MikeH
Well-Known Member
Sabbath is a very nice get assuming it’s the VMP x Kevin gray cut
Vinyl Me Please (store, exclusives, swaps, etc)
- Thread starter Captainfog
- Start date
Biscuit
Well-Known Member
That Buck Owens is great. I like the Doug Sahm and Mar Keys. If you like Bob Dylan, Van Ronk is a contemporary, so good folk record. I would say you did pretty well and received a wide mix of genres.
spilledleche
Well-Known Member
imo, their model was already becoming unsustainable due to price/access to titles and losing all that money to some light fraud just sped up their eventual demise
MikeH
Well-Known Member
supposedly, VMP almost hit bankruptcy earlier and was saved. I believe there was info in it from the wrongful termination countersuit by one of the guys in the c-suite.
the plant stuff really fucked them though. outside financing fell through, causing them to do all those 40% off sales which severly diluted the brand value. plus that freebies sign up also devalued them. i also think they did an awful job at forecasting sales and overpressed nearly everything plus did represses that way too big and are still in stock.
Twentytwo
Pre-order Goodness
So do we think they fold pretty quickly or do you think they are looking for a buyer? They seem to be just basically existing at this point.
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Rowan
Well-Known Member
I’m pretty surprised they’ve hung on this long. The company is basically just Matt plus one these days? Right?
Someone may buy the brand as a repressing label but I think their goose is cooked as a single company.
A Lost Highway
Member
I assume they're looking for a buyer, otherwise they would have folded already. Explains why they're still shipping in stock items/doing sales/giving away things for free to victims of the fire. Getting rid of inventory so a potential buyer isn't burdened with it.
Essentially, you're stuck with a business that requires a lot of inventory across a lot of skews in order to grow. And even then, at some point you're going to hit a ceiling.
Furthermore, bringing a subscription model to a product that has a permanent physical ownership to it means you're always going to experience a lot of churn, because you're dealing with the realities of people's space, and there is nothing to offer them with the subscription outside of 'what is next'. In comparison to Spotify, where you lose access to all the music, no one at VMP is coming to collect all the records you own the moment you unsubscribe.
I think this is true in terms of the size that had grown to. However, I think that speaks to a larger issue, which is trying to bring a tech/Fortune 500 company mentality to a business model that requires a lot of inventory and ultimately has a limited ceiling in customer growth (plus actually has the detrimental effect of potentially alienating your initial customer base by having to branch in areas they have no interest in).
Essentially, you're stuck with a business that requires a lot of inventory across a lot of skews in order to grow. And even then, at some point you're going to hit a ceiling.
Furthermore, bringing a subscription model to a product that has a permanent physical ownership to it means you're always going to experience a lot of churn, because you're dealing with the realities of people's space, and there is nothing to offer them with the subscription outside of 'what is next'. In comparison to Spotify, where you lose access to all the music, no one at VMP is coming to collect all the records you own the moment you unsubscribe.
Nee Lewman
बैस्टर्ड
If they’re looking for a buyer they are dumb. Ain’t no one gonna buy their name, no one is gonna get any use out of their customer list because they might as well have burned that which was literally all they owned.
They’re going to sell things as long as possible to fend off debts.
I’m not gonna get into the need for inventory, that was a self inflicted wound by making swaps an unsustainable model.
Prior to the big tech boom, all subscriptions were for physical media. Columbia house was so big that they could deal with thousands of people ripping them off every year with out flinching.
The nail that did their coffin in was when they became beheld to venture capital because they thought they needed unbridled growth because that is what America’s particular version of evil capitalism demands.
Big labels wanting to run their own subscriptions or audiophile sublabels as well as actually being a niche luxery product always meant they had a shelf life. Piss poor customer interaction that led to them pissing off their most fervent base no less than three times along with piss poor quality control and piss poor management - inventory control, fuck sales - what really devalued their brand was the constant need to bend to the new customer while making promises to their base they would never meet, over listening to customers creating a basic choose your own model which played havoc with their curated for you model, and whatever actually happened with the plant just pushed the end closer to now than later.
They’re going to sell things as long as possible to fend off debts.
I’m not gonna get into the need for inventory, that was a self inflicted wound by making swaps an unsustainable model.
Prior to the big tech boom, all subscriptions were for physical media. Columbia house was so big that they could deal with thousands of people ripping them off every year with out flinching.
The nail that did their coffin in was when they became beheld to venture capital because they thought they needed unbridled growth because that is what America’s particular version of evil capitalism demands.
Big labels wanting to run their own subscriptions or audiophile sublabels as well as actually being a niche luxery product always meant they had a shelf life. Piss poor customer interaction that led to them pissing off their most fervent base no less than three times along with piss poor quality control and piss poor management - inventory control, fuck sales - what really devalued their brand was the constant need to bend to the new customer while making promises to their base they would never meet, over listening to customers creating a basic choose your own model which played havoc with their curated for you model, and whatever actually happened with the plant just pushed the end closer to now than later.
Biscuit
Well-Known Member
This article covers many of the issues faced by a business like VMP before you even have an issue like the pressing plant:
13 Real Struggles Of The Subscription-Based Business Model
There are struggles subscription-based business model leaders the world over can relate to. Some are just frustrating, others have serious ramifications.
staxbill.com
TenderLovingKiller®
Well-Known Member
Is this right or should it be “beholden” not being snarky, I am hardly a wordsmith “beheld” just sounds funny in my head.
Nee Lewman
बैस्टर्ड
I don’t know man. Both are proper conjugations, “became beholden” sounded wrong to me too.
Nee Lewman
बैस्टर्ड
There’s probably one word that better says the whole fucking thing.
Murfocakes
custom title approved by jamieanderson1968
The word is ‘clusterfuck’. Thank you.
Nee Lewman
बैस्टर्ड
A clusterfuck of chucklefucks.
jamieanderson1968
ninniest jackaninny
Best line from Succession: shit show at the fuck factory
Nee Lewman
बैस्टर्ड
I need to watch that.
Joe Mac
Well-Known Member
I’d write it as they had become beholden
A Lost Highway
Member
This article covers many of the issues faced by a business like VMP before you even have an issue like the pressing plant:
Think about VMP's multiple tracks and sub/pay options, people changing plans, doing business internationally, etc as you read this and you get a sense of how scaling their business so quickly was difficult.13 Real Struggles Of The Subscription-Based Business Model
There are struggles subscription-based business model leaders the world over can relate to. Some are just frustrating, others have serious ramifications.
There's basically only 2 successful models for subscription services:
1) You blow up an entire sector and become a market leader in the space, crippling legacy companies in your wake. This takes a lot of capital to do, and your product has to end up being viewed as utility by subscribers (Netflix/Spotify etc.)
2) You offer a very niche product with a committed customer base, with a bunch of upsells for those members on a monthly basis. You have a stable customer base that stays relatively stagnant. This was VMPs initial offering. However, it still only really maintains itself if the customer loses something by unsubscribing, and so still best for tech products.
IMO, VMPs issue was they were desperately trying to get to 1 without figuring a way to address the fundamental flaw in their model. Their best move likely would have been drop the subscription service sooner (or let it become less of focus) and just become a boutique label a la Numero Group, Light in the Attic etc. They would have likely had to narrow their focus in doing so, but could have been a successful, albeit small business.
Nee Lewman
बैस्टर्ड
There are plenty of sub services that do well. They do this because they reach a point that works and stay there. That’s all they had to do, but everyone wants growth growth growth…. So fail they did.