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I spent most of my middle and high school
years sorting through stacks of old records at various
Atlanta record stores, working the floor at record shows, pouring
through Goldmine magazine and burning up transatlantic phone lines with
calls to record shops in the UK and beyond. I was what you'd call a
record collector, although I wasn't much of one in the greater
scheme of things. There are record collectors out there that have tens
of thousands of albums filling their basements and garages - think of
John Cusack in High Fidelity - but I was never one of them. I
kept my collection small - filling it with records I loved as well as
stuff to "flip" - that is, records to turn around and sell as quickly as
possible so as to be able to buy something I really wanted.
In fact, that's how my love affair with Madonna really started...
Like most teenaged guys in the 1980s, I thought that she was super-hot,
but didn't much care for her music. I started to notice that her records
sold quickly and expensively, so I started buying the occasional
Madonna picture disc or Japanese 7" just to "flip" it into a rare Cure
single that I wanted.
Sadly, the world of vinyl
collecting is but a shadow of what it once was. Sure, there are still
people out there that collect stuff, but for the most part the whole
world has converted over to CD. While that's all well and good, there's
just something... missing in the new paradigm of optical discs. "Picture
discs" just aren't the same now that they're
silk-screened CDs. And although there has been the occasional attempt to
make a "shaped CD", it's just not the same as my British Madonna-shaped
vinyl.
Be that as it may, the
principles behind collecting remain mostly the same. And it is those
principles that I'm going to share with you today. By using the
following guide, you should - with a little help from friends -
be able to figure out the value of most any disc - be it a CD you bought
a year ago or a box full of your parent's old vinyl records you found
whilst cleaning out the attic. And given the rise of the Internet -
specifically, auction sites like eBay and online memorabilia retailers
like GEMM - you can quickly sell those discs (if you choose) as never
before.
The
Glossary
Before I get into those
principles, let me give you some terms so that we're all on the same
page here:
7" single - Usually
called a "single" by younger folks and "45s" by older ones, these
records are exclusively called 7" singles by collectors. These
records are usually played at 45rpm and almost always have two songs,
one on each side. 7" singles are the default type of single when a
collector asks for a "single" without any further clarification (like,
say 12" single).
10" single - These discs
are actually quite rare. During the 1980s, only a few records were
released in this format. They are the same size as an old 78rpm record
and may be played at either 33rpm or 45rpm, depending on how many
songs are on the record. A 10" record typically contains two,
three or four songs, but one might even contain a full album: The
Police's Regatta De Blanc was released in the USA as a "limited
edition 10" double album".
12" single - These
records are the same size as a full album, but are usually played at
45rpm and contain only 1 or 2 songs. Although the vinyl market is all
but dead, the 12" single market is still in fairly decent shape due to
the fact that most DJs still prefer spinning 12" singles to CDs or
MP3s.
Album - A complete album
on one disc, almost always played at 33rpm. These are sometimes called
LPs because at the time they were invented they were "long playing
discs" compared to other technologies available at the time.
Double Album - A complete
album that consists of two discs.
Box Set - A set of
several discs that come in a wooden or cardboard box.
EP - Stands for "extended
play". These discs can come in 7", 10", 12", or CD5 format.
An EP usually contains
more songs than a single but fewer than an album - hence the EP
designation. For versions on 7" or 10" vinyl, EPs are usually (but not
always) played at 33rpm. This is kind of nitpicky, but EPs always have
different songs on them, so a 12" single with six versions of
one
song is still a 12" single and an EP with five different songs is still an
EP, even though the 12" has "more" music on it.
Flexi - Sometimes called
by its full name ("flexidisc"), these are vinyl records that
were usually given away for free, often with music magazines, fan club material or on cereal boxes. As the
name implies, these discs are flexible and can be rolled into a tube,
although they are usually too fragile for this.
Colored vinyl - Records
once came in a variety of colors, both transparent and opaque. On some
records - like the 'electric blue' version of Madonna's "True Blue" 7"
single - the coloring is immediately obvious. On other discs, the
coloring is quite subtle. Such is the case with a version of R.E.M.'s Reckoning
album on deep purple vinyl that it must be held up to the light to
see the coloring. Colored vinyl can sometimes be a complex affair, such as the fabled
"marbled" version of Kate Bush's Hounds of Love album, which
indeed looks like marble. Any record of any size could come on colored
vinyl.
