to unpack here.

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Yes, so annoying. Who buys that?

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Quite a lot of people over here in the states. There are a lot of people who buy records on record store day and record store day alone.

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I suppose it’s nice for the shop to make some money on RSD. Never interested me. I just feel sad about it all. Records are too expensive now for buying new weekly. Which means fewer getting pressed, making them more expensive and so on. I also can’t get into buying digital.

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People who called them ‘vinyls’.

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Same people who think about 100 records is a large and storied collection.

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I work for one of the major labels. At one point urban outfitters and Whole Foods were both in our top 10 vinyl vendors probably still are. I think they give some insight into who wants $75 swirly pink copies of Tyler, The Creator records and the worst sounding possible digital remaster vinyl of John Coltrane.

It is what’s referred to as a “lifestyle consumer“

I don’t mean to be mean but I’d wager that 50% plus of these splatter variant copies and clear Beatles reissues never make contact with a turntable stylus.

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I think 50% might be generous. Probably a lot of them end up in homes without record players and go right on a shelf.

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…either
a) people who used to buy all their music (mostly compilation cd’s) from supermarket checkouts, or
b) people who gave up looking for new music when they left their teenage years, and have found ‘vinyls’ as a way to fill their midlife boredom.

On the one hand, i have nothign against people finding happiness in life without hurting others…but then theres also a part of me that finds its really really really annoying.

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