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Game soundtracks on vinyl | Analogue Gen 33fps

H

hawk2025

Member
Man, iam8bit is killing it lately.

They probably realized that there's a TON of pent-up demand for vinyl releases of videogame soundtracks.
 
R

robotrock

Banned
Goddamnit I cannot resist a Super Hexagon vinyl


I wish iam8bit would get back to me about combining the shipping on the Rare releases though.
 
G

Grim Patron

Member
Got 2 copies of FFVII vinyl thanks to my friend who went for Gamescom 2015. Im opposed to picture discs but love the art they used. Just wish it had the full OST / they went with 3 discs.
HWeE.png

and side B and D
1eI5K.png
 
P

PurpleMoustache

Member
sixteen-bit said:
speaking of journey... that's gotta come out soon, right?
Click to expand...

I got an email update from iam8bit on it yesterday. Things are running a little slow but they are getting their shipment in late August, and will ship them off as soon as possible after that.

Probably gonna have to email them to change my shipping address though, gotta go back to school...
 
N

Noisepurge

Member
Jockel said:
If you can deal with untracked airmail, it should be way cheaper.

I'm willing to proxy (Germany), PM me if interested.
Click to expand...

yeah if you can do cheaper euro-usa fencing, help the US gaffers out :D

i live in the most expensive (well, after Norway) country in europe so shipping from here to USA can only be done via tracked shipping that costs 30€ :(

Calculated it down to: Shipping a vinyl box from here to USA with tracking would 30€. So 50€ vinyl, 20€ Square shipping = 100€(110$)
 
L

Lambtron

Unconfirmed Member
Shipping costs on the Hexagon vinyl made me hesitate but I jumped in. It's one of my favorite games of the last 5 years.
 
F

Fusilli Craig

Member
Grabbed one copy of Super Hexagon.

I must say, I don't know if it's common place for the vinyl market but isn't paying up front for a three month preorder a little antiquated? IAm8Bit now reaps interest on our preorders for three months while we wait for the order to be fulfilled. Maybe the arguement can be made that the product wouldn't get made without this guarantee but that leaves this whole scene one step removed from being a Kickstarter. Just doesn't sit well with me.

That said, love the soundtrack and concept too much to forego this release. Nonetheless, somewhat consumer-hostile in practice.
 
L

Lambtron

Unconfirmed Member
Fusilli Craig said:
Grabbed one copy of Super Hexagon.

I must say, I don't know if it's common place for the vinyl market but isn't paying up front for a three month preorder a little antiquated? IAm8Bit now reaps interest on our preorders for three months while we wait for the order to be fulfilled. Maybe the arguement can be made that the product wouldn't get made without this guarantee but that leaves this whole scene one step removed from being a Kickstarter. Just doesn't sit well with me.

That said, love the soundtrack and concept too much to forego this release. Nonetheless, somewhat consumer-hostile in practice.
Click to expand...
Pressing vinyl costs a lot of money. I assume this is to get the pressing costs up front. I totally understand why this happens, especially for tiny boutique releases. I'm not too concerned over the three months they hold my money since the bulk of it is probably going to the pressing plant right away.

Most small labels work this way, too. You generally pay up front. They can't afford to have a ton of unsold stock.
 
F

Fusilli Craig

Member
Lambtron said:
Pressing vinyl costs a lot of money. I assume this is to get the pressing costs up front. I totally understand why this happens, especially for tiny boutique releases. I'm not too concerned over the three months they hold my money since the bulk of it is probably going to the pressing plant right away.

Most small labels work this way, too. You generally pay up front. They can't afford to have a ton of unsold stock.
Click to expand...

I figured as much. That said, producing anything costs money. By choosing to go into business in a retail environment you are choosing to take on the risk inherit to supply and demand. Were they a start-up you might need "seed money" but after you've been in business for some time it's not irrational to assume you build up a capital to sustain and support your business.

Maybe it's that I don't necessarily have a ton of hobbies that fall into a "niche" market but it must be nice to go into a market in which your customer base is happy to shoulder all the risk for you.

In any event, I don't mean to colour their efforts or derail this thread as the vinyl resurgence and celebration of videogame music is heart-warming to see... just wish it was done on more even terms.

On a sidenote, is this for real? http://store.iam8bit.com/collection...sary/products/forever-stuck-by-pendelton-ward
 
C

cptodin

Member
Buying a record player was a mistake… So many things I want
Also being born in europe was a mistake, those shipping costs are insane

Excited to see which colour of the Super Hexagon vinyl I will get.
 
