Vinyl Me Please Anthology

My whole opinion of this, which doesn't matter, is that VMP is struggling financially from the COVID fallout. Expected shipping is summer 2020 with a notice about possible delays. If this sold out that's a nice 3million they just got. On top of that they offered the $50 promo code to expire in 24hrs to further strike into the hearts of FOMO, I don't recall that being done with the others, so I may be wrong on that.

I also find it funny they announced doing something with Herbie right after Zamrock and then went this direction, IMO thinking Deadheads would be more susceptible to this type of Cash-grab. And to put icing on the cake, $450 to discover a band is outrageous, I love vinyl but I can't ever get behind making music inaccessible to a certain set of people. It further confirms my beliefs that VMP is not in this for the music, they are in it only for the money. Lastly, I love Avery Tare but why do I need to have his opinion of some band other than Animal Collective? Seriously, he could talk to me all day about AC.

On that note enjoy the FOMO, and enjoy letting VMP know that they can get away with this. Especially during a pandemic, your $$$ means more than anything right now, I'd rather see you reach out to your local shop and order $450 worth of merch from them, but then again it's your money support whoever you want.



☮🕊
 
Dead C said:
I don't really agree with this point. Do a lot of people not like them, because they're not for everyone? Definitely. But the major difference with the Dead is that they are very difficult to classify or get the full scope of with a single snapshot. You can listen to a Skrillex song and determine if you're into him knowing he's a certain type of American bro-step. With the Dead, you might hear an era or a track that you're not into and falsely determine that it reflects the entirety of their catalog, when it doesn't.

That being said, I wouldn't drop $450 on this to try and "get into it" either. Still, I think you need to hear more than a single track or even a single album to determine whether or not you like them or not. While some will never be into it, I would argue that one of the reasons why a lot of people "don't like them" is because they don't actually know their music. My brother thinks he "hates" them, too. I was driving him home one night and listening to Two From The Vault, when he asked me what it was, because he was really enjoying it. I told him to Shazam it and then waiting for the "Dammit!"
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Yeah I would agree, but extended live songs aren’t always for everyone. The difference between the studio version of Ripple and Live/Dead’s Dark Star is fairly large, so I can totally see someone liking UJB and being unable to listen to a Dark Star, let alone a Drums/Space. There’s nothing wrong with that either, but being introduced to a band like the Dead this way is pretty insane. They’re a group that takes a long, long time to really explore and realize how different the eras are.
 
Dead C said:
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Years ago, I was on the website for the local Seattle weekly, The Stranger, where a writer posted about how he'd never gotten into the Dead and wanted some suggestions, because he knew that he'd avoided them over preconceptions in the past. The responses that I saw were typical. Either everyone was suggesting some incredibly accessible Sugar Mag type shit, or they were trying to get him to listen to some bugged out 45 minute space jam. One is so safe that it might still leave the listener wondering what the whole hype is about, while the other is obviously not the way to go. I told him that I'd send him Jerry's Oregon State Pen show. He listened to it and wrote back and thanked me, because he really liked it and finally understood a new dimension of what he/they had to offer. I love Reckoning for that similar sound and era. Europe 72 is another dimension. Plus, I love He's Gone and Tennesee Jed and all that shit
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I appreciate you posting this!
 
Dead C said:
I don't really agree with this point. Do a lot of people not like them, because they're not for everyone? Definitely. But the major difference with the Dead is that they are very difficult to classify or get the full scope of with a single snapshot. You can listen to a Skrillex song and determine if you're into him knowing he's a certain type of American bro-step. With the Dead, you might hear an era or a track that you're not into and falsely determine that it reflects the entirety of their catalog, when it doesn't.

That being said, I wouldn't drop $450 on this to try and "get into it" either. Still, I think you need to hear more than a single track or even a single album to determine whether or not you like them or not. While some will never be into it, I would argue that one of the reasons why a lot of people "don't like them" is because they don't actually know their music. My brother thinks he "hates" them, too. I was driving him home one night and listening to Two From The Vault, when he asked me what it was, because he was really enjoying it. I told him to Shazam it and then waiting for the "Dammit!"
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Haha I have a friend that the story of your brother reminds me of (sort of). We call my friend Hot Take Kyle. He makes broad generalizations especially with pop culture/music, without ever knowing much about the topic. He said he absolutely hated Drake, which, fair enough. Not even 2 minutes later I see him dancing along to a song and he asked us who it was and of course it was Drake. This happens with him all the time haha.

