It's almost as if selling records in a way that makes a profit requires all the necessary parts of the business as it operated in the 70s - high volume, local production, local retail, longer pressing runs, and lower manufacturing costs. It's like doing all the opposite things, expensive, short run, centralized manufacturing with high shipping costs is a recipe to lose money. Who would have imagined??
Bull crap go buy your records from quality. Oh high quality blessings not mass not stamped. They have their own pressing company right there Acoustic records and that’s where you can buy your jazz your rock your pop musical on vinyl or CD and they back the product no BS like you’ve gone through with other services and no monthly charge by $100 or more you do not pay shipping very fair Selection is unbelievable of quality recordings. Enjoy your music and don’t waste your time on memberships so not the 60s and 70s Columbia record club.
As a "high end" UK customer I've very significantly reduced all purchases of new records. I've shifted my buying focus back to "minty" OG's for me far more fun. Many companies have managed to alienate customers like me and I spend £7.5k to £10k p.a. on records
This is why I appreciate your channel. I now have a better understanding of what’s going on with VMP. For me it’s mostly about quality, VMP produces quality. I’m in. Thanks
VMP has exhibited a confused strategy for some time. Base pricing notwithstanding, it's problematic when a company rewards those who cancel, to lure them back, to the relative disadvantage of those who stick with them. Worse, depending on who one spoke with in customer support, you might get a mulligan on subscription choices, resulting in frustration for those who didn't get lucky. It's just a terrible way to run a business. Have a plan. Commit to ride it through. Reward the loyal. It ain't that hard. If I learned anything from my time as a VMP annual subscriber, it's to wait for a deal on non-sub records, sub for the shortest term, grab a bunch, and walk away. Else you're wading through months of color variants of Charlie XCX and Vanilla Ice's live album. And yeah, I had bought the impulse box at full. It dropped to 40% off. And I didn't get a mulligan. Fuck those guys. It's a vinyl renaissance, and OJC and BN are killing it, so why bother.
Re international shipping costs (no, I’m not talking about duties and VAT, rather the actual shipping rates) - absolutely the seller’s fault, theingroove proved that you can be in the US and provide excellent shipping rates to international customers. And I really doubt that theingroove had a huge number of international customers and that’s why they got better rates. It looks rather like VMP is making their customers pay for their bad business decisions…
I'm surprised they haven't 1) phased out swapping for credit and 2) started surveying members to gauge demand before producing titles. I think they are stuck with a ton of slow selling titles which leads to members hoarding credit to pay for box sets or memberships, i.e. their high margin items. There was a time when you had to scramble to get a high demand swap title, but now just wait it out for the next clearance sale. All signs point to serious cash flow issues. Great topic and presentation.
If there's a title I like I'm just going to end up buying it used on discogs... This is tough timing for them because there have just been so many great sales where you can buy tone poets and classics and acoustic sounds verve series at big discounts, it feels like prices and demand are coming down so this is certainly not the time that I would consider spending $54 a month on a GZ pressed slightly warped record. It's a bummer because especially those Jazz titles that were cut by Ryan k Smith are really really great.
Yea I get it. They do have great titles but the price premium is difficult to justify with those other labels you mentioned doing it better for less. Perhaps they’ll find a way to make it work by not trying to be “everything for everyone” in terms of all genres, all customer segments, and instead focusing their efforts
You're forgetting the balance sheet, annual members are probably hidden in creditors, lot's of unsold stock must be valued at lower of cost or NRV (net realisable value) this all smells to me balance sheet management critical to seek additional short term funding. I suspect that their cash flow is weak again placing a strain on the balance sheet.
When my current subscription is complete I’m out. I’ve bought what I’ve wanted the past few years and the catalog is thin for my tastes. The new releases have not piqued my interest enough to stick around.
