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Pay Dirt

Postby sumnerbrowne » Wed Sep 24, 2014 12:54 am

A short reflection on the challenges and rewards of being an OPM supporter.

http://vkatindoy.wordpress.com/2014/09/23/pay-dirt/
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Re: Pay Dirt

Postby TheAnalogSource » Wed Sep 24, 2014 4:09 pm

Hay salamat at namulat ka din Sa katoohanan na walang abutin ang kulit mo hehe

But remember you said hope springs eternal. I appreciate your passion and effort von.

Tuloy pa din ang awit Ng buhay...
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Re: Pay Dirt

Postby sumnerbrowne » Wed Sep 24, 2014 7:36 pm

Thanks, Nols for reading and appreciating. I'm still hopeful given the Aiza vinyl from Sing. :-)
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Re: Pay Dirt

Postby sumnerbrowne » Wed Sep 24, 2014 7:39 pm

Pero minsan bagay na din siguro yung kanta ng Rivernaya: Kung Ayaw Nyo, Wag Nyo. He he he! Spotify na nga lang.
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Re: Pay Dirt

Postby allyson » Wed Sep 24, 2014 9:32 pm

Huwag kang susuko sir.we have the same liking and CD collection as far as OPM is concern.Umaasa rin ako.
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Re: Pay Dirt

Postby sumnerbrowne » Wed Sep 24, 2014 9:43 pm

Salamat, Allyson. :)
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Re: Pay Dirt

Postby hearhead » Wed Sep 24, 2014 10:08 pm

I like that your passion reverberates whenever you're writing about music, specifically OPM.

The analog bug bit me too and I have a passion for music too.

I like putting words together to express the two.

Like you I put up a blog to chronicle how deeply moved I am by listening to music and how sound affects us.

But I consciously stayed away from the OPM in vinyl topic.

Not because I'm not a supporter or a fan of OPM (my last post was about the Eraserheads) but because what I'm passionate about is the act of listening -- that immediate relationship that binds you to the recorded material.

OPM has its treasures but it will be a long uphill battle for it to reach the full technical potential of sonic treasures in any format.

Now, now... Let's make that clear.

In terms of TECHNICAL potential OPM has a lot of work to go (Mastering, Proper Acoustic Recording insert technical audio jargon here) but, musically I think we're world class. We have gobs of talent. Period. Just check out Bullet Dumas, if there was one artist whom I can get behind to in terms of originality it would be him (barring Up Dharma Down of course hehehehe).

So why do I avoid the OPM in vinyl issue; especially in a Philippine context?

It's because vinyl in the Philippines is an aspirational product -- it is a luxury product in the Philippines. Like it or not getting into vinyl in the Philippines is a very upper middle class act. At php1000 bucks being the lowest amount for a sealed LP in the malls, it's way beyond the reach of the common Pinoy. As with all luxury items certain differentiating factors should be present in it (however subtle) to justify the cost.

It needs to be better (even if it's subtle or even if it's just a perception)

Now if we take this "luxury" item and cram (insert OPM discography here) that is unmastered, and improperly produced and a buyer -- who aspires for it to be better than the streaming music he can have in his smart phone for free -- plays it on his turntable and finds out that it's muffled and flutters in pitch, the buyer will feel cheated.

And that is the best way to lose a customer. A customer's faith in vinyl and in OPM.

I had a reader email me about a bad experience in which he saved up for a Rega and decent speakers because of the release in vinyl of a local band's LP only to find out that he enjoyed his mp3 copies as much as the one in vinyl. He was asking for help to sell the setup until he came across my blog and asked for some titles and stores where he can buy vinyl to give his setup another chance (don't worry, he's a full blown wax addict now, hehehehe)

In my opinion, supporting vinyl and supporting OPM are two different endeavours -- worthy endeavours implicitly but distinct.

I support vinyl because I'm almost always moved by the sound quality and I support OPM because I believe that our local talent can fight toe to toe in the international arena.

It's tempting to "hit two birds with one stone" and have an OPM vinyl release that can espouse analog's quality and renew interest in OPM via vinyl's rising popularity but I think the possibility of alienating vinyl fans and OPM fans can also happen.

