The Cost of Vinyl
According to TechRadar, vinyl record sales dropped 33.3% between 2023 and 2024. Before I dive into the substance of this, the reporting outlet must have taken a slight liberty with the 33 1/3 percentage drop, right? I mean, what are the odds that the vinyl sales dip would equate precisely to the RPM speed of an LP?
Anyhoo, Carrie Marshall writes:
I love vinyl, and in a world where streaming CEOs have a higher net worth than almost any musician in history, I want to support artists directly by buying their stuff. But like many music fans, I’m buying a lot less now because I simply can’t afford the prices being charged.
I love vinyl, too. And supporting artists directly is important to me; it’s why I migrated away from using streaming services. However it’s very hard for me to justify spending $30 - $50 for a vinyl record, therefore I’ve been buying more digital downloads from Bandcamp lately.
My hope is that all of this is pointing toward a reaction in the vinyl market, after which we might get a settling of the supply and demand forces. I’d love to support more artists through the purchase of physical media, but it will be hard for most people until the prices come down.
Earlier this year, Olympian Ben Blankenship ran the Rabid Raccoon 100 mile ultra here in Western Pennsylvania. This documentary highlights his transformation from a 1-miler on the track to a 100-miler on the trails.
These girls played their hearts out this weekend to take home the U13 championship at the WAGS (Women & Girls in Soccer) Memorial Tournament in Alexandria, VA. Addie fed the assist for the championship-winning goal as time expired to give Steel City the dramatic win. Great work girls!
Did you know that every REI has a survey marker out front? I am in Virginia for my daughter’s soccer tournament & today I stopped by the Bailey’s Crossroads store to say hello & gather some feedback from the amazing team there. It’s the 3rd oldest location on the east coast!
Death to the algorithm.
At XOXO a few weeks ago, Erin Kissane proposed that we – people of the internet – come together to brute-force a fix for the broken social internet. It’s a wonderful, thought-provoking talk that has me fired up to help create a better internet for future generations.
Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground
Running trails in Western Pennsylvania in the Fall can be glorious. Crisp temperatures, bright sun and fall colors combine to create ideal running conditions. That said, hitting the trails this time of year can also be somewhat treacherous. The changing leaves are beautiful, but the falling leaves cover the single track, concealing the rocks and roots underfoot.
I’ve been running in this area for years, and I know this. As I was cruising the White trail in North Park yesterday, a hidden rock caught my toe and I went down hard. Head first. Superman style. The fall left me with a nice gash on my knee and trail rash on my shin, hip and forearm. My right side, which took the brunt of the impact, is quite sore today.
Luckily I’ve learned how to fall to minimize significant harm. Had I not ‘tucked and rolled,’ this one could have been much worse. Broken wrist, probably. A fall like this comes with the territory of trail running, and is a good reminder to stay present and mindful with footfalls this time of year in the northeast.
Interesting take from Marty Cagan on the topic of Product: Art or Science:
There can be real art and beauty in the engineering, real art and beauty in the design, and real art and beauty in the solutions we build, and this beauty can contribute to the value and desirability of our products.
I’ve always considered product management to be ~ 70% science and ~ 30% art, and over the years that’s been a somewhat controversial opinion. It’s cool to see Cagan acknowledge this important blend of perspectives.
I bought my first pair of Birkenstocks and have been wearing them non-stop the past few weeks. What took me so long to get on board? I am finding them to be great active recovery shoes, in addition to casual everyday wear.
Andrew Schmelyun gets his daily news from an ’80s era dot matrix printer. Awesome.
Choice Cuts for Bandcamp Friday
Heads up! Tomorrow is Bandcamp Friday, where Bandcamp waives it’s fees and passes those funds on directly to artists and labels. Here are a couple releases that have caught my interest and will probably make their way into my collection tomorrow:
Dulling the Horns by Wild Pink: Just. Wow. The guitar tones on this record are so interesting. Fuzzed-out and warm like a fleece blanket on a winter day. And the songwriting is so good.
H. E. Double Hockey Sticks by The Hell Hole Store: I really like the vibe of these guys, who are based in Philadelphia. Dope rhymes and sick beats. Wit wiz.
Hurricane Relief by Jon Charles Dwyer: This is a benefit release and Dwyer is donating all his proceeds to the Hurricane Helene relief efforts throughout Appalachia. Tomorrow is a good day to maximize your support.
Exhaust by Pyrrhon: These guys are from NYC and they are siiiick. Epic blast beats, tasteful breakdowns and full-on goblin mode vocals.
opaque by Mo Dotti: Dreamy shoegaze from this LA-based outfit. Jangly guitars and thick tones back reverb-soaked vox. Feels like this one would be good late at night with some bourbon.
sentiment by Claire Rousay: This came out earlier this year, but I slept on grabbing it. I guess you could consider this singer-songwriter? The arrangements and production are so interesting though, so I struggle to pigeon-hole it.
Molly White puts a name to the practice of syndicating posts from a personal/owned domain to external social media platforms:
The short-term solution to these problems is a little-known acronym called POSSE. Short for Post (on) Own Site Syndicate Elsewhere, it’s not a protocol or even a piece of software, but rather a philosophy.
I’ve been doing this for a while now and highly recommend it.
Bright Eyes cancel their remaining 2024 tour dates. Pitchfork reporting a statement from the band:
Over the past week, Conor has undergone multiple tests to determine the cause of his recent vocal problems. It’s come to light that he has developed a condition that is exacerbated by excessive singing, requiring both treatment and recuperation.
I’m wishing Connor a swift recovery and I hope to see him on stage in 2025.
Buddy enjoying a lazy & rainy Sunday morning. Contrary to popular belief, he is extremely well-read.
I’m lucky to work on a product team that builds solutions in close partnership with our users. David Allison (engineering lead on our team) describes our process on the REI Engineering blog. This approach creates such a high signal to noise ratio, and it shows in the work we are able to deliver.
As an avid cyclist, how can I be this bad at marking all the reCAPTCHA squares that contain bicycles?
In my continued effort to eradicate algorithmic recommendations from my life, I am exploring alternatives to Spotify for music & podcast streaming. Current thinking is a local file library with iTunes Match enabled (music) and freestanding podcast app. How are y’all doing it? Advice welcome!
Finished reading: Filterworld by Kyle Chayka 📚
This book scratched the right itch for me at precisely the right time. It affirms my choice to walk away from corporate social media and go all-in on the indie or open social web. Chayka’s thesis asserts that proliferation of algorithmic recommendations flattens and homogenizes culture. He weaves a detailed thread from the origins of algorithmic thinking in ancient times, through the early days of Facebook’s News Feed which brought algorithms into every home, through the current algorithmic landscape that feeds from people’s time and attention at every turn. I highly recommend this book for anyone interested in mindfulness & digital culture.
The ultrarunning community is usually super chill & we are typically very supportive of others as they crush epic runs. This report of Camille Herron removing accolades from the Wikipedia pages of Courtney Dauwalter and Kilian Jornet - and ‘fluffing’ her own - are surprising and troubling.
I was digging through an old hard drive today looking for something and I stumbled upon this pic from the night Jilly and I got engaged in 2003. Pre-cell phones. Pre-selfies. This was at our hotel on 48th & Broadway, I think. Notice the vintage Juliana Theory patch on my bag. Good times.
