[DISCOSUCKS...]

In light of the recent Looper shenanigans, and following the success of the VOTE FOR COLD IN JULY ON VINYL thread,
I'd like to start a friendly petition.

+1 yourself to this thread if the following applies to you, and who knows - somebody might take notice:

- You are (amongst other things) a fan of film scores/soundtracks.
- And have been for more than the last "now it's cool/Urban Outfitters stocks it!" five minutes.
- You're preferred transport medium for the music is vinyl.
- You are not a flipper/obsessive blind buyer/hoarder of all things new-and-shiny (I appreciate this might
knock some of you out, but that's kinda the point of the thread heading folks....sorry!)
- The Looper shenanigans by M**** (and other incidents over the last year or so in the burgeoning new chapter of
"cult soundtracks") are starting to make you feel sad, had and/or fightin' mad!

[DISCOSUCKS...]

(tongue in cheek, guys......peace!

[Peek-a-boo]

There are so many soundtracks out there, the market is saturated & I'd say around 70% id never listen to. I can't be bothered with import duties etc. so not bothered about mondo, waxworks, etc. I can put that saved money I would've spent on shipping towards other records. I'm buying purely Death Waltz releases & generally not believing the hype about a lot of the other soundtracks coming out...

[zuko]

I'm with you Scott. I buy all my music on vinyl (bar the occasional mp3 single), not just soundtracks. If I can get three non-soundtrack albums that sound great for the price of one Looper that looks great, then I know where my money's going.

I don't collect records, I listen to them.

[dahousen]

I buy 75% or so non soundtracks vinyl, love soundtrack and I will still buying BEAUTIFUL BLACK VINYL (and some coloured) editions with beautiful artistic jackets as always. But I fell kind of sad seeing this market is moving to a geek-freek-toys world, which I hate.

+1 LOVE

[philball1974]

+1

[Spun out of control]

Agreed that there's no point in buying something unlistenable or just for the sake of the pretty colour - doesn't make a lot of sense unless you are going to flip it later... I've passed on as many OWS and DW releases as I've bought because the music didn't appeal that much on certain titles, and was the chief reason I passed on Looper (although the price affected that decision too, naturally).

So, that in turn makes me sad when subsequent titles that I *would* like to buy are offered up to subscribers first and foremost, with the old 'if there are any left...' line given at the end of the press release for the rest of us. Can't quite understand why (well I can, limited supply = collectability factor) you would want to place barriers in front of customers trying to buy your product.

[philball1974]

When you subscribe you are essentially giving the companies a cash injection which inevitably helps secure more record rights, pay people etc. So yo be rewarded or to get a perk for doing that seems fair to me. I think people, including myself, buy into sub packages because you do get a nice loyalty bonus like first dibs on things.

[Darren LD1984]

In a lot of cases, limited supply is down to the cost of the license to put out the record. You pay to license it for a certain amount of copies. That can be really expensive.

[Spun out of control]

When I first started taking an interest in, just to take one example, DW, I liked the fact that there were both limited versions (mostly sold out when I first chanced upon the label) and then not so limited versions more freely available if you didn't want to spend a fortune on eBay/discogs - you could find a 'regular' version both online and in brick and mortar stores...

That policy seemed to be serving both the collectors and the less rabid fans alike.

Also liked the fact that there are some represses being done to make certain titles always available, or at least available to those who missed out at first attempt.

Appreciate that some titles may be limited by licence agreements and totally fair enough, and in that case if a label decides to give its subscribers first dibs as a loyalty thing, then that is also understandable.

But increasingly lately - and just a general observation - it's seemed like *most* titles are being plugged with the 'buy now or it'll be gone in a couple of hours' schtick, which does encourage the flippers that most people on this forum seem to hate. And does, unfortunately, place the actual music last in the equation.

Just an observation as I say. In the words of John Lydon: 'I could be wrong, I could be right...'

[texasvinyl]

Music first? Then buy that Voyag3r Doom Fortress album- it plays like a soundtrack, sounds kick-ass and costs $15.

I listen to all my stuff, but I can also appreciate an overall "bespoke treatment" -- I like when jackets are heavy tip-on, when mastering is top notch, pressing plant has good quality control, when there's some kick-ass cover art and interesting liner notes to read. Analogue Productions / Mobile Fidelity are good examples outside of then soundtrack realm- those releases are top notch from the jacket to the grooves, and I can appreciate that. Nothing sucks worse than shelling out for an LP that was ripped from a CD and pressed on the cheap.

[ghostfires]

You just cannot justify the ridiculous price for Looper by saying they took a lot of time to care for the packaging. I own too many records with amazing packaging that never cost any where near $70.

There are TONS of record labels out now that do exactly that. All you'd have to do is take a look into psych metal, doom metal, black metal, stoner blues and metal (all the Sabbath worship music out now basically)...all of these forms of music have labels that pour tons of attention into the details of the packaging and the colour-ways...yet they are not charging the insane amount Mondo is for Looper. If you've never heard of STB Records, go take a look at their attention to detail and quality of packaging for every release...just beautiful stuff, but never extreme pricing. Plus they always release standard versions.

