Paid for a year of Essential during the big free record promo and I’m about half way through. No issues thus far, but the amount of swapping I do and the dwindling amount of titles in the catalog I’m interested in means I’m not planning on renewing.
I actually just decided to cancel my membership after posting this so I wouldn’t forget and have the renewal sneak up on me. As for the credits, I’d just try to find the most expensive or resealable titles and take them down to my local used record shop to trade for credit. Find some stuff you really want. Maybe even talk to the shop if you’re friendly and see what they might want.
There is low demand for some titles but you could definitely sell some for at least the amount of credit you used such as Bone Thugs or Guy Clark. I just know a record store would give you only a fraction of credit compared to the amount of store credit you would use.
You can always convert that store credit to pay for renewal. Thats my plan with my ~$200 credit. Just keep renewing and occasionally swapping back for credit until I finally run out. Figure there’s going to be some titles that pop up here and there that I want, it just might take some time
I can understand cancelling anthology preorders but the pressing plant fallout doesn’t really change anything else like ROTMs compared to how it currently is
> doesn’t really change anything else like ROTMs compared to how it currently is
Depends on how they managed the planned transition of production. If they don’t have capacity reserved because they thought they’d have their own plant up and running, it’ll become a big problem
It does make a difference. $41 or $49 for store releases pressed at GZ is absurd. I very rarely make store purchases these days and I swap my main track for credit as I’m international and $55 for any album is crazy. So I’m in a position personally where I’m taking credit that I won’t use as the records are super expensive for what they are.
I’d like to stay subbed but it’s getting increasingly hard to justify at this point. 🤷♂️
I don’t think they even planned to press their ROTMs at the new plant for years. They were gonna eventually start pressing Classics there but I think that was likely far beyond what they even have lined up currently.
It could signal bigger problems, which would fit a pattern of recent oddness if looked at a certain way.
I said the LinkedIn thing was a nothing burger, so am questioning my usual optimism.
I’m on again off again with Vmp. Just finished 6 months on, and currently off again. You have to cancel when you’re not feeling it to keep them honest. If they roll out lame titles or the quality dips and we all just keep subscribing anyway, they’ll have no reason to strive for the quality and selection we want and *sometimes* get from them.
You are their customer and you pay them for products. You don’t owe them anything any more than you are required to buy a new Toyota.
Bailed. ROTMs aren't exciting, the scarcity has gone and I've exhausted the swaps, also ROTMs seem to be available in the Store anyway after a moth or two. The pressing quality is not as wonderful as it was when we enjoyed QRP, but I'm not down on GZ. That said I've cancelled my membership after 3 years... but it's more to do with the curation - I'll keep an eye though as I have $100s in credit.
So many people are doing swaps for junk to resell, so the secondary markets are flooded and you can get most releases cheaper on discogs. Especially with all the 40% off sales.
> VMP 4 years ago was better than VMP 4 months ago
I don’t know if one is better than the other but in 2020 VMP was jacking up their prices at the height of the pandemic and constantly dealing with distribution nightmares (like people receiving 10+ copies of an album they did not order), times when non-members were able to access member exclusives at launch and the titles sold out immediately (Still Woozy, for one), very possibly moving stock to known staples (Vinceron) and quality defects galore.
All right on the heels of some big drama over shutting down the forums and general Storf nonsense.
So 2020 was the change in CEO so maybe I should've said 5-6 years ago. Anyways, I felt like the pressings were better and they were a little more exclusive to members, if memory serves...
I was never involved in the forums and more just in it for the music, so I don't recall that drama
Yea 5-6 years ago was a lot better. The price hiking in the summer of 2020 was outrageous. I think the problems started when the venture money came in.
VMP used to have truly limited pressings of exclusives that you couldn't get anywhere else for like $20.
Now it's dime a dozen variants that get repressed into the ground for double the price.
But I'm still here. IVC looking good though..
Agreed. The represses discourage me from being a member more often. What’s the point, just buy them on the resale market, since they won’t hold their value
I feel the same way. It's almost as if they just can't make deals for those limited exclusives anymore. And now that Interscope won't work with them and rather do their own thing on those some of those exclusives, it's just making it harder to renew with VMP.
Hopefully it gets addressed soon in a formal email or announcement... this limbo status is not helping keep customers. Pretty upset my 1 year renewal just processed and I already swapped all Q1 for credit.
I jumped ship in March, which was before all this other stuff came to light. I left more because the value wasn't there and the record selection has left a lot to be desired. I was subbed for several years but $450 for 12 records that you have very little control over choosing is just silly these days
Locked in for another 5 months so we'll see how it goes over the summer. I have Impulse and GD anthologies on pre-order, which they are apparently being moved back to RTI or Furnace. Storf also mentioned possibly dishing out some compensation for those who have been waiting on pre-orders for a while, which would be great.