Picture Disc - A picture
disc is simply a clear vinyl record with a photograph placed inside
before pressing. The pictures on picture discs usually filled the disc
completely (like
this "Like A Prayer" picture disc), but they could
also be
strategically placed (like
this "Holiday" picture disc). Picture discs were generally
available as 7" singles, 12" singles or LPs, but any record of any size could be made
as a picture disc.
Shaped Discs - Records
could come in any number of shapes, like
this Madonna single from the UK. Far more extreme shapes were
once available.
Lead-out - The shiny area
of a record between the end of the grooves and the label in the center
of the disc. Artists sometimes write messages in the lead-out
area. Records with such messages are considered to be more valuable than
records without them, although the number of records where this might be
an issue is, quite frankly, tiny. By the way, it's pronounced "leed
out", not "lead" like the metal.
CD3 - A CD single or EP
which comes on a 3" CD. These are about the size of a modern GameCube or MiniDVD disc. CD3 discs were launched worldwide in the 1980s,
but were only popular in Japan. They require an adapter - a plastic ring
that "extends" the outside of the disc to standard 5" CD size - to be
played in slot-loading CD players.
CD5 - Sometimes called a
"CD single", these are singles that come on a standard 5" compact disc.
Jewel case - the standard
plastic packaging a compact disc comes in; jewel cases come in
"standard" and "slimline" thicknesses. Most import CD singles come in
slimline cases.
Digipak - an alternative
to jewel cases, Digipaks are thick cardboard sleeves that have a plastic
disc tray glued to the inside of the sleeve. Think of them as a
"cardboard jewel case" if you will. This packaging is more sturdy than a
standard jewel case, but is more subject to wear on the sleeves.
Gatefold - a single or
album that opens up like a book. The records are usually retrieved from
the outer edges of the sleeves, however some gatefold albums required
you to pull the disc out from the inner edges of the sleeves.
Picture Sleeve - A paper sleeve that
holds the record and usually has printing on it, typically a photograph of the band or some
other artwork. There are two types of sleeves: inner sleeves
(that protect a record when it's kept inside its cardboard album jacket)
and outer sleeves (the paper sleeves that singles come in). Records that don't come in picture sleeves are
said to come in generic sleeves, which may be plain white or may
have a graphic or logo of the record label printed on it. Records that
were originally issued with picture sleeves are almost always worth more
than later versions that came in generic sleeves. Because sleeves tend
to tear on the edges (from the record being dropped in the sleeve), you
might want to consider buying a stock of generic sleeves and keeping the
records themselves in those (replaceable) sleeves instead of the fancy
printed ones. This will keep the value up.
Spine - the edge of the
record sleeve, where the artist and title information are usually
printed. Note that the other two edges are also referred to as "spines",
such as "upper spine" and "lower spine". Many German and Dutch albums
and 12" singles also have the artist and title information printed on
the upper spine, so that you could easily find a particular disc if you
stored your records in a milk crate.
"Punch hole" single - You
know the hole in the center of a record? On American albums, that hole
is roughly the diameter of a pencil, and on 7" singles is about the
diameter of a half-dollar. Many European 7"
singles - especially ones from Britain and the Commonwealth - came
with a "punch hole": a small hole (like an American album) that also had perforations that allowed the owner to "punch out"
the center of the disc and make the hole the size of one on an American single
if he or she wished (see a pic of one
here). As you might guess, a "punch hole" single is worth more
if the center has not been punched out.