Im an international subscriber, my last record will be in March. Hopefully they wont go bust before then. I have enjoyed the titles theyve been putting out. I also went for tjat Teo album. Great video thanks 👍
2 месяца назад
could you paste the complete email here? i'm one too and didn't received it :(
the classics/jazz blues funk and soul records (the ones you really want) have basically been leaked already for the next 3 months and they're "the eastern moods of ahbed abdul-malik", bill frissels - have a little faith, and Jimmy Scott - Falling in Love is Wonderful... so definitely focusing on the more niche stuff like you said
Well explained and absolutely spot on as much as my commercial business acumen confirms your analysis. I have never attempted to buy a VMP release because their sales model does not fit my buying preferences and, for me, the titles were mostly uninteresting vs. what other reissue labels had/have to offer in the Jazz arena. Hearing of what is going on with that label, I will take them off my radar screen now but wish them luck with their new business survival model of going USA market centric boutique. In the current lp record market situation unfortunately I am seeing many of these small size labels struggling with an increasingly uncertain outlook.
Some things to keep in mind based on some of the topics you brought up. 1. VMP raised their prices pretty significantly a couple of years ago already. 2. They own (sort of) their own pressing plant so the point you brought up about getting records pressed at other facilities shouldn’t be a factor. I used to be a member but their quality was pretty inconsistent and they are charging audiophile level pricing for sometimes not so audiophile releases. This could be the end for them. We shall see.
I am so glad that I never got into the vinyl subscription services way back 10 years ago when I got into doing this. Initially it was a cost thing, and then over time I realized that one of the best things about vinyl records for me that I enjoy is going into shops and finding music that I've never heard and going out and getting out of the house and going somewhere. I mean this hobby for me has never been about the limited edition status of my records, far from it some of my best most favorite most cherished records I own are in absolute dog s*** condition, but it's albums you can't get on streaming and I've never seen anywhere else ever. I don't get the whole thing about maintaining quality of pressings. If every mom and pop record pressing plant that seems to exist nowadays can spit out 100 ,000 records a week and have 95% of them be perfect, what are these guys doing?
Great video - well thought out - you actually made me realize that (even the new cost) annual membership with built in shipping - which I seem to get the packages a little faster then media mail - that would be $38 per record plus $5.85 shipping (estimated as you stated in this video) which is $43.85 x 12 = $526.20 - they are now charging $529 - again - I think the shipping estimate is low - and I picked $38 because that is what a tone poet costs retail - and I would say VMP pressings are on par with Tone Poets - sometimes you even get more with the extras or a double LP - since they dont charge more for that - so yeah it sucks for international customers - but its business - I also agree that they should go with more niche titles and I enjoy the collaborations they have with newer labels like Colemine and Daptone. I am also not canceling. Also - anxious to hear your thoughts on the Impulse box - you always have some insider information that I am not aware of!
Yea I don’t think the VMP product is bad nor is it at an unfair cost, provided you want the titles they release (and if you don’t, swap it or get credit) and it’s of good quality. Price increases are always going to get a negative reaction but the cost of everything is going up these days. The original retail price of a Tone Poet was $34.99 I think in 2019, so a 11% price increase since then. Or how about this data point: the price printed on a lot of those original pressing New Jazz titles in 1960 was $3.98. Accounting for inflation, that’s $42.29 in today’s dollars. Maybe things havent changed after all…
I'm somewhat surprised VMP haven't yet figured that out. It doesn't take a lot of math to calculate that the extra margin from direct to consumer sales likely isn't covering the costs of selling records one at a time to each customer.
@@derosa1989 yeah, they could do it worldwide. The records could be competitively priced if they find distributors in Japan, Korea or even in China. America produce the best, the highest quality records and own all the rights to the titles owing the master recording that are never sent abroad. Worldwide distribution would solve one of their issues if they have any in the first place. Blue Note does very well worldwide.
I don't see VMP being around for that long with everything going on with the company. The changes they're making prove they're in trouble and are just trying to keep from going under. VMP's decision to end the Rock and Country records of the month and to consolidate them into the "Essential" category was the first sign they were in trouble. Many people will be cancelling their subscriptions because of that later this month, so it's no surprise to see the price increase for membership since they will be losing a lot of money. Now with the non membership for customers outside the U.S. is the icing on the cake. I also noticed that Acoustic Sounds will be offering VMP titles for sale in the coming months which proves that numerous titles didn't sell well at VMP. It will be interesting to see how long they stay in operation as a company.