If I we're to try and convince someone that analog has an almost human-like warmth to it's sound wouldn't I play him / her an album that I think would best highlight analog's capabilities?

Conversely if I were to put OPM in the best light possible to a person would I play him / her a muffled, unmastered copy?

Would the format do the art form justice? Also, in a grand display of irony, will the art form do the format justice?

Personally, I find the middle line in the act of listening.

That's what I really want to promote and support -- the basic act of listening to music sincerely, be it in vinyl or cd or OPM or US Top 40.

It's a dying act -- I want people to treat music other than wallpaper or aural decoration. I'm not against streaming but I wish that every person who has Spotify would just stop and marvel that they now have a universe of music in their hands.

I do understand your passion and I hope you continue to campaign for what you believe in because I believe that OPM artists will continue to fight the good fight when they encounter fans like you.

True artists will soldier on to be heard -- be it in vinyl or what have you.

:)
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Re: Pay Dirt

Postby Bebop » Wed Sep 24, 2014 10:36 pm

tast, iboboto kita... :clap:
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Re: Pay Dirt

Postby hearhead » Wed Sep 24, 2014 10:41 pm

Bebop wrote:tast, iboboto kita... :clap:


Una kung gagawin pag ako ay nahalal ay mag resign at gawin kang Presidente Bob!

Humanda sa Pamahalaang BEBOP!

HAhahaha!
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Re: Pay Dirt

Postby sumnerbrowne » Wed Sep 24, 2014 10:53 pm

Thanks for your incisive rejoinders, Tats. Much appreciated. :-)

Although I remain hopeful that someday the local recording companies can do what S2S was able to pull off with the "Open Arms" audiophile grade album of Aiza Seguerra (despite the typo and the lapses in the liner notes), I have at the same time, resigned myself to the possibility that it may not happen soon given the present condition of the recording industry and the reasons you cited above along with my first-hand experience of offering unsolicited help which was repeatedly accidentally/unintentionally ignored? Hence, the shift from campaigning about local vinyl production to writing about OPM or MMP and other stuff for variety.

I'm intrigued by what Neil Young is trying to do by bridging the gap between the analog and the digital through his Pogo. Unfortunately, it has yet to achieve critical mass.

These are exciting times. I now listen more to Spotify vs my vinyl records on certain days. It's more convenient. It doesn't occupy space and the variety of blue tooth speakers are sonically superior vs the MP3 speakers of old.

Salamat.
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Re: Pay Dirt

Postby Dodie » Thu Sep 25, 2014 3:05 am

dont just be hopeful boss, continue to offer unsolicited advises for their future releases. if they will not listen and will still give us their craps, then we give our strong dissent and let the vinyl loving community be aware of their inferior reisssues...
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Re: Pay Dirt

Postby TheAnalogSource » Thu Sep 25, 2014 6:49 am

I like to present my views in length but I have a very small screen and a large finger hehe....

Anyhow...my main point as I've told you before is that you have to be a Jerry Maguire and show them the money. I think you succeeded at one point as shown by recent releases of vinyls. However, I guess the problem lies in the short sightedness and the need to make a fast buck. Although maybe they have a better view of the market that the vinyl is just a fad patronized by rich hipsters trying to be different.

I beg to disagree though with tats singling out vinyl as a luxury item. I believe anyone who can afford a cd can buy an LP. Those who can't settle with what's being feed radio and pirated cd da banketa. Spotify subscription is expensive too , remember.
Good OPM is a luxury though. Just look at the inventory at record stores and most of what's offered are either compilations or covers. But that is for another lengthy discourse.

We however have view like a lover waiting for a lost love to come back. Maybe we a need a new love altogether. For an analog proponent, I've been saying that cd is a good format. So much more now in the age of compressed file format. I've never longed for an LP format for the music I have on cd. And the main reason I got into vinyl is that the music I liked are not available anymore on cd. It's just a plus that you discover more good music on vinyl.

As withe the s2s, I think they realized the money in the audiophile market. Sure quality is above that of the local produce. BUT, let me ask you if you've seen their line up. Girls singing covers of standards meant to be heard in an audiophile way. I can't even stand to listen even a track of Lauren or Olivia. Give me kamikaze and sugarfree in the most lowres format instead.
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Re: Pay Dirt

Postby sumnerbrowne » Thu Sep 25, 2014 7:54 am

Dodie wrote:dont just be hopeful boss, continue to offer unsolicited advises for their future releases. if they will not listen and will still give us their craps, then we give our strong dissent and let the vinyl loving community be aware of their inferior reisssues...