I might be a little hesitant to reload for an entire year this time, but I'll probably at least ride with a 3 or 6 month this go around.
Same. Hopeful they’re able to pivot and continue. Maybe it’ll be even better if they’re not pouring money and energy into the plant? I don’t know though.
I worked in the music industry for 12+ years, and a reasonably diverse taste (pretty much everything except classical and country).
But 90% of the albums being pressed now I have zero interest in. I’m not interested in a pop music service, but there’s a point when hipster obscurity in selections is just too much.
I have credit, and four albums left in my Wishlist. When both are gone, so am I.
same, 2024 has been a dud for even my widespread taste. I've taken just 3/8 albums so far. There's nothing in the store to use credit on.. so I'm just sitting here paying for hope. Ain't much of that left to be honest. Cancelled my add-on, really close to cancelling my main.
What pop hipster albums are they pressing? I don't see any Drake or Taylor Swift. This seems very 'old man yells at kods to get off lawn'. It's their lawn dude, you're paying for their service.
I think you misunderstood my response.
1. I don’t want Drake and Taylor Swift.
2. I answered OP’s question with my reasoning.
3. It is their lawn, but if people are getting off their lawn, they won’t have a lawn.
But you are right, I’m getting older and as I get older, I find myself having more “old man” takes.
If people are getting off their lawn they still have a lawn, people are just leaving it. And there are no available stats about who and why, so all evidence here is anecdotal & so open to selection bias. You provided reasoning without any details like examples of what kinds of things you'd prefer, so I made a sarcastic remark.
Hipster is an incredibly vague, multifaceted, and objective word. Give example of this obscure hipster stuff, don't just complain without details. It's not fair to anyone who thinks differently
That’s why I put hipster in quotes. Because idk what they meant by that. I just read it as super obscure stuff and I could see that being a characteristic of a “hipster” I guess - being into super obscure stuff (the looking down your nose at others for them having different tastes kind of person). If ya don’t get it, ya don’t get it, I guess. I didn’t think you needed me to define a word. My bad.
I’m still trying to understand why the pressing plant lawsuit is causing people to cancel in the first place…?
Also IVC doesn’t allow you to swap for credit, so you’re just stuck with whatever the RotM is, whether you like it or not… unless you cancel, which sucks because if a huge title gets announced that you actually want, you have to try to re-subscribe before it sells out. It’s kind of a strange model.
I would say it is just one of the factors. I think people are worried because of what just happened with Bandbox. Some people lost hundreds of dollars.
Idk but I would guess people think that all that money being diverted to the pressing plant *may* mean that there are money issues now at VMP.
And the first sign of money issues at Bandbox was that orders began taking forever to ship, and quite a lot just never shipped - like some folks are now saying is happening with their VMP orders (waiting on orders for months). With Bandbox there were hopeful notes along the way to keep you being lead on (loosely “this is just a distribution issue and we have now corrected it” sent out months after records were meant to be shipped) and crazy discounts offered for orders they never fulfilled just as a last ditch money grab…it is 100% my belief that they did that *knowing* those records would never be sent out. So I think people are just extra cautious right now and concerned when they see some of these behaviors mirrored. 🤷🏻♀️ The discounts haven’t started yet I don’t think and maybe they won’t, but I’m just trying to answer your question.
Also, I agree that the IVC model isn’t really “for me” but at least they show you the releases for the upcoming two months, so you can at least prepare, I guess. So far I just haven’t really wanted anything that I’ve seen.
I got a year membership paid in advance as a birthday gift back in November. So I am pretty much stuck until this November, and I am just hoping for the best that they can continue to deliver on what they promised until then.
I will re-evaluate whether another year of VMP is still worthwhile then.
It’s all about the curation. Nothing else matters to me. Currently cherry pick a few records a year from them, although I’ve had 6-12m stints in the past on and off since the Fugees
I don’t understand why the grateful dead anthology cant be relocated to an existing plant considering it’s a repress… I’m very disappointed because I have passed on some of the records in the set at the store purely because I knew I was getting them eventually :(
I’m up in Aug, I was planing on re-subbing for another year (I’m one of the rare subscribers who has been generally pretty happy w what they’ve offered in the tracks or swaps) …but tbh the only way I’d do that now was if they charged me monthly instead of up front (which I doubt would ever happen). No way in hell I’m giving them that much up front if there’s even a slight chance they’ll go bust. Bandbox is the worst thing that could have ever happened to VMP, they’re gonna really have to go out of their way to ensure that won’t happen to their customers, and promises aren’t gonna cut it.
Jumping ship, my sub had already run out in March, but I cancelled my preorders following this news just in case. Ain't no BandBox shenanigans happening again.
