Vinyl Me Please Anthology

I'm so in for the STAX box. Was hoping the announcement would be next month. Re-subbed to get the Aretha record just as they got rid of the monthly sub option.:mad: I'm broke as a joke right now. Get paid on Thursday. Just hope it doesn't sell out by then. 🤞

I really love the Motown box so, if it's the same quality, I'm good with the price.
 
Joe Mac said:
I like you and your jovial attitude Nathan but that might be the saddest and ugliest thing I’ve ever seen posted on here. Measure your self worth in who you are as a person, not by what you buy and the false status you perceive it affords you.
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I’m only joking around though! I’m not being serious with that last part! I would never measure my self-worth by what I buy, wear etc. I’m just materialistic but I never judge people with what materials they have or their appearance, age, nationality etc.

But it would be very ugly if I really meant that I needed to have the Boxset because I think I’m too attractive to be without it. If I had that mentality, I’d pay crazy money to get the VMP exclusive for FutureSex/LoveSounds. But it isn’t worth it, paying like USD$60+ for that.

I feel like I really do look after myself though mentally. Like, I’m the one who is never a slave to work and will call in sick if I want to, and I’ll spoil myself all the time and I always look after my body and eat well and I like spoiling my friends too. I’m a little crazy with spending, but I’m already so fortunate with where I live and with what I have that I think it’s more than OK to be wild and to have more that YOLO mentality all the time!
 
Also it's kind of disrespectful to brag that you throw out valuable goods that could have been given and used by less fortunate than you.

I'm gonna be honest, I'm sick of your discourse @NathanRicaud, all of this sound so shallow it actually hurts my morals. Also, the innuendo is back in force sometimes and maybe you should tone it down and not tell people to get laid.
 
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NathanRicaud said:
I’ve got $500+ in VMP credits - my 12 month subscription will start again at the start of the year and I’ll still have credit!
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Since i dont know if you have seen my tag in the other thread. A short warning. It seems to no longer possible to pay your 12 month sub with store credit. So prepare to pay another couple 100$ if you want to stay with vmp
 
Fart-Smell_3200x1800.gif

This gif is the gift that keeps on giving.
 
Joe Mac said:
Phew I’m so glad I’m not alone. I think I’d have my head tested if I even considered them at that price. The way I see it as is:

1. The podcasts have no monetary value to the consumer regardless of quality or cost. They are up online so that anyone can see them and also so that they can be taken down if VMP ever wants to. If they believed in them that much they’d be in a private stream for box set holders with a cheap as chips CD/DVD in the box.

2. The booklets I’ve seen so far loo like cheap tat thrown together at the last minute. Not what I’ve come to expect in much cheaper sets.

3. Only 8 records. That is a whopping $37.50 a record. What happened to individual records in box sets being cheaper than buying them alone.

4. Comparisons. The Kinks in mono. Beautiful AAA records. gorgeous hard cover box. Substantial hard cover book. €160 for 9 albums over 10 discs. that’s €17.77 ($19.65) which is cheaper than the retail for each individual albums. The 4 Bowie box sets. The most ridiculously well put together box sets I’ve ever come across. €250 for 13-15 pieces of vinyl, exclusive lost albums and complications and a great, substantial, hardcover book. The Bowie ones were sourced from the original tapes as well, it’s what causes the problem with “Heroes “ that required a replacement pressing by Warner’s.

5. the only 2 people who have said they will buy would have anyway so 🤷🏻‍♂️
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My take:

1. While I do enjoy a good podcast, providing the content in podcast form was lazy and a half realized attempt at community. In all reality, it was an excuse to just talk versus doing real work in providing us a full book.

2. All of the extras, the sleeves, booklets, etc. have been on the cheap side. Compare the VMP Blue Note Anthology packaging with the Tone Poet series. Or that neither of the 2LP sets in the Ghostly box were gatefolds. I've enjoyed the music on both, but feel ripped off on the extras.

3. This is another sticking point. It used to be that buying a box set meant you were paying LESS per LP then individually. An average cost of $30+ per LP when you're buying them in quantities of 8 or more is insane unless they're MoFi, AP, or high end audiophile pressings. Buying in quantity should be cheaper than one offs. I get that VMP is marketing them as such, but nothing I've heard has surpassed the Tone Poet series which are $27-29 per LP.

4. These boxes could have been done at the same quality for $125-175, without question. Trying to move the market up $100 for no good reason is not changing the game.

5. The FOMO is real. As I suggested elsewhere, I bet we could take those 8 artists and make a better set of what's available in recent represses now. I mean all of Otis' albums have been recently repressed. It's not like Stax has not been the subject of represses.
 
wmeugene said:
My take:

1. While I do enjoy a good podcast, providing the content in podcast form was lazy and a half realized attempt at community. In all reality, it was an excuse to just talk versus doing real work in providing us a full book.

