The Plague...
From the original Analog Industries archive. Some links and images from that era no longer resolve.
I imagine you’re getting sick of hearing about me being sick, but I’ll absolutely guarantee that you’re not as sick of hearing about it as I am of being it. I am paying penance for nearly a lifetime of being in perfect health, apparently. This fresh hell is some sort of violently invasive cold. Or something. Please make it stop.
And the first fucking hippie that recommends Pho is getting banned for life. I’d sooner drink a bottle of Windex.
In charitable news, I have a track on this comp, a collection of e-music that benefits the victims of the tornado in West Liberty, Kentucky that happened on March 2nd. It’s only $4, and is a nice collection of e-music. Go buy it, and spread the word.
In other charitable news, I’ve ordered the jackets for unsuspected sounds from Stumptown Printers. So we’re off to the races now, no turning back on the hardware version of the album. Which brings me to an interesting question…
I had intended (for fiscal reasons that I hope would be so patently obvious they don’t need to be explained) to not put the album up on Bandcamp until I had the whole finished run in my possession, and only sell the vinyl+download until the vinyl had run out. However, there’s a couple points that merit consideration:
1. I actually have the mastered digital files now; there’s no real reason we can’t start the ordering process.
2. A lot of (I assume “most”) people don’t actually want the record.
So, I could put up the vinyl + download for pre-order now. I could also put up a download only for sale now. The pre-orders would come with the caveat that you wouldn’t receive the vinyl for nearly two months. There would be a slight risk involved, mainly for me, as while I have everything costed out, and 2/3rd of it already paid for, I’m making the assumption that there are no fuck-ups that are my fault, that won’t require a massive cash outlay on my part to fix.
The problem I have with this course of action is that the digital sales will necessarily subsidize the vinyl until everything has washed out. The original plan negated this.
So, thoughts? Should I put up a poll?
22 comments
As a guy who has zero interest in vinyl (I am a heretic) I'd like to see it released now.
Man, sorry you're so jacked up. That's some nasty voodoo.
As far as the release dilemma, I'd do whatever scenario makes life easiest for you and will be most likely to recoup the costs.
Hell, I'd probably wait to put the whole thing up just so I wouldn't have to field all the "HEY IT'S BEEN X LONG, ARE YOU RIPPING ME OFF?!!?!" bullshit. I see that kind of thing happening with Killing Joke's pledge campaign. The natives are getting restless...
How many vinyls are you getting printed up, anyways?
500 copies total. Once the artists get theirs, there will be just south of 400 to sell. Call it 375.
-CR
I vote to do it now - pre-order for vinyl and the immediate download. This will be the album that gets my a$$ out to buy a record player. That gives me two months to research and figure it out. In the meantime - I'd love to be listening!
I'm in the now camp as well. I'm not partial to vinyl. I'm digital, all the way.
I haven't had a record player in over 20 years, so yeah, bring on the downloadable purchase.
Concerning your invasive cold, that sounds like an impaired immune system. You should consider a doctor to clarify this.
Sorry about your illness!
I would tie the release to the vinyl sales until the vinyl sales are over. People can deal.
Meaning, specifically: the first 500 orders are for the full package: vinyl + download. Give no other option. After that, download-only sales begin. Keep it simple.
People will deal.
(People who don't have a record player: the physical thing is a tactile work of art and is beautiful whether you play it or not.)
I expect it to sell out quickly and then be a collectible ebay nightmare thereafter.
- c
Sorry to hear about your illness. Have you been around kids lately? They tend to be adorable little germ sponges. I almost never got stomach viruses until the kids started bringing them home.
I will still plugin the virtues of spicy soup (tortilla soup or soondubu are a few soups to look into). Or spicy food in general. Go get some of that fry bread w/chili that is nearby.
I think that Chad's idea of limiting the first sales to vinyl + download is a good idea. No particular reasoning why i agree with this, other than my gut tells me that this is a good idea.