It isn't that hard to do...lots of labels have figured it out. DW did a great job of figuring it out. Waxwork and OWS I think have done a really great job of providing cool soundtracks with good or great packaging while staying reasonable every time.

Mondo is simply seeing how much they can get away with...between Looper and the absolutely silly $100 test press blind buy...they just want to see if you, as the consumer, are willing to go full in with their brand or not. Something no one wants to acknowledge or keep in mind - Mondo is a brand that is selling you a product...a hipster lifestyle of buying premium collectibles regardless of their actual quality, just like any premium $300 per pair jean company is, or any $900-2,000 premium purse/bag company is. If you're willing to buy into that lifestyle - fine, go right ahead with the high dollar purchases. I've never faulted companies for making money or consumers for buying whatever they want. I just think it's awful to gain the rights to music, and then hold it for ransom. Depriving music fans in favor of cash grabs is pathetic in my opinion.

Has there been one person on this board yet to say the music of Looper is worth $70?? Not that I've seen. Most have said its forgettable, or they would prefer to spend $70 on something they like more. So why this soundtrack then?

Looper is a big studio film...and aren't all the big studios that are releasing soundtracks on vinyl all of a sudden charging insane prices as well ($40 or more for general soundtrack compilations like Anchorman 2)? Doesn't that make it look like Mondo is a puppet for these major studios they are working with? If you think that major music and film companies aren't paying attention to these conventions and these micro labels and the followings they are generating, then you are kidding yourself. They are desperately trying to figure out how to get away from the mass market shit that doesn't do so well any more, and get into this premium collector market where guys are willing to shell out $500 for a statue of an obscure comic character, $300 for a movie poster, $100 for a collectible toy, and $70 for a record.

[Spun out of control]

Think we're supposed to be sticking to the music issue here...

If true, the Looper vinyl looked to have been expensive because of its bespoke nature. Seems at least like Mondo care that their product is top notch. And they obviously felt that, although the realisation of what they wanted to do would be expensive and put it out of the reach of many, there would still be enough customers queuing up to buy it.

I didn't buy it. Had a listen to the music and in my head it wasn't worth $60 or $70. But I had a friend who was still eager to snap it up, so it's horses for courses.

What would have been fairest was, yes, to release a regular non-bag outer version alongside at the same time for $30 or thereabouts. Perhaps that may still happen down the line?

I don't think I've read anywhere that this release was deliberately limited, or even how many copies. But the hand finished bag issue must have limited how many they were prepared to produce in itself. I think if Mondo themselves responded on this forum from time to time that would quieten people's ire.

By the way, that Doom Fortress does sound great, as have the recent inexpensive 'in the style of a soundtrack' releases from Cineploit and Giallo Disco.

[milliondollars]

great thread!

- You are (amongst other things) a fan of film scores/soundtracks.


- And have been for more than the last “now it’s cool/Urban Outfitters stocks it!” five minutes.


- You’re preferred transport medium for the music is vinyl.


- You are not a flipper


- The Looper shenanigans by M**** (and other incidents over the last year or so in the burgeoning new chapter of
“cult soundtracks”) are starting to make you feel sad, had and/or fightin’ mad!


being a music fan for more than 25 years made me a collector as i have more than 10.000 records on my shelves. this has nothing to do with bragging, more with the love and obsession for good music. appologies if i offend somebody but i really have to say that some record collector wannabes and hip idiots put me off. people start calling them completists when having all 5 Waxwork releases for example. the hype arround Friday the 13th was so ridiculous. people started to offend themself on facebook and in here in such a rude way that i decided to pass on the preorder.

colour variants started to grow like cancer tumors in the record buying world. that has nothing to do with music. go and cremate yourself with all your fancy colour variants.
if you started to buy records in the past 5-10 years you missed the best part of it and you are noting but a small hipster anyway...

[Hatter313]

I love a colored variant and appreciate the visual appeal. BUT! the very first in this recent wave of reissues i bought was MONDOs poltergeist. i was looking for the original score on ebay and saw that MONDO, who i had been aware of for their posters, had put out a reissue, and there were copies on eBay not going for too much. I loved the art so in my excitement i ordered it without looking at the color, and to my happy surprise ended up with the clear variant. I loved how cool it looked, and since then i do have tend to get excited for cool colors and new effects, but Above everything else, its about the music for me, but i still appreciate a well put together package. Looper just didn't interest me in the least though.

[Pitch]

+1 from me!

Getting a little disillusioned with the collecting 'objects / works of art' side of things. Initially went for the first death waltz subscription because of the music - in fact I didn't realise there would be coloured vinyl to be honest! Did like the prints though. But was the range GOOD soundtracks that were difficult to source on vinyl, or had not even been released, that has meant I've kept with it. Found it odd when limited editions began sacrificing sound quality for novelty - makes no sense to me. Have to admit I never went for a Mondo release - didn't appeal and I really hope Death Waltz / Spencer moves them away from gimmickry rather than moves DW towards it!

