Joe Mac
Well-Known Member
Isn’t VMP $43 a month now unless you go multiple months? Picking the best of the of rest of the albums by a band with a sole classic and charging that much is really pretty underwhelming.
Vinyl Me Please Essentials
- Thread starter Captainfog
- Start date
Isn’t VMP $43 a month now unless you go multiple months? Picking the best of the of rest of the albums by a band with a sole classic and charging that much is really pretty underwhelming.
wmeugene
Well-Known Member
It is, but I don't know how many people are just doing month to month. I don't disagree that the price of a 1-3 month sub is too much, but the entire industry is moving that way.
Take the Prine, as an American without a local (nearest that sells new is an hour, most of the good stores are 2 hours or more), my option is one listing on eBay that lacks detail or dropping 60 bucks on Discogs. Its like that with everything that is remotely limited, buy it when it first comes out or pay out the nose.
Demand well outstrips supply, so VMP works for me. And my interests are broad enough that I can find 1-2 ROTMs that I'd want.
Rowan
Well-Known Member
Swings and roundabouts I think. I could have picked up the Rhino Prine for about £11 less but as I'm on the 12 months the Room on Fire is nigh on identical price wise (thats cheapest UK discogs and shipping) so easy to go with VMP. Not least I know that if its knackered theyll replace.
And it's a decent pick. It's not going to set any rooms on fire for sure and I'm struggling to see the essential nature but it's an album I really like by a band I really like so I'll be happy to have it.
For anyone in the US who would rather get the recent Kevin Gray cut of the Prine album this store still has some in stock for a reasonable price John Prine - s/t LP | 3hive Record Lounge - Handpicked New & Used Vinyl
TenderLovingKiller®
Well-Known Member
I hate the colors chosen for Room On Fire and I already have it on black wax. It would have to be a phenomenal sounding record for me to consider repurchasing this but I would if it did.
Bloodlemons
Well-Known Member
Ryan Smith does really nice work. I would be really surprised if he can't improve on what's been available (although I thought the orange marble pressing from last year actually sounded pretty good). I kind of like the color treatment because it reminds me of that Stones RSD LIB from this year that no one could get.
This. For Americans with a broad taste it’s still a pretty good deal.
Rowan
Well-Known Member
This is always the issue when it comes to me trying to work out the value for VMP. I'm not a domestic subber so that value that you all get isn't necessarily there for me. That means that, on full pricing, for an essentials/ classic/ R+HH the question is whether that record is worth $41 and to lock in that price you need to take a 12 month gamble. I mean, I'm happy to have Room on Fire at that but even with that one I'm not sure that if I saw it in my local at that price point I'd grab it.
But this means that on this forum you get two contrasting viewpoints because there are two completely polar considerations of value. On one hand there are the US lot where the cost after conversion is probably pretty comparable to the cost of a record in the UK but then there are the Internationals where the prices are a little closer to, i suppose, luxury purchases. And as @wmeugene (almost)noted, when you start looking at the realms of 1, 3 and 6 month subs then the question becomes even more difficult. I mean the 1 month is $52 for an international. That's absolutely crackers. I mean seriously wild. Even the 6 month works out at $46 a record which is more that I'd normally pay for anything that isn't on a relatively short list. To be honest there isn't anything other than the Strokes that I'd have close to that list in the Jan - March run.
I get the answer is that if you don't see the value then don't join the club. I just hoped that with the price bump there'd be some mega, mega releases alongside it and they're all a bit B- at the minute. But saying that April - June could be insanely good and views will shift again.
wmeugene
Well-Known Member
The rates for 1 or 3 months is too high across the board and international shipping to or from the US is more insane than normal. I'd bet that they were losing money on the international subs, particularly when they were shipping out records individually.
The cost for me when all is said and done is a few bucks less on a longer term sub than what a 1LP from AP and MoFi would cost, with a more modern sensibility with the curation. As a value proposition, it works considering that VMP usually does a good job with their ROTM (De Stijl disappointed in SQ, otherwise all good this year) and my tastes are broad enough that it has been a long time since I didn't want at least one of the albums from the three tracks.
If I was on a shorter term subscription, I'd agree that it is too high. I think for internationals it is a luxury at the price. I would be curious to see the breakdown of percentage of subscribers per plan.
Joe Mac
Well-Known Member
Yeah this completely. And that’s particularly stark when you think that the 3 month international used to be $108, which is $36 a record and which always seemed about on the nose for the quality of product that VMP produces. I used to ride the rougher months then. The price increase, which has weirdly coincided with a, to my taste, mostly poor run on curation, has pushed it up to $149 for three months, $49.66 a record. That’s coming perilously close to the territory of reference pressings of all time favourites. I’m not paying that for The Strokes 2nd best (and a distant second at that) album or to take a punt on discovery.
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wmeugene
Well-Known Member
Thanks for this, I almost bit and then realized I was going to likely hang the art print in my listening space. Cheers!
