Vinyl Me Please Essentials

MikeH said:
Eh--yes and no. Obviously it's subjective but I've been waiting for any good label to reissue some of these albums in a good quality (Gary Bartz and Nina in particular). If you like any of these albums, you should be pretty happy with VMP reissuing them. The sound quality has really been pretty stellar ever since they have gone almost exclusively with RKS and Cicely cutting the ROTMs. GZ has mostly improved as well.

The curation is hit and miss as usual. I personally get maybe 1 ROTM each month at most, but at the current renewal price + bonus records + referral bonus I think it's completely worth it. I agree with ya that I don't get as hyped as some about these releases and I can't remember the last time I've gotten more than 2 ROTMs in any given month.
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Agreed, though I would argue that their target demographic isn't looking for Bartz and Nina. For me, it does come down to "will I spin it", vs. it used to be "if I don't spin it, can I just resell it for at least what I paid." There's so much VMP crap floating around these days that I'm not sure that latter question is true. But as you said, if you get the year + bonus records then it somewhat ends up being a decent deal.

VMP exists to me as a grail label now, popping in for those can't miss records which used to be monthly, then quarterly, now maybe once a year.
 
I’d love to see VMP get back to promoting more new artists, with the occasional reissue of something that has been OOP for years. Back in the day when I had less grey hair, I could count on getting super interesting releases from
Moses Sumney
Father John Misty
War on Drugs
Menomena
And the occasional Torres and Tennis that weren’t world beaters but hey you can’t have 100% success rate.
I guess that model isn’t as lucrative as doing remastered versions of $1 bin records?
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
 
popthropologist said:
I’d love to see VMP get back to promoting more new artists, with the occasional reissue of something that has been OOP for years. Back in the day when I had less grey hair, I could count on getting super interesting releases from
Moses Sumney
Father John Misty
War on Drugs
Menomena
And the occasional Torres and Tennis that weren’t world beaters but hey you can’t have 100% success rate.
I guess that model isn’t as lucrative as doing remastered versions of $1 bin records?
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
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I think the problem is that at the price they charge, most (myself included), will never take a flyer on a new artist if I don't already really want the album. Even then, I'm not that likely to ever buy an album from a new artist at this price even if I like it. It's got to be something that I know I'll go back to and want to keep.
 
Hemotep said:
I think the problem is that at the price they charge, most (myself included), will never take a flyer on a new artist if I don't already really want the album. Even then, I'm not that likely to ever buy an album from a new artist at this price even if I like it. It's got to be something that I know I'll go back to and want to keep.
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I was coming to say the exact same thing
 
Lee Newman said:
Y’all must have some nice dollar bins in your neck of the woods.
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Several of my Fleetwoods were dollar binners in VG+, and I found a dollar Nilsson Schmilsson. I can feel the tides turning nowadays though, as no one wants to buy a $30 used Fleetwood Mac record (unless it's Buckingham Nicks).
 
Hemotep said:
I think the problem is that at the price they charge, most (myself included), will never take a flyer on a new artist if I don't already really want the album. Even then, I'm not that likely to ever buy an album from a new artist at this price even if I like it. It's got to be something that I know I'll go back to and want to keep.
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That’s fair. Prices have definitely risen since then, too. I’m sure they’ve done some research and found that they need to target the wealthy audiophiles who like buying deluxe editions and/or comparing multiple pressings of their favorite albums. And that can be fun, too. But there’s not that exciting sense of discovery.

I will say I’m mainly disappointed by the Essentials curation. The Hip Hop track is generally more interesting, and I’m a fan of many of their Classics picks. But the Essentials curation feels like they’re just looking at labels’ back catalogs and choosing the albums that had sold the most upon release.

I popped back in for 12 mo because of their freebees and I’m sure I’ll pop back out at the end of it.
 
popthropologist said:
That’s fair. Prices have definitely risen since then, too. I’m sure they’ve done some research and found that they need to target the wealthy audiophiles who like buying deluxe editions and/or comparing multiple pressings of their favorite albums. And that can be fun, too. But there’s not that exciting sense of discovery.

I will say I’m mainly disappointed by the Essentials curation. The Hip Hop track is generally more interesting, and I’m a fan of many of their Classics picks. But the Essentials curation feels like they’re just looking at labels’ back catalogs and choosing the albums that had sold the most upon release.

I popped back in for 12 mo because of their freebees and I’m sure I’ll pop back out at the end of it.
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I've never loved The Essentials track except for the odd couple a year. The other tracks have enough to keep me interested. But Essentials is a real let down most of the time for me.
 