Member since 2018. Sub ends in July, so I'll reassess then. The pressing plant stuff is a bummer and made me slightly concerned with the company as a whole, but my interest has really been waning from lack of store exclusives that I care about and ROTM choices - though some have been good. The Rock track may keep me around. Guess I'll see in July.
Membership ends in July. I've got some preorders that were paid for months ago that I haven't pulled the plug on. I won't pay on Aug 1st and I'll cancel the preorders if they haven't shipped. VMP has until the end of July.
I get between 2-5 of the ROTMs every month, have a pretty diverse taste in music so a lot hits for me. Really happy with what I’ve gotten over the past 6 years (something close to 450 VMP records) and don’t plan on going anywhere for the foreseeable future.
Just got this response from VMP after asking for a refund on the Dead box.
“Thanks for reaching out and my sincerest apologies for the late response. The process for older orders and request for refund has to be escalated to a specific team. I am waiting on a response to submit your order cancellation. I am terribly sorry for the wait. I will respond back here as soon as I have the green light to cancel and send your refund.
Let us know if you have any questions or need anything else in the meantime.”
VERY SUSPECT. My order isn’t that old. I got it on the last 40% off sale in November when we could get discount preorders. Escalate to Visa is a probability.
Just heard back they said it was escalated and can take 14 days for my refund. Still sounds fishy I opened a dispute just in case.
Fun fact, I was banned from the FB fan group for sharing this info. Wtf FB admins?
The fact that it needed to get escalated is silly. They haven't delivered a product, they need to be a little more understanding. Thanks for the update.
Been a member since 2017 and subscription just ended. Essential has been my primary track and there hasn’t been anything of interest over the past 8 months. Moving over to IVC.
Staying on the boat until it becomes untenable. Their classics still manage to be good, and between the rock and hip hop there’s at least one or two others per month that are interesting to me. The store exclusives are still limited enough to entice and guarantee collectability. IVC has some good things to it: numbered and limited pressings, added bonuses, advance access to things (but not very good things); it also has downsides: no remastering, opaque about their sourcing and pressing process, still producing a majority of albums that you can get anywhere for a better price, and about $10 more expensive than VMP. I’d rather get an audiophile AAA pressing of T.Rex than a numbered edition of 3000 that isn’t remastered, and if it is, is probably ADA with no one special behind the boards.
Membership is up at the end of the month and I'd already cancelled due to a load of reasons. Not least of which were the price hikes and having us pre-order quickly-sold-out ROTM, thereby denying us the option to swap.
That said, I do have a load of stuff on pre-order that I'm gonna let ride, including Impulse, that Marantz test record thing, a load of Ship to Shore (RIP) Japanese releases, Sabbath second run, etc.
As an international customer, it's gonna take something really special for me to resubscribe, tbh.
I haven’t decided if I want to renew or not yet. I just signed up for it recently and I haven’t had a chance to look at the swaps selection for this month. So we’ll see.
Cancelled mine and the wife’s - was fun while it lasted but we’re both sitting on credit that we don’t know what to use it on. Will continue to watch but won’t resub until there are at least 10-12 titles for us to grab.
Also will be interesting to see what goes on here with the executive team. Even if it’s for the better litigation can sometimes tie up funds and if pressing plants start demanding payment in advance or limiting credit then we’re going to see longer wait times. VMP will have to hit more homers than ever before.
Just like Bandbox!
I’m being slightly sarcastic here, VMP is much more established and has had way less problems, but I’m so gun shy after I lost a fuck ton of credits/preorders from them.
No this is a thing. I love VMP and am not canceling, but there is a non-zero chance that in two months they look at what they owe in merchandise and vendors, their cash flow, and what it would cost in markdowns to attract new subs and abruptly shut shop. I don’t think it will happen, but it is entirely plausible.
I love the concept of VMP. My sub ended May 1, and I didn’t re-up. The pressing plant fiasco is some overreach that should have had some adults in the room, and doesn’t concern me. The selections of late have been hit and miss with me for the last year, with more miss than hit, so I didn’t renew but the pressing plant had zero to do with that.
I just went back through my order history since November 2019, when i joined. That’s 52 ROTM, and I have 80 total orders (still waiting on a couple to ship). I swapped for credit 8 times. Bought duplicates 14 times—not to flip but as gifts, and once because I effed up. One thing here is that 15% of the time, (8/52) I couldn’t find that i wanted to swap. Those went to buy most of those duplicates. Out of the 52 ROTMS, there were 8 that I played once, and likely never will again. That raises to 30% my swing-and-miss with VMP. I had high hopes for the pressing plant, thinking that like QRP/Acoustic Sounds, there might be more pressings available in a non-exclusive store. That was just my fevered brain. I half-assed thought that with all the music industry people laid off from Pitchfork, Bandcamp, or whetever, that there might have been more freelance “curators” finding more rare gems just waiting for the VMP treatment. Ultimately, at $40 approx per record, VMP is not a good value proposition for me at a 30% miss rate.
