R.I.P. VMP Forum

The big selling point for companies is that VMP has a captive audience of 30K plus that will be forced to buy a record from them every month. I think this is the main reason why they have a tendency to pick 2nd best records from popular acts. They can go to the record company and say, "We can sell 30K units of this album when it would not normally sell that." Its no wonder that labels like Now/Again, Blue Note, Impulse love this. Egon knows his record are for deep divers only and he needs help promoting them to people who would never even look twice at some Ethiopian guy form the 70's or obscure Zambian protest rock band. The proposition becomes less attractive when a record will sell those numbers anyway. That is when the gimmicks come in, extra liner notes, colors variants, artwork, and cocktail stuff. Their curation is always going to be constrained by this dynamic.

There has been a lot of changes recently that are meant to tighten up business practices which have left it feeling more of a service rather than community.
 
Delta Don said:
Also these safe picks are another good reason to shed the forum. Their potential backlash and exodus of members will be filled by the likes of guys like Chase quickly ordering both OutKast and Phoenix while wearing his topsliders and pink whale t shirt.
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So are “guys like Chase” not welcome here? Or are they okay, so long as they don’t talk about their Crosley turntables and new VMP-curated collection? Asking for a friend...
 
LG&M said:
So are “guys like Chase” not welcome here? Or are they okay, so long as they don’t talk about their Crosley turntables and new VMP-curated collection? Asking for a friend...
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From the introduction thread

Needles & Grooves said:
What Needles & Grooves is:
- A forum for all music lovers to meet and discuss music, gear, and life with people of similar interests
- A welcoming place for people at all levels of music and vinyl knowledge, and any budget
- Respectful of other members--our similarities and our differences
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But I'm sure there are gonna be a lot of people encouraging your friend to improve their system and learn about more music.
 
LG&M said:
So are “guys like Chase” not welcome here? Or are they okay, so long as they don’t talk about their Crosley turntables and new VMP-curated collection? Asking for a friend...
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of course all are welcome.

the problem with the approach in what I mentioned is that their care doesn't go super deep and they are for getting the purchases of potential in and out customers.

they aren't looking to retain customers or avid collectors customers which was also made clear with the "warranty" policy
 
No one is telling you that any given record is actually essential. It's just a name that they came up with at a marketing conference.

If it was really essential then they would have released the Beatles and Dylan by now.
 
JonnyH said:
No one is telling you that any given record is actually essential. It's just a name that they came up with at a marketing conference.

If it was really essential then they would have released the Beatles and Dylan by now.
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of course. I just find it cringe and misleading to have ever called it eseentials. sometimes the obvious is to obvious to all
 
Dtknuckles said:
The big selling point for companies is that VMP has a captive audience of 30K plus that will be forced to buy a record from them every month. I think this is the main reason why they have a tendency to pick 2nd best records from popular acts. They can go to the record company and say, "We can sell 30K units of this album when it would not normally sell that." Its no wonder that labels like Now/Again, Blue Note, Impulse love this. Egon knows his record are for deep divers only and he needs help promoting them to people who would never even look twice at some Ethiopian guy form the 70's or obscure Zambian protest rock band. The proposition becomes less attractive when a record will sell those numbers anyway. That is when the gimmicks come in, extra liner notes, colors variants, artwork, and cocktail stuff. Their curation is always going to be constrained by this dynamic.

There has been a lot of changes recently that are meant to tighten up business practices which have left it feeling more of a service rather than community.
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Egon is fine. He has Rappcats and he still seems connected to Stones Throw in some capacity. He's also written some great stuff. I'm sure the VMP partnership is a benefit, but to imply that he "needs" them sounds a bit insulting. VMP are the ones calling him. At this point, it seems like they need him a lot more than the other way around, when their "curation" is essentially becoming color variants of Now Again and Mr Bongo titles. If VMP folds, Bongo and Now Again will still be finding albums to release. What happens when those labels stop handing them their titles? Did Who Sampled? really do anything in regards to "curating" 3 recent selections out of the Mr Bongo catalog? It's just another move to appear as if VMP has diversity in sources, while showcasing one more industry connection.

Are the cocktail recipes, stencils, or even the art really selling points, anymore? These are more like the residue left over from them trying to find a voice. They've ditched all the important aspects and held onto the garbage that costs them money. Scrap all that. Fuck the obis, too, if it's tacking 5 to 11 bucks onto the price tag per record.

Either they have no idea what people care about, or they're simply targeting the people that do care about this stuff that I have no interest in.
 
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Delta Don said:
I get it’s a business deal, but having a new release under the “essentials” naming is wildly cringe.


This is their target audience. Causal folks with cosmetic crosleys. Remember the guy bringing an entire setup to a roof for moby? Never the less he was just listing to it outside like nbd. And let’s not discuss the images / videos of all the inappropriate finger touching on the records !
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I still can't believe they had That Carter 3 on a Crosley. The amount of bass on that pressing it would have been non stop skips
(Nothing against people that own them/ are happy with them)
 
Count_Vader said:
They've been showcasing suitcase turntables in their ads consistently for almost a year
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Since the beginning. I remember they would share videos from a fan who’d play the aotm on a suitcase player somewhere out in the wild.

