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A fellow sent me this email a few days back. Normally when people find fault with what we do, or how we do it, or the prices we charge, or the things we say, we figure live and let live and just ignore them.
This fellow took me to task for speaking ill of “people in the record industry,” which is a common complaint Michael Fremer makes, rather foolishly in my opinion, so I thought I would write a few word addressing the topic.
Ray’s letter:
Everytime I am tempted to make a purchase I always read something where Mr. Port is insulting people in the record industry. I get it. Your records may sound better than an audiophile pressing but for the price, they better! I respect the fact that you put a lot of time and effort into what you do, but insulting people is petty and makes you sound as though you are jealous of their success, you can sell records by simple stating that they sound great and with your money back guarantee (which few people actually take advantage of, from what I have read) You should be able to continue doing what you do with great success.
Just my unsolicited opinion.
Ray
I replied as follows:
Ray,
Thanks you for your letter.
Part of the problem with our approach to vinyl is that we not only selling a product that competes with those produced by others in the industry, but we also review the products that others make.
This is where insults are hard to avoid. We are of the opinion that the people making records today should be held to account for their substandard work. Who better to do that than us? We possess the physical records that, when played properly, prove just how second-rate theirs actually are.
Bernie Grundman cut many of the best sounding pop and rock records ever made. I wanted to pay tribute to his fine work, so I wrote this commentary and tagged many of his best records within it.
But the bad records he made are very bad indeed. Most of what he mastered for Classic Records is awful, a more recently he has been doing equally spotty work. Here is a link to a select group of his remasterings.
Since no one seems to want to write about just how bad these records are, we felt it was our duty, as experts in the world of records, to point out their specific shortcomings. We do this for the benefit of audiophiles who might actually want good sound and not just quiet vinyl.
Some of them may be tired of being ripped off. Some of them may not even be aware they are being ripped off. Some of them never fell for the hype in the first place. (They’re the lucky ones.)
We want to help all of these audiophiles find higher quality records to play. We tell everyone who doesn’t want to pay our prices how to go about doing what we do for themselves.
In the meantime, like Consumer Reports, we help people to see what a scam and a fraud the modern heavy vinyl pressing is, in the hope that they will stop throwing their money away, and that those in the industry will improve their product or find something else to make a buck from.
The world is full of bad sounding records, we don’t need any more, and audiophiles should stop buying them. But who else is going to tell them that? Audiophile reviewers seem to be as easily taken in as everyone else.
As for being petty, I discussed the charge in this commentary. Allow me to quote a few lines:
I never say that the people making these modern records, as well as those reviewing them, are malicious or evil. I say they make (or review) bad sounding records and are simply misguided and incompetent.
You Call That Success?
You accuse me of being jealous of their success. What success? They are selling junk to those who haven’t learned how to spot it. Why would anyone be jealous of such scam artists?
If you want to defend these people, name a record they’ve produced worth defending. If there is no such record, then why are you defending them?
The rich and powerful who produce these second- and third-rate vinyl offerings are taking advantage of the credulity of the average record collector.
Why should they be protected from criticism? Shouldn’t you be on the side of the audiophile community that’s being ripped off?
I am.
As long as they see no reason to stop making bad sounding records, we see no reason to stop criticizing them, and, to the great benefit of everyone, offering an alternative approach that is guaranteed to produce better results.