Hello and welcome to the first blog post of the week here on the official blog of Haulix. We have a lot of great content planned this week, starting this afternoon with a piece on an individual who is making a big name for himself in the digital age by covering technology many consider to be outdated. If you have any questions regarding the content of this blog, or if you would like to learn more information about the services offered by Haulix, please email james@haulix.com and share your thoughts. We can also be found on Twitter and Facebook.
Digital music sales may have dipped in 2013, but for vinyl sales continued to rise, ending with a 32% improvement over the year prior. While we could dispute whether or not the resurgence of vinyl is a passing fad with a considerably long shelf life, this post is about something else entirely. This post is about pursuing your interests, and how sometimes that pursuit can land you at the forefront of a global community.
Chris Lantinen was working the crime beat at one of America’s remaining print publications when had the idea to launch a website dedicated to his interest in vinyl records. He had never written about music before, but something about the topic intrigued him so much that he purchased the domain name Modern-Vinyl.com and dedicated any free time he had outside the office to creating content. Two years and several months later, that same site is now the go-to authority on all things vinyl, and in the paragraphs below you will learn how it all came to be.
I have been reading Modern Vinyl for well over a year at this point, but it wasn’t until I began working with Chris on this feature that I realized the level of thought and care put into each post. Chris and his team of contributors are creating content for the sake of celebrating (and hopefully helping further) an area of the industry they are passionate about, and their clear adoration for the subject matter keeps you coming back again and again. No one knows where vinyl sales will be at the end of 2014, but I have absolutely no doubt Modern Vinyl will continue to grow.
If you would like to stay up-to-date with everything Chris and his team are working on we highly recommend following Modern Vinyl on Twitter. Additional questions and comments can be left at the end of this post.
H: For the record (no pun intended), please give us your name, job title, and the publication you’re here to discuss:
C: My name is Chris Lantinen and I’m the owner/editor-in-chief/everything else over at Modern Vinyl.
H: Thanks again for taking the time to do this. We like to start with a little bit of history. When you think of your formative moments with music, be it a band/album/concert/etc, what comes to mind?
C: My earliest musical moments were most certainly made in the back of my family’s Ford Bronco, as my father played albums from groups like Queen, The Beatles, Kansas and Simon & Garfunkle. So I certainly grew up on a steady diet of classic rock. In regard to personal taste, I know it’s not quite the same these days, but MTV and MuchMusic had a huge impact on what I listened to growing up. Between MTV2’s “Rock Countdown” and MTV’s “Hard Rock Live,” they actually used to play music on those channels! And good music!
H: What was the first album you purchased with your own money? If not a vinyl release, please also include your first vinyl and when it was purchased.
C: The first album I ever purchased with my own cash was most likely Third Eye Blind’s self-titled, which is somehow still in the rotation today. In terms of vinyl, the first record I purchased was Beach Boys’ “Endless Summer,” which came from a Goodwill store out in Oil City, Pennsylvania. The record was in rough shape when I purchased it, but it’s still hanging in there, haha.
H: Speaking of vinyl, we’re probably going to talk about vinyl a lot in this interview. Let’s start with the basics on the site. When did you first come up with the idea for Modern Vinyl, and what was the first post featured on the site?
C: There wasn’t really a lightbulb moment as to when the idea initially came to me. I was working in the print journalism industry, writing on the crime beat, while also putting together features on a variety of topics. Modern Vinyl was just my way of having another creative outlet. There were no monetary goals when it started and it was more of just a hobby than anything else. I’d work on the site before going to work from 3-12 and then I’d come home and work on it some more. It’s just been a day-by-day experiment since then. The first post was about The Dangerous Summer’s “War Paint.”
H: Did you write online elsewhere before stepping out on your own?
C: I did not. I would keep on on the pop-punk/alt-rock scenes through Absolute Punk, but that’s about it. Wasn’t even a forum member or anything.
H: From my personal experiences, labels are sometimes unwilling to share vinyl with press ahead of release. Sometimes it’s for security reasons, but more often than not its because of cost. How did you convince labels to send you music early on?
C: Cost certainly plays a part, but I think it’s more because of the pressing timeline and just how close some releases cut it to the release date (or don’t cut it at all, as in delays). I’ll certainly admit that it was tough early on, though. When your blog is getting 100 views a day, there’s little benefit to labels sending out an expensive record. Luckily, people like Jenna over at Razor & Tie and Jake at Pure Noise Records were willing to help us out. So it wasn’t really anything that I did (I just asked), it was the kind people who made it happen.
It also helped that I just bought a whole bunch of records during those opening months to make sure we had solid content and reviews.
