R.I.P. VMP Forum

My main beef with their "curation" was that lots of times the reason for picking it was because they "loved it in grade school" or some other pivotal life stage. Nostalgia doesn't makes something good. It might be a reason to have something in your personal collection, but it doesn't hold up to a larger group unless they're selling to people exactly like them.
 
Kris said:
My main beef with their "curation" was that lots of times the reason for picking it was because they "loved it in grade school" or some other pivotal life stage. Nostalgia doesn't makes something good. It might be a reason to have something in your personal collection, but it doesn't hold up to a larger group unless they're selling to people exactly like them.
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don't forget the curation because the opportunity presented itself and they just so happened to love the record too

its not an original thought but this company is turning into Newbury Variant Me , please? safe colored pressings of albums that probably don't need another pressing
 
Kris said:
My main beef with their "curation" was that lots of times the reason for picking it was because they "loved it in grade school" or some other pivotal life stage. Nostalgia doesn't makes something good. It might be a reason to have something in your personal collection, but it doesn't hold up to a larger group unless they're selling to people exactly like them.
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they were selling to people like themselves at first, I am thinking maybe they should have stayed in that stream
 
Kris said:
My main beef with their "curation" was that lots of times the reason for picking it was because they "loved it in grade school" or some other pivotal life stage. Nostalgia doesn't makes something good. It might be a reason to have something in your personal collection, but it doesn't hold up to a larger group unless they're selling to people exactly like them.
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kris you KNOW they are their only target market. always have been.
 
helllord said:
kris you KNOW they are their only target market. always have been.
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they were much more indie rock-focused in the early years with the occasional outside pick or indie rock adjacent pick, I think that should have kept their focus there until they figured out how to do the whole club/subscription thing as they are obviously still struggling with.
 
Enoch said:
they were much more indie rock-focused in the early years with the occasional outside pick or indie rock adjacent pick, I think that should have kept their focus there until they figured out how to do the whole club/subscription thing as they are obviously still struggling with.
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i’ve been actively involved with them/the community since mid 2014 and stand by my statement. they’ve only featured pitchfork approved, overwhelmingly male bands that are all very up the alley of The Exact Same Guy. it was a highly discussed topic for a long time (when they used to pretend to listen to engaged customers/the forum). curation isn’t curation if it’s only for The Exact Same Guy (or maybe it is, but it’s real bad curation). thanks for the mansplain tho
 
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helllord said:
i’ve been actively involved with them/the community since mid 2014 and stand by my statement. they’ve only featured pitchfork approved, overwhelmingly male bands that are all very up the alley of The Exact Same Guy. it was a highly discussed topic for a long time (when they used to pretend to listen to engaged customers/the forum). curation isn’t curation if it’s only for The Exact Same Guy (or maybe it is, but it’s real bad computation). thanks for the mansplain tho
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But how can it be for The Exact Same Guy when there's not only white dude indie rock but there's also some classic jazz and blues to add history and culture to your record collect-...oh...wait...yeah...OK...no, what you're saying tracks. ☺
 
sorcerer said:
I don't see much of an issue with the records they pick, especially since they've broadened it to three tracks.
Their music taste doesn't seem to be esoteric enough to really diminish their sales when they're doing indie rock ROTM pressings with quantities in the thousands.
Would like to see more record clubs pop up with a focus on more obscure stuff or music made by women / transgender people / etc, but VMP's found their market and it seems pretty harmless to me.
If anything, VMP being "boring" with their picks should be encouragement to start up new record clubs to tap into different markets.
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there’s nothing wrong with picking your lane and staying in it, but there’s something fucked up when you brag about broad, interesting curation spanning genres and artist and and and...you curate One Guy’s playlist (that he mostly already had in itunes)
 
Count_Vader said:
I'm starting to question their curation (in the last year at least) the Townes Van Zandt album's to curate they choose the one with "Talkin' Karate Blues" on it....
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Seriously though.
Kris said:
My main beef with their "curation" was that lots of times the reason for picking it was because they "loved it in grade school" or some other pivotal life stage. Nostalgia doesn't makes something good. It might be a reason to have something in your personal collection, but it doesn't hold up to a larger group unless they're selling to people exactly like them.
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helllord said:
kris you KNOW they are their only target market. always have been.
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Both of these. I had a fair amount of trust for my first 6 months or so, until I realized they know absolutely no more about music than I do, they just have the hubris to think their faves are essential.
 
my main issue with more recent curation was because many of the selections clearly tied into a business relationship they had fostered (e.g. now-again). once we started getting multiple releases from these relationships, it was clear that 'curation' was just another buzzword and not something truthful.
 
The other thing that drove me crazy was their commitment to making "best" lists and recommendations that were intentionally NOT the artists' best. "Well, we want to give our customers something new--everyone knows X is the best album, so we're going to call this less good album the best one."
 
helllord said:
I HOPE YOU TOOK YOUR EARRINGS OUT TO THROW THIS PUNCH, MOM!!!!
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I only take my earrings out if I doubt the knockout. 😘
AndySlash said:
my main issue with more recent curation was because many of the selections clearly tied into a business relationship they had fostered (e.g. now-again). once we started getting multiple releases from these relationships, it was clear that 'curation' was just another buzzword and not something truthful.
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Oh absolutely.
 
sorcerer said:
Do they put playlists in those emails they send? I have them all set to go to my junk folder.
They tried to do a cool community curating thing where people would write a paragraph on a record they wanted added to the store and then they'd add it to the store, but that only lasted about a month. Still not really sure why they axed it.
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Mostly because that was when they stopped carrying any curated titles in the store
 
GritNGlitter said:
The other thing that drove me crazy was their commitment to making "best" lists and recommendations that were intentionally NOT the artists' best. "Well, we want to give our customers something new--everyone knows X is the best album, so we're going to call this less good album the best one."
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I'm still pissed they picked Miles Davis' Sorceror. Coincidentally it was the only Miles record Storf didn't own...
 
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