I was a subscriber from 2016 until 2020 when the first major price increase happened. I came back and subscribed for about a year when the Rock track was announced. It seems like the company has no direction. I would say the beginning of the end started back in 2020 and they have been circling the drain ever since. The nail in the coffin is $50+ for a single record. It is ridiculous to even say it out loud! 😂 GZ vinyl, cheap jackets, bargain bin titles are all examples that the quality just isn't there to warrant the cost. I've been much happier supporting other outfits. VMP is cancer.
I am a international membership that was already paying more that domestic and buying between 3-7 records per month. Not sure if my membership is still going for a few more month why they cancelled my add-on tracks since it goes in same shipping...and they are losing revenew there. Something else is happening...just saying.
Oddly enough, over the weekend, I decided to cancel my membership to VMP. I made the decision because I needed to start saving some money. I thought once some finances are back in order, I’ll join again. The past few months the monthly titles hadn’t been speaking to me so I was doing a lot of swapping. Who knows I’m still going to pay attention to what they have in their roster and I may join again. Out of all the pressings I’ve received from them, I can say only one of them was really bad. I should have seen if I could get a replacement for it but didn’t.
I've been an annual VMP member for 4 years. I don't plan to renew in December. The value per unit to me personally was already marginal. I will not pay the additional $100 now for the annual subscription. And where the heck is my Grateful Dead box set that was supposed to ship a whole year ago?
As a student there's no chance in affording Tone Poets or even £30 vinyl without serious thinking. 2nd hand is the way to go, and only buying new records if they're very hard to find in my area (ie free jazz, experimental rap)
I never felt they were trying to force titles down my throat either until they recently canceled a confirmed swap with no notification and then sent a shipping confirmation for a title I didn't want. I was not alone in having this happen to me this month.
Way too much marketing, pricing strategy to hold my interest since it doesn't involve my actual job. Perhaps VMP doesn't have a sustainable business model. No big loss since there are many other sources of purchasing LP's. They lost my sub years ago because of overly high prices.
@@mblazer4004 I did hear that they will be using record stores as a sales channel going forward for even new releases, but i suppose availability may be spotty
Excellent analysis. I didn’t receive the email because I ceased being a member in the fall of 2022. Up until that time I was quite pleased with their jazz selections and occasionally I purchased one of their Essentials. However, from that time on the jazz selections became less and less interesting and their blues selections almost non-existent so I never regretted my decision and I feel justified in my opinion. I had built up a credit so I recently used that for the Oliver Nelson album. If they make interesting albums I wouldn’t hesitate to buy from them at the higher price but there’s the rub. I had no idea they were operating at negative levels overseas. They made the only sane decision. My last thought: while their box sets are interesting they combine interesting albums with ones that don’t appeal to me. Case in point was the Cadet one. If it was all jazz I would have purchased it but it wasn’t so I passed. The BN box looks good but I have all those (as do many others I suspect) so repressing that box makes little financial sense to me. Once again, excellent analysis. Keep up the good work.
@@bradlewin8 thank you and agreed about the Cadet. A few great titles, a few i could skip. Keep an eye out for the next VMP release though - it’s The Eastern Moods of Ahmed Abdul Malik!
We’ve never subscribed to any vinyl memberships. As a matter of fact, our vinyl buying has stopped by as much as 75% these days. We understand rising costs to a degree, but some of it is absolute greed. Just not mad at our money.🎧
I recently didn’t renew after I looked through their catalog and realized that (aside from a few titles I already have) nothing was worth $40ish. In fact, I wouldn’t take most of their catalog for free.
And also let's not forget the well documented financial mismanagement of this company as they were trying to open their own pressing plant. I don't see them surviving this.
I had two subscriptions, they renewed one last month without asking. They lie, the CS is a joke, never respond to mail, and lots of warped vinyl. I did the subs based on the free vinyl they offered last year for subs otherwise would never have done it. Seldom see anything I really wanted. The should talk to AS, or Ingroove, they get better rates than these guys clearly do.
Gave up VMP couple years ago, due to quality issues and lack of desired titles. Didn’t dig the drama either. Jumped ship before they go completely under. Rough business, no doubt.
I unsubscribed about an hour after the announcement. This is a company very clearly circling the drain. They can't make deadlines for pre-orders, can't meet commitments for records people gave them money for, the whole c-suite did a bunch of fraud for a record plant that was probably a stupid idea to begin with (RINO Denver is a horrendously stupid locale for a record plant, they wanted it there cause they thought it would be "cool"). All this before you get to paying basically 50 bucks a month for a record from a company with terrible QC is ludicrous. Was a subscriber for years but this is an easy last straw. Jump ship before you get bandbox'd and can't get your money back.