Promo - this designation
applies to a wide range of records and CDs, and has varying degrees of
meaning that impact the price. On the low end, you have albums, singles or CDs which look
exactly the same as the ones you'd buy
in a record store, except they have a sticker or gold stamp on
them that says "For Promotional Use Only". These records are usually
worth the same as the records you'd buy in a store, and sometimes are
even worth less due to the rough handling that they sometimes
get. Another type of promo (generally limited to records from the 70s and
80s) has a gold stamp similar to the first example, but also has a
serial number on it. This was an early attempt to track which radio
stations or music stores were selling or giving away their promotional records. These tend to be worth a few
dollars more than records with your basic promo stamp, but are not
typically a goldmine or anything. Lastly, there are what I call "true promo" records -
records or CDs that are completely different than ones you buy in
stores. They have different covers, tracklists or mixes (for example,
here's the cover for Madonna's "Like A Virgin" US single and
here's the cover of the promo version). These promo discs
are sometimes pretty valuable - keep an eye out for them!
"White label promo" -
this is often a bootleg 12" single of a song remixed and released by a
DJ, although record labels themselves sometimes release white label
records in small quantities. These discs are called "white label" discs
because the label on the actual record is plain white and often has
artist\remix\album information written on the label by hand. Note that
"real" white label records (that is, white label records released by an
actual music label) are often of much higher quality than the "standard"
release and as such are often sought by collectors.
Test Pressing - Once a
record is complete - that is, it's been recorded and edited to the
satisfaction of the artist - production begins. However, before the
record label moves to full production, several "test pressings" will be
made of the disc. This is done to test the mastering, the quality of the
vinyl, etc. Test pressings are made in only tiny quantities, so they are
much ought after by collectors.
Acetate - Acetates were
(are) records made of "works in progress". Unlike a test pressing -
which is a trial production run of a completed product - acetates
were sometimes made for the use of people intimately involved in the
record-making process, like the recording artist, his or her sound
engineers, the album's producers or maybe even impatient
record company executives. Let's say that an artist is working on two
very different versions of the same song. Back in the day, he or she
might have requested an acetate to be made of both versions, just to see
how they sounded on vinyl, or to be able to take that record to friends
and see what they think. Another example is to imagine a record
company executive that's being questioned by his superiors about an
expensive or overdue project. Just to prove that there is material
being created, the exec might ask for an acetate of some of the songs to
provide to his bosses. Acetates are
extremely rare and are usually highly sought after, as they are not
only rare but sometimes they contain earlier versions or mixes of songs
that appear on any subsequent album. As their name implies, acetates are
made from acetate (the same material used to create the film for
overhead projectors) instead of vinyl.
Cut out - Albums that
didn't sell well were usually returned to the distributor. There they
had a notch cut out of one side; they were then stacked into a corner
until an amount sufficient to sell to a large chain was collected. The
large chain would buy them for peanuts and sell them in their "bargain
bins" for as little as 99¢ each. Cut-outs were (are) worth little
compared to a non-cut-out disc, just as a "dinged" piece of furniture is
worth far less than a perfect one.
Obi - On Japanese
records and CDs, the obi is a strip of paper or plastic that runs along
the left side of the outer sleeve. The obi usually gives the artist, album title, price and perhaps some
promotional material (like reviewer's quotes) in Japanese. Since most
Japanese records and CDs come with the same exact cover art as their
American\European counterparts (including song titles and record
company information in English), the obi is often necessary for
Japanese people to know what they're buying, especially if the band is
new or if the album
cover doesn't have a picture or recognizable logo of the band. While the obi might be thrown away after purchase by
Japanese consumers, it is considered a vital part of the record for
Americans or Europeans buying Japanese records... so don't throw it
away! Click
here to see a Japanese copy of Duran Duran's Rio album
complete with obi.
The Principles
Why is one record worth
thousands whilst another is worth only a couple of dollars? Here are the
main things that affect the value of a record. But before I begin the
list, let me say one important thing: that record collecting can be
more emotional than collecting coins or stamps. Coins are coins and
stamps are stamps.... but music is the stuff of most people's teenage
years. Rather than looking at a record through the cold, calculating
eyes of a coin collector, many record collectors view a record through
the rose-colored glasses of their childhood. No one looks at a 1912 gold
piece and thinks of the first time they made out with a girl, but you
can bet that somewhere in the world right now, someone's looking
at a rare version of Bryan Ferry's "Slave to Love" single and thinking
of just that.