Thanks, Dodie. I think they now know as WS is in their radar. Our fellow members have also been very vocal about their opinions.
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Re: Pay Dirt

Postby sumnerbrowne » Thu Sep 25, 2014 8:12 am

TheAnalogSource wrote:I like to present my views in length but I have a very small screen and a large finger hehe....

Anyhow...my main point as I've told you before is that you have to be a Jerry Maguire and show them the money. I think you succeeded at one point as shown by recent releases of vinyls. However, I guess the problem lies in the short sightedness and the need to make a fast buck. Although maybe they have a better view of the market that the vinyl is just a fad patronized by rich hipsters trying to be different.

I beg to disagree though with tats singling out vinyl as a luxury item. I believe anyone who can afford a cd can buy an LP. Those who can't settle with what's being feed radio and pirated cd da banketa. Spotify subscription is expensive too , remember.
Good OPM is a luxury though. Just look at the inventory at record stores and most of what's offered are either compilations or covers. But that is for another lengthy discourse.

We however have view like a lover waiting for a lost love to come back. Maybe we a need a new love altogether. For an analog proponent, I've been saying that cd is a good format. So much more now in the age of compressed file format. I've never longed for an LP format for the music I have on cd. And the main reason I got into vinyl is that the music I liked are not available anymore on cd. It's just a plus that you discover more good music on vinyl.

As withe the s2s, I think they realized the money in the audiophile market. Sure quality is above that of the local produce. BUT, let me ask you if you've seen their line up. Girls singing covers of standards meant to be heard in an audiophile way. I can't even stand to listen even a track of Lauren or Olivia. Give me kamikaze and sugarfree in the most lowres format instead.


Thanks, Nols, Reading your insights above reminded me of a speculation you offered last year. To wit: maybe it was not the market comprised by WS members they were targeting at the time that they released the OPM reissues. I remember you sharing that there is a wide spectrum of vinyl buyers out there - WS members who are very particular about sound quality and album art, the hipsters who are curious about the format and who, as Boy shared, want to "rebel" against the norm, listeners who are nostalgic about vinyl but who are not necessarily particular about SQ and album art (i.e., my in-laws are still puzzled about what I was pointing at with the recent OPM albums, they like the albums just fine), vinyl buyers who are also into other storage media and who can shift fluidly from one format to another within the day depending on their mood, etc. Last week, I got a query from a friend who's courting a young lady asking me where to source good-sounding vinyl albums. When I asked what kind of turntable the girl of his dreams bought, he PM'd a pic of a hip-looking Crosley. I remember my teacher in Philosophy of Religion when we had a discussion about Christians and Catholics who mix doctrine-based religion with folk religiosity. Some of us were reprimanded for looking down on them. "Who are you to look down on them just because they do not know the doctrines, the encyclicals and the theological foundations of our belief? For all you know, their faith is much stronger than yours."
Last edited by sumnerbrowne on Thu Sep 25, 2014 10:14 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Pay Dirt

Postby TheAnalogSource » Thu Sep 25, 2014 12:41 pm

Are you referring to my looking down at the hipster or to everybody else' shunning the digital format hehe
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Re: Pay Dirt

Postby sumnerbrowne » Thu Sep 25, 2014 7:45 pm

TheAnalogSource wrote:Are you referring to my looking down at the hipster or to everybody else' shunning the digital format hehe

Neither Nols. Ikaw nga nagsabi na iba iba lang talaga ang mga nakikinig ng vinyl di ba? :-) The nearest metaphor seems to be one's vehicle of choice. Me Vios at City, Altis at Civic, etc . :--)
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Re: Pay Dirt

Postby Jon Agner » Thu Sep 25, 2014 9:05 pm

Yung mga newly re-issued OPM vinyls, bagay sa crosley :)

I'm not kidding 8)
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Re: Pay Dirt

Postby sumnerbrowne » Thu Sep 25, 2014 10:11 pm

Oo nga ano. Good point, Jon! :-)
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