Never understood why anyone would subscribe to begin with. Their product line is all over the place. The chances of any individual wanting all of their records on the subscription are slim. I've always cherry picked.
To me the issue isn't so much that costs of doing business have gone up for VMP, justifying their decisions, but more about the quality of their selections. Competition is much higher now for high quality releases at the price point VMP offers. I can get high quality pressings from Rhino High Fidelity, Acoustic Sounds or Mobile Fidelity. I don't have to commit to a membership up front having no idea of what they will get the rights to. Essentially I'm investing in VMP to make the right decisions, and frankly swapping is too limited. VMP needs to do a better job of eliminating that investment risk. If they can't tell us what they are going to ship me with my $529 investment, over the course of a year, what is the value for me? I can take that same money and spend it on top titles from the labels or other licensed publishers.
Been seeing VMP records on various websites and local record stores. Sealed new copies as VMP unloads excess inventory. Not a good sign. Prices below VMPs member prices to boot. Been a meember nearly 10 years. (Early days just 1 record, no options, and surprised unknown bands.)
2 месяца назад
I didn't even receveid this email!!! Someone can copy here the international release?
Ive been a subscriber for 5 years now. I am an Essentials and Rock track member. Losing the Rock track sucks. I can find all these titles, but most of the time I have to pay up or the copies are beat up. This blows. Now the Essentials track will be $50 a month for a record I actually dont get to choose? I havent been really excited about much in a while from VMP. I can bank for credit, but I dont feel comfortable that VMP will be in business the next 12 months. My credit will be worth nothing. All signs, including the lawsuit, losing of tracks, mediocre limited selection of titles, rising costs and this new Ramones issue, seems like its time to go for me.
The company is citing industry factors that affect ALL the labels, they are not special in this regard. I just cherry pick the rock titles that appeal to me, which are very few.
opinion: i've never been a fan of VMP. too many unnecessary additions ie fold stamp "vmp" on the back, redundant OBI that disrupts the artwork but if you throw it away it's harder to resell, the little notebook/recipe card/random artist illustration. i literally want none of that extra stuff, just quality pressing of great records from the OG master. it's wasteful and hikes up the price. lastly, yes prices have gone up, but i think the real story is there are too many reissues. the major boom is over, ppl are buying less, therefor revenue is down from VMP. just some opinions from someone that's been in the game for 20+ years.
May depend on the track (or obviously personal preference). I’ve liked a number of titles in the Classics series this year including titles by Herbie Hancock, Gary Bartz, Nina Simone, Oliver Nelson, Alice Coltrane, and Teo Macero. But there were some others I swapped out for sure.
It's almost as if selling records in a way that makes a profit requires all the necessary parts of the business as it operated in the 70s - high volume, local production, local retail, longer pressing runs, and lower manufacturing costs. It's like doing all the opposite things, expensive, short run, centralized manufacturing with high shipping costs is a recipe to lose money. Who would have imagined??
Bull crap go buy your records from quality. Oh high quality blessings not mass not stamped. They have their own pressing company right there Acoustic records and that’s where you can buy your jazz your rock your pop musical on vinyl or CD and they back the product no BS like you’ve gone through with other services and no monthly charge by $100 or more you do not pay shipping very fair Selection is unbelievable of quality recordings. Enjoy your music and don’t waste your time on memberships so not the 60s and 70s Columbia record club.
Thanks for stopping by our stream earlier! Was great to hear your POV on the VMP topic in this video. They’d be smart to watch this ✌🏻
This was one of the most reasonable and fact-based analyses of anything that I've watched online in a long time. I appreciate it.
I dropped my subscription years ago and am happier for it.