Because record collecting can be
so emotional, it's slightly different than other types of collecting.
Many collectors stick to one particular band or genre, so the collector
of "Motorhead" or "1980s British Heavy Metal" records usually
has no interest in a Beach Boys record, no matter how valuable it might
be. On the other hand, there are those that collect only certain
types of records, like colored vinyl, picture discs and those with
errors on them. These people tend not to stick to one band or genre, and
usually have a more detached approach to collecting. Then there are the
"über-collectors", people that tend to be knowledgeable about every
genre out there and buy anything that might be valuable, regardless of
whether they like the artist or not. In short, there are all kinds of
collectors out there, so knowing who you're selling to can be a big help
with figuring out pricing.
Keeping that in mind, here is
the list of what determines the value of a record:
1) The Popularity of the
Artist - The value of any item - be it a record, used car,
gold coin or half-eaten croissant - is determined by what someone will
pay you for it. If you are the only person in the entire world
that likes a particular artist, then chances are that no one will give
you any money for that artist's record... which means that the record's
value is zero. Note, however, that "popularity" isn't as cut and
dried as it might seem. Many people like The Beatles and Elvis Presley,
in fact too many do. As a result, the markets for those two
artists are flooded with items, and have been for years. Only the
rarest of rare Beatles items sell for any real money, and that's because
there are simply too many people buying and selling too many Beatles
items. But then you have the genre collectors: 99.999% of the
population has probably never heard of a band called "Ugly Dog Skiffle
Combo", so at first glance one of their records might seem worthless.
But that same disc might be worth hundreds to a
skiffle
fanatic. So even though a band might not be "popular" on the mass
market, it can certainly be popular within its own genre. Lastly, know that the market for current acts waxes and wanes
according to what the band is doing at the moment. If no one's heard
from the band in a couple of years, chances are that their records won't
sell for a lot. But if the band just released a new album or plans
to go on tour, interest will rise and prices will go up. I've seen it
happen on eBay with my own eyes regarding Madonna memorabilia: the total
number of listings for Madonna stuff will be quite low. Lots of auctions
end with no bids. What does sell sells for less than the seller probably
wanted. But then she'll release a new album or announce a tour and
suddenly the number of listings explodes, most items sell and prices go
through the roof. And although I'm using Madonna and eBay as examples, it
happens with every band in every market... trust me. If you know that your artist
is about to release a new disc or announce a world tour, it's best to
hang on the disc until the hoopla kicks in to high gear.
2) The Number of Discs Made
- This is nothing more than basic economics kicking in here. The more of
something there is, the less valuable it will be. It doesn't matter how
good a shape your mom's original copy of The Wall is in...
there are 10 bazillion copies of The Wall out there, so it's not worth much, I promise.
And in a cruel twist of fate, just about every record says
"limited edition" on the label is actually not a limited edition.
Comedian Eddie Murphy's 1983 album Comedian was released in a
"limited edition" picture disc... which would have been great, except that
the record company made 250,000 of them, so it wasn't rare at all! In
fact, that album was one of the few picture discs by a major artist that ever ended up in
the bargain bin! Similarly, the American 7" single of Duran Duran's "The Reflex" came with
a "limited edition poster sleeve", which wasn't limited at all, because
the entire run of those singles came in the poster. Don't be
fooled by people on eBay selling "limited edition" stuff - most of the
time it's just not worth it.
3) Is The Music Available
Elsewhere? - As you might imagine, most hardcore fans of a
particular band want to collect every single song their favorite
artist has recorded. If you have an old music magazine flexi or fan club
single that contains some otherwise unavailable track from that artist,
you might have a truly valuable record there! Back in 1984, a record
collector spotted an old Beach Boys fan club single at a garage sale; he
paid 25¢ for it and later auctioned it for around $5200 ($9625 in 2005
dollars!) because it was only the second known copy of that song
anywhere. The master tapes had been lost for ages and only
one other copy of that single was known to exist prior to his find.