I don’t begrudge them that. We all start somewhere. But it’d be nice if they advertised with a wider variety of set-ups. That would be cool.
 
Count_Vader said:
They've been showcasing suitcase turntables in their ads consistently for almost a year
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Quick poll. How many people do you think signed up for the Anthology and are playing those selections on one of these?

I think -- or, at least, hope -- that's the point that people are trying to make here. Not to trash people who buy tables like that, but that the VMP brand is confused and conflicted. They are selling what is, supposedly, a high end product to rationalize the price point. Yet, they tell you that you have to deal with damaged products because it's not a big deal. They market the anthology to audiophiles and hardcore collectors, then slack on the QC for the packaging and fuck it up. What are you selling? The suitcase models have built in speakers that rattle the whole thing to the point of skips. That's not even being pretentious, it's science, yo! Get that Lil Wayne off the table.

I can see someone playing a Phoenix record on there. That being said, if you're going in blind for a high end Anthology box and aren't even really into jazz -- I know a lot of people saw this as an opportunity to learn more about it -- but are throwing these discs on a suitcase player, you're probably better off picking up a new turntable and spending your money picking up jazz titles for a fraction of the price.
 
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Dead C said:
Quick poll. How many people do you think signed up for the Anthology and are playing those selections on one of these?

I think -- or, at least, hope -- that's the point that people are trying to make here. Not to trash people who buy tables like that, but that the VMP brand is confused and conflicted. They are selling what is, supposedly, a high end product to rationalize the price point. Yet, they tell you that you have to deal with damaged products because it's not a big deal. They market the anthology to audiophiles and hardcore collectors, then slack on the QC for the packaging and fuck it up. What are you selling? The suitcase models have built in speakers that rattle the whole thing to the point of skips. That's not even being pretentious, it's science, yo! Get that Lil Wayne off the table.

I can see someone playing a Phoenix record on there. That being said, if you're going in blind for a high end Anthology box and aren't even really into jazz -- I know a lot of people saw this as an opportunity to learn more about it -- but are throwing these discs on a suitcase player, you're probably better off picking up a new turntable and spending your money picking up jazz titles for a fraction of the price.
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I think they themselves are confused about who their "ideal customers" are or at least sending mixed signals to different types of customers, causal vs. hardcore. They don't need to pick a side, but the product should stand up for both segments. Not that a casual vinyl collector should be excusing their poor QC.
 
Dead C said:
Quick poll. How many people do you think signed up for the Anthology and are playing those selections on one of these?

I think -- or, at least, hope -- that's the point that people are trying to make here. Not to trash people who buy tables like that, but that the VMP brand is confused and conflicted. They are selling what is, supposedly, a high end product to rationalize the price point. Yet, they tell you that you have to deal with damaged products because it's not a big deal. They market the anthology to audiophiles and hardcore collectors, then slack on the QC for the packaging and fuck it up. What are you selling? The suitcase models have built in speakers that rattle the whole thing to the point of skips. That's not even being pretentious, it's science, yo! Get that Lil Wayne off the table.

I can see someone playing a Phoenix record on there. That being said, if you're going in blind for a high end Anthology box and aren't even really into jazz -- I know a lot of people saw this as an opportunity to learn more about it -- but are throwing these discs on a suitcase player, you're probably better off picking up a new turntable and spending your money picking up jazz titles for a fraction of the price.
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They don't have a unified company marketing plan, its all over the place.
 
wokeupnew said:
I think they themselves are confused about who their "ideal customers" are or at least sending mixed signals to different types of customers, causal vs. hardcore. They don't need to pick a side, but the product should stand up for both segments. Not that a casual vinyl collector should be excusing their poor QC.
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AnthonyI said:
They don't have a unified company marketing plan, its all over the place.
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That's how I feel. It's like they've tried too hard to be everything to everyone until they hit a point where they are nothing to anyone. And now they just want the customers that don't ask questions, or care either way.
 
Dead C said:
Quick poll. How many people do you think signed up for the Anthology and are playing those selections on one of these?

I think -- or, at least, hope -- that's the point that people are trying to make here. Not to trash people who buy tables like that, but that the VMP brand is confused and conflicted. They are selling what is, supposedly, a high end product to rationalize the price point. Yet, they tell you that you have to deal with damaged products because it's not a big deal. They market the anthology to audiophiles and hardcore collectors, then slack on the QC for the packaging and fuck it up. What are you selling? The suitcase models have built in speakers that rattle the whole thing to the point of skips. That's not even being pretentious, it's science, yo! Get that Lil Wayne off the table.

I can see someone playing a Phoenix record on there. That being said, if you're going in blind for a high end Anthology box and aren't even really into jazz -- I know a lot of people saw this as an opportunity to learn more about it -- but are throwing these discs on a suitcase player, you're probably better off picking up a new turntable and spending your money picking up jazz titles for a fraction of the price.
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I don't think things like Anthology are really as core to the VMP business as they seem to us forum-dwellers. They clearly have their most success with well-known albums that hit the spot for dudes in their 30s and 40s.
 
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