2. All of the extras, the sleeves, booklets, etc. have been on the cheap side. Compare the VMP Blue Note Anthology packaging with the Tone Poet series. Or that neither of the 2LP sets in the Ghostly box were gatefolds. I've enjoyed the music on both, but feel ripped off on the extras.

3. This is another sticking point. It used to be that buying a box set meant you were paying LESS per LP then individually. An average cost of $30+ per LP when you're buying them in quantities of 8 or more is insane unless they're MoFi, AP, or high end audiophile pressings. Buying in quantity should be cheaper than one offs. I get that VMP is marketing them as such, but nothing I've heard as surpassed the Tone Poet series which are $27-29 per LP.

4. These boxes could have been done at the same quality for $125-175, without question. Trying to move the market up $100 for no good reason is not changing the game.

5. The FOMO is real. As I suggested elsewhere, I bet we could take those 8 artists and make a better set of what's available in recent represses now. I mean all of Otis' albums have been recently repressed. It's not like Stax has not been the subject of represses.
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Yep! 100% true. I’d actually like more stax, just not at this price, or necessarily these picks.

1. Yep. Love them. I even give a smaller one I really like a €4 contribution every month so it can keep going. For that I get a private feed linked to my account which contains subscriber only content. This is from a really small operation and done through Patreon. It’s not like VMP couldn’t have done likewise. Anyway at this price I‘d be expecting a full on DVD documentary...

2. Cutting corners is something VMP are very good at.

3. Yep. Anything more than $20 a unit in a box set from an non high end provider is insane.

4. Yep.

5. Yep. But as I said before you can only take the horse to water...
 
I didnt buy any anthology (and I'm not going to, specially with those ridiculous prices), but I like reading this thread so this is the opinion of an outsider.

It's not only the FOMO what makes this thing work.
It's the status. Or at least they are trying to make everybody believe there's something of status in this product. You don't buy a box, you buy "an experience". The experience is just a box, a booklet and a podcast, but if you're looking at the emperor's new clothes, that's "the experience".
And it works, there's lot of people who don't buy "a box" but "the experience".
In the end, it's just Stacy Malibu with a new hat.
 
I’m not a VMP fanboy by any stretch. But some folks really have enjoyed these anthologies and if they’re up for paying the expense, justified or not, then that’s the market. I think the critics are right to point out that buyers should be aware of FOMO and not let psychology drive the decisions. I’ve been helped numerous times on the forum by folks pointing out cheaper alternatives elsewhere. But after those warnings are given and info provided, it starts to sound a little like shitting on what makes people happy...and for some people, a VMP exclusive colored, overpriced collection provides some joy.I haven’t bought an anthology yet - the releases have been too expensive for me and there’s other stuff I want more (for God’s sake, I don’t even own Stevie Wonder yet, and that’s a higher priority than a 4th tier Motown artist). I’m happy Nathan and other folks clamoring for a stax release are happy!
 
mdmost said:
I love you guys. A couple pages already trying to convince people not to buy something because you don't see the value in it but they might.
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The problem is that airing our opinions isnt just about trying to pooh-pooh people's excitement over this set, but to articulate (semi-) publicly the issues with such a set on a forum that we know the company reads and to try to prevent such gouging as being accepted as the norm among the community. I know a lot of us are getting sick that the hobby is more and more being turned into a FOMO factory.

If you have the money and want to buy it, that's your right. But the idea that such a cost and the mediocre production by VMP should be deemed acceptable and not criticized on a forum is ridiculous. For such a premium priced product, they need to be held to task publicly and this forum is as good as any to do that.
 
mdmost said:
I love you guys. A couple pages already trying to convince people not to buy something because you don't see the value in it but they might.
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I am definitely not trying to talk people out of buying the boxset. If I lived in the US, I would have definitely bought the Motown and probably would grab the Stax set. I will probably spend sometime today streaming a few of the possible titles since I have time to make my final decision.

I bought the Blue Note set. While it had a lot a growing pains, the set did exactly what it was supposed to. It opened me up to a label and loyal and knowledgable fan base. Since AMP1 I have bought over 20 Blue Records plus another 5-7 jazz albums from other labels. So that first set did exactly what it was supposed to, despite the flaws of the boxset itself.

My hope is that VMP looks at doing more obscure labels for their focus. While Ghostly does not appeal to me, I was impressed that was the direction they went. I was totally unaware of the label and have enjoyed streaming a few of their artists, just not enough to make me want to buy the box.

So please buy the Stax box, and I really hope you are opened up to a new label/genre/community that you can explore for years to come. In the end I think that is all we want when we are buying a record somewhat blind.
 
