Remember 8 records for a dollar? It may be back

[markw]

Well, at least Columbia House may be.

"Yesterday, The Wall Street Journal reported that Columbia House could make a comeback, this time focusing on vinyl albums. John Lippman, who recently purchased Columbia House out of bankruptcy, claims he wants to restore the brand to its wax roots. The 41-year-old former Lehman Brothers employee first took control of the brand in 2012."

http://metv.com/stories/the-columbia-house-record-club-may-be-returning-on-vinyl

...dunno if that dollar thing will still be valid, though.

 

[djreef]

I'm thinking this won't fly. Vinyl folk are way too picky about the quality of their pressings to mess with the Lo-Q, warped, banged up copies they'll be receiving through the USPS.

DJ

 

[markw]

You bring up a good point. My thought here is that while some may be in it for the sound, and can tell it,, many, many more are into it simply because it's the in thing..

Please note the rampant invasion of cheap record players from Crosley, Teac, and other wanna-bes.

http://www.ebay.com/gds/Top-10-Record-Players-with-Built-in-Speakers-/10000000177678277/g.html

 

[slipperybidness]

Please note the rampant invasion of cheap record players from Crosley, Teac, and other wanna-bes.

http://www.ebay.com/gds/Top-10-Record-Players-with-Built-in-Speakers-/10000000177678277/g.html

I just went for a visit to Hastings, and they had an entire shelf dedicated to these cheap TTs!

The top dog there was the Audio Technica 120

 

[Irvrobinson]

My thought here is that while some may be in it for the sound, and can tell it,, many, many more are into it simply because it's the in thing..

This is my impression too. Several people I know, especially young people, are into vinyl because of the novelty of it. It's mechanical. You can see exactly where the sound comes from, the platter spinning, and the arm moving. There's ritual and fussiness to the entire process. LPs are big by modern standards. The sound is good enough. But... from what they tell me, the process of shopping for vinyl is a very important part of the process, so I'm not sure the new Columbia House venture will succeed.

 

[Swerd]

But... from what they tell me, the process of shopping for vinyl is a very important part of the process, so I'm not sure the new Columbia House venture will succeed.

The Columbia House that I remember had a distinctly different and unsavory business plan. Lure in suckers with the $1 come on for what was mostly junk, and get profits later on the mandatory one-record-each-month gimmick. Every one I knew who fell for that quit as soon as possible, swearing it wasn't worth it.

 

[Alex2507]

But... from what they tell me, the process of shopping for vinyl is a very important part of the process ...

For the vinyl crazies, maybe. New vinyl in my experience (two whole albums) from Amazon were a cheap lesson not to buy vinyl from Amazon. One of them was cupped and Newberry Comics had the damned record for the same price. The other record was jazz and that just always sucks but I'm not bitter.

Walking into a second hand store with 10 bucks and walking out with 9 albums an hour later is an important part of the process ... for me ( a non crazy).