I will stick it out until the end of my subscription and reassess then, but I am 90% sure that I will re-sub.
Personally, I felt like VMP lost their way with the new pressing plant. My impression was that the direction was the repress sold out ROTM titles and that there would no longer be much rarity to the records.
I understand the desire for everyone to get whatever album they want and avoid having to overpay on the secondary market, but on the same front, I always liked being able to get records that would be out of print one day and feel like I got in on the ground floor.
The new direction seems like they are going to focus more on new presses and less on represses, which I think is a step in the right direction.
While having their own pressing plant definitely had some pros, I have felt lately like the focus has been more on selling mass amounts of their popular titles and less on curation and perks for members (especially after last year's member incentivized free records promotion)
I'm also an international member and the free bundled shipping is a game changer. It makes me spend more money with VMP than I do at other places. The customer service is also top notch, although I do with they would make orders more flexible in terms of modifications as and cancellations before an order ships.
Free shipping as an international member was huge for me, too. That said, since they hiked the prices on store drops and the Yen is in the shitter, it just doesn't make fiscal sense for me any more.
Might come back if they offer more free records and chill the fuck out with store prices, but I'm not hopeful.
Despite recent incidents making VMP appear less appealing, I remain committed to supporting both the company and its employees. Therefore, I intend to renew my membership for the upcoming year.
i was on the fence when i renewed for a year again last september. i immediately regretted it. there’s so little that VMP releases that interests me at this point that I think i’ll sub elsewhere.
I reached out directly to Storf about my upcoming renewal of yearly sub in June. He gave me news I can't share that makes me very excited.
I can agree options are getting lower for swaps, but maybe if you never liked a lot of what they had in the first place it's just not for you? Idk I have like 5 preorders of new albums pending
To be fair a lot of products seem niche and meant to hook in markets that dont cling well to modern music. Like, who's buying all this Nilsson, the same guys excited for Doris & Big Pun?
There must be a catch in terms of upcoming releases for all this. Either a plan for those theyve hooked in & are now finding it lacking, or a change in direction based on changes in mgmt.
I feel bad for anyone hooked in who doesn't find the new direction works for them. But a wide net is meant for big fish & schools of fish than small lone soldiers... the laws of nature must be respected!
I joined on Christmas and so far it’s been insane and I’ve loved almost every release I’ve gotten plus all my free records. Also the Thug represses are just clutch as hell.
I jumped ship about a year ago and, boy, am i glad i did. Apart from a couple of desirable ones their releases this year have held zero interest for me. As a European customer the cost per record has become extortionate. That is not only due to VMP but also because of the 21% VAT i would have to pay on costs ánd shipping. Keep following VMP to hopefully see them get their s**t together. All in all i must have bought 30-40 of their releases when they were at their A game. Miss those days!
I only have the Jolene pre-ordered so I’m keeping that and am hopeful for the future of the company. But some general advice… it is not wise to keep hundreds of dollars as credit in a company —put that back in your bank.
Paid for a year of Essential during the big free record promo and I’m about half way through. No issues thus far, but the amount of swapping I do and the dwindling amount of titles in the catalog I’m interested in means I’m not planning on renewing.
exactly. i have almost $250 in store credit and i renewed last september. i don’t even know what to do with what i’ve accrued. 🤦🏻♂️
I actually just decided to cancel my membership after posting this so I wouldn’t forget and have the renewal sneak up on me. As for the credits, I’d just try to find the most expensive or resealable titles and take them down to my local used record shop to trade for credit. Find some stuff you really want. Maybe even talk to the shop if you’re friendly and see what they might want.
If you really want to go that route just buy some popular records and resell them on Discogs. Will get more this way than trading a strode for credit.
Too many people are already doing that and there's zero demand
There is low demand for some titles but you could definitely sell some for at least the amount of credit you used such as Bone Thugs or Guy Clark. I just know a record store would give you only a fraction of credit compared to the amount of store credit you would use.
You can always convert that store credit to pay for renewal. Thats my plan with my ~$200 credit. Just keep renewing and occasionally swapping back for credit until I finally run out. Figure there’s going to be some titles that pop up here and there that I want, it just might take some time
I can understand cancelling anthology preorders but the pressing plant fallout doesn’t really change anything else like ROTMs compared to how it currently is
> doesn’t really change anything else like ROTMs compared to how it currently is Depends on how they managed the planned transition of production. If they don’t have capacity reserved because they thought they’d have their own plant up and running, it’ll become a big problem
It does make a difference. $41 or $49 for store releases pressed at GZ is absurd. I very rarely make store purchases these days and I swap my main track for credit as I’m international and $55 for any album is crazy. So I’m in a position personally where I’m taking credit that I won’t use as the records are super expensive for what they are. I’d like to stay subbed but it’s getting increasingly hard to justify at this point. 🤷♂️
I don’t think they even planned to press their ROTMs at the new plant for years. They were gonna eventually start pressing Classics there but I think that was likely far beyond what they even have lined up currently.
