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We live in a world where digital recordings reign, traditional LPs are
becoming scarcer, record players are breaking down and becoming irreparable,
and computer programs, such as Napster, are gaining in popularity.
Here we discuss what to make of these changes and what they
might mean for collectors.
With the advent of compact disks, only a handful of
records are produced anymore. Of the newer releases, be very selective of
what might be collectible, as many of the more recent records are artificial collectibles.
They are released in limited numbers, with the word
"collectible" or "collector's edition." All too
often these records are not collectible at all.
Price guides such as the Goldmine
Jazz Album Price Guide are a must if you're buying on eBay, as
these are the guides used by the dealers themselves. The Goldmine series
are fairly accurate and with it, it is easy to pick up items listed for $150,
and which are drawing $30 on eBay.
About 80 percent
to 90 percent of items listed on eBay
are drawing bids, with many items not attracting any bids at all. Sellers
are listing everything in the hope of attracting bids, including albums
they should know won't sell.
Is MP3s Affecting Record Sales?
Napster and MP3s are part of a phenomenon. They're great for exchanging
music from person to person. Napster is very popular with college kids,
and some schools have banned it because it caused too much traffic and
slowed down their Internet connections.
Music
companies and some musicians have sued over copyright infringement. In
order to present the courts with evidence, the record companies went to
stores near colleges. They found that sales are way down there.
So what are people collecting?
The music collecting area has changed with the introduction of the CD.
Generally, record collectors are getting older
and younger people are just into the music. CDs are so small in comparison
with LP records, that one has to squint to see the cover art, which means
they won't be collected for their art in the way records are.
LPs with great cover art, the 'packaging' is what is selling.
Jefferson Airplane and those types of bands have great covers. Some art collectors
collect to a theme, they're looking for cover art that has to do
with a particular topic. One guy wanted anything that had to do with jail.
The main problem with collecting LPs today is that the players themselves
are scarcer. When an LP player isn't working, a lot of people don't know
what to do. Instead of trying to get it fixed, they sell their records.
Often it is the records which sold millions when they originally came out,
selling today for a premium. Those are the records that people want,
because they remember them from when they first were introduced. Because
of that, you go to a store and see a record like Michael Jackson's
Thriller
that's selling for $30. It should be selling for fifty cents —
like all the other common records!
Recommended:
Goldmine
Record Album Price Guide, 2nd Edition
by Tim Neely
Instruments collecting:
Old
Guitar Mania: A Guide to Vintage Guitar Collecting: How to Get Started, Build and Maintain a Guitar Collection With Advice and
Personal Comment by Bill Blackburn
Vintage Synthesizers: Pioneering Designers, Groundbreaking Instruments, Collecting
Tips, Mutants of Technology
by Mark Vail
The Steve Howe Guitar Collection
by Steve Howe
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LET'S TALK MUSIC RECORDINGS
