Limited Editions - Good Idea or Gimmik???

bedrock#1

With vinyl sales on the wane for a long while now many labels are turning to limited edition runs in marbled or clear vinyl - some limiting their releases to anywhere between 100 - 500 copies and some again turning to screen printing the sleeves and labels individually. Now I admit to trying to get my hands on these because I don't play gigs any more and I reckon that if I'm going to spend any of my small income on records I'd like to get something extra for it - there is nothing better than sweet tunes with classy artwork or some other aesthetic quality.

It does seem to bug a lot of people though that these are then bought up by lets call them 'entrepreneurs' and put up on discogs.com or some such site at a massively inflated price. I got the limited Mike Huckaby 10" Baseline 87' on Su****ech last week which does look really slick, but no sooner had the few copies gone in less than 12 hours they were on discogs for absolutely sill money - ranging from 30 - to very optimistic 100 euro :eek:


So fellow music nerds what say you? Limited editions - good for business or sales gimmick??

Logical Fallacy

Not so sure about vinyl being on a slump...I believe vinyl made a huge surge in sales over the last year.

I'm also unsure about how reporting takes into account the thousands of indie labels that release vinyl every year.

As for Limited Editions, i like em. I have more than a few here in my stacks...it's kind of nice to get your hands on something and know it's going to retain a degree of rarity. But to be honest any purchase is tune dependent, no one is gonna buy a tune they don't like I reckon.

bedrock#1

True, in relatively recent times the sale of vinyl has I think doubled on last year but what I meant was that it is still a niche market. Very few labels can afford to put out vinyl releases any more if at all. Phil Weeks's label Robosoul was nearly going to give up pressing vinyl a few months ago but with the support of fans on his facebook decided to keep it going. I'm really just trying to get at the fact that with labels going through financial hardship to press physical releases are they turning to limited editions in desperation? And will these soon lose their appeal??

It is nice to have something rare, human condition I guess!

I agree that you're not going to buy something you don't like musically but does the fact they are limited stop people buying them because a load of 'entrepreneurs' (record touts) decide to buy them and inflate the price thereby limiting the amount of people who would love to own it?

DannyKing

I've bought myself a copy of that very record too. It is very pretty indeed... I like limited editions personally. Gives people reason to buy vinyl rather than mp3. And besides if your a collector it adds something special to owning that elusive record.

francois

Depends on the collectability of the artist, most limited releases won't hold their value, but so what if you like the package

brianc27

bought the sandwell distict album this time last year, think it was limited to 700 copies, it sold out in something like 2 or 3 weeks, by end of jan they were going for 150 quid and upwards on discogs, youd want to be thick and minted to pay that much for a pretty run of the mill techno album, some decent tracks, but its not ground breaking in the slightest.

DannyKing

For the OP, Mike Huckaby is playing in the Twisted Pepper on the 7th of Jan. I'd nearly bring along my copy and try get it signed. As I know hes a super sound guy : ) Probably be a little more limited then.

dubsbhoy

stick most tunes on your wantlist in discogs and eventually you'll catch someone who hasn't done their research selling for a fiver. IMHO if you get a limited piece of vinyl for a fiver/tenner then its something to boast about rather than saying you paid a 100 quid for some piece of purple limited plastic, i think people get mixed up with the money they paid for something rather then what they have actually bought

As far as the labels go calling something limited - i think its a clever bit of business, most pounce on the chance to get something before it is out of stock

Scubadevils

I'm a complete sucker for limited editions etc, love the clear vinyl or box sets, additional artwork, lots of sht that I basically never look at again after it first arrives! Some of them are really special though, like the Warp 20th Anniversary box set.

