Spend Money On Music As Much As You Do On Hardware

Thanks @YMO for creating this thread and bringing a very interesting topic up for discussion.

@Merrick is correct that the main means of supporting a band/artist is seeing them live and buying all of their goods directly from them.

Obviously, Covid messed this model up. Luckily, Bandcamp comes to the rescue. The other method I’m finding helpful is find a label I like and figuring out that they also own a record store. I found this with Colemine Records and their store Plaid Room Records. As well as Cuneiform Records and their store Wayside Music. Both labels and stores are full of fantastic music and people. I tend to keep music and gear budgets separated and don’t give people a hard time who shift their purchasing either way. I listen to the same 30 albums 90% of the time anyway.

 

I’ve been buying music since the 60’s. I have two good friends that were in pro bands. I have always thought that musicians should be paid for their hard work. That’s why I believe everyone should support musicians they like by buying their music. Just my two cents.

 

So far I am happy that people do have a similar opinion on this matter as I do. Honestly, I thought I was going mad when I keep seeing this issue popping up more often than I would like.

In the end of the day, I just hope this thread can make you think seriously on this topic. I don't want to make people start buying $100s worth of albums in a month. Instead, I want you to think that "hey, maybe I should try out new things or spend a little more here and there on music and not case the latest thing in audio hardware." Then again, I personally like to explore new genres and things in that nature. I always been curious on Korean Music that isn't just K-Pop. I am not stupid to think that the only music genre people like in Korea is K-Pop. I know there's some killer stuff in Korea that doesn't fall under the K-Pop genre.

Then I discovered some Pan-African music on Bandcamp. This album I listed to earlier this week was crazy good. I came in with an open mind and I finished the album impressed. As always, keep an open mind when you can when it comes to anything.

@Merrick should be getting tons of likes for the best way to support the artist you like. See them on tour or buy directly from them. In Jacksonville it is a hit/hiss on who shows up over here, since we aren't cool like the other major Florida Cities. However, I support when it is possible.

With regards to Steve Hoffman, well keep in mind most of the users are the older 40+ age range, so I'm never shocked on an Anti-Streaming posts on there. At least for those guys they still buy music but in a different way (aka the old fashion method). As much as the users on Steve Hoffman are a strange bunch, I will always love that forum due to the tons of CD mastering threads. Those threads helped me picked up some killer CDs with incredible mastering from back in the 80s/90s. Some of these masterings were so good that I had people asking me where they can get those CDs.

My personal best example is the first CD pressing of Abbey Road. I got uber lucky and gotten a fair condition copy with manual and stuff for $20 at a flea market eight years ago after I read about it on Steve Hoffman. Being the first release of anything Beatles on a CD, this sound freaking good! The story goes that the source tape is a 1:1 of the Master, which it was sent to Japan for Toshiba-EMI for their LP releases. Toshiba-EMI later made the first CD releases of Abbey Road for the Japanese market. When EMI back in England found out about these released, they told Toshiba-EMI that they weren't authorized to do Abbey Road on CD. Copies were quickly sold out and it would be a few years before Abbey Road would be available on CD with a different mastering (which stinks).

So this CD I use as an audition CD for kicks. Every single time I bring the CD or the my FLAC files that I copied fro my CD to someone's house they always say the same thing: "Holy Shit this blows away the HDTracks/Latest HD version of Abbey Road, where the hell I can get this disc." Also funny that I'm not really into The Beatles, but I always kept this disc since well its freaking good.

@zerodeefex your friend must be making even on his pressing plant or barely making even. Then again, this isn't his full time gig anyway, isn't it? $30 for a vinyl club subscription is peanuts considering people are spending $30+ on a current LP pressing nowadays. Even some of the MoFi special reissues I am like wow three figures now. I miss my turntable but not much to the point it was killing my wallet. Sigh.......I miss that sound.

 

I’ve also made great use of the mastering threads on SHF. Some of my best sounding albums in any format are on CD and I found them thanks to those types of threads on SHF.

 

Lol, Koreans for the most part don't care for K-pop. That said, every country has artists who cover all sorts of genres. I don't focus on countries to listen personally. Whatever speaks to you shouldn't depend on where they come from.

Most of the plants get major label orders since demand outstrips supply in this space right now. There aren't enough pressing plants right now. So I'm sure this place is doing okay moneywise.

I would guess most of the artists on this and other subscriptions are those that are looking for exposure, not ones that are on any sort of major label. I would expect many of them to be selling them around $20 tops at their shows or on their band sites.

