Vinyl Me Please Essentials

goodoohuru said:
I don't know if its just a coincidence that I haven't really liked any of the VMP releases since our nuking or that its always been like that and the VMP Forum was a pair of virtual rose coloured glasses.
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Jmcg85 said:
I always felt like they were the masters at creating FOMO, I definitely bought less before I joined forum, kept buying needlessly when involved in their forum, since that forum has gone things have calmed down again quiet a bit and I feel much better for it now
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Selaws said:
I've still been keeping an eye on the store as I have credits to use. However, its amazing how little interest I have had in their picks that I have never heard of before. It used to be that I would jump to the forum and read the reviews/hype from you guys and no doubt end up putting an order in blind based purely on that alone. This was really the ultimate club experience as my tastes were expanded as a result. Now I dont even bother with the members store, if I go in blind on something it will be a pick up from my local shop after seeing something pop up on the pre-order/fresh grabs/no spinning etc. Everyone's a winner......except those that shall not be named.
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so, I know we all know this ish to be self-evident- it was speculated on the old forum, shouted during it's implosion, and mostly confirmed in our new home. but out of curiosity, I finally did an autopsy on my VMP history since joining the "club," and thought I'd drop the main takeaways from my personal #s for those interested. this does include subscription records.

without-forum average (before & after): $28.22 a month, 1.21 records a month
with-forum average: $181.00 a month, 8.3 records a month

the average cost of a record has definitely increased. my personal numbers for 2016-2018 stayed pretty consistent, although most of my large purchases did come during their sales. way less purchases and higher costs this year finally spiked the average by $3 a record.

*note- I cancelled my recently-renewed annual membership as the old place went crashing, but I did not ask for a refund of the remaining months, so the without-forum numbers include the coming months averaged out. it does not account for any future purchases, but at my rate in 2019, I don't foresee many of those. I also had more discretionary funds before this year, but my purchasing volume pre-VMP forum was still lower.

this concludes my TED talk, thanks!
 
bfly said:
so, I know we all know this ish to be self-evident- it was speculated on the old forum, shouted during it's implosion, and mostly confirmed in our new home. but out of curiosity, I finally did an autopsy on my VMP history since joining the "club," and thought I'd drop the main takeaways from my personal #s for those interested. this does include subscription records.

without-forum average (before & after): $28.22 a month, 1.21 records a month
with-forum average: $181.00 a month, 8.3 records a month

the average cost of a record has definitely increased. my personal numbers for 2016-2018 stayed pretty consistent, although most of my large purchases did come during their sales. way less purchases and higher costs this year finally spiked the average by $3 a record.

*note- I cancelled my recently-renewed annual membership as the old place went crashing, but I did not ask for a refund of the remaining months, so the without-forum numbers include the coming months averaged out. it does not account for any future purchases, but at my rate in 2019, I don't foresee many of those. I also had more discretionary funds before this year, but my purchasing volume pre-VMP forum was still lower.

this concludes my TED talk, thanks!
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Woah! I knew it was bad but this is crazy. Postman hasn't been coming at all. I've really been more lowkey since the forum shut. Good looking out on the math and facts
 
bfly said:
so, I know we all know this ish to be self-evident- it was speculated on the old forum, shouted during it's implosion, and mostly confirmed in our new home. but out of curiosity, I finally did an autopsy on my VMP history since joining the "club," and thought I'd drop the main takeaways from my personal #s for those interested. this does include subscription records.

without-forum average (before & after): $28.22 a month, 1.21 records a month
with-forum average: $181.00 a month, 8.3 records a month

the average cost of a record has definitely increased. my personal numbers for 2016-2018 stayed pretty consistent, although most of my large purchases did come during their sales. way less purchases and higher costs this year finally spiked the average by $3 a record.

*note- I cancelled my recently-renewed annual membership as the old place went crashing, but I did not ask for a refund of the remaining months, so the without-forum numbers include the coming months averaged out. it does not account for any future purchases, but at my rate in 2019, I don't foresee many of those. I also had more discretionary funds before this year, but my purchasing volume pre-VMP forum was still lower.

this concludes my TED talk, thanks!
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If I was more ambitious, I'd try to figure out my time spent on the store site before forum shut down, and since.
I had been slowing down on store time anyway, but since the forum shut down I barely even log into the store or browse it.

Having said that, VMP regularly reminded us that the forum is a very small percentage of members. I honestly think they gladly traded forum member ad-ons for more monthly single sub sign-ups. Recurring revenue to keep the books in line and few items to manage. We're just the data for VMP's "share holder" and "accounting" clubs now.

It all makes since when you look at it from a business school prospective. I feel more and more that they are trying to cash in as much as they can before the vinyl train starts to slow down.
 
I saw an OG pressing of “Uno, Dos, Tres” at the local record store for $19. If the jacket was in a bit better shape I probably would went that route but I am going to (probably wrongly) hold out hope that VMP can get my a nice copy in better condition for a few bucks more. We’ll see what happens.
 
GelloJive said:
VMP is just way less interesting now. Barely any chatter on these records compared to previous months. Kinda sad actually but looking at it as an opportunity to expand my horizons.
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Yep, getting rid of the forums means I don't visit the site very often, and less likely to order anything extra. Add in some less than inspiring monthly picks and dwindling swap options and my time is numbered , just need them to ship funkadelic (delayed yet again) and I think I’m out
 
I think Jorge Ben's Africa Brasil is an awesome record. I'm waiting on the details of the pressing/remaster if there is one, but if you're still suscribed, it really is a record you should pay attention to, and also it's not currently widely available, so VMP might be your best shot at this classic 70's brasilian record.
 
ChristoBee said:
I think Jorge Ben's Africa Brasil is an awesome record. I'm waiting on the details of the pressing/remaster if there is one, but if you're still suscribed, it really is a record you should pay attention to, and also it's not currently widely available, so VMP might be your best shot at this classic 70's brasilian record.
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This is definitely true! I've really been getting into Brazilian music lately and Jorge Ben's Africa Brasil is a classic! If i was still subscribed I would really be looking forward to this!
 
Just read through the package notes/interview for Jorge Ben’s ‘África Brasil’. Not sure if im going for this one. I enjoy the music but it wouldnt get played too much and im trying to avoid VMP because of the quality control (among other things). Had the source material been the original tapes it may have swayed me, but seeing as its a digitally mastered I will stick to streaming on this occasion.
 
Selaws said:
Just read through the package notes/interview for Jorge Ben’s ‘África Brasil’. Not sure if im going for this one. I enjoy the music but it wouldnt get played too much and im trying to avoid VMP because of the quality control (among other things). Had the source material been the original tapes it may have swayed me, but seeing as its a digitally mastered I will stick to streaming on this occasion.
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TBH I'm not bothered that the source is digital. As they said the owners of the tapes keep them in Brazil and are unlikely to release them to any American company, let alone one the scale of VMP. I just don't get why they have apparently not decided to get this cut by a competent engineer, and seem to have just defaulted to GZ again.

I'm starting to think that certain months VMP just makes a large profit margin on certain titles like this one where they invest little into the manufacturing / production process. I could be wrong, and this could have major licensing fees, but I think they do stuff like this to make up for smaller margins other months.

Looking at either swapping one title this month or just cancelling altogether. A very underwhelming pressing IMO.
 
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