Why Taylor Swift’s vinyls won’t change the game for true LP fans
How the turntables! We’re in the midst of a vinyl revival. Sales are spinning, younger artists are selling records. So, why doesn’t it feel like a legit change?
On the one hand, music is enjoying a great rewind. Studios are investing in old-school synthesizers, artists are recording on tape (bit by bit, mistakes and all), and hip listeners are so into vinyl records that LPs now outsell CDs. Online record stores have boosted sales in India. Even Saregama relaunched some titles on vinyl recently. What a time to get your groove on!
On the other hand, the music sharks have smelled blood and are already circling. Taylor Swift’s new album, The Tortured Poets Department, has been released on four separate vinyl editions, each containing a different bonus track, to get fans to collect them all. Billie Eilish’s 2021 album, Happier Than Ever, had multiple vinyl variants too; they were manufactured from recycled vinyls. She’s since publicly called out artists for being wasteful, and exploiting their fans. “Some of the biggest artists in the world making f---ing 40 different vinyl packages that have a different unique thing just to get you to keep buying more,” she posted on social media.
Loving music is not like building a Pokemon collection. You don’t gotta catch ’em all. Vinyls are expensive, need specialised playing devices and, let’s face it, you can hardly lug them to the gym. It is a niche obsession, admits Avijit Sarkar, 31, who founded the vinyl store, The Calcutta Record Company, last year. “Based on the number of records we ship in India, I would estimate that around 1.5-2.5 lakh records are sold every year,” Sarkar says.
Releasing limited editions makes it fun for buyers and worthwhile for producers, he admits. But it’s hardly going to replace large-scale Spotify subscriptions or digital streaming. And pushing too much on to too small a fanbase may ultimately backfire. Customers hate when their music is held to ransom.
Spin cycle
Vinyl record sales last boomed in the 1980s; even High Fidelity, set in a record store, is 24 years old. OG aficionados have memories of how they would thumb through old records to discover not just a new sound but new art too. Andy Warhol designed a record cover for The Velvet Underground and Nico (with an image of a banana that the customer could peel to reveal the flesh-coloured LP underneath). Kendrick Lamar’s 2015 work, To Pimp a Butterfly, features the White House in the background, as shirtless Black men celebrate before a White judge, seemingly conquered. They’re pieces of art in a way your Spotify landing page isn’t.
And, because records are manufactured in batches, it’s possible to make small, deliberate variations in every batch – a colour change, a new motif – so collectors stay invested long after their first purchase. It’s the perfect hook to get today’s fans, who buy concert tickets on EMI, to spend even more.
Deepak Dewan, 45, who runs Kala Ghoda Records in Delhi, says it’s the kind of marketing that only big artists with deep pockets can pull off. “But there is an overall big surge in vinyl collectors, coloured pressings intrigue new adopters more,” he finds. “Indian buyers now know that first pressings are more valuable.” Sarkar says that each month brings new audiophiles who ask for guidance on starting their collection.
On the record
To start a collection, forget Swift-driven trends and check out the what’s already available. “Vinyl records can vary widely in price, depending on rarity, condition, and demand,” says Joginder Luca Singh, who founded Pagalwalla Records seven years ago. Indian releases are priced between ₹1,500 and ₹3,500. Small-batch pressings cost more – one, for the soundtrack of the 2011 Bollywood film Rockstar, was priced at ₹6,000. “A new pressing of a Miles Davis album will cost ₹3,000,” he says. You own it forever, unlike a streaming account. But it’s not cheap.
Rare records can cost about 10 times as much, and record players are priced between ₹5,000 and ₹5 lakh. Its why Eilish spoke out against commercialising the niche hobby. Mass-produced vinyls and their mass-produced variations are not aimed at vinyl enthusiasts, they’re for show-offs. The marketing move is unlikely to turn young people into record collectors. But it will allow Swift to take her private jet for another spin.
From HT Brunch, June 15, 2024
Follow us on www.instagram.com/htbrunch
Catch your daily dose of Fashion, Taylor Swift, Health, Festivals, Travel, Relationship, Recipe and all the other Latest Lifestyle News on Hindustan Times Website and APPs.