I can definitely see how people think they won’t like Grateful Dead having only listened to one era or one album of theirs (or never having listened to it). But I’ve been in a 60’s/70’s rock listening mood lately and going through Neil Young’s catalogue. He’s another guy I was but unsure of how to approach with such a huge repertoire and number of live albums but people on here have helped point me in the right direction and I’m enjoying it thoroughly. Someone posted the Day of the Dead box set the other day as part of the May Challenge thread and I’ve been loving it. Thought the Dead would be another band to tackle after Neil and enjoying that too so far. Now I have a ton of recommendations from y’all and am excited to dig in more. I’m a bit relieved that The VMP box is so far out of reach for me. I can curate by own box of sorts and buy a mix of a few studio albums and live albums after taking the time to listen to everything.
 
blissfullychaotic said:
My whole opinion of this, which doesn't matter, is that VMP is struggling financially from the COVID fallout. Expected shipping is summer 2020 with a notice about possible delays. If this sold out that's a nice 3million they just got. On top of that they offered the $50 promo code to expire in 24hrs to further strike into the hearts of FOMO, I don't recall that being done with the others, so I may be wrong on that.

I also find it funny they announced doing something with Herbie right after Zamrock and then went this direction, IMO thinking Deadheads would be more susceptible to this type of Cash-grab. And to put icing on the cake, $450 to discover a band is outrageous, I love vinyl but I can't ever get behind making music inaccessible to a certain set of people. It further confirms my beliefs that VMP is not in this for the music, they are in it only for the money. Lastly, I love Avery Tare but why do I need to have his opinion of some band other than Animal Collective? Seriously, he could talk to me all day about AC.

On that note enjoy the FOMO, and enjoy letting VMP know that they can get away with this. Especially during a pandemic, your $$$ means more than anything right now, I'd rather see you reach out to your local shop and order $450 worth of merch from them, but then again it's your money support whoever you want.



☮🕊
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Well said and agree. I'd love to get this box if it were $100 less expensive. I'm building the box on my own with a mix of Rhinos, Mofis, and originals. Right now I found 6/8 records for about 180. I'll probably stop here and pick up the last two someday if I really want them.

Thanks to VMP for putting this box set together for me!
 
MikeH said:
I think Herbie will be similar to Blue Note or Zamrock. $300 or so with a $50 Presale discount and maybe an additional previous subscriber bonus. Zamrock was $220 I think after the discounts? And was BN $250? I kinda forget now even though it only came out a year ago.
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But if they sold the numbers and prices I suggested, they would have 6 million bucks!

In all seriousness, I'd say that this wasn't the right direction. The GD Anthology is, I hate to say this, insulting as a huge fan of the Dead upon reflection. 450 bucks for what is essentially a starter pack? I can't even.

I feel like VMP saw Deadheads as an easy mark and were like, we will give them pretty colors and we will make the money we need to make to get through the current situation. It just feels exploitative.

As to the Herbie anthology, I have even less confidence that it will be done right or reasonably priced after seeing what they did with the Dead.
 
blissfullychaotic said:
My whole opinion of this, which doesn't matter, is that VMP is struggling financially from the COVID fallout. Expected shipping is summer 2020 with a notice about possible delays. If this sold out that's a nice 3million they just got. On top of that they offered the $50 promo code to expire in 24hrs to further strike into the hearts of FOMO, I don't recall that being done with the others, so I may be wrong on that.

I also find it funny they announced doing something with Herbie right after Zamrock and then went this direction, IMO thinking Deadheads would be more susceptible to this type of Cash-grab. And to put icing on the cake, $450 to discover a band is outrageous, I love vinyl but I can't ever get behind making music inaccessible to a certain set of people. It further confirms my beliefs that VMP is not in this for the music, they are in it only for the money. Lastly, I love Avery Tare but why do I need to have his opinion of some band other than Animal Collective? Seriously, he could talk to me all day about AC.

