For All Vinyl Is Worth
Should artists have to pay their dues before they can release music on vinyl?
A couple of months ago, my friend
from the wonderful and asked me a very thought-provoking question:Is it an overreach by new artists to put their work out on vinyl?
In other words, should the right to get music pressed on wax be reserved for artists who have truly earned it?
A bit of background
This was a spontaneous question that occurred to her as we were discussing how vinyl allows us to reclaim certain music as a substantive art form as opposed to merely disposable digital bytes.
It’s an incisive, controversial question—the kind of question guaranteed to make us flex our mind muscles, stir things up and spark some debate.
A great starting point is to consider the implications of the vinyl ritual. Why do we spin? What happens when we choose certain records over others?
The vinyl ritual
Like other rituals, the vinyl ritual involves a certain degree of transformation.
Choosing to buy a record in a world where music is readily available at the click of a button is the first big step.
Add to this the intentionality of playing an album on your turntable instead of tapping keys on the same device you use to check the weather or order your groceries.
Think of the climax as that magical moment when, through vinyl, you can establish a much deeper emotional connection to the music than you’ve ever felt before. A true communion of the souls.
If you know, you know.
But what happens afterwards?
Choosing vinyl —specifically, choosing to spin a certain record over others— necessarily involves putting some records on a pedestal.
Quite literally, as it’s common to display the cover of an album during playback, but above all, the vinyl ritual triggers —on a more or less subconscious level— a rearrangement in our hierarchy of priorities.
In law school they teach you the difference between a right and a privilege. In the most basic and strictest technical sense, a right is seen as something inherent, whereas a privilege is granted (typically by someone in a position of authority) to those who have met certain qualifying conditions.
Should we, then, restrict the right —or grant the privilege, if you will— only to those artists who have earned their vinyl stripes?
Benefits
A restrictive system would help bring value back to the format in a world where not even vinyl records are fully immune to the commoditisation of music.
Restricting the number of records being pressed would help ease supply constraints while the vinyl manufacturing industry is still playing catch-up post vinyl revival.
For collectors, having a smaller selection of records available for purchase would simplify collection management.
No more hesitating between dozens of records. No more feeling guilty for leaving some of your favourite albums behind.
The most iconic format reserved only for the most emblematic pieces of recorded music in history. The rest can be streamed, or enjoyed on CD or tape.
Our perception of vinyl—and the well-documented notions of status attached to it— would reach new heights.
At the end of the day, there’s only so much space on a single pedestal.
But can a pedestal stand on its own?
Drawbacks
Another very simple yet tremendously powerful lesson they teach you at law school is to question authority. Always go to the source. Don’t take anything for granted.
Who, exactly, would be in charge of choosing what gets pressed and when? On what basis? Would these individuals have international “jurisdiction”, or would it vary across countries?
Would this be based on sales? Cultural relevance? Popular vote? Who would make these decisions, and crucially, who would settle all the disagreements which are inevitably bound to arise?
History tells us that stringent market regulations tend to cause more damage than they try to prevent.
Restricting the supply of vinyl would lead to steep price increases, a proliferation of black markets, a considerable number of scalpers selling bootlegs online, and the not-so-fatalistic notion that many pressing plants, faced with an artificially regulated market, would simply not survive.
This is why I don’t think this model would be financially viable.
Vinyl is our beloved format, but it’s also a business. By pressing records from a variety of artists, both established and new, and for diverse audiences and markets, plants can keep the lights on, pay their employees, invest and grow over time.
Besides, and as I discussed not too long ago, the constraints of the vinyl format help musicians by bringing much-needed focus to the creative process.
The demand for new artists and their vinyl records is significant. Supply-side restrictions would not make this demand disappear, but push it to the fringes of society.
Final thoughts
Critical thinking lets us differentiate between records which are meaningful to us but less culturally significant than others.
For example, I will always have the utmost respect for classical music, but it doesn’t send as many chills up my spine as a blues riff or an R&B vocal run.
Some of my favourite artists have sold hundreds of millions of records. Some have been panned by critics, vilified and cancelled. Others are still waiting for their first big break.
I cannot conceive life without being able to spin the records that have redefined my existence, no matter how big or small their cultural relevance or the artist’s legacy may be.
There are many pedestals out there. Some are widespread and visible from all angles. Others only exist in the intimacy of our souls, as the grooves of our records shape our lives with each rotation.
Thank you, Faith, for knowing exactly how to set a light bulb on fire.
And thank you all for reading/listening. Let me know your thoughts in the comments. Happy spinning!
well, i'm honoured to have inspired a Vinyl Room piece! Though I must say being a committed free speech advocate, I didn't intend to suggest the creation of any sort of regulatory body (!). More that perhaps newer artists might exercise a bit of humility in expecting someone to pay $40 for a record by someone who is still learning their craft. that it might be good to crawl before we walk.... (I think in some ways, the internet has made it too easy for artists to share every little thing they create with the world with no discernment necessary.)
On the other hand, as you point out, the discernment in keeping it under 45 minutes has a similar benefit.
As vinyl enthusiasts , we like to feel the music we collect must be special if it exists in said format. But the reality is that we all have titles within our personal collections that have evaporated from memory faster than morning dew for one reason or another.
In terms of newer artists, I see a lot of independent musicians on Bandcamp offering vinyl pressings of their albums in limited numbers (usually ~500 copies). I think limited vinyl runs are a fair way for independent and major label artists to determine if future pressings are warranted.
If the demand is there, by all means press more. If it’s a dud, you’ll see that $40 sticker price drastically reduced on remaining inventory.