Is ripping vinyl worth it?

[Kwal]

Assuming that the label/producer of a vinyl-only track would see it as disrespectful if you were to buy their record and rip it for your own use is baseless. It's like assuming that if you buy a CD that isn't available as digital downloads, that ripping that is disrespectful as they didn't offer digital downloads for a reason.

One would imagine that the sole purpose of their vinyl only release was to keep the track exclusive... What you decide with it once you buy it is something that they can't dictate.. Do they expect it to get ripped? Yes. Was that their intention? Probably not. (Why waste the extra money in pressings?)

Also, you can't compare Cds to records man.... Anyone who sells CDs at this day and age offers their music digitally.. Unless they're some kind of half assed, one man show who sells discs at your local swap meet. Apples to oranges, etc.

I haven't followed this thread in a detailed manner, but that's my two cents.

[DJSigma]

One would imagine that the sole purpose of their vinyl only release was to keep the track exclusive...

This makes no sense though man.

A song is vinyl-only. I buy it. I rip it to a FLAC file and play that at gigs instead of the original record. How is the track "less exclusive" because of that? It's not. It only becomes less exclusive if I share the rip with someone else or I sell the record on and keep the rip, not if I just use it for my own personal use and keep the record as well (which is what I always do).

(Why waste the extra money in pressings?)

This doesn't really make sense either. I'm a record collector. If I have the choice of buying a 4 track limited edition 12" or paying less to download the same 4 tracks as MP3s, I'm taking the 12" every time. So, saying "why waste the money in pressings?" implies that people would choose the cheaper MP3s and they wouldn't sell copies of the vinyl, but that's just not true. That's not the record buyer's mentality.

I buy a lot of limited pressings, but IMO, a lot of them are kept limited solely to inflate the price and get more money out of people. I bought a 4 track 12" the other day and it cost £19.99 plus shipping. I know how much it costs to get records made, so I know that they are making more on that sale than they would if I bought 4 MP3s off them for £4 or whatever. It's also made worse by the people who buy records just to sell them at inflated prices on Discogs and eBay. Every single time there's a limited edition record I want that sold out really quickly so I couldn't get it, the day after it's released I can go to Discogs and there'll be copies of it on there at jacked up prices. The labels know this happens, but they don't care. A sale is a sale to them.

[Kwal]

This makes no sense though man.

A song is vinyl-only. I buy it. I rip it to a FLAC file and play that at gigs instead of the original record. How is the track "less exclusive" because of that? It's not. It only becomes less exclusive if I share the rip with someone else or I sell the record on and keep the rip, not if I just use it for my own personal use and keep the record as well (which is what I always do).


This doesn't really make sense either. I'm a record collector. If I have the choice of buying a 4 track limited edition 12" or paying less to download the same 4 tracks as MP3s, I'm taking the 12" every time. So, saying "why waste the money in pressings?" implies that people would choose the cheaper MP3s and they wouldn't sell copies of the vinyl, but that's just not true. That's not the record buyer's mentality.

I buy a lot of limited pressings, but IMO, a lot of them are kept limited solely to inflate the price and get more money out of people. I bought a 4 track 12" the other day and it cost £19.99 plus shipping. I know how much it costs to get records made, so I know that they are making more on that sale than they would if I bought 4 MP3s off them for £4 or whatever. It's also made worse by the people who buy records just to sell them at inflated prices on Discogs and eBay. Every single time there's a limited edition record I want that sold out really quickly so I couldn't get it, the day after it's released I can go to Discogs and there'll be copies of it on there at jacked up prices. The labels know this happens, but they don't care. A sale is a sale to them.

Yeah, but that's you... Who is to say that every other person ripping these doesn't just post this shit for the rest of the world to have.... You know that these people exist...

And inflated pricing on records is like every other damn commodity that people want. People do that with everything. That's life.

[DJSigma]

It goes without saying that a label doesn't want you to rip a record and then put it online for people to download for free. That's the same regardless of format. Releasing a record on vinyl doesn't stop piracy. That's not what b1sh0p was talking about though. He's saying that even if I never give a copy of the rip to anyone and I never sell the record, I still shouldn't do it.

[ImNotDedYet]

I'm really surprised in following this thread lightly that there has been very little, if no mention that maybe the artist or label just think it sounds better on vinyl, and that's why it's a vinyl only release. The label/artist are likely very aware of the fact that they're limiting the availability of the record and they obviously don't care because if they were in this to make a lot more money they'd make it more openly available. So maybe many vinyl only releases are released that way just because the sound is different and the artist is trying to best preserve that.

Having said that, I'm sure they're also not naive enough to think that people are going to buy that vinyl only release and then not rip it. But even if someone does rip it and puts it on a torrent site, people are going to have to hear it first in order to know they want it.

I don't know, I haven't touched a table or a record in twenty years, so what do I know? I know I haven't answered OP's original question, and so to do that I'll say, I have no idea if it's worth it to rip vinyl man.

[JBang]

Yeah, but that's you... Who is to say that every other person ripping these doesn't just post this shit for the rest of the world to have.... You know that these people exist...

It certainly can and does happen. But you gotta admit that it does create a pretty big barrier before being completely and easily available on every digital download site.

I also just feel that, for the most part, someone who is searching high and low for that one particular tune on vinyl takes their craft pretty seriously, and isn't out to just find records and rip them so they're widely available to everyone.

[Kwal]

It goes without saying that a label doesn't want you to rip a record and then put it online for people to download for free. That's the same regardless of format. Releasing a record on vinyl doesn't stop piracy. That's not what b1sh0p was talking about though. He's saying that even if I never give a copy of the rip to anyone and I never sell the record, I still shouldn't do it.

At that point it's all personal preference. But, you still can't argue his passion for keeping such exclusive releases in the right hands if you're truthfully doing the same thing....

I also just feel that, for the most part, someone who is searching high and low for that one particular tune on vinyl takes their craft pretty seriously, and isn't out to just find records and rip them so they're widely available to everyone.

Good point as well.

[D-Kem]

Right to get this thread back to point " is ripping vinyl worth it"? Absolutely!
The biggest factor for me is practice. I don't want to ruin my precious, limited slab. I'd rather rip a WAV and use DVS for practice. My lovely piece of vinyl stays on the shelf fresh for the gig. For this reason alone ripping is priceless.

[Kwal]

Right to get this thread back to point " is ripping vinyl worth it"? Absolutely!
The biggest factor for me is practice. I don't want to ruin my precious, limited slab. I'd rather rip a WAV and use DVS for practice. My lovely piece of vinyl stays on the shelf fresh for the gig. For this reason alone ripping is priceless.

Good logic. 10/10

[UncleFunky]

None of us are anything without the producers.

This point has been made a few times and it's worth noting that dance music producers aren't anything without the DJ's either. Their song won't go far without any club play. It's a symbiotic relationship.