I just calculated, $4.50 in 1965 is worth $46.28 today. As a record collector who was buying records then with his paper route money and who still has those records in his collection today it is my opinion that without doubt the records today are of higher quality overall than the ones from back in the "good old days." As for streaming, for me it is like a kiss on the telephone, you can't feel it. Furthermore, for those of you who think that is your best option just think of all the memories it will provide as you age into your dotage, just keep your receipts handy because that will be your only vestige of the experience. I think I'll play Swing Low Sweet Cadillac now and remind myself with Dizzy of my youth. One other thought, if you really think about it, the best option at this time is neither streaming or vinyl, it is CDs.
Prices of Records/Vinyl in 2025
Is it me or have prices of vinyl recently surged to an average of $35 or more ? Just a couple of months ago the average seemed to be around $30. I bought around 30 records to play on my exorbitantly expensive turntable and its multi thousand dollar cartridge, its hundred of dollars of cables, the $1000 phono preamp etc and immediately had 7k invested before buying any records. After buying 50 albums or so and finding about half to be shitty recordings I had $1500 invested in realistically 25 playable, great quality recordings. I just went back online to look for a few more and I'm certain prices have jumped from $30 average to close to $40. WTF ??? More gouging I assume. Is this industry truly sustainable when people are expected to have close to 10k invested to play some records? Insane. I protest, with my wallet. Let's see, hmmm....stream a million tracks for $20 a month with perfect sound, no cleaning, snaps, pop or crackle and hiss and- jump tracks and artists the second I don't like what I hear- or- invest $40 in a crappy recording on vinyl, suffer through it or toss it in the trash because the recording or the music suck. I could literally light two $20 bills on fire instead of bothering to gamble on ordering a record online.
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Streaming music is the fast food of music playback in quantity and quality. McDonald’s claims billions served, streaming services claim a million songs. The bottom line is less music is more. Out of 100 random songs or compositions streamed my purchase/interest rate would be < 1% meaning a lot of wasted time. Streaming can have value for modest systems, retirees and those with space and attention limitations. As for the current price of a vinyl record it correlates with inflation, Sound Quality(SQ) of a recording has always been a barrier for an Audiophile. In general Popular music is not recorded on the same level as Classical or Jazz/Fusion/Vocal recordings. If your main genre of music is popular music from the digital age 1990’s-current streaming could offer you the "perfect sound". |
@dayglow +1
What album(s) were you buying on vinyl and what caused you to purchase it? Reviews are available for EVERYTHING these days and which pressing to buy Youtube videos are in abundance. If you think about it in proper context, if you purchase recordings, you might consider buying the optimal version/format. Pre-1980 its almost a certainty that a great vinyl pressing is the way to go. Digital versions of recordings post-1980 seem best suited for digital be it cd or hi-rez downloads. If your decision tree is either buy an album or stream for $20/mo then that is a purchasing music vs renting music quandry. |
- 89 posts total