More on why vinyl survives

Following up on my post of last month about the survival and revival of vinyl records, I stumbled across a neat story and quote supporting my argument that the winners from this (apart from the fans) would be “those who have persisted with pressing plants, artwork services etc [and] are now reaping the rewards of their persistence and rare capabilities.”

Über- trendy Monocle magazine has a report in their most recent issue (Dec 09, Jan 10) on London’s The Vinyl Factory (TVF).  It turns out a couple of clever chaps picked EMI’s old vinyl press and associated staff for peanuts back in 2001 and have turned it into a powerhouse of fantastically packaged and produced records from artists like Massive Attack, Pet Shop Boys and Timbaland.

Here’s some neat footage of how they make them (it’s always good to feed the consumer fetish with some production porn):

I love this quote from the article (first it’s TVF’s creative director Sean Bidder speaking, then the magazine):

“”Music fans might get 95 per cent of their music for free, but this means they are even more careful with how they invest that 5 percent,” says Bidder.  Although “breadth for free” may seem to be the future for much of the media, depth is always going to be valuable, and companies like TVF produce experiences worth paying for.”

I couldn’t have put it better myself.

And in looking for a pic to illustrate this story I discovered there is an Aussie subsidiary/version of this outfit (see here for a 2007 news story).  Finally, a pay-off from the protectionism that pretty much forced local manufacturing upon multinationals in Australia up until the 1970s  – a factory that could be resuscitated.

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Step back in time: the vinyl fightback

As some of you might know, I am a pretty big music fan, and have invested a rather silly amount of money over the years in increasingly redundant CDs (1200+?).

I still buy the things, but most of the music I listen to ends up coming out of my iPod or via ITunes on my desktop (as uploaded from said CDs). The process of playing a CD through the stereo at home doesn’t induce much romantic nostalgia. Yes, the stereo sounds better than the tinny computer speakers and bud headphones, but feeding the iPod through is just as satisfying.

What really is fun is plonking a record on the turntable, listening for the opening crackle, and also scrutinising the sleeve artwork at its natural scale (i.e. 12″ square). That’s music (and music consumerism/fetishism) at its most sensory (beyond the live forum).

The drama with the vinyl format for too long has been the difficulty of getting the tunes off the vinyl and into the computer/iPod. Of late, I have begun to buy more and more releases on vinyl, and the big drawcard has been stickers like the one above. Many vinyl versions now come with a little card or sticker inserted in the packaging which allows a download of an MP3 version of the same album. Now, my life is easier, and I have the best of both worlds.

And I’m not alone in getting excited about this. Vinyl sales just passed 2m for 2009 in the US – a number not seen since the early days of CDs.

This is a wonderful example of a technology (and thus a sub-segment of an industry) bouncing back from what looked like obsolescence. Too often we assume that technology (and consumers) only progress forward.

It would also seem this is not just a retro fad. The growth has been pretty steady for the past few years. It may well be a niche market, comparable perhaps to boutique beers, original artwork or hardcover books.

I do like the ideas of the original Wired editor Kevin Kelly on why pricier tangible products might be preferred by some consumers rather than ubiquitous and close to free digital versions. He refers to generative value:

“…a quality or attribute that must be generated, grown, cultivated, nurtured. A generative thing can not be copied, cloned, faked, replicated, counterfeited, or reproduced. It is generated uniquely, in place, over time. In the digital arena, generative qualities add value to free copies, and therefore are something that can be sold.”

He goes on to propose eight different generatives. The relevant ones for vinyl records would be embodiment and perhaps also patronage (i.e. you feel you should support the artist, and perhaps technology, involved). It is hard to see how digital music can address such issues.

What are the strategic management implications? Well, it seems to be smaller record labels and certain genres (dance music, garage and indie rock) that have embraced this collision of the physical and the digital. They may build a point of differentiation with fans (and bands). Presumably also those who have persisted with pressing plants, artwork services etc are now reaping the rewards of their persistence and rare capabilities.

What other industries have/will experience(d) such technological regress?