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Following on from the thread about stickers on vinyl.....

Are cutting houses cutting off there noses to spite their heads?? (no pun intended)

With all this talk of vinyl sales going down surely people are going to be less likely to buy vinyl that is of poor quality or cant guarantee it will be good quality??


E.g.

Compare

The count and sinden - stinging nettle (vip)

MRK1 - Bones

to

TRG - Everything we stand for or any Tempa release?!

The difference between qualities of vinyl is scary. I don’t particularly like flimsy vinyl. Have you even noticed? Does it make any difference to sound quality? Surely they may not last as long as thicker better quality vinyl?

Discuss.........

i prefer thick/ strong vinyl compared to the flimsy ones, because the thinner ones tend to warp quicker and sometimes snap. Sometimes the sound quality aint that great either.

Tempa always release the best pressed vinyl in my opinion, the dmz are not too bad either.

180g vinyl or higher please!

The markup on vinyl is so small nowadays for labels that people will be more inclined to cut corners to put out releases they are not certain will fly off the shelves.

its very easy to lose money on a small run of 12's if you don't promote the releases well enough

Plastician wrote:The markup on vinyl is so small nowadays for labels that people will be more inclined to cut corners to put out releases they are not certain will fly off the shelves.

its very easy to lose money on a small run of 12's if you don't promote the releases well enough

Two of my friends run small dnb record labels..... both are doing quite well but thats from pure hard promotion and the fact they will only sign tunes that they are sure will sell very well.

Why would a label want to release a tune that they are not sure is going to fly off the shelves though?? I know if i ran a record label i would only sign tunes which I felt were gonna be massive, if I dont find them someone else will kinda feeling!?

There are enough new producers out there making absolutley banging beats which would fly off the shelves with the right promotion so why settle for less? Plus if the quality of vinyl goes down less people are going to buy them and there will be even less money made?

Anybody thinks they can run a label these days............

Its a vicious circle

i find the sound quality of the WAR vinyl's to be pretty poor..
(doesnt prevent me from buying them but does prevent me from playing them out as much)
all about them thick pieces though...especially deep medi vinyl

Wendy dosen't cut corners unlike your local Dubstep distributor.

And yeh, I got some The Bug vinyls cut onto limited edition 180g vinyl and they feel much more secure.

LittleRedRaver wrote:

Plastician wrote:
Two of my friends run small dnb record labels..... both are doing quite well but thats from pure hard promotion and the fact they will only sign tunes that they are sure will sell very well.

Man, that sounds like exciting labels.

Why would a label want to release a tune that they are not sure is going to fly off the shelves though?? I know if i ran a record label i would only sign tunes which I felt were gonna be massive, if I dont find them someone else will kinda feeling!?

not everyone in the music game is trying to make money or sell bangers. Some of us do it because we love music and realise not every damn release needs to be an anthem. Which is, imo, the problem a lot of dnb labels have nowdays (and a growing number of dubstep labels). This mentality of it's always gotta be a big thing, a rewind tune or whatever. It's long.

There are enough new producers out there making absolutley banging beats which would fly off the shelves with the right promotion so why settle for less? Plus if the quality of vinyl goes down less people are going to buy them and there will be even less money made?

With reference to the quality of vinyl I agree, but the amount of say a smalltime label might get on the quality of vinyl pressed to is minimal.

Anybody thinks they can run a label these days............

Yup. Some can, some can't. Only time tells us that.

pete bubonic wrote:

LittleRedRaver wrote:

Plastician wrote:
Two of my friends run small dnb record labels..... both are doing quite well but thats from pure hard promotion and the fact they will only sign tunes that they are sure will sell very well.

Man, that sounds like exciting labels.

Why would a label want to release a tune that they are not sure is going to fly off the shelves though?? I know if i ran a record label i would only sign tunes which I felt were gonna be massive, if I dont find them someone else will kinda feeling!?

not everyone in the music game is trying to make money or sell bangers. Some of us do it because we love music and realise not every damn release needs to be an anthem. Which is, imo, the problem a lot of dnb labels have nowdays (and a growing number of dubstep labels). This mentality of it's always gotta be a big thing, a rewind tune or whatever. It's long.

There are enough new producers out there making absolutley banging beats which would fly off the shelves with the right promotion so why settle for less? Plus if the quality of vinyl goes down less people are going to buy them and there will be even less money made?

With reference to the quality of vinyl I agree, but the amount of say a smalltime label might get on the quality of vinyl pressed to is minimal.

Anybody thinks they can run a label these days............

Yup. Some can, some can't. Only time tells us that.

1) I wasn't trying to make them sound exciting merely using it as an example.......... Oh and did you mean THEY sound like exciting labels?

2) I do love music with a passion..... No not every tune has to be an anthem..... Where did I say that? but it DOES have to be a good tune that they would feel comfortable pressing surely!!!!! Why would a label want to put out a tune they didnt think was that good enough to sell?
I think you have either misunderstood what I have said or I have used the wrong words to explain myself, sometimes i am not so good at getting my point across on here......
I just think it is important for a small label to put tunes out which will get them recognised, get the sale numbers up and therefore not have to cut corners and press tunes onto shit thin vinyl.........