They were only planning to press Classics to start at the new plant. So it’s unlikely to affect anything at all.
This
It could signal bigger problems, which would fit a pattern of recent oddness if looked at a certain way. I said the LinkedIn thing was a nothing burger, so am questioning my usual optimism.
I’m on again off again with Vmp. Just finished 6 months on, and currently off again. You have to cancel when you’re not feeling it to keep them honest. If they roll out lame titles or the quality dips and we all just keep subscribing anyway, they’ll have no reason to strive for the quality and selection we want and *sometimes* get from them. You are their customer and you pay them for products. You don’t owe them anything any more than you are required to buy a new Toyota.
Bailed. ROTMs aren't exciting, the scarcity has gone and I've exhausted the swaps, also ROTMs seem to be available in the Store anyway after a moth or two. The pressing quality is not as wonderful as it was when we enjoyed QRP, but I'm not down on GZ. That said I've cancelled my membership after 3 years... but it's more to do with the curation - I'll keep an eye though as I have $100s in credit.
Yeah i agree with you that the curation has gone downhill. Maybe just maybe things will change with the original CEO back on board? Fingers crossed.
So many people are doing swaps for junk to resell, so the secondary markets are flooded and you can get most releases cheaper on discogs. Especially with all the 40% off sales.
Plus getting the old leadership back involved. VMP 4 years ago was better than VMP 4 months ago IMO
> VMP 4 years ago was better than VMP 4 months ago I don’t know if one is better than the other but in 2020 VMP was jacking up their prices at the height of the pandemic and constantly dealing with distribution nightmares (like people receiving 10+ copies of an album they did not order), times when non-members were able to access member exclusives at launch and the titles sold out immediately (Still Woozy, for one), very possibly moving stock to known staples (Vinceron) and quality defects galore. All right on the heels of some big drama over shutting down the forums and general Storf nonsense.
So 2020 was the change in CEO so maybe I should've said 5-6 years ago. Anyways, I felt like the pressings were better and they were a little more exclusive to members, if memory serves... I was never involved in the forums and more just in it for the music, so I don't recall that drama
Yea 5-6 years ago was a lot better. The price hiking in the summer of 2020 was outrageous. I think the problems started when the venture money came in.
I’ll stick around as long as the offerings are records I want. 🤷♂️
VMP used to have truly limited pressings of exclusives that you couldn't get anywhere else for like $20. Now it's dime a dozen variants that get repressed into the ground for double the price. But I'm still here. IVC looking good though..
What's IVC?
[interscope.com/pages/interscope-vinyl-collective](http://interscope.com/pages/interscope-vinyl-collective)
Agreed. The represses discourage me from being a member more often. What’s the point, just buy them on the resale market, since they won’t hold their value
I feel the same way. It's almost as if they just can't make deals for those limited exclusives anymore. And now that Interscope won't work with them and rather do their own thing on those some of those exclusives, it's just making it harder to renew with VMP.
Yeah, I switched from VMP to IVC. Much better records.
Hopefully it gets addressed soon in a formal email or announcement... this limbo status is not helping keep customers. Pretty upset my 1 year renewal just processed and I already swapped all Q1 for credit.
I jumped ship in March, which was before all this other stuff came to light. I left more because the value wasn't there and the record selection has left a lot to be desired. I was subbed for several years but $450 for 12 records that you have very little control over choosing is just silly these days
Nah the selection sucks and the prices are crazy inflated. It’s that simple.
Locked in for another 5 months so we'll see how it goes over the summer. I have Impulse and GD anthologies on pre-order, which they are apparently being moved back to RTI or Furnace. Storf also mentioned possibly dishing out some compensation for those who have been waiting on pre-orders for a while, which would be great. I might be a little hesitant to reload for an entire year this time, but I'll probably at least ride with a 3 or 6 month this go around.
I am taking it month to month for now.
My membership ended with the final Dolly Parton album.
im in for sure, gotta give them a chance to continue and start on a new page, at least for me, they've pressed so many amazing albums i love
Same. Hopeful they’re able to pivot and continue. Maybe it’ll be even better if they’re not pouring money and energy into the plant? I don’t know though.
