The price of vinyl is too damn high
And it doesn't look like that'll change anytime soon.
Dear Looper,
When’s the last time you stepped inside a record store?
Did you look at how much new records are going for these days?
I expect prices to rise slightly year over year because of inflation, but some new pressings these days go for rates that are anywhere from steep to outright irresponsible.
Some examples:
The vinyl edition of Kendrick Lamar’s new album, Mr. Morale and the High Steppers, was going for more than $50 at stores here in Denver. It’s not a gatefold — just two discs housed in the kind of sleeves that start to disintegrate after a few listens. When I found a pre-owned copy at a used shop going for $22, the clerk told me the label made so many for Wal-Mart that they ended up flooding the online market.
Vinyl copies of Kanye West’s Donda, released in 2021, had a retail value of more than $60. The packaging has no artwork (unless you consider a black cover “artwork”) and four slabs of vinyl. Copies are probably still on display at your local store, gathering dust and taking up the space of more deserving artists.
Adele’s 30, which was the highest-selling vinyl of 2021, was going for about $40 when I bought it the weekend it was released. Nowadays, I see used copies going for half or a third of the price. Just like Kendrick’s album, so many copies were made that one Reddit user saw dozens of unopened copies lining the shelves at Goodwill:
Bands, labels and pressing plants are all decrying the steep costs and delays to manufacture vinyl, a medium in the middle of a major resurgence. Consumers both casual and serious are paying the price for what many see as a status symbol or a sign of devotion to popular artists.
People that have collected for a while can tell the difference, but the throngs that have made vinyl a billion-dollar industry may not realize they’re being taken advantage of — especially since most of them are a part of the youngest generation, Gen Z.
When it comes to the vinyl market, I’m worried sellers aren’t acting in good faith.
Least of all re-sellers. Online markets like Discogs have driven up speculation of records that used to go for just a few dollars a decade ago:
I saw this firsthand at last month’s Rocky Mountain Record Show, a fair put on twice a year for independent sellers. Looking to make some cash and free up shelf space, I bought a table for the weekend and put up 150 records for sale.
Whenever there was a break in the action, I would walk over to other booths and flip through their collections. I was shocked to see records old and new at obscene markups. One woman was visibly upset when she saw my copy of Huey Lewis and the News’ Sports going for four dollars, which I assume was far less than what she paid at another booth.
You can charge whatever you want to collectors online, but for an event marketing itself to newer or casual shoppers, the price gouging seemed predatory.
I couldn’t find much independent research on the current state of the vinyl market except for one paper written by Yiqian Guo for Jinan University in China. Looking ahead, Guo writes that vinyl will continue to grow in popularity, and that the online market “shows signs of a niche culture being ‘adopted’ commercially”:
In summary, it can be said that in contemporary times, the value of vinyl records as a symbol has far exceeded its practical value. While some consumers seek to live behind the symbol of vinyl [and] some consumers want to express their support through the act of buying vinyl records, for some vinyl record collectors and old vinyl record dealers, what matters is the economic value behind the symbol. In a logic of capital power operation, the symbolic attachments of old vinyl records are constantly exaggerated and their prices rise, which is what vinyl record auctioneers and even speculators are chasing.
I was attracted to vinyl back in high school because I felt like I was truly investing in the music I loved. That charm is wearing off as prices continue to climb. Now I just hope the market moves on to another format — or that artists and labels get a greater cut of the profits over re-sellers and distributors.
Now I want to hear from you…
Are you suffering from sticker shock at the record store?
What do you look for when you go record shopping? Do you buy online or at stores?
What is the most you’ve ever spent on a record, and which one was it?
Do you consider the environmental impacts of vinyl manufacturing?
Let me know. Until next time,
Miguel
P.S. It would be wrong not to mention the environmental impact of vinyl manufacturing and the pollution inherent in its use of petrochemical plastics. Kyle Devine wrote a fantastic article on this for the Guardian.
You think CDs will ever make a comeback?
I also bought the Adele the week it came out. Maybe I’ll wait a little more now, be more patient.