Melt Face Molly Drop said:
Several of my Fleetwoods were dollar binners in VG+, and I found a dollar Nilsson Schmilsson. I can feel the tides turning nowadays though, as no one wants to buy a $30 used Fleetwood Mac record (unless it's Buckingham Nicks).
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Probably like 5 years ago I was still find quality older pressing for cheap it’s a lot tougher nowadays. I regret not picking quality condition sub $10 copy of Wham! Make It Big and ZZ Top Eliminator when I had the chance.
 
Lee Newman said:
Y’all must have some nice dollar bins in your neck of the woods.
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Yea...I don't get this argument anymore. I'm not sure any of the records in this upcoming quarter are anywhere near dollar bin albums unless you really stumble on something lucky. Fleetwood Mac in particular is like a $20+ album for an early pressing any shop I go into these days regardless of the grading. Used record prices have gone crazy.

I also disagree that Essentials is "the most popular album" by bands for this quarter. Pussycats sure ain't Harry Nilsson's best selling album haha. While it's not for me, I appreciate they are taking some chances at least on weirder stuff. Agree with many of you that essentials is probably my least favorite track at this point. RHH maybe too but thats a bit unfair just because i hardly ever listen to RHH albums anymore.

Country has been the biggest surprise for me. Classics is hit or miss. Rock has also been pretty solid even though I haven't gotten many of them. That Iggy Pop was surprisingly well done. Gonna sell my KG cut of that one now and looking forward to ZZ Top this month.
 
Melt Face Molly Drop said:
Several of my Fleetwoods were dollar binners in VG+, and I found a dollar Nilsson Schmilsson. I can feel the tides turning nowadays though, as no one wants to buy a $30 used Fleetwood Mac record (unless it's Buckingham Nicks).
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my locals can't keep fleetwood mac in stock. they fly out the door any time they come in used almost no matter the cost. crazy how popular they are still.
 
TenderLovingKiller® said:
What they shoulda done is released that “Let It Bleed” remaster of Tim that doesn’t include 4 CDs.
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I'm hoping that eventually gets a breakout. Not sure how popular the deluxe has been but i'll wait to get it on massive sale like the other mats boxes or hope for the inevitable SYEOR or Rocktober release of it.
 
MikeH said:
my locals can't keep fleetwood mac in stock. they fly out the door any time they come in used almost no matter the cost. crazy how popular they are still.
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Fleetwood Mac had a interesting turn as soon as the vinyl boom took off. People started to look at their work under a more critical and artistic lens, and unsurprisingly, it held up. Similar bands met a different fate (Eagles, Journey, Steve Miller Band). So whereas Fleetwood Mac might've instinctively been lumped together with the pop acts of the time, they shifted over to being included in discussions with rock bands like The Who, Stones, Zeppelin. The kind of bands that hold a bit more weight when their music is discussed. They transcend the term "classic rock."
 
MikeH said:
Pussycats sure ain't Harry Nilsson's best selling album haha. While it's not for me, I appreciate they are taking some chances at least on weirder stuff.
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I agree with you there—I was excited to see them choose this Nilsson record. It’s weird and has a great backstory. Counterpoint to this would be something like Texas Flood.
 
popthropologist said:
I agree with you there—I was excited to see them choose this Nilsson record. It’s weird and has a great backstory. Counterpoint to this would be something like Texas Flood.
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And Texas flood sold out so it was a good choice for them haha. Can’t all be weirdo Nilsson albums! With essentials being their biggest track it’s probably the one track where they can’t be too “daring” consistently. Not saying the other tracks are daring but stuff like the Gary Bartz ain’t gonna sell 10k+ copies for them
 
MikeH said:
And Texas flood sold out so it was a good choice for them haha. Can’t all be weirdo Nilsson albums! With essentials being their biggest track it’s probably the one track where they can’t be too “daring” consistently. Not saying the other tracks are daring but stuff like the Gary Bartz ain’t gonna sell 10k+ copies for them
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yeah, and for all the complaining about doing a 'common' album like Phoenix the VMP version is fantastic and also very sold out.
 
tvham said:
yeah, and for all the complaining about doing a 'common' album like Phoenix the VMP version is fantastic and also very sold out.
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the price hike changed expectations a lot as it should. in a way, it's better for me because I am way pickier about what albums I grab from them for ROTMs. When i go through my collection now, many albums I hardly listen to are some of the $23 add-ons I did back in the day because it seemed a good deal or like @Melt Face Molly Drop said, I felt i could get my money back if i ended up selling them. Not so much anymore. Most of the ROTMs you can find for cheaper than the price of a 1 month sub if you are patient.
 
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