As a "high end" UK customer I've very significantly reduced all purchases of new records. I've shifted my buying focus back to "minty" OG's for me far more fun. Many companies have managed to alienate customers like me and I spend £7.5k to £10k p.a. on records
This is why I appreciate your channel. I now have a better understanding of what’s going on with VMP. For me it’s mostly about quality, VMP produces quality. I’m in. Thanks
VMP has exhibited a confused strategy for some time. Base pricing notwithstanding, it's problematic when a company rewards those who cancel, to lure them back, to the relative disadvantage of those who stick with them. Worse, depending on who one spoke with in customer support, you might get a mulligan on subscription choices, resulting in frustration for those who didn't get lucky. It's just a terrible way to run a business.
Have a plan. Commit to ride it through. Reward the loyal. It ain't that hard.
If I learned anything from my time as a VMP annual subscriber, it's to wait for a deal on non-sub records, sub for the shortest term, grab a bunch, and walk away. Else you're wading through months of color variants of Charlie XCX and Vanilla Ice's live album.
And yeah, I had bought the impulse box at full. It dropped to 40% off. And I didn't get a mulligan. Fuck those guys. It's a vinyl renaissance, and OJC and BN are killing it, so why bother.
Re international shipping costs (no, I’m not talking about duties and VAT, rather the actual shipping rates) - absolutely the seller’s fault, theingroove proved that you can be in the US and provide excellent shipping rates to international customers. And I really doubt that theingroove had a huge number of international customers and that’s why they got better rates. It looks rather like VMP is making their customers pay for their bad business decisions…
I'm not pulling out of My pocket anymore. Thank you for the heads up.
Agree 100%
This only signals a continuation of the long slow death of VMP
I'm surprised they haven't 1) phased out swapping for credit and 2) started surveying members to gauge demand before producing titles. I think they are stuck with a ton of slow selling titles which leads to members hoarding credit to pay for box sets or memberships, i.e. their high margin items. There was a time when you had to scramble to get a high demand swap title, but now just wait it out for the next clearance sale. All signs point to serious cash flow issues. Great topic and presentation.
That’s a good point. Why not ask customers what they want instead of gambling on titles?
If there's a title I like I'm just going to end up buying it used on discogs... This is tough timing for them because there have just been so many great sales where you can buy tone poets and classics and acoustic sounds verve series at big discounts, it feels like prices and demand are coming down so this is certainly not the time that I would consider spending $54 a month on a GZ pressed slightly warped record. It's a bummer because especially those Jazz titles that were cut by Ryan k Smith are really really great.
Yea I get it. They do have great titles but the price premium is difficult to justify with those other labels you mentioned doing it better for less. Perhaps they’ll find a way to make it work by not trying to be “everything for everyone” in terms of all genres, all customer segments, and instead focusing their efforts
You're forgetting the balance sheet, annual members are probably hidden in creditors, lot's of unsold stock must be valued at lower of cost or NRV (net realisable value) this all smells to me balance sheet management critical to seek additional short term funding. I suspect that their cash flow is weak again placing a strain on the balance sheet.
Ah, an accountant!
When my current subscription is complete I’m out. I’ve bought what I’ve wanted the past few years and the catalog is thin for my tastes. The new releases have not piqued my interest enough to stick around.
Im an international subscriber, my last record will be in March. Hopefully they wont go bust before then. I have enjoyed the titles theyve been putting out. I also went for tjat Teo album.
Great video thanks 👍
could you paste the complete email here? i'm one too and didn't received it :(
the classics/jazz blues funk and soul records (the ones you really want) have basically been leaked already for the next 3 months and they're "the eastern moods of ahbed abdul-malik", bill frissels - have a little faith, and Jimmy Scott - Falling in Love is Wonderful... so definitely focusing on the more niche stuff like you said
Well explained and absolutely spot on as much as my commercial business acumen confirms your analysis. I have never attempted to buy a VMP release because their sales model does not fit my buying preferences and, for me, the titles were mostly uninteresting vs. what other reissue labels had/have to offer in the Jazz arena. Hearing of what is going on with that label, I will take them off my radar screen now but wish them luck with their new business survival model of going USA market centric boutique. In the current lp record market situation unfortunately I am seeing many of these small size labels struggling with an increasingly uncertain outlook.
It seems their general jazz production has fallen off. I was excited about the rumor that they might make a jazz track but that looks unlikely...
Some things to keep in mind based on some of the topics you brought up.
1. VMP raised their prices pretty significantly a couple of years ago already.
2. They own (sort of) their own pressing plant so the point you brought up about getting records pressed at other facilities shouldn’t be a factor.