When i was speaking about it I was refering to the problem of vinyl quality not the scene as a whole.......

i only buy records so thick that i can't get the needle over the platter

Its better for Turntablism to have the slightly thinner and lighter vinyl, which is no less quality than any kind.

Almost all my American Hip Hop from 90-04 is noticably thinner than most UK records from then untill now, and they dont really have any more tendency to warp. But then i dont keep my records next to a radiator(;)) and try to request stiffeners in online purchases.
In fact (and maybe its because all my favourite records are) i prefer the thinner vinyl for some reason, just feels more natural and less like a chopping board.

South3rn wrote:i only buy records so thick that i can't get the needle over the platter

Yeah i have had that problem myself a few times!

Gives me something else 2 moan about anyway

pete bubonic wrote:
not everyone in the music game is trying to make money or sell bangers. Some of us do it because we love music and realise not every damn release needs to be an anthem.

is it not ok to like bangers or anthems?

ct&d wrote:i find the sound quality of the WAR vinyl's to be pretty poor..
(doesnt prevent me from buying them but does prevent me from playing them out as much)
all about them thick pieces though...especially deep medi vinyl

i 2nd that for the WAR series. My WAR001 i dont play due to the needle skating, and i have just got new needles & carts.

Maybe if they are going to be pressing up to WAR100 try pressing with a bit more quality.

LittleRedRaver wrote:Have you even noticed? Does it make any difference to sound quality? Surely they may not last as long as thicker better quality vinyl?

Discuss.........

- yes, i've noticed. The idea that they won't last longer is nuts - have you ever seen a record actually wear through??

I've never noticed any difference in sound quality between thinner/thicker vinyl. I don't see the problem.

LittleRedRaver wrote:
1) I wasn't trying to make them sound exciting merely using it as an example.......... Oh and did you mean THEY sound like exciting labels?

2) I do love music with a passion..... No not every tune has to be an anthem..... Where did I say that? but it DOES have to be a good tune that they would feel comfortable pressing surely!!!!! Why would a label want to put out a tune they didnt think was that good enough to sell?
I think you have either misunderstood what I have said or I have used the wrong words to explain myself, sometimes i am not so good at getting my point across on here......
I just think it is important for a small label to put tunes out which will get them recognised, get the sale numbers up and therefore not have to cut corners and press tunes onto shit thin vinyl.........

When i was speaking about it I was refering to the problem of vinyl quality not the scene as a whole.......

1/ Yeah I did mean the latter, my typing is shit. I'm sure your lads have as much passion as I do for music, but releasing music that's sure to sell sounds like a boring policy to me.
2/ Sorry man it's the way you say fly off the shelves and how tunes have to be 'massive'. I'm not saying you are only into anthems at all, only that the labels that really have caught my attention and imagination are the ones that haven't gone with the bait choices, that take risks and that *aren't* guaranteed to 'fly off the shelves'. The next release we are putting out is a big risk, it's different and odd and there's no guarantee it'll sell. But we all believe in the quality of the tunes (well my partners do lol).

D-Code - Nah man, that ain't what I said at all. But I am saying there are labels that seemed only concerned with putting out the biggest, loudest noisiest anthems all the time. Some pull it off, most don't and we end up knee deep in mediocre lack lustre tunes.

I hope that makes more sense?

With regards to thinner vinyl, I can't say I've noticed a difference in quality and if anything they are easier to use and they don't stick to the platter as much as thick rigid plates? Thinking about it most of my hiphop is on quite thin vinyl.

i use as much counterbalance as possible to minimize wear on needles and records. some thinner records ive found (recent argon releases) require less counterbalance in order to avoid skipping when queing as compared to the heavier ones from deep medi, soul jazz etc. this is the only difference ive found.

only problem i find is cueing up is dodgy when vinyl is thin

its such a horrible feeling when u pull the record out the sleeve and first place it on the platter....wickedness on souljazz was a perfect example...i`ve spent time bending that back the other way

yeah the 180g poison dart record is bliss, and tempa as mentioned does well

the diff is that with thicker vinyl you can cut thicker grooves and get a louder track, and the thicker grooves will maintain integrity longer.

pete bubonic wrote:
1/ Yeah I did mean the latter, my typing is shit. I'm sure your lads have as much passion as I do for music, but releasing music that's sure to sell sounds like a boring policy to me.
2/ Sorry man it's the way you say fly off the shelves and how tunes have to be 'massive'. I'm not saying you are only into anthems at all, only that the labels that really have caught my attention and imagination are the ones that haven't gone with the bait choices, that take risks and that *aren't* guaranteed to 'fly off the shelves'. The next release we are putting out is a big risk, it's different and odd and there's no guarantee it'll sell. But we all believe in the quality of the tunes (well my partners do lol).

I hope that makes more sense?

With regards to thinner vinyl, I can't say I've noticed a difference in quality and if anything they are easier to use and they don't stick to the platter as much as thick rigid plates? Thinking about it most of my hiphop is on quite thin vinyl.

It may be a boring policy, however a semi secure policy while gaining some sort of grounding. Who says they may not take risks later in the label life, I think its great people are willing to take a risk and put different music out there (lol) but at the moment I would think they would be silly to take a risk with a beat they didnt think was gonna get the sales! but hey ho each person to their own

Well I hope the release goes well. You should send me a link to some audio