Has the price of vinyl peaked?

[6and8]

Much as I love listening to it, used vinyl is getting ridiculously expensive. Most shops I've been to are cashing in on the boom and asking really silly money. I've recently seen old Beatles and Who albums priced as high as £500. Does anyone really pay that kind of money for an old album when you can get the CD for a tenner? Even reissues are expensive, around twenty quid now seems to be the norm, often more. Vinyl, new or used, has never been so expensive.

I recently read an article in another well-known hifi mag where the author was predicting a comeback for another old format, CDs. He argued that DAC technology was now so good, and still evolving, that we hadn't heard the best from CD yet. He says this, and the relatively low price of CDs versus the high price of vinyl, are the reasons why he now only occasionally buys the odd bit of secondhand vinyl, and these days he plays it on a far more modest turntable than he's had in the past.

I'm hoping this vinyl revival is a passing fad and at some point we can get back to finding bargains in charity shops and boot sales.

 

[bigfish786]

I still buy both formats. Depending on availability.

Im sure cd will see a resurgence, but probably not in the same league as vinyl.

Buying and owning music, no matter what format, has to be encouraged.

this is what will keep the industry alive.

 

[Al ears]

I still buy both formats. Depending on availability.

Im sure cd will see a resurgence, but probably not in the same league as vinyl.

Buying and owning music, no matter what format, has to be encouraged.

this is what will keep the industry alive.

Hah! You youngsters have forgotten what CD s used to cost when they first arrived compared to the competing vinyl format.

The only old LPs that go for £500 are the very rare editions or those sought after by idiots for some particular reason. Rarity rather than musical quality.

New vinyl costs what it does, primarily because it has now become a resurgent market and producers can charge what they will, and also because of the comparatively limited pressing / cutting facilities available today.

Be prepared to spend up to £50 for a double 45rpm 180 or 200gm edition and don't complain just revel in the fact that you managed to procure one to listen to.

I have always stated that vinyl cannot be done well on a limited budget for exactly this reason.

Whoever commented on the comeback of the CD has obviously been living on a different planet for, as far as I am concerned they, along with vinyl, never actually went away. I presume he meant a resurgence in sales of said silver discs.

It is interesting to see a number of artists insisting that their works are also issued on cassette tape.... good job I still have my Sony Professional Walkman...

On a more serious note the cost of vinyl will always reflect the cost of crude oil....

 

[Freddy58]

I can remember paying £10 for a second-hand CD of 'Who's Next', maybe 30 years ago? Truth is, music (generally) has never been as cheap. Sure, new vinyl might seem expensive, but I think it's actually reasonable value, if you like that kinda thing (which I do) *smile* I was at a record shop whilst away for the weekend, somewhere I visit quite often, in Teignmouth. I bought 5 albums for £20, by no means expensive, I reckon.

 

[MajorFubar]

Vinyl, new or used, has never been so expensive.

This is a common misconception but I don't really know where it started, other than people are used to paying next to nothing for second hand CDs. Back in the day, budget labels like Hallmark, MFP, K-Tel and Ronco catered for the bargain-basement end of the market, but premium albums, like the Beatles LPs you mention, along with other chart albums on major labels, were always expensive. Thirty years ago I was routinely paying £5.99-£7.99 for premium LPs, which is about £18-£21 now. But even that was cheap compared to the generation earlier. I few months ago. I found someone on eBay selling a 1963 copy of Please Please Me which still had its original price sticker on it. I ran the price though the Bank of England's inflation calculator and it came back with an eye-watering £32-odd. For a 14 track LP which barely ran half an hour.

 

[Vladimir]

I remember paying 15-20 eur for a CD in early 00's and as much or half of that for vinyl.

 

[Deleted member 108165]

About two years ago I paid $100US for a sealed 1978 double album LP, when it arrived from the States the sticker on the cover said $11.98US, ($46.45 in todays money (£36). I still have the first CD I bought back in 1985, sticker price £8.95, (about £26.50 in todays money). So if anything it would appear that the price of physical format music has dropped considerably.

 

[chris_bates1974]

My Grandad passed away last year. But, something he said a few years ago really stuck with me. It was along the lines of the fact that as you go through life there will be times where you simply have to re-adjust to what things cost now, and stop thinking about what they used to cost.

Vinyl seems expensive becuase I remember paying £4.99 (in Boots!!!!) for Madonna's True Blue album on vinyl, and yet last month paid £20 for The XX. Regardless of the value of money, it feels more.

As for the price of CD.... I once bought Life Through a Lens (Robbie Williams) and Urban Hymns (The Verve) from Our Price when they were part of the 2 for £22 offer.... Seemed like a good deal at the time.

I still have my first cds - from 1992 - Live After Death (Iron Maiden) and Brothers in Arms (Dire Straits). Can't remember what they cost though...

 

[Deleted member 108165]

I still have my first cds - from 1992 - Live After Death (Iron Maiden) and Brothers in Arms (Dire Straits). Can't remember what they cost though...

Brothers In Arms was my first CD purchase, 1985 *smile*

 

[thescarletpronster]

It sounds as though you're talking about second-hand records.

I've noticed that the average price of new records has gone down in the three years since a record shop opened in my town, from about £22 to more like £16 or £17. I imagine this is because of an increase in size of pressing runs, and a consequent drop in unit price. However, there are variations – if you're a lover of older rockers, be prepared to pay £30 or more every time they release a new album, or re-release an old one. Luckily I'm not in that market. On the other hand, electronic releases – from labels that never stopped releasing on record as well as CD – can be only a pound or two more than the CD.

The price of second-hand records has gone stupid over the past 5 years. I haven't been able to get to a second-hand shop in that time, due to health reasons, so my experienced is based on eBay, Discogs etc. There are far fewer bargains to be had on eBay – so many fewer auctions starting at a low price, and so many more things which go higher than I'd ever pay. Even low-price 80s reissues of things are going for the sort of price I'd consider paying – maybe – for a top-nick original. I guess there are a lot of new converts who don't really know the market. That can't be sustainable.

I'm hoping to actually be able to get to a second-hand shop in the next few weeks – I've discovered 3 or 4 in this region which are still hanging on in there. It'll be interesting to see what prices are like there.

 

[knaithrover]

Lots of choice lots of formats, there's never been a better time to listen to and buy music imo. It can cost as much as you are prepared to pay really. I started buying records in the early 70's and it's miles better now from a consumers point of view. Cd's are best bang for your buck as far as physical formats go, Tidal/Spotify are dirt cheap - new records are comparitively expensive but still cheap in the scheme of things.

 

[Al ears]

Lots of choice lots of formats, there's never been a better time to listen to and buy music imo. It can cost as much as you are prepared to pay really. I started buying records in the early 70's and it's miles better now from a consumers point of view. Cd's are best bang for your buck as far as physical formats go, Tidal/Spotify are dirt cheap - new records are comparitively expensive but still cheap in the scheme of things.

Indeed I use just about every format available apart from streaming, I mean items you actually own being either physical or as a download. It is the price of these hi-res downloads that I believe are reflecting the cost of other physical media in that a quality DSD download seems to mirror the cost of same LP on vinyl..... although it is beyond me as to why.

 

[thescarletpronster]

a quality DSD download seems to mirror the cost of same LP on vinyl..... although it is beyond me as to why.

Market forces, innit. If we* will pay it, they will charge it.

*Not you and i, just 'people'.