I hear that, but “insanely good“ is subjective too. You have people who want the crown jewels but those are usually recently pressed or in collections already, and then you have lesser albums that are seen as “not worth the price” or “there is an OG pressing on discogs for less”. Theres really no perfect answer. Honestly the opening up swaps to all 3 tracks + addition of swap for credit seems the best option (Both of which previously didnt exist and doesnt exist in many other clubs)
I will agree, most of their picks I wouldnt walk into a record store and slap $40 down for. But thats exactly why Im a member. I dont need a curated club to tell me what records Id buy on my own. I have a diverse taste in music and like the curation to introduce me to albums I wouldn't have sought out, and overall it’s a really good hit ratio for me. And Id always rather a nice new remaster than taking a change on an “OG from discogs”. (I think I went through 3 NM - VG+ Coal Miners Daughters before VMPs awesome reissues).
But yeah, for international members the price is now more prohibitive unless you really enjoy the majority of what they offer. Between 3 tracks, exclusives and swaps for credit, I find it hard to believe MOST people can’t find one good option a month. Probably one of the reasons they decided to add more tracks too, to expand options.
But to each their own. If you really can’t find something you like, or you just hate the company in general, probably not the club for you. But I really can’t see what else they can do (from a curation standpoint, not operations) to please everyone.
wmeugene
Well-Known Member
I'd be out for sure at $49.66 a record, so I get it. Domestically, at $33-38, it is high but acceptable.
Rowan
Well-Known Member
The bit in bold has been my philosophy with VMP and I totally agree with you. I think if you read @Joe Mac 's post just above though you'll see where the problem is for the likes of me. In the old days it would have been like walking in to a store and slapping down $36. That's kinda the going rate for a double LP in a few uk stores. Possibly a little higher but my Dad paid that for the most recent Springsteen for my Christmas gift so not horrendous. But in reality we're talking about $46 - $52 now and that's, as you say a bit more prohibitive. In fact for any of the Jan, Feb or March picks it's madness. There are very few good options a month at those prices
So it's not really about hating the company. Bizarrely I'm probably about 50/50 on VMP wins and losses these days. It's more an explanation as to why when the bridge deal is drawn up it's an incredibly tough decision on whether to jump too and the first three months of the year don't really hit the 'pay a bit for the curation' button for me that i'd expect from what is essentially a $50 record
Yeah I completely get it. The “hating the company” wasnt towards you, but others on here who *understandably* had too much of the fuck ups over the past years.
I love the service and the curation but at the US prices. Theres no way Id be able to be on the hook for what they now charge international customers.
I wonder if they purposely made it so cost prohibitive because of shipping costs. As someone who sells alot on discogs, the difference between domestic media mail shipping compared to international is huge.
Joe Mac
Well-Known Member
Im actually looking at the essentials curation and wondering whether as a company, they have very narrow windows of taste and that’s why we’re now on third or forth rate US indie from 00s whilst whole swathes of 90s and all of the 80s and Europe are almost entirely ignored. Then add a certain someone’s obsession with scraping the barrel of stax to feed his need to complete a set rather than doing his job and curating for a buying audience.
Rowan
Well-Known Member
I've been trying to suss this out myself. My best guess is that they have maybe two or three absolute stand outs, possibly exclusives, get them via QRP etc a year and that chunks the annual budget so the rest of the year is finding an acceptable balance that is good enough (or interesting enough) to still keep the majority of subbers happy while maintaining a quarterly uber-pick.
Or alternatively they are playing to a specific market and data tells them this is what that market is into. I'd be really interested to see the demographic and sub data across the company though. Especially around types of subbers, equipment uses etc. Just to see who they are actually catering for as a main these days
I mean, considering they’re all Vinyl buying millennials in the US, they probably are mostly big fans of Indie music in the 00s. I personally am not but I understand that it is a popular genre/time period for the people who buy Vinyl here. Probably the easiest to get a label relationship with too. Even though it’s generally not my jam Im ok with 3-4/year as I like it just about that much.
Ill agree to an extent on Storf’s Classics curation. I like Storf alot and Classics is by far my favorite track but I think it could maybe benefit using a new voice. Even if its someone who works with him. No issues personally with the Stax heaviness (his missing titles are generally the hard to find ones which is what many people claim they want and justifies the price), but I get how after this many years a fresh voice may help, even if its temporary or just alternates with him.
Bloodlemons
Well-Known Member
ITT: A bunch of peeps with whom I generally agree, but that just don't get the brilliance that is Room on Fire. And for that I pity them. It's sad, really.
Joe Mac
Well-Known Member
Hmmm. I think that’s very charitable.
I don’t like storf and really didn’t enjoy my interactions with him in the old forum but I’m not going to relitigate that here and now. What I will say is that I was all for stax saturation when they were uncovering Darrell Banks or pressing Eddie Floyd, William Bell and Mavis Staples. Now it feels like, and this is my alternative perspective on it, that they’re pressing albums that are rare because no one wanted them the first time around, they were rightly forgotten and are only being dredged up now to complete his collection.
As for the millennials point, I’m a millennial indie fan and my foundations were in the 90s and I’ve dug back into the 80s and it’s roots. It’s really lazy to me.
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