Amazon Starts Monthly Vinyl Subscription Service
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Always looking out for another way to make a buck, and never wanting to miss out on an opportunity, Amazon has just announced, and is trialling, its new vinyl subscription service here in America. I have to assume that other countries like the UK and Europe will be hotly watching this launch which appears to be aimed at newcomers to vinyl who have been bitten by the vinyl bug and want to start their collection.
Well we all knew it would eventually happen, Jeff has now managed to get his hands into the vinyl business. The three questions I have are:
- Who masters these albums?
- Who presses these albums?
- And on what quality vinyl?
Amazon’s Vinyl of the Month Club will cost you $25 per month, and their ever expanding delivery service will deliver you a new record for your collection every month.
Image Credit: Amazon
Similar to other monthly vinyl services you will not know what album you are going to receive each month unless you go on line and checkout what they are about to send you. Amazon have said that they will all be classics from the “Golden Era of Vinyl” — the 1960s and ’70s — as chosen by curators at Amazon Music. The good news is that if you do not want the album you can stop the delivery before it leaves the warehouse OR if you receive it you may return it with no fees, provides that it is not opened or damaged.
For those newcomers to vinyl wanting to build a collection, the likes of Pink Floyd, ABBA and Aretha Franklin maybe great albums, but for those of us who have been collecting vinyl since the early 60’s, demand audiophile pressings, or have a more avant-garde taste, this may not be the optimal service.
Image Credit: Amazon
Even if you receive the album and are not too sure whether or not to keep it you can always listen to the tracks for free using a number of streaming services including Amazon’s own hi-res service.
On the surface, this is a good to enticement to the younger generations to collect and listen to vinyl, but at what cost? Will this ultimately impact the ma and pa vinyl stores who can provide that personal service and recommendation and/or will the audio quality of the pressings not compare to some of the webs finer audiophile streaming services and actually deter future vinyl enthusiasts from entering the market?
Remember that the second Record Store Day 2021 is coming up on July 17th. Go support your local record shop.
See here at Amazon for more information and how to subscribe.