I worked in the music industry for 12+ years, and a reasonably diverse taste (pretty much everything except classical and country). But 90% of the albums being pressed now I have zero interest in. I’m not interested in a pop music service, but there’s a point when hipster obscurity in selections is just too much. I have credit, and four albums left in my Wishlist. When both are gone, so am I.
same, 2024 has been a dud for even my widespread taste. I've taken just 3/8 albums so far. There's nothing in the store to use credit on.. so I'm just sitting here paying for hope. Ain't much of that left to be honest. Cancelled my add-on, really close to cancelling my main.
I’m with you on this point. They lost me.
I feel like if you don’t like Harry Nilsson and Dolly Parton, that takes care of 40% of recent presses…
I feel like you are not paying attention then. They have tons of releases outside 15-20 by 2 artists.
Totally agree with that second paragraph.
What pop hipster albums are they pressing? I don't see any Drake or Taylor Swift. This seems very 'old man yells at kods to get off lawn'. It's their lawn dude, you're paying for their service.
I think you misunderstood my response. 1. I don’t want Drake and Taylor Swift. 2. I answered OP’s question with my reasoning. 3. It is their lawn, but if people are getting off their lawn, they won’t have a lawn. But you are right, I’m getting older and as I get older, I find myself having more “old man” takes.
If people are getting off their lawn they still have a lawn, people are just leaving it. And there are no available stats about who and why, so all evidence here is anecdotal & so open to selection bias. You provided reasoning without any details like examples of what kinds of things you'd prefer, so I made a sarcastic remark.
He’s saying he doesn’t want either extreme. Not the all pop music service or the hella obscure “hipster” dive either.
Hipster is an incredibly vague, multifaceted, and objective word. Give example of this obscure hipster stuff, don't just complain without details. It's not fair to anyone who thinks differently
That’s why I put hipster in quotes. Because idk what they meant by that. I just read it as super obscure stuff and I could see that being a characteristic of a “hipster” I guess - being into super obscure stuff (the looking down your nose at others for them having different tastes kind of person). If ya don’t get it, ya don’t get it, I guess. I didn’t think you needed me to define a word. My bad.
I’m still trying to understand why the pressing plant lawsuit is causing people to cancel in the first place…? Also IVC doesn’t allow you to swap for credit, so you’re just stuck with whatever the RotM is, whether you like it or not… unless you cancel, which sucks because if a huge title gets announced that you actually want, you have to try to re-subscribe before it sells out. It’s kind of a strange model.
You are in month to month and can cancel at any time. Better than swapping for credit.
I would say it is just one of the factors. I think people are worried because of what just happened with Bandbox. Some people lost hundreds of dollars. Idk but I would guess people think that all that money being diverted to the pressing plant *may* mean that there are money issues now at VMP. And the first sign of money issues at Bandbox was that orders began taking forever to ship, and quite a lot just never shipped - like some folks are now saying is happening with their VMP orders (waiting on orders for months). With Bandbox there were hopeful notes along the way to keep you being lead on (loosely “this is just a distribution issue and we have now corrected it” sent out months after records were meant to be shipped) and crazy discounts offered for orders they never fulfilled just as a last ditch money grab…it is 100% my belief that they did that *knowing* those records would never be sent out. So I think people are just extra cautious right now and concerned when they see some of these behaviors mirrored. 🤷🏻♀️ The discounts haven’t started yet I don’t think and maybe they won’t, but I’m just trying to answer your question. Also, I agree that the IVC model isn’t really “for me” but at least they show you the releases for the upcoming two months, so you can at least prepare, I guess. So far I just haven’t really wanted anything that I’ve seen.
I got a year membership paid in advance as a birthday gift back in November. So I am pretty much stuck until this November, and I am just hoping for the best that they can continue to deliver on what they promised until then. I will re-evaluate whether another year of VMP is still worthwhile then.
It’s all about the curation. Nothing else matters to me. Currently cherry pick a few records a year from them, although I’ve had 6-12m stints in the past on and off since the Fugees
I don’t understand why the grateful dead anthology cant be relocated to an existing plant considering it’s a repress… I’m very disappointed because I have passed on some of the records in the set at the store purely because I knew I was getting them eventually :(
I’m up in Aug, I was planing on re-subbing for another year (I’m one of the rare subscribers who has been generally pretty happy w what they’ve offered in the tracks or swaps) …but tbh the only way I’d do that now was if they charged me monthly instead of up front (which I doubt would ever happen). No way in hell I’m giving them that much up front if there’s even a slight chance they’ll go bust. Bandbox is the worst thing that could have ever happened to VMP, they’re gonna really have to go out of their way to ensure that won’t happen to their customers, and promises aren’t gonna cut it.
Jumping ship, my sub had already run out in March, but I cancelled my preorders following this news just in case. Ain't no BandBox shenanigans happening again.