I'm not saying you can't criticize it or air whatever you like. I didn't suggest otherwise. Just found it funny that I went to bed and awoke to two pages of the same "this isn't worth the price" talk that sprung up for "Mowtown" and Ghostly. It just seems we do this same song and dance every time an Anthology gets announced.
 
jamieanderson1968 said:
I am definitely not trying to talk people out of buying the boxset. If I lived in the US, I would have definitely bought the Motown and probably would grab the Stax set. I will probably spend sometime today streaming a few of the possible titles since I have time to make my final decision.

I bought the Blue Note set. While it had a lot a growing pains, the set did exactly what it was supposed to. It opened me up to a label and loyal and knowledgable fan base. Since AMP1 I have bought over 20 Blue Records plus another 5-7 jazz albums from other labels. So that first set did exactly what it was supposed to, despite the flaws of the boxset itself.

My hope is that VMP looks at doing more obscure labels for their focus. While Ghostly does not appeal to me, I was impressed that was the direction they went. I was totally unaware of the label and have enjoyed streaming a few of their artists, just not enough to make me want to buy the box.

So please buy the Stax box, and I really hope you are opened up to a new label/genre/community that you can explore for years to come. In the end I think that is all we want when we are buying a record somewhat blind.
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You and I had a similar experience. The Blue Note set opened me up to a much larger world than just Miles and Coltrane. Jazz listening is probably 60% of what I play now which definitely flipped after the Blue Note set. So for me, it's worth it to try more of these Anthologies. I think VMP has gotten a lot better at doing them since their massive fumbling out of the gate with Blue Note. They seem to have gotten a lot worse at other avenues of their business since then.
 
mdmost said:
I'm not saying you can't criticize it or air whatever you like. I didn't suggest otherwise. Just found it funny that I went to bed and awoke to two pages of the same "this isn't worth the price" talk that sprung up for "Mowtown" and Ghostly. It just seems we do this same song and dance every time an Anthology gets announced.
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I mean that’s because the prices aren’t going down and the volume of product isn’t going up. It’s stupendous that they can charge that much for that little from where I’m sat. The tune won’t ever change from here unless either the prices plummet or an amount of content that correlates with the cost is provided.
 
Nathan, saw this post on Reddit. Storf said the artists are listed chronologically. So you might get your wish.

PutYrDukesUp

1 point·8 hours ago·edited 7 hours ago

That means, best case scenario:
Booker T & the MG's - Soul Dressing
Sam & Dave - Hold On, I'm Comin'
Otis Redding - ? (Otis doesn't make sense based on what you've said. The only one without a recent, still in-print reissue is Otis Blue. Which came out in 1965. But Sam & Dave's first album came out in '66. So one of those two things doesn't check out.)
Bar-Kays - Soul Finger
Eddie Floyd - I've Never Found A Girl
Johnnie Taylor - Philosophy or Raw Blues
Albert King - Lovejoy
William Bell - Phases of Reality
 
Joe Mac said:
I mean that’s because the prices aren’t going down and the volume of product isn’t going up. It’s stupendous that they can charge that much for that little from where I’m sat. The tune won’t ever change from here unless either the prices plummet or an amount of content that correlates with the cost is provided.
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While I enjoyed the music on the Ghostly set and it was new to me, I felt like I got less product and content for the money then the Blue Note set. I've haven't gotten any of the background that I think a set should provide. The pressings sound okay, but aren't worth the price paid.
 
supahypeag said:
I’m not a VMP fanboy by any stretch. But some folks really have enjoyed these anthologies and if they’re up for paying the expense, justified or not, then that’s the market. I think the critics are right to point out that buyers should be aware of FOMO and not let psychology drive the decisions. I’ve been helped numerous times on the forum by folks pointing out cheaper alternatives elsewhere. But after those warnings are given and info provided, it starts to sound a little like shitting on what makes people happy...and for some people, a VMP exclusive colored, overpriced collection provides some joy.I haven’t bought an anthology yet - the releases have been too expensive for me and there’s other stuff I want more (for God’s sake, I don’t even own Stevie Wonder yet, and that’s a higher priority than a 4th tier Motown artist). I’m happy Nathan and other folks clamoring for a stax release are happy!
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I agree with you 100%. personally, if I had an iPhone 7 and it's not broken, I wouldn't go and but the iPhone 11 just because it's newer. And if i need a new phone and I find an iPhone 9 that costs 300 dollars less, I would buy that one.
But lots of people don't see it this way, and that's great because in the big picture that's what makes the economy move and grow up. It's called capitalism, I think, but I'm not sure, not an expert about it.

(That said, if next Anthology is something like the discography of The Divine Comedy, I'll kill a nun to be the first in line to get it)
 
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