I used to be a member but their quality was pretty inconsistent and they are charging audiophile level pricing for sometimes not so audiophile releases.
This could be the end for them. We shall see.
Dropped my sub. I'm out as of Sept 1st. Wondering if my pre-paid Grateful Dead box will ever show up.
I chose to not renew back in April, for personal reasons. It hasn’t been a lot of good news for VMP since.
I am so glad that I never got into the vinyl subscription services way back 10 years ago when I got into doing this. Initially it was a cost thing, and then over time I realized that one of the best things about vinyl records for me that I enjoy is going into shops and finding music that I've never heard and going out and getting out of the house and going somewhere.
I mean this hobby for me has never been about the limited edition status of my records, far from it some of my best most favorite most cherished records I own are in absolute dog s*** condition, but it's albums you can't get on streaming and I've never seen anywhere else ever.
I don't get the whole thing about maintaining quality of pressings. If every mom and pop record pressing plant that seems to exist nowadays can spit out 100 ,000 records a week and have 95% of them be perfect, what are these guys doing?
Great video - well thought out - you actually made me realize that (even the new cost) annual membership with built in shipping - which I seem to get the packages a little faster then media mail - that would be $38 per record plus $5.85 shipping (estimated as you stated in this video) which is $43.85 x 12 = $526.20 - they are now charging $529 - again - I think the shipping estimate is low - and I picked $38 because that is what a tone poet costs retail - and I would say VMP pressings are on par with Tone Poets - sometimes you even get more with the extras or a double LP - since they dont charge more for that - so yeah it sucks for international customers - but its business - I also agree that they should go with more niche titles and I enjoy the collaborations they have with newer labels like Colemine and Daptone. I am also not canceling. Also - anxious to hear your thoughts on the Impulse box - you always have some insider information that I am not aware of!
Yea I don’t think the VMP product is bad nor is it at an unfair cost, provided you want the titles they release (and if you don’t, swap it or get credit) and it’s of good quality. Price increases are always going to get a negative reaction but the cost of everything is going up these days. The original retail price of a Tone Poet was $34.99 I think in 2019, so a 11% price increase since then. Or how about this data point: the price printed on a lot of those original pressing New Jazz titles in 1960 was $3.98. Accounting for inflation, that’s $42.29 in today’s dollars. Maybe things havent changed after all…
VMP can find a LP distributor and sell it to them wholesale. That’s how AP does it.
I'm somewhat surprised VMP haven't yet figured that out. It doesn't take a lot of math to calculate that the extra margin from direct to consumer sales likely isn't covering the costs of selling records one at a time to each customer.
@@derosa1989 yeah, they could do it worldwide. The records could be competitively priced if they find distributors in Japan, Korea or even in China. America produce the best, the highest quality records and own all the rights to the titles owing the master recording that are never sent abroad. Worldwide distribution would solve one of their issues if they have any in the first place. Blue Note does very well worldwide.
I don't see VMP being around for that long with everything going on with the company. The changes they're making prove they're in trouble and are just trying to keep from going under. VMP's decision to end the Rock and Country records of the month and to consolidate them into the "Essential" category was the first sign they were in trouble. Many people will be cancelling their subscriptions because of that later this month, so it's no surprise to see the price increase for membership since they will be losing a lot of money. Now with the non membership for customers outside the U.S. is the icing on the cake. I also noticed that Acoustic Sounds will be offering VMP titles for sale in the coming months which proves that numerous titles didn't sell well at VMP. It will be interesting to see how long they stay in operation as a company.
Big brain content 🧠
I was a subscriber from 2016 until 2020 when the first major price increase happened. I came back and subscribed for about a year when the Rock track was announced. It seems like the company has no direction. I would say the beginning of the end started back in 2020 and they have been circling the drain ever since. The nail in the coffin is $50+ for a single record. It is ridiculous to even say it out loud! 😂 GZ vinyl, cheap jackets, bargain bin titles are all examples that the quality just isn't there to warrant the cost. I've been much happier supporting other outfits. VMP is cancer.
As guy in Australia, I’m glad I bought the four VMP records I still wanted on 40% off Memorial Day. Sheesh.
