Vinyl shortage and it's effect on the environment

StardogChamp79

Hello!

Allan Cross came out with an interesting story about Vinyl Records and their effects on the environment. Could this be why the singles went away and why fewer and fewer vaults are being released? Food for thought and an interesting read. 

https://www.ajournalofmusicalthings.com/this-vinyl-move-has-me-a-bit-concerned-about-its-future/

Spiritual_Chaos

No it is not. 

It is because they didn’t have it in them to keep up (with the singles). It wasn’t fun anymore like it was in 91 when they lived for music and the band. 

Tim Simmons

the downgrade from 180 to 140 is not an issue. The real issue is the retail prices increasing. That will drive more people away from the hobby more than anything. 

Tim Simmons

Also, PJ dropping it probably has more to do with lack of interest on the bands end, 10c dealing with pressing/shipping issues, and the long ass lead times. Environment preservation is a plus, but its a drop in the bucket in terms what really is destroying the environment. 

Lost In Ohio

Tim Simmons said:

Also, PJ dropping it probably has more to do with lack of interest on the bands end, 10c dealing with pressing/shipping issues, and the long ass lead times. Environment preservation is a plus, but its a drop in the bucket in terms what really is destroying the environment. 

I'm sure the lead times became a huge issue. In the 90s, how many bands were regularly doing vinyl? Nowadays, everything under the sun is on vinyl... yet how many production plants are there?

The first 10C single I got was the Reach Down which came in April, IIRC. Just a few years later, they'd regularly arrive in July or August. That was when they'd have the cutoff date be some arbitrary date in the middle of the year. Someone who paid in, say, September 2006 might not be have been eligible for the 2006 (since it was after the cutoff), but they'd be eligible for the 2007. Due to various reasons, that 2007 might come in the middle of 2008.

Back to that Reach Down single. The only ones after that I had ever received remotely "on time" was the Betterman single which came (IIRC) in very late January and maybe one after that which I believe actually came on Christmas Eve... I think that was the first when they had switched to analog/digital.

10C then changed the date to 12/31. Anyone who paid at any time that year was eligible for the single. People were then getting the shirt in February or March, but they might not get the single 18-20 months later.

It was definitely a lot easier before every show was recorded and sold. They'd take "a gem of gems" from a live show and maybe a demo or something from the archives and call it a day.

Spiritual_Chaos

Tim Simmons said:

. Environment preservation is a plus,

The plus of the vinyl single is turning very much a minus environmentally-wise with all of their reissues. Like e.g. an old legacy Greatest Hits from (2004) instead of an updated one.

So, I don't think that in the whole scheme of Pearl Jam things them dropping the single can be noted in their sustainability chapter of their annual report. 

But obviously, things that are good for the planet are good for the planet.

PB11041

This is a confusing take on this article. There is not a current vinyl shortage.  The blog posts lead in is in regards to the industries reaction to the world wide oil crisis of the 1970s and how record labels dealt with it.

He is juxtaposing that event with an entirely different move which is labels considering different material makeup of the end product.

The purpose of his comparison was to say that he fears some of the defects of the industry in the latter 1970s and through the 1980s before CDs became the dominant format for the better part of a decade will creep back in, that being substandard records.

I think this while interesting to consider omits a pretty common thing between the latter 70s and vinyl's resurgence in the mid to late aughts through the last decade right up to the explosion and possible over saturation of the market today.   That omission is that some pressing plants were and are just terrible.  Either through inferior QC or just plain bad at what they do.  The same goes for the mastering process.

You could have great 120 gram vinyl, 140 gram vinyl and terrible 180 gram and 200 gram, because the caretakers don't care at times.  One of the most notably flawed labeling practices by record labels is slapping a sticker on a release and adding phrases like AUDIOPHILE QUALITY, because of the weight.

At the end of the day, Pearl Jam stopped the singles I would bet for the reasons already stated above. They just plain lost interest a long time ago.

tempo_n_groove

Metallica put their "Vinyl Club" subscription on hold because of lead times.  They did it for 2 years and was really well received.

Hope it comes back, it's a shame that they had to stop.  They are good to their fans though and don't want to give them crap.

lotsalemon

tempo_n_groove said:

Metallica put their "Vinyl Club" subscription on hold because of lead times.  They did it for 2 years and was really well received.

Hope it comes back, it's a shame that they had to stop.  They are good to their fans though and don't want to give them crap.

I agree - I was pretty bummed with that decision but if it means not putting out crap, I'm all for it.