I'd love this right now but I reckon the 700 will be gone before I get paid so it will pass me by unfortunately... it really does hurt missing it though

**Edition of 700 copies for the world - Initial stock comes on extremely limited transparent vinyl** Type mark their 100th release with a reissue of Porter Ricks' essential 'Biokinetics' - never before available as one vinyl set. Back in 1996, dark ambient pioneer and sound designer Thomas Köner, together with engineer Andy Mellwig, presented the Techno community with one of it's most enduring and definitive albums in the form of 'Biokinetics'. It was the first album release on Basic Channel's Chain Reaction imprint, birthing three 12" singles which expanded and twisted the templates of Moritz Von Oswald and Mark Ernestus with an aquatic torque and unique vision, taking the sound to immersive, isolated depths previously unexplored to this degree. Womb-like systolic pulses plunge us fathoms into darkness penetrated by only the faintest trace of melody, its oceanic pressure profoundly meditative and transporting, reflecting the unimaginable vastness of space. But most importantly, 'Biokinetics' achieved what so many others tried but failed within this realm; managing to shape the infinite wave with an individual sense of narrative, one which will entrance a dancefloor and equally flood the senses of a home listener, dissolving the boundaries between club functionality and artistic experience. Fundamentally, it just sounds incredible - as good as the original copies thanks to a new cut at Berlin's Dubplates & Mastering. This is the first time all of these tracks have been presented on one vinyl package - with a CD edition to follow in the coming weeks.
http://boomkat.com/vinyl/482650-porter-ricks-biokinetics-limited-vinyl-edition?utm_source=Boomkat+Production&utm_campaign=3d5c2b9e31-Techno_classic_from_Porter_Ricks&utm_medium=email

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VswHV41KUtg

ICN

Know we're kinda talking vinyl here.. but did anyone get that Regis Adolesence CD Box set?

http://www.discogs.com/Regis-Adolescence-The-Complete-Recordings-1994-2001/release/3233747

Was 40 quid or something.. Limited to 300.

I did everything I could to get one. Even down to tracking one down in the states (they released them a few days after in the US) - but missed out.

My mate said he saw one in New York for sale: $400

I love Regis - and considered spending up to €100 before I knew what price it originally was - but 400 - fk off!

They're releasing it as 3 seperate "normal" CD's next year - so glad I kept my money in a way, cos I only would have burned them to CDR's anyway.

Techno shouldnt be elitist.

Scubadevils

ICN wrote: »

Know we're kinda talking vinyl here.. but did anyone get that Regis Adolesence CD Box set?

http://www.discogs.com/Regis-Adolescence-The-Complete-Recordings-1994-2001/release/3233747

Was 40 quid or something.. Limited to 300.

I did everything I could to get one. Even down to tracking one down in the states (they released them a few days after in the US) - but missed out.

My mate said he saw one in New York for sale: $400

I love Regis - and considered spending up to €100 before I knew what price it originally was - but 400 - fk off!

They're releasing it as 3 seperate "normal" CD's next year - so glad I kept my money in a way, cos I only would have burned them to CDR's anyway.

Techno shouldnt be elitist.

Missed that one, think I remember seeing a Boomkat notification alright but probably again 3 days before payday or something... tends to be the case when they announce some mouth-watering release. Nice though, I would have liked that but equally wouldn't pay 400 (unless I had it spare :pac: ).

I also missed the Sandwell District 'Feed Forward' 2LP but I see they've now got a CD of alternate edits or something so I'll grab that at some point...

If you missed out on Sandwell District's 'Feed Forward' 2LP (currently going for £100+ 2nd hand!), it's time to rejoice: they've just reissued a CD version (of sorts) featuring alternate edits from the vinyl. There's no tracklisting or even a name printed anywhere on the sleeve or the CD, save for a tiny FFCD01 catalogue number, but we can tell you that there are 10 tracks. Basically, it's as close as you'll actually get to the originals if you don't already own them, and downright essential if you don't. So, this marks the end of Phase 2 in SD's oeuvre, and with the recently announced Bob Osterlag LP incoming, we're very much anticipating Phase 3! ESSENTIAL.
http://boomkat.com/cds/402729-sandwell-district-sandwell-district

In other news, I managed to borrow and secure my copy of the Porter Ricks reissue so I'm pretty fckin happy about that! I can't wait to hear these on vinyl...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C9y4Ow1EHqM

I agree techno shouldn't be elitist but equally I suppose there is a risk of producing too many and not selling them all. Then again in the case of the Regis CD release you'd have to assume more than 300 people worldwide would like a copy...