H

hawk2025

Member
Fusilli Craig said:
I figured as much. That said, producing anything costs money. By choosing to go into business in a retail environment you are choosing to take on the risk inherit to supply and demand. Were they a start-up you might need "seed money" but after you've been in business for some time it's not irrational to assume you build up a capital to sustain and support your business.

Maybe it's that I don't necessarily have a ton of hobbies that fall into a "niche" market but it must be nice to go into a market in which your customer base is happy to shoulder all the risk for you.

In any event, I don't mean to colour their efforts or derail this thread as the vinyl resurgence and celebration of videogame music is heart-warming to see... just wish it was done on more even terms.

On a sidenote, is this for real? http://store.iam8bit.com/collection...sary/products/forever-stuck-by-pendelton-ward
Click to expand...


I think it's quite unfair to paint it as a market where the customer is shouldering all the risk.

First, if that's the case, why isn't the market larger?

Wouldn't we observe aggressive entry if that was the case?
 
F

Fusilli Craig

Member
cptodin said:
Buying a record player was a mistake… So many things I want
Also being born in europe was a mistake, those shipping costs are insane

Excited to see which colour of the Super Hexagon vinyl I will get.
Click to expand...

Me too! Hoping for purple but would really be pleased with anything but black. What record player did you get? Picked up an Audio-technica AT-LP120.

hawk2025 said:
I think it's quite unfair to paint it as a market where the customer is shouldering all the risk.

First, if that's the case, why isn't the market larger?

Wouldn't we observe aggressive entry if that was the case?
Click to expand...

When you are requesting your customers pay the entire retail value up front before production I don't know how you view it as anything other than shouldering all the risk. There is certainly the effort in securing the rights to put forth the project but aside from that what costs are involved?

As to why we don't see more aggressive entry... I'm honestly not sure. I would imagine the necessary industry connections and just general effort it takes to launch a start up is a big enough detractor to limit the market to the few players we have at present.
 
H

hawk2025

Member
Fusilli Craig said:
Me too! Hoping for purple but would really be pleased with anything but black. What record player did you get? Picked up an Audio-technica AT-LP120.



When you are requesting your customers pay the entire retail value up front before production I don't know how you view it as anything other than shouldering all the risk. There is certainly the effort in securing the rights to put forth the project but aside from that what costs are involved?

As to why we don't see more aggressive entry... I'm honestly not sure. I would imagine the necessary industry connections and just general effort it takes to launch a start up is a big enough detractor to limit the market to the few players we have at present.
Click to expand...


1) At the time of pre-order, rights have already been secured, art has been created, packaging has been designed, mastering for vinyl has been done, the first test pressings are likely already underway with the pressing plant. If orders are not high enough, revenue may not offset the costs. The risk customers are shouldering is that of delays or issues with the pressing plants. All of which I've never seen a single boutique record label not guarantee even after catastrophic events like losing the whole pressing in transit. Note that this particular pressing already has a number, too -- which means that a contract has likely already been signed with a pressing plant. If orders aren't high enough, they will lose money on them.

2) There is not more aggressive entry because the profit margins are very low, and any of the risks of (1) can come to eat at it.
 
F

Fusilli Craig

Member
hawk2025 said:
1) At the time of pre-order, rights have already been secured, art has been created, packaging has been designed, mastering for vinyl has been done, the first test pressings are likely already underway with the pressing plant. If orders are not high enough, revenue may not offset the costs. The risk customers are shouldering is that of delays or issues with the pressing plants. All of which I've never seen a single boutique record label not guarantee even after catastrophic events like losing the whole pressing in transit.

2) There is not more aggressive entry because the profit margins are very low, and any of the risks of (1) can come to eat at it.
Click to expand...

I'll be the first to admit I have almost no knowledge of what it takes to produce a record. If this is the only business model in which it is sustainable than so be it; just find that hard to believe given you are now able to sell to a world market. Appreciate your insight on the topic.
 
H

hawk2025

Member
Fusilli Craig said:
I'll be the first to admit I have almost no knowledge of what it takes to produce a record. If this is the only business model in which it is sustainable than so be it; just find that hard to believe given you are now able to sell to a world market. Appreciate your insight on the topic.
Click to expand...