I am a international membership that was already paying more that domestic and buying between 3-7 records per month. Not sure if my membership is still going for a few more month why they cancelled my add-on tracks since it goes in same shipping...and they are losing revenew there. Something else is happening...just saying.
Oddly enough, over the weekend, I decided to cancel my membership to VMP. I made the decision because I needed to start saving some money. I thought once some finances are back in order, I’ll join again. The past few months the monthly titles hadn’t been speaking to me so I was doing a lot of swapping. Who knows I’m still going to pay attention to what they have in their roster and I may join again. Out of all the pressings I’ve received from them, I can say only one of them was really bad. I should have seen if I could get a replacement for it but didn’t.
I've been an annual VMP member for 4 years. I don't plan to renew in December. The value per unit to me personally was already marginal. I will not pay the additional $100 now for the annual subscription.
And where the heck is my Grateful Dead box set that was supposed to ship a whole year ago?
As a student there's no chance in affording Tone Poets or even £30 vinyl without serious thinking. 2nd hand is the way to go, and only buying new records if they're very hard to find in my area (ie free jazz, experimental rap)
I never felt they were trying to force titles down my throat either until they recently canceled a confirmed swap with no notification and then sent a shipping confirmation for a title I didn't want. I was not alone in having this happen to me this month.
Yeah…they certainly could’ve handled that situation better.
What`s that Nat King Cole set in the background? Looks interesting.
Way too much marketing, pricing strategy to hold my interest since it doesn't involve my actual job. Perhaps VMP doesn't have a sustainable business model. No big loss since there are many other sources of purchasing LP's. They lost my sub years ago because of overly high prices.
My local shop is now selling limited vmp releases. Must be trying to unload stock however they can.
@@mblazer4004 I did hear that they will be using record stores as a sales channel going forward for even new releases, but i suppose availability may be spotty
Excellent analysis. I didn’t receive the email because I ceased being a member in the fall of 2022. Up until that time I was quite pleased with their jazz selections and occasionally I purchased one of their Essentials. However, from that time on the jazz selections became less and less interesting and their blues selections almost non-existent so I never regretted my decision and I feel justified in my opinion. I had built up a credit so I recently used that for the Oliver Nelson album. If they make interesting albums I wouldn’t hesitate to buy from them at the higher price but there’s the rub. I had no idea they were operating at negative levels overseas. They made the only sane decision. My last thought: while their box sets are interesting they combine interesting albums with ones that don’t appeal to me. Case in point was the Cadet one. If it was all jazz I would have purchased it but it wasn’t so I passed. The BN box looks good but I have all those (as do many others I suspect) so repressing that box makes little financial sense to me. Once again, excellent analysis. Keep up the good work.
@@bradlewin8 thank you and agreed about the Cadet. A few great titles, a few i could skip. Keep an eye out for the next VMP release though - it’s The Eastern Moods of Ahmed Abdul Malik!
We’ve never subscribed to any vinyl memberships. As a matter of fact, our vinyl buying has stopped by as much as 75% these days. We understand rising costs to a degree, but some of it is absolute greed. Just not mad at our money.🎧
Totally agree with your comments
Craft doesn't need to license Prestige titles like Analog Prod does. Craft owns the catalog.
I recently didn’t renew after I looked through their catalog and realized that (aside from a few titles I already have) nothing was worth $40ish. In fact, I wouldn’t take most of their catalog for free.
I don’t wish ill on them but it’s not for me anymore.
They still owe that dang Sabbath record!
And also let's not forget the well documented financial mismanagement of this company as they were trying to open their own pressing plant. I don't see them surviving this.
They should go niche and do not so popular albums but underrated gems
I had two subscriptions, they renewed one last month without asking. They lie, the CS is a joke, never respond to mail, and lots of warped vinyl. I did the subs based on the free vinyl they offered last year for subs otherwise would never have done it. Seldom see anything I really wanted. The should talk to AS, or Ingroove, they get better rates than these guys clearly do.
Had similar issues and cancelled a few months ago. They kept shipping me warped record after warped record.
They definitely lie and are nearly impossible to get in touch with… and their social justice warrior stance is frankly nauseating.
I dont know - most of this sounds like it's almost exclusively VMP's fault through a series of bad business decisions are nearly every single turn.