 

Of course, however, I been so curious about stuff from other countries that I kind of want to know. Keep in mind, I'm just a simple guy who open minded about other things in the world and don't have good exposure to some things. I actually don't know much about things from Asia (besides Japan), so that's why I tend to focus in that region.

 

I have bought tons of music in my lifetime. Pretty much any band I love gets a pre order, vinyl, cd and whatever else if I like them enough. Not many new aritsts/bands interest me however. Used to go to tons of shows also. Last 10 years I've bought tons of records, a lot of good reissues came out, that were also quality pressings. Most people I know don't consume music that way anymore. I still have cd's I bought in high school in the 90's and rebuy cd's from the 80's cuz I'm weird I guess.

 

@zerodeefex man I'm an ass for thinking your friend is a he. My bad on that.

 

Some other cool vinyl clubs is Vinyl Moon and Turntable Kitchen.
Vinyl Moon is basically a mix tape of new bands on a LP.
Turntable Kitchen is a cool and rather unique one. They work with an artist to cover an entire album. An example is Bruce Springsteen's Born To Ride covered by Jonathan Rando. They recently did The Cure and Weezers covers.

Another 2 okay services are VNYL and Flying Vinyl.
VNYL sends you a random record based on your preference of artist or music (they call it choosing a vibe). It is pretty hit or miss.
Flying Vinyl is out of the UK and they send you 5 45s of 5 bands.

 

Those numbers are out of this world. How the hell is she doing that? A huge QA team working around the clock?

 

I’ve personally run into a few local guys who were into nice gear and basically only played test cds. That was 25 years ago working retail where all sorts of audio types would venture into the store. But those guys were the minority back then. For every one of those I knew 10 guys that consumed collectible and rare recordings like mad but played them back on cheap disc mans or Fisher rack systems. They needed their arms twisted to convince them that better gear would let them enjoy their music to greater degree.

Now it’s different with streaming because everyone is used to cheap subscriptions or has been file sharing with friends and isn’t used to paying for music. I probably buy 10 cds a year now, and that’s for used ones I can’t get on a streaming service. I haven’t checked out Bandcamp much. I need to but I also need to get a NAS set up. My locally stored files are a mess.

 

You're totally right that tape source, quality of transfer, and mastering are key. SHF is a great resource, though they can be far too loyal to their host's masterings. A lot of the older guys there (not many women involved) also have a knee-jerk preference for '80s CDs, even though many were sourced from EQ'd tape copies and transferred with poor ADCs. But I'm a loyal member there because there's just no other place where people talk and care about mastering like SHFers.

For those interested, I'll do a little self promotion of my column on the best masterings of classic albums.

 

It is frustrating at times to see people on SHF staunchly defend soft, warmpoo masterings made from fifth gen tapes because they sound “more like vinyl”.

 

Yes! It's especially strange to assert that while at the same time lamenting that too few engineers make use of the dynamic range afforded by digital.

 

Shit, am I the only one that remembers InSound before it got bought out by WMG? Indie music, only, but boy they nailed the preference thing pre-machine learning. The Wire magazine does a similar thing with their Wiretapper, a CD with a compilation of songs that go hand-in-hand with whatever got reviewed or featured in the print mag. I'd love to get 2-3 LPs a month that actually fit my preferences. So far, Roon's updated (3rd version, i guess?) radio has been pretty phenomenal. I can spend an entire 8 hour workday letting Roon Radio drive the bus.

 

You are open minded, very wide enough....

My friend who is RIP was never open minded about digital. He refused to do digital (because he considered it harshness trash like half my old OAFAS group). He would just buy jugs of woodglue and glue his way to the top on his records.

Roon + Qobuz + PI2AES chaged my music listening habits in a big good way. I'll gladly do the annual plan for the metadata and great software alone.

 

I'm quite a bit north of 50... haven't used my turntable in years (I keep it for nostalgia) and don't even own a CD "transport" anymore. Roon+Qobuz and bandcamp has dramatically changed my enjoyment of music for the better and I'm constantly discovering music I would have never experienced before.

As for the ORFAS... it's not about age, it's about the need to feel superior and flash your funds. I see ORFAS that are under 30...

--------Edit (I wish I could spell right the furst time)---------

 

This is where a lot of my gear money has gone. Those uhaul boxes are the CD's.

After having to deal with moving all this shit I can see why some might argue the hassle of buying the music in physical form is a tough gig.

It was a hell of a lot of fun and money buying it all though.