As you can see from the shipping costs, they are extremely high. Vinyl is bulky, heavy, and has odd packaging. Storage of extra stock is also expensive, needs to be kept at the right temperature, and again very heavy.

The market is in fact not truly worldwide because of these reasons, and carrying excessive stock is complicated.

It's not the only business model which is sustainable, of course, but it's a completely reasonable bit of risk sharing for some projects. Too many indie record labels have failed by pressing too many records and having the often-common view in the industry that "they are just doing it for the music". They end up with excessive stock, cheap prices that barely offset the costs, and get brought under by one or two failures or problems with a pressing plant.
 
C

cptodin

Member
Fusilli Craig said:
Me too! Hoping for purple but would really be pleased with anything but black. What record player did you get? Picked up an Audio-technica AT-LP120.
Click to expand...

Yeah I think black would be a bummer for me as well.

Got a Dual DTJ 301.1, your AT seems to be a fancier version of mine.
 
H

hawk2025

Member
To be clear Fusili, I don't mean to sound combative, just giving my perspective having participated in this business before :)
 
D

Dangerblade

Member
Urghhhhh really want the Super Hexagon and Battletoads vinyl but I don't think they'll even mark a package as a gift going by their FAQ, so we're talking about $75 including shipping and likely customs charges on top of that. Can't commit to that :(
 
N

Noisepurge

Member
Dangerblade said:
Urghhhhh really want the Super Hexagon and Battletoads vinyl but I don't think they'll even mark a package as a gift going by their FAQ, so we're talking about $75 including shipping and likely customs charges on top of that. Can't commit to that :(
Click to expand...

I just hammered the order in with Amex. I'll worry about it later :D
 
X

XANDER CAGE

Member
Fusilli Craig said:
Grabbed one copy of Super Hexagon.

I must say, I don't know if it's common place for the vinyl market but isn't paying up front for a three month preorder a little antiquated? IAm8Bit now reaps interest on our preorders for three months while we wait for the order to be fulfilled. Maybe the arguement can be made that the product wouldn't get made without this guarantee but that leaves this whole scene one step removed from being a Kickstarter. Just doesn't sit well with me.

That said, love the soundtrack and concept too much to forego this release. Nonetheless, somewhat consumer-hostile in practice.
Click to expand...

It's really common with small pressings, especially with companies that are new to selling vinyl. I imagine once the wheels start turning with these iam8bit releases they'll move to a shorter cycle. At the moment they probably don't want to put in orders for thousands of pressings without knowing for sure they will all sell. Records are expensive to manufacture and can be a huge money pit if you order, say, 2500 albums up front and only 100 people want them when you make them available. That's why a lot of small bands only do 300-1000 record runs or release the album digitally first and release physical versions later these days.
 
B

basic_text

Member
XANDER CAGE said:
It's really common with small pressings, especially with companies that are new to selling vinyl. I imagine once the wheels start turning with these iam8bit releases they'll move to a shorter cycle. At the moment they probably don't want to put in orders for thousands of pressings without knowing for sure they will all sell. Records are expensive to manufacture and can be a huge money pit if you order, say, 2500 albums up front and only 100 people want them when you make them available. That's why a lot of small bands only do 300-1000 record runs or release the album digitally first and release physical versions later these days.
Click to expand...

Definitely. If you fancy a story of intrigue, mystery and disappointment then have a read up on the Mightier Than the Sword repress of Take Off Your Pants and Jacket by Blink 182.

You tend to find that (especially with a lot of releases that have to be licensed from other labels) sometimes use the preorder money to actually pay for the rights and pressing.
 
N

Noisepurge

Member
XANDER CAGE said:
It's really common with small pressings, especially with companies that are new to selling vinyl. I imagine once the wheels start turning with these iam8bit releases they'll move to a shorter cycle. At the moment they probably don't want to put in orders for thousands of pressings without knowing for sure they will all sell. Records are expensive to manufacture and can be a huge money pit if you order, say, 2500 albums up front and only 100 people want them when you make them available. That's why a lot of small bands only do 300-1000 record runs or release the album digitally first and release physical versions later these days.
Click to expand...

Yeah, you can already see that with DATA Discs with the Streets of Rage & Shenmue. First they tested the waters, were clearly popular, so they already placed orders for the next 2 records and we don't even yet know what games they are from!

Blood Music that does the Perturbator synth albums order small 300 record pressings at a time. But have done several represses as they have always been sold out.
 
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