Gave up VMP couple years ago, due to quality issues and lack of desired titles. Didn’t dig the drama either. Jumped ship before they go completely under. Rough business, no doubt.
I will stick to buying 6$ George Shearing and Jimmy Smith albums,thank you.
My last month just ended. Not resubbing. Im letting the impulse box be my final purchase. Got it for %20 off too.
I unsubscribed about an hour after the announcement. This is a company very clearly circling the drain. They can't make deadlines for pre-orders, can't meet commitments for records people gave them money for, the whole c-suite did a bunch of fraud for a record plant that was probably a stupid idea to begin with (RINO Denver is a horrendously stupid locale for a record plant, they wanted it there cause they thought it would be "cool"). All this before you get to paying basically 50 bucks a month for a record from a company with terrible QC is ludicrous. Was a subscriber for years but this is an easy last straw. Jump ship before you get bandbox'd and can't get your money back.
Never understood why anyone would subscribe to begin with. Their product line is all over the place. The chances of any individual wanting all of their records on the subscription are slim. I've always cherry picked.
To me the issue isn't so much that costs of doing business have gone up for VMP, justifying their decisions, but more about the quality of their selections. Competition is much higher now for high quality releases at the price point VMP offers. I can get high quality pressings from Rhino High Fidelity, Acoustic Sounds or Mobile Fidelity. I don't have to commit to a membership up front having no idea of what they will get the rights to. Essentially I'm investing in VMP to make the right decisions, and frankly swapping is too limited. VMP needs to do a better job of eliminating that investment risk. If they can't tell us what they are going to ship me with my $529 investment, over the course of a year, what is the value for me? I can take that same money and spend it on top titles from the labels or other licensed publishers.
Been seeing VMP records on various websites and local record stores. Sealed new copies as VMP unloads excess inventory. Not a good sign. Prices below VMPs member prices to boot. Been a meember nearly 10 years. (Early days just 1 record, no options, and surprised unknown bands.)
I didn't even receveid this email!!! Someone can copy here the international release?
I bought the footloose and Ben folds albums as an annual subscriber. I've heard they will be shipped but eh. The rap titles have been Great
Ive been a subscriber for 5 years now. I am an Essentials and Rock track member. Losing the Rock track sucks. I can find all these titles, but most of the time I have to pay up or the copies are beat up. This blows.
Now the Essentials track will be $50 a month for a record I actually dont get to choose? I havent been really excited about much in a while from VMP. I can bank for credit, but I dont feel comfortable that VMP will be in business the next 12 months. My credit will be worth nothing.
All signs, including the lawsuit, losing of tracks, mediocre limited selection of titles, rising costs and this new Ramones issue, seems like its time to go for me.
I can live without VMP.
Buh Bye VMP........looks like they have shot themselves in the foot with this move....good luck...I'm out!
VMPs recent actions don’t give me any confidence that they will be around much longer Bye Bye looks eminent!!
The company is citing industry factors that affect ALL the labels, they are not special in this regard. I just cherry pick the rock titles that appeal to me, which are very few.
Walsh Garden
Enough Ramones already!
It is no longer inflation it is price gouging now. Bye bye
WCB MBA
And with it I’m gonna form my own JVaaS company… you know, jazz vinyl as a service
opinion: i've never been a fan of VMP. too many unnecessary additions ie fold stamp "vmp" on the back, redundant OBI that disrupts the artwork but if you throw it away it's harder to resell, the little notebook/recipe card/random artist illustration. i literally want none of that extra stuff, just quality pressing of great records from the OG master. it's wasteful and hikes up the price.
lastly, yes prices have gone up, but i think the real story is there are too many reissues. the major boom is over, ppl are buying less, therefor revenue is down from VMP. just some opinions from someone that's been in the game for 20+ years.
The catalogue has turned to shit in 2024.
May depend on the track (or obviously personal preference). I’ve liked a number of titles in the Classics series this year including titles by Herbie Hancock, Gary Bartz, Nina Simone, Oliver Nelson, Alice Coltrane, and Teo Macero. But there were some others I swapped out for sure.
I'm not sure why anyone would join vmp....
be honest, you want VMP to hire you as a consultant. maybe post you resume in the description?
Thanks, Joe Biden!