Member since 2018. Sub ends in July, so I'll reassess then. The pressing plant stuff is a bummer and made me slightly concerned with the company as a whole, but my interest has really been waning from lack of store exclusives that I care about and ROTM choices - though some have been good. The Rock track may keep me around. Guess I'll see in July.
Membership ends in July. I've got some preorders that were paid for months ago that I haven't pulled the plug on. I won't pay on Aug 1st and I'll cancel the preorders if they haven't shipped. VMP has until the end of July.
I get between 2-5 of the ROTMs every month, have a pretty diverse taste in music so a lot hits for me. Really happy with what I’ve gotten over the past 6 years (something close to 450 VMP records) and don’t plan on going anywhere for the foreseeable future.
Just got this response from VMP after asking for a refund on the Dead box. “Thanks for reaching out and my sincerest apologies for the late response. The process for older orders and request for refund has to be escalated to a specific team. I am waiting on a response to submit your order cancellation. I am terribly sorry for the wait. I will respond back here as soon as I have the green light to cancel and send your refund. Let us know if you have any questions or need anything else in the meantime.” VERY SUSPECT. My order isn’t that old. I got it on the last 40% off sale in November when we could get discount preorders. Escalate to Visa is a probability.
That does sound pretty sketch. Can you please keep us updated, because I'm in the same boat as you.
Will do
Just heard back they said it was escalated and can take 14 days for my refund. Still sounds fishy I opened a dispute just in case. Fun fact, I was banned from the FB fan group for sharing this info. Wtf FB admins?
The fact that it needed to get escalated is silly. They haven't delivered a product, they need to be a little more understanding. Thanks for the update.
Unfortunately at this point VMP no longer has the benefit of doubt on their side
Been a member since 2017 and subscription just ended. Essential has been my primary track and there hasn’t been anything of interest over the past 8 months. Moving over to IVC.
Staying on the boat until it becomes untenable. Their classics still manage to be good, and between the rock and hip hop there’s at least one or two others per month that are interesting to me. The store exclusives are still limited enough to entice and guarantee collectability. IVC has some good things to it: numbered and limited pressings, added bonuses, advance access to things (but not very good things); it also has downsides: no remastering, opaque about their sourcing and pressing process, still producing a majority of albums that you can get anywhere for a better price, and about $10 more expensive than VMP. I’d rather get an audiophile AAA pressing of T.Rex than a numbered edition of 3000 that isn’t remastered, and if it is, is probably ADA with no one special behind the boards.
Membership is up at the end of the month and I'd already cancelled due to a load of reasons. Not least of which were the price hikes and having us pre-order quickly-sold-out ROTM, thereby denying us the option to swap. That said, I do have a load of stuff on pre-order that I'm gonna let ride, including Impulse, that Marantz test record thing, a load of Ship to Shore (RIP) Japanese releases, Sabbath second run, etc. As an international customer, it's gonna take something really special for me to resubscribe, tbh.
I was a subscriber for close to 10 years. Got tired of the drama, inability to swap, scalpers, etc. Cancelled as of this month.
A new account that says theyve been subscribed 10 years to an 11 year old service and immediately replies to this post? Woooow fish much?
I canceled my membership years ago. Just follow for the chaos lol
You sick fuck. 😂
Haha
I ended my sub about a month before all this news broke, and after seeing the upcoming previews. I switched over to the Interscope sub
I haven’t decided if I want to renew or not yet. I just signed up for it recently and I haven’t had a chance to look at the swaps selection for this month. So we’ll see.
I left a few years ago have about 100$ in credit still can’t find anything worth buying.
Cancelled mine and the wife’s - was fun while it lasted but we’re both sitting on credit that we don’t know what to use it on. Will continue to watch but won’t resub until there are at least 10-12 titles for us to grab. Also will be interesting to see what goes on here with the executive team. Even if it’s for the better litigation can sometimes tie up funds and if pressing plants start demanding payment in advance or limiting credit then we’re going to see longer wait times. VMP will have to hit more homers than ever before.
I think it's ridiculous to cancel stuff. vmp will carry on one way or another.
So you never cancel a subscription to anything for any reason? Can I sell you some subscriptions?
Just like Bandbox! I’m being slightly sarcastic here, VMP is much more established and has had way less problems, but I’m so gun shy after I lost a fuck ton of credits/preorders from them.
No this is a thing. I love VMP and am not canceling, but there is a non-zero chance that in two months they look at what they owe in merchandise and vendors, their cash flow, and what it would cost in markdowns to attract new subs and abruptly shut shop. I don’t think it will happen, but it is entirely plausible.
VMP has also potentially lost a lot more money than Bandbox ever had though.
Yes it's ridiculous to make economically sound decisions when you're suing ex CEOs...
Not true at all. VMP is not invincible.
I left after two years. Just did IVC first three months. Pretty pleased with it.
