Is ripping vinyl worth it?

[Karlos Santos]

@Everyone: Ok enough...!!!

This is going round in circles and people are starting to use less than friendly language.

The OP asked if and how he can rip vinyl. He didn't ask for a lecture on DJ ethics.

Opinion is divided... leave it.

[keithace]

The medium is the message. Look it up.

I gotta disagree man...So you mean to tell me that the guy that spent countless hours creating a track and more dollars to get it cut into vinyl...only wants the few exclusive people who bought that track to hear it?...come on man...

I think it means he loved it that much more he took a little more care in making sure someone loved it just as much as he did. That person took to the time and effort to make a rip of the track and share it with a broader audience at one of their gigs. Digweed still talks about getting loads of vinyl and them having to rip them so he can audition them at the very least.

[keithace]

The medium is the message. Look it up.

the medium is the message? please elaborate my good sir...

you might be confusing that the message is on the medium...

[keithace]

and I'll be damned if I am not going to rip my dubtribe, guidance or greyhound records some day...

[b1sh0p]

I gotta disagree man...So you mean to tell me that the guy that spent countless hours creating a track and more dollars to get it cut into vinyl...only wants the few exclusive people who bought that track to hear it?...come on man...

I think it means he loved it that much more he took a little more care in making sure someone loved it just as much as he did. That person took to the time and effort to make a rip of the track and share it with a broader audience at one of their gigs. Digweed still talks about getting loads of vinyl and them having to rip them so he can audition them at the very least.

Quote from Geoff Presha, owner of Samurai Records and fellow dj.

You don't have to agree, but this is one of those circumstances where I wouldn't feel comfortable ripping these records.

cuts both ways with that argument tbh, the tantrums digital buyers have thrown over Horo are very similar to a child not being able to get what he wants. One thing you miss here, is that the artists concerned on every record on Horo request to be part of it and are well aware of the vinyl only / no repress policy and this is what they like about it. We want to have one label where the music is not disposable and not up for being robbed by thousands of people instantly and stands as a unique product that can only be enjoyed by owning it and playing on a record player. It's an endless loop this argument obviously, but ultimately we make the decision in partnership with the artist, and this is something that people have to accept. Vinyl is our favourite medium for music listening, and this is our collective tribute to it.

This whole debate escalated when the OP said, "who cares what the artist thinks." None of us are anything without the producers.

[keithace]

None of us are anything without the producers.

it doesn't have to be that dramatic...

some of us are taking our place in the food chain a little too seriously...

[Kwal]

I gotta disagree man...So you mean to tell me that the guy that spent countless hours creating a track and more dollars to get it cut into vinyl...only wants the few exclusive people who bought that track to hear it?...come on man...

Pretty much, yes.

[DJSigma]

@Everyone: Ok enough...!!!

This is going round in circles and people are starting to use less than friendly language.

The OP asked if and how he can rip vinyl. He didn't ask for a lecture on DJ ethics.

Opinion is divided... leave it.

It's not really opinion. Either producers and labels don't want you ripping vinyl, or they're OK with it. Sadly, one particular poster doesn't seem to know the difference between opinion and fact and he's presenting the former as the latter, but with zero evidence whatsoever.

Only a retard would say "labels put out vinyl-only releases because they don't want people ripping vinyl" which is what his entire opinion hinges on, lol. Mind you, the same dood said that DJing is not artistic nor expressive. He obviously likes being wrong.

[Karlos Santos]

*sigh*

[DJSigma]

You can sigh all you want, but it's not opinion. Either there are labels who don't want DJs to rip records for their own use, or there's not. But there is no evidence of that and b1sh0p certainly hasn't provided any.

There are reasons to put out vinyl-only releases other than that: -

1. Vinyl-only releases are often limited presses. These are usually quite expensive. I've paid £15+ just for a regular black vinyl release. More for coloured vinyl. Even more if there's other junk (and it often is junk) thrown in with some collectible edition. The profit margin is high. The profit margin on MP3s is low because people are used to paying £1 or less for them.

2. There are people who only buy vinyl cos they're not interested in MP3s and there are people who, when given the choice, will always take the vinyl. Therefore, if you're putting out a small run of records, there is often no need to put out a digital version at all. There is an air of exclusivity with vinyl-only releases that is partially taken away when you put out a digital version alongside it.

3. Putting out a digital version makes piracy easier. People who buy these limited edition records are clearly not people who pirate all their music. They're buying music in the most expensive way possible! But if you put out a 4 track EP as MP3s, that's gonna get shared and people who download it are getting something that's literally identical to the original. Not so with vinyl, and often the vinyl rips that do end up on torrent sites sound like shit because they were ripped poorly.

4. There's also image to take into account. A lot of "hipster" types buy records these days just cos it's cool. It's retro. They're in some small, exclusive club buying 1 of only 200 copies or whatever.

5. Sound quality. There are some producers who think that MP3 sounds inferior.

So there's a bunch of reasons to put out a vinyl-only release. But let's say that I was a producer and I didn't want people who bought my records ripping them. How exactly does putting out vinyl-only stop that? lol. It's nonsense. If a producer didn't want people ripping records - and we're talking about people who bought them, not pirates - there would be plenty of examples of them saying that in interviews on the web, except there is no such thing. It exists in b1sh0p's mind only and he's presenting that opinion as fact.