H: People who are active in vinyl culture can no doubt find content on your site that would appeal to them, but do you offer anything for those just getting start in the world of turntables and vinyl?
C: It’s not that we offer content specifically for beginners (even though I’d love to get to turntable content eventually). Instead, I try to treat beginners, especially when they reach out to me via social media, with respect. Not everyone who reads our site will be a seasoned collector and people will have questions, whether they relate to turntables, who’s a good outlet to buy from or just general knowledge. There’s a tendency to treat these questions with disdain, though, in certain circles of record collectors. I just try to treat them with respect and help in any way I can.
Our content is designed to appeal to passionate collectors, but our attitude is that anyone is welcome.
H: What would you say is the ultimate goal of Modern Vinyl?
C: Our goal is pretty simple. We just want to provide as complete of a vinyl news experience as possible. I’m not sure any other outlets on the web have quite hit this goal, so I really do believe we offer up something unique. We recently started covering cassettes, which I think is another valuable and physical music medium. All this being said, we still have a long ways to go if we want to hit this end goal.
H: How do you monetize your efforts? Do you plan to explore additional avenues for revenue in 2014?
C: Primarily, I’ll utilize the Amazon Affiliate program, which succeeds because of all the Modern Vinyl readers expanding their collection. Google ads is our other source of income at this time. Record labels and indie record stores can also advertise with us and we have very reasonable rates. We don’t sell too much merchandise, and when we do, it’s either for charity or at lower prices so that customers don’t have to break the bank for us.
H: When it comes to receiving music for review, do you only work with vinyl?
C: Mostly. A digital copy is always great to get a start on the music portion of our reviews, but we obviously need the record for sound quality and packaging purposes. To tell you the truth, some albums are even improved upon when throwing it on the turntable. The most recent example was The World Is A Beautiful Place.
H: The new year has just begun. What can readers expect from Modern Vinyl in 2014?
C: Hopefully, we can continue to provide the constant news, while keeping up on our regular features more often. Other obligations have taken hold recently (such as graduate school, other life responsibilities) and things like interviews, reviews and opinion pieces have been hard to come by. I’m hoping to bring those back in a big way this year.
H: If you could change one thing about the music industry, what would it be?
C: I could go on and on about this, but I’ll try to keep it short and sweet. In my opinion, major labels are playing a large part in the creation of a vinyl bubble, which will burst in case we’re not careful. Just like the inflation of compact disc prices prior to their slow, painful death, vinyl record prices have continued to increase. Single LPs are often times $20 each, which in the long run, will kill this habit. The hardcore collectors won’t really go anywhere, but if prices keep increasing, the casual collector will be pushed aside. There’s a really good interview on the subject over at Record Collector News, which everyone should check out (http://recordcollectornews.com/2013/05/the-rising-cost-of-new-vinyl/).
In terms of music blogging? An emphasis on “hit-whoring” articles or sensationalized material is really hurting the credibility of many blogs and as I’ve become more and more involved in the scene, it’s only been getting worse. I’m not going to start calling people out (I’m sure they know who they are), but music journalism needs to get back to what people really deserve out of it: solid and informed music coverage.
H: How many people are currently on the Modern Vinyl team?
C: Currently, we have 3 individuals (including myself) who are contributing regularly and a couple more who add in a review every now and then. I contribute almost all of the news material, while throwing together a review whenever time allows. James Cassar and Bill Houck deserve special recognition as people who have contributed much over the years.
H: Keeping on the subject of contributors, what do you look for in new recruits?
C: A passion for music is a must, as is some writing skill. The flow required to construct a solid article or review is tough to teach, but when you see it in someone’s writing, its a thing of beauty. Very few can actually write with purpose and poise.
H: What advice would you offer to someone hoping to get their start in the music industry, be it an artist or aspiring professional?
C: My advice is simple. Stop planning, start doing. And if you want to be a writer? Start blogging. It’s free and easy. What the hell are you waiting for?
H: What are your career goals?
C: To be honest, it will be curious to see how Modern Vinyl progresses after I graduate with my master’s degree. I’m hoping for it to be a solid source of income by then, so that I may continue to expand its operations. If it’s unsustainable, I’d still love to be involved in the music industry, either in the PR or social media avenues. The professional plans are definitely a toss-up at this point in my life.
H: I think that just about covers everything. Before I let you go, is there anything else you would like to share with our readers?
C: For anyone that reads Modern Vinyl, thank you from the bottom of my heart. It makes all the hard work I put into it worth it. You can always reach out to me at news@modern-vinyl.com or through Twitter, @ModernVinyl.