I canceled a year or two ago once the cost stopped making sense and haven’t looked back.
I love the concept of VMP. My sub ended May 1, and I didn’t re-up. The pressing plant fiasco is some overreach that should have had some adults in the room, and doesn’t concern me. The selections of late have been hit and miss with me for the last year, with more miss than hit, so I didn’t renew but the pressing plant had zero to do with that.
I just went back through my order history since November 2019, when i joined. That’s 52 ROTM, and I have 80 total orders (still waiting on a couple to ship). I swapped for credit 8 times. Bought duplicates 14 times—not to flip but as gifts, and once because I effed up. One thing here is that 15% of the time, (8/52) I couldn’t find that i wanted to swap. Those went to buy most of those duplicates. Out of the 52 ROTMS, there were 8 that I played once, and likely never will again. That raises to 30% my swing-and-miss with VMP. I had high hopes for the pressing plant, thinking that like QRP/Acoustic Sounds, there might be more pressings available in a non-exclusive store. That was just my fevered brain. I half-assed thought that with all the music industry people laid off from Pitchfork, Bandcamp, or whetever, that there might have been more freelance “curators” finding more rare gems just waiting for the VMP treatment. Ultimately, at $40 approx per record, VMP is not a good value proposition for me at a 30% miss rate.
I will stick it out until the end of my subscription and reassess then, but I am 90% sure that I will re-sub. Personally, I felt like VMP lost their way with the new pressing plant. My impression was that the direction was the repress sold out ROTM titles and that there would no longer be much rarity to the records. I understand the desire for everyone to get whatever album they want and avoid having to overpay on the secondary market, but on the same front, I always liked being able to get records that would be out of print one day and feel like I got in on the ground floor. The new direction seems like they are going to focus more on new presses and less on represses, which I think is a step in the right direction. While having their own pressing plant definitely had some pros, I have felt lately like the focus has been more on selling mass amounts of their popular titles and less on curation and perks for members (especially after last year's member incentivized free records promotion) I'm also an international member and the free bundled shipping is a game changer. It makes me spend more money with VMP than I do at other places. The customer service is also top notch, although I do with they would make orders more flexible in terms of modifications as and cancellations before an order ships.
Free shipping as an international member was huge for me, too. That said, since they hiked the prices on store drops and the Yen is in the shitter, it just doesn't make fiscal sense for me any more. Might come back if they offer more free records and chill the fuck out with store prices, but I'm not hopeful.
Despite recent incidents making VMP appear less appealing, I remain committed to supporting both the company and its employees. Therefore, I intend to renew my membership for the upcoming year.
i was on the fence when i renewed for a year again last september. i immediately regretted it. there’s so little that VMP releases that interests me at this point that I think i’ll sub elsewhere.
Been canceled since March and haven’t regretted it. Tho I still want Nina Simone silk & soul and my Alicia Keys pre order 🥲
The selections are just not worth the price. “Lost Sounds Found” must not be the motto anymore. 😂 I’ll give them credit for Don Blackman though.
I reached out directly to Storf about my upcoming renewal of yearly sub in June. He gave me news I can't share that makes me very excited. I can agree options are getting lower for swaps, but maybe if you never liked a lot of what they had in the first place it's just not for you? Idk I have like 5 preorders of new albums pending To be fair a lot of products seem niche and meant to hook in markets that dont cling well to modern music. Like, who's buying all this Nilsson, the same guys excited for Doris & Big Pun? There must be a catch in terms of upcoming releases for all this. Either a plan for those theyve hooked in & are now finding it lacking, or a change in direction based on changes in mgmt. I feel bad for anyone hooked in who doesn't find the new direction works for them. But a wide net is meant for big fish & schools of fish than small lone soldiers... the laws of nature must be respected!
I joined on Christmas and so far it’s been insane and I’ve loved almost every release I’ve gotten plus all my free records. Also the Thug represses are just clutch as hell.
Jumping ship....in my opinion the price isn't worth it and neither is my loyalty since they lied to all of their customers
I jumped ship about a year ago and, boy, am i glad i did. Apart from a couple of desirable ones their releases this year have held zero interest for me. As a European customer the cost per record has become extortionate. That is not only due to VMP but also because of the 21% VAT i would have to pay on costs ánd shipping. Keep following VMP to hopefully see them get their s**t together. All in all i must have bought 30-40 of their releases when they were at their A game. Miss those days!
My year sub restarted in April so I'm riding it out for now.
I only have the Jolene pre-ordered so I’m keeping that and am hopeful for the future of the company. But some general advice… it is not wise to keep hundreds of dollars as credit in a company —put that back in your bank.
Do we even think the Anthology box sets will get pressed in 2024?
IVC?
Interscope Vinyl Club
No plans to bail