Modern day vinyl. Why do you empty your wallet on this audio fakery?

I've seen some great comedians, amusing television, sidesplitting movies and been a part of hundreds of riotous conversations in my day, but right up there in the pantheon of comedy is VINYL. Not vinyl seats in your car. Not vinyl furniture in your house. Not your vinyl S&M outfit for Saturday night. Nope, I mean the vinyl that has a foothold on your latest album purchase. I have to be completely transparent. I have no idea which exact person or entity is responsible for starting this moronic craze in the "corporate" end of the music industry. Yes, we all know the underbelly of the underground had a grasp on this several years earlier, but at least their reasons and intentions were usually authentic. With the corporate folks, they grabbed you by the privates and squeezed you into capitalistic music format submission. They will find a way every time. They have to, and the purchasing public will always submit.           

Unless you're down with collecting overpriced digitally printed cardboard, what is the reason for your vinyl procurement? Here is the quick and the basic. From the 1950s through the late 1980s, as a consumer you were sold vinyl, cassettes and 8-track tapes. Vinyl was the original with the most authentic sound.   Without getting overly technical, vinyl captured the widest range of analog recorded studio sound. Cassettes created listening portability and kept a good deal of musical warmth, but along with that, the tape degraded over time and/or listens. Now 8-track-tapes you ask? Jesus, who the hell knows. What a stupid idea that was, so we'll leave that out going forward. The CD format started up in the late 80s and owned the next 25 years or so, crossing over the emergence of online digital delivery, which became the #1 game in town around the year 2012. The CD, although crisper than cassettes, just as portable but non-degradable, does require the compression of both analog or digital tracks for application to disk. The CD set-up process can compress digital AND analog studio work at an equal quality level.... vinyl will not provide the same expected outcome. Store that juicy piece of information for later. When taking music to the purely digital system, all those babies are then compressed further down to MP3 files for user-friendly storage space on your devices, whether coming from digital or analog studio world.

Let's now combine studio history with end consumer purchasing options and habits. Almost every artist laid down their compositions to tape in the analog world until the late 80s. Throughout the 90s, the digital recording process slowly crept into studios, but did not become the extremely dominant method until later in the decade. That 90s time frame also unleashed the complete changeover to CD retail sales, away from cassette and vinyl, regardless of digital or analog origins. As mentioned earlier, the end product on CD remains the same in either situation.

So, what are you vinyl record buyers doing that makes me laugh my ass off? How are the bands ripping you off? How are the bands also hurting themselves in the process? There are some math properties and repetition in here somewhere.

- The vinyl record format qualities are supposed to be... 1) the highest sound quality coming from the wide and warm analog recordings and... 2) sizable artwork. The downsides include: turntable necessity, record flipping during listening experience, increased item pricing, attention to storage maintenance, possible long-term wear & tear and the cost/replacement of needles.

- The CD format qualities include item mobility, expected 100% playback dependability for life and a smaller form of artwork. The downside includes digital compression of recordings (minor for digital, slightly more for analog).

If you are obtaining vinyl records originally recorded post-2000 then you are 99% most likely buying a digital recording on vinyl. Hello, it's audio fakery! You can't transform digital recordings to analog for vinyl releases. I have been saying this for years and years, and finally engineers, producers and audiophiles have been recently stating that in the public airwaves. This is such rudimentary knowledge in the industry, but I guess it never really bled out to most end buyers. For that honor of getting no extra sound quality value compared to a CD, but larger artwork, you get to pay at least 2x the amount. SWEET! As I stated earlier, you must love digital art prints on cardboard stock to purge that extra coin. Qualification- If you are hunting down original analog vinyl that was tracked in the 90s, 80s, 70s, etc., that's another thing and does not apply directly to this conversation. As long as you are getting 100% authentic origin source confirmation, then at least you know you're getting whatever audio bang you are looking for... for the buck. But in that case, you will most likely throw down even more dinero for those acquisitions.

In addition to that "how did you not know this" information above, you must know that the artists, managers and record labels are completely aware they are not delivering you more sound quality with all this new vinyl. This is how they attempt to make up for decreased physical sales ability in the modern world.... by duping you.... and yumm yumm yumm, you eat it all up. From the industry mountain tops, they scream "hey people, the CD is done, get rid of those putrid things you idiots, get vinyl!"

Here is even more fantastic news that both the seller and buyer enjoy in this bullshit development. Having to await the availability of the limited vinyl production factories worldwide, everybody gets to endure an extra 6 to 9 months for the "new record" to reach the masses. That doesn't annoy the customer, nah, not at all. That doesn't slow down artistic momentum and touring schedule plans, nah, not at all. IN THIS VINYL SCAM, THE ARTIST STILL LOSES A LITTLE OR THE ARTIST LOSES A LOT... BUT THE PURCHASER, THE SUPPORTER, THE FAN ALWAYS LOSES A LOT.

Hey everybody! Take a wild guess. You know it. The CD is slowly on its way back. Bonnnng!!! Soon they'll be super cool again! You better go root those old CDs out of your garbage and right quick, or you'll have to re-acquire them all over again. You'll also be hypnotized to re-purchase all your present vinyl music loves, but now of course, on CEEE DEEE!... and you'll do it. Every generation falls for it. Don't you know? CDs are IT now! That what I was told. I always do what I am told.