Beauty Pill has the correct answer. The only caveat I would add is that if we are still sitting here in 8 months with 373 records to sell, release the digital version. :)
i've found that pre-orders can help sustain a buzz about a release. you don't have to put the full tracks up on bandcamp.. can just do previews.
my gut also tells me that waiting to release the digital until at least you have a sufficient amount of vinyl pre-orders would be the way to go.
feel better dude. the pho thing works but you have to feed it to a hippie first and then kill and eat the hippie to get the real benefit...
+1 on hippie kill/eat for the plague. But, in the US, pho is considered hippie food?
Regarding sales, I'm of mixed opinion. It makes perfect sense to hold off digital sales until you unburden yourself of vinyl stock, but do digital sales eat in to vinyl sales? I would have thought it was a separate market. I know that I, as a potential digital sale, have no interest in vinyl and would not buy the vinyl even as a never-played souvenir.
Yeah, I'm of the same mind as Chad. I think I'll stick to the original idea.
I'm listening to the reference acetate right now, which is what the mastering lab cuts before cutting the lacquers, so that I can approve the vinyl mastering (which is different than the digital mastering, necessarily.)
The interesting thing is that I'm _very_ familiar with the digital master, having listened to virtually nothing else for the last couple weeks, and to hear the vinyl master for the first time, playing off my record player, I'm struck at how different it sounds. It is definitely not as crystal clear, I'll say that much. The eq curve in general is quite a bit different, with a much warmer high end, and a lot of bloom in the lows. As to whether one is better than the other, well, that is a matter of taste; they both sound amazing, though.
-CR
I'm planning to buy the vinyl + download version - any time you want to throw that "buy" button up works for me.
Is this the same desert plague virus you've had for months now, or is this a new illness? Either way, hope you kick its ass soon.
I'll probably buy the Unsuspected Sounds as soon as it's available, so whenever you want your cash money...
I'm excited about this release, jealous I'm not on it, and will try to help increase awareness of it within my limited means to do so.
To anyone reading this thinking "I'll pass on the vinyl, I prefer digital" I say be badasser than that. Buy it and gift it to someone who is cool. Maybe someone young. Imagine how sweet it would be to get a cool, electronic music anthology on vinyl if you're 14 and have never owned a record. Could be lifechanging.
Plus the record benefits boobs. And I know you're with that.
(DC punk soapbox: activate!) Be community-minded. Everything about this project is dope. Invest in community whenever the opportunity and the means present themselves.
- c
I'm planning to buy the combo but I don't even have a record player. If I could pre order and download the album sooner than later, I'd prefer that.
I'm jealous too as my submission failed :-/ I will buy the vinyl version though no matter if I like it or not (though I'm sure it's good) and for the boobs ofc
No turntable here any more (although I do have my Minidisk recorder - poor man's DAT from back in the day...)
Download soon, or download a few weeks hence - I'm cool with either and I'm absolutely in favour of timing it for maximum impact - It's been an innovative (not to mention bold) creative concept.
I'm looking forward to being able to associate sounds with some of the names here too.
What about some teaser snippets on vimeo?
CR, thanks for contributing to (and mentioning) the benefit comp. (Full disclosure: I am also on it, as schädel; fuller disclosure: it was not my comp submission. ;) )
Personally, I'm eager to listen to the AI comp, and will definitely buy the vinyl as well.
I grew up in Oklahoma City. Because of the Air Force bases in Oklahoma, we had a huge Filipino and Vietnamese population. Pho is mother's milk to people in OKC. Everybody eats pho all the time. The hippies go down to Norman to eat tempeh burgers at The Earth Cafe ( http://www.yelp.com/biz/the-earth-cafe-and-deli-norman ). That place has existed forever. Which is good because it keeps the vegans from hanging out in the Pho joints.
As far as the comp. I want to hear it now. Set it up as download + vinyl presale only now. Then vinyl + download only until the non pre-sold records are sold out. Then download only. It's more fiddling with Bandcamp settings, but makes the most sense to get music to people that want it now and to get money to subsidize the rest of the process.
-William
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