On that note enjoy the FOMO, and enjoy letting VMP know that they can get away with this. Especially during a pandemic, your $$$ means more than anything right now, I'd rather see you reach out to your local shop and order $450 worth of merch from them, but then again it's your money support whoever you want.



☮🕊
Click to expand...
While I agree with you on some points, there’s absolutely no way they conjured this box set up after announcing Herbie. They announced Herbie because it was his birthday and nothing more. This box set has to have been in the works for awhile. It takes time to get contracts together especially with a band as big as the Dead and I’m guessing these records are already plated. The reason for summer delays are because of COVID manufacturing being slow plus lacquers being in demand/short supply after the lacquer fire.

I actually think VMP is doing very well during COVID. Fiedler did that interview with Fortune or whatever magazine it was and they are still selling a LOT. While a good amount of people have lost their jobs, many have also purchased way more vinyl lately because they are at home more now.

All the sales from VMP are to cut costs of inventory piling up. Same with the 3 for the price of 2 deal. They are adding capital and cutting overhead. Ironically, something like this box set is what could bankrupt them. I don’t think many of these have sold at all so far. Would be interesting to do a stock check although I wouldn’t put it past VMP to lower inventory to make it look like they sold more.
 
wmeugene said:
But if they sold the numbers and prices I suggested, they would have 6 million bucks!

In all seriousness, I'd say that this wasn't the right direction. The GD Anthology is, I hate to say this, insulting as a huge fan of the Dead upon reflection. 450 bucks for what is essentially a starter pack? I can't even.

I feel like VMP saw Deadheads as an easy mark and were like, we will give them pretty colors and we will make the money we need to make to get through the current situation. It just feels exploitative.

As to the Herbie anthology, I have even less confidence that it will be done right or reasonably priced after seeing what they did with the Dead.
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I understand the album selection if the price wasn’t $450. Instead of choosing a direction and demographic, they tried to please the people trying to get into the dead while also giving one rarity for the completionists. It’s stupid. At the same time, the Dead probably provides the albums to choose from and it doesn’t make sense for them to give VMP super rare stuff they can just sell themselves.

I have more faith in Herbie’s if he is involved in curating. Herbie also has more studio albums that are in need of repressed as far as I’m aware.
 
MikeH said:
While I agree with you on some points, there’s absolutely no way they conjured this box set up after announcing Herbie. They announced Herbie because it was his birthday and nothing more. This box set has to have been in the works for awhile. It takes time to get contracts together especially with a band as big as the Dead and I’m guessing these records are already plated. The reason for summer delays are because of COVID manufacturing being slow plus lacquers being in demand/short supply after the lacquer fire.

I actually think VMP is doing very well during COVID. Fiedler did that interview with Fortune or whatever magazine it was and they are still selling a LOT. While a good amount of people have lost their jobs, many have also purchased way more vinyl lately because they are at home more now.

All the sales from VMP are to cut costs of inventory piling up. Same with the 3 for the price of 2 deal. They are adding capital and cutting overhead. Ironically, something like this box set is what could bankrupt them. I don’t think many of these have sold at all so far. Would be interesting to do a stock check although I wouldn’t put it past VMP to lower inventory to make it look like they sold more.
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Great points, I wasn't meaning to come off as this is something they just threw together and more of a do we go big now and announce 6 as dead and 7 as herbie, and went with dead because of the larger following.

Makes sense that with more people being home and spending less on other forms of entertainment vinyl would be going up, I mean I sure as hell bought a lot more than I was planning on.

It will be interesting to see how this goes and if this pricing point sticks around
 
MikeH said:
I understand the album selection if the price wasn’t $450. Instead of choosing a direction and demographic, they tried to please the people trying to get into the dead while also giving one rarity for the completionists. It’s stupid. At the same time, the Dead probably provides the albums to choose from and it doesn’t make sense for them to give VMP super rare stuff they can just sell themselves.

I have more faith in Herbie’s if he is involved in curating. Herbie also has more studio albums that are in need of repressed as far as I’m aware.
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That's pretty much how it looks to me, too
 
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