I honestly can't believe that unlistenable records, however beautiful or limited will become collectors' items in the future - the market for that kind of extreme product will be too small. I found it somewhat frustrating when I bought the latest release from 'Karen Novotny X' (good band BTW) - a postcard single - which states on the cover: "By nature of the format, playback quality is not at the optimum levels enjoyed on other deep distance products. For superior audio experience we urge you to visit bandcamp.... [to download an MP3]" That says it all really - going to the effort of producing an anolague format (the only 'vinyl'-like format they released) that is inferior to an mp3!

[DISCOSUCKS...]

Great so hear some varied opinions here, both pro and con the stated position of the thread!

Keep +1'ing if you agree however!

[dahousen]

I own only 1.500 records haha but... I'm 100% with what you are saying. I remember an interview whith Spencer complaining of people who only buy a new release if its very very limited.
Well, I think labels are feeding that attitude.

[texasvinyl]

"Found it odd when limited editions began sacrificing sound quality for novelty"

This x1000. Glow in the dark stuff can go the way of the dodo... Though I am curious to hear from any people that ordered that pink GITD Perturbator record since they made a big deal about the type of plastic used (at 7x materials cost).

A cool package is nice, but not if it means the LP will sound like shit. Mastering, cutting and pressing is a lot more important than the color of the record or the jacket.

[Spun out of control]

+1

But I don't think we need to be fascist about it.... if there's a fun colour vinyl or package for the same price as the black, or just a few £'s more (not £40-£50 more) then I'm tempted to go with it because it complements the music and can enhance the whole experience. The presentation is more a bonus, or something that tips me towards making a purchase, than the be-all and end-all of buying it in the first place

[NathanLurker]

[quote=32454]“Found it odd when limited editions began sacrificing sound quality for novelty”

This x1000. Glow in the dark stuff can go the way of the dodo… Though I am curious to hear from any people that ordered that pink GITD Perturbator record since they made a big deal about the type of plastic used (at 7x materials cost).

A cool package is nice, but not if it means the LP will sound like shit. Mastering, cutting and pressing is a lot more important than the color of the record or the jacket.
[/quote]

I will maybe be able to let you know how that GITD pressing sounds.
I have an order in for a GITD, but they had about 20 orders over the ammount of available copies, the label has asked the pressing plant to produce those extra copies that went through in the billing system by mistake. So I should have one.

[lazyben]

+1

Fuck mondo

[milliondollars]

+1

[jdubtxn]

To whoever said Mondo cares about a quality product that is half bullshit. I just got a copy of Cat in the Brain with a bad warp and 3 or 4 areas outside the warp that make loud scratching noises. I have sent two emails and still no response. What a fucking joke. Can't even handle basic customer service. Hopefully someone can get that places act together because I am close to done and I have bought most of their releases.

[karswell]

+1
and here's my ha'penny worth of incohesive and prob ill advised off the top of my head ramblings.
Just to say firstly that I love all the labels on here and what they're doing & have acomplished to some extent but there's always room for improvements and I don't think they should be as defensive as they sometimes/usually are, given that people like me and you pay them alot of money in advance to keep their labels afloat and fund new releases.
Mondo suck big ones in some ways, playing to flippers and I'm highly suspicious of ebay sellers who somehow manage to have lots of M posters for sale when no-one else on here ever seem to be able to get their hands on. Their attitude is usually hipster-couldn't-give-a-shit and I fear for Spencer in some ways.
OWS are by far and away the best label for customer service and the others should really follow their lead. I understand that labels are victims of our enthusiasm/collectors mentality and fall foul of crappy spam filters etc but really some labels (you know who you are) only sort problems out after people complaining on here after multi emails ignored.
Again please note: We are the people who fund your businesses and subscribers especially should be golden.
Which brings me to subscriptions, variants, pre-orders etc and I have to add my voice to the 'gone too far' crowd. I loved the look of early DW releases and the fact there were variants even tho I wasn't a subscriber (am now); I loved the early limited Mondos, then Waxworks and OWS and like the idea of snagging an exclusive release, but now I feel overwhelmed by choice of subscriptions, variants, re-presses and lengthy pre-orders which tbh I've lost track of. Also I feel that it is fairly insane to own beautifully coloured albums which play like a bag of shit..and I do!
Yep sure it's a nice surprise when I don' t know what's landed on the doormat but the whole arena is somewhat of a mess and I'm afraid in agreeing about it's implosion. Hence why I'm not sure about the Mondo-DW thang. I just don't know but have fears: I like the English/British/UK DIY ethos of DW v the seemingly polished, hipster Mondo approach which is difficult to warm too.
Anyway I said I would ramble but want to finish by saying how much I LOVE the vast majority of the music from the above labels and others of course and you have opened up my ears to loads of stuff I would never have otherwise have heard. I hope the future will be much more of the same and I don't want greed and silliness to ruin the party.