"Thanks for SHARING 2gb of music on WeTransfer," and "music should be free" and "We at the RIAA care," is: "vinyl is coming back!"
NO. It is NOT. As much as Barnes & Noble wishes it was so, it is NOT. They're desperate, and they don't want to close more stores, but selling "collector" vinyl in shops OR online is not going to keep their boat afloat. They are like France, hoping Hitler won't invade. Make that Mussolini, aka Jeff Bezos. Sorry, THIS is NOT going to HELP:
Idiots point to nonsense like this and say, "Vinyl is coming back!" People who say this are even loopier than the assholes who keep saying, "UFO's are real. There are sightings most EVERY night!" To the UFO jerks, Don Henley pointedly sang, "They're not here, they're not coming." And if he didn't give up years ago when he groused about Internet piracy and then didn't follow through, he'd sing the same thing about vinyl. "IT'S NOT COMING BACK."
Why not? Piracy. It's been acknowledged that most major retailers don't stock CD's. If they do, they devote very little space to them, and only offer the absolute best sellers, preferably the expensive box sets sold as gifts. Piracy is several generations growing up knowing how to GOOGLE the "free" music, and use GOOGLE's Blogspot to get just about any back-catalog item they want. If takedowns on the latest releases stop the latest Adele or Sam Smith or Taylor Swift item, the "lovers of free" know which private forums, which Croatian and Russian blogs, and which torrents to go to, so that "the MAN' doesn't "ruin the FUN."
These days, DVDs and CDs sometimes come with a download code, so that the consumer can also have a digital version for the all-important cellphone or laptop.
These novelty releases on vinyl may be flashy, but they appeal to a very small audience of hipsters (make that pseudo-hipsters) and arrogant audiophiles (make that pseudo-audiophiles) who like to show off their BOSE shit and pretend they appreciate fine sound while munching their Fritos. Most people can't afford the connoisseur's brand of turntable and cartridge, and frankly, people who have always had a turntable and are past 40, or 50, prefer the convenience of mp3 or CDs rather than flipping vinyl every 20 minutes, being annoyed by scratches and ticks, and having to change cartridges and needles.
Most people aren't impressed by the weight of new vinyl, and are disgusted by the inflated price. Most people are rather sophisticated now, and don't really give a damn for "record store day" items on funny-colored vinyl. The "picture disc" was a novelty what, 40 years ago? Today you can go on eBay, or go to a thrift shop, and find more than enough great vinyl in great condition. And nobody's doing it.
The disrespect of music has reached epidemic proportions. People who should know better, seem to think that piracy is a good thing, and that it only hurts the evil "record labels." No, the more people get FREE the less they buy. When entire discographies and box sets are tossed around in shoutboxes and torrents, and everyone has a 2TB drive loaded with stuff they'll NEVER get around to hearing, why buy something? Most anything you can buy is being given away for a "nice comment" or two by some conspirator who pretends to "love music" and "support the artist." Yeah, you see the backhand remark, "If you like it buy it," right next to the Paypal "tip jar" to thank the uploader for his "hard work."
Tell me the "evil record label" is more disgusting than the blogger who is making money by using Rapidgator and other premium cloud services, and getting paid for every download and every banner ad. People often say "thanks for sharing" to smug parasites who are doing it for the ROYALTIES they get, and shrugging that Taylor Swift doesn't need the money...and neither does her record label, the secretaries and janitors working in the office, or anyone else. The parasites also say, regarding old vinyl, "I'm giving it away because it's not on CD." Well, no, not when you're giving it away. I've worked for CD re-issue labels, writing album notes, and that's a dying field because these companies go under so often. They can't sell 500 or 1000 copies, even, when the album is all over the Internet. If they spend the time to re-master, and add bonus tracks, ha ha ho ho hee hee, the pirates instantly offer it in FLAC. A big "Fuck You, Sundazed," "Fuck you Rhino," and "Fuck You Bear Family." You people don't deserve to be in business preserving music in is most pristine form.
The answer to all this is for the RIAA, IFPI, GEMA and the rest to take piracy a lot more seriously, use interns if necessary to keep pressure on problem bloggers and forums, and lobby for better protection and higher penalties from rogue websites, especially ones in Putinville. Yes, Putin LOVES the way idiot bloggers give away American and British music, crippling the industry. The record industry should be thinking about the strategy for making sure that sites in Putinville are blocked and the money trail choked. There should be NO way that Rapidgator and similar sites can do business and send money to pirates via Paypal or a Google wallet.
"Oh, short-sighted businessmen," Joni Mitchell sang. Yes, it's preferable to ignore or to dream. Pretend that Spotify, notorious for NOT paying good royalties, is the answer. Pretend that YouTube, which also gives out a few pennies per thousands of downloads, is a way for musicians to thrive. And yes, pretend that VINYL IS COMING BACK...when it is NOT.
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