Score! But you have to be careful about it... The Police's first single
was called "Fall Out", and for years the only way to hear it was to
shell out $75 for it at a record store. However, the track started
appearing on the occasional "Best of IRS Records" compilation, and so
the price dropped to around $50. A few years after The Police broke up,
their record label released Message in a Box, a 4-CD "best of"
set. This set included "Fall Out" and prices for the single fell to
around $35. Of course, the record still held its value as a historical
item for hardcore Police collectors, but now that anyone could walk into
a record store and walk out with this previously rare track, it lost a
lot of its cachet. The exact same thing happened to some early Cure
singles released under the name "Cult Hero". Prices for the original "I
Dig You" single were once astronomical; once the track became available
in Cure box sets the value of the single fell through the floor.
4) Geography - It costs
money to ship a record from one country to another. As a consequence of
this - and the import's relative scarcity versus the available domestic
stock - most imports are worth more than the domestic discs. An imported
version of even the most common record should fetch at least a dollar or
two more than a domestic release. Imports are especially more
valuable than their domestic brethren when the
imported version has additional tracks or different mixes
than the domestic disc. For example, for years the only
way that Americans could get the original, non-remixed version
of Madonna's "Into the Groove" was to buy the UK version of the Like A Virgin
CD. This made the British import especially valuable until sometime in
2001, when Warner released the "digitally remastered" version of Like
A Virgin here in the US, which finally contained the original mix of
"Groove". Sometimes geography can pay off handsomely for the
seller: the gothic-rock band Bauhaus released their second single on a
new British label called Axis Records. Within a couple of days of the
single's release, another label called Axis Records called the (new)
Axis Records and kindly asked them to change their name, as they (old
Axis) had been using that name for several years at that point. All copies of the
Bauhaus single on (new) Axis Records were recalled from stores and
released again a few days later under the label's new name, 4AD Records.
The scarce copies of "Dark Entries" on Axis were worth around £35 ($70)
in the UK back in the mid-1980s, but that same record fetched around £75
($150) in the USA. Flipping it around, many early R.E.M. singles
were worth far more in the UK than in the United States. The "Driver 8" promo 12" single was once worth around $30 here in the US
but around £40 ($80) in the UK. Also note that there is usually a
special premium attached to Japanese records. There are two reasons for
this. The first is that Japanese records always have awesome
packaging, including a lyrics sheet. Since most Japanese people don't
speak English, Japanese buyers have insisted on having the lyrics available in
both Japanese (so they can understand the words) and English (so they
can sing along). Many albums simply have the lyrics printed on the
album's inner sleeve, but sometimes a completely different insert is added for
the Japanese market - sometimes as a poster of the band - complete with
color pictures and other fun stuff. The second reason for the premium on
Japanese records has to do with the oil crisis of 1973, when most
American and European record labels cut down on the thickness of their
records as a cost-saving measure. The Japanese never did this, and as a
result their albums were less prone to warping or other damage and
usually sound much better than their American or European
counterparts. Don't know what I mean? Take an old American
record from the 1960s. Hold it like a Frisbee and "fan yourself" with
it. Notice how solid it feels? Notice how it doesn't "wobble"? Try doing
the same with a 1980s American record... but be careful not to crack it!
Japanese records - even until the very end of vinyl production - are
much more like the 1960s American record than their 1980s cousins.
5) Record condition -
Thankfully, something simple: the better shape the record is in, the
more it's worth. Records (or CDs) that are still sealed in their
original shrink wrap are worth the most, followed by varying degrees of
"used", with records that have coffee-stained, written-on sleeves
bringing up the rear. Do NOT be tempted to "clean up" any record
sleeves you might have, as doing so will only devalue it
further. Like most antiques, the emphasis in record collecting is in
maintaining current condition of the the disc. To do this, you will want
to have a stock of plastic "outer sleeves" to store the record in. If
the record has a printed "inner sleeve", you might seriously consider
buying some replacement sleeves to store the record in. As anyone that
owned records knows, the inner sleeve is prone to splitting along the
edges due to the stress of the record being dropped into the sleeve. If
the record came in a plain white sleeve, no buyer or seller will care if
it's split a little bit. If, on the other hand, the inner sleeve has
pictures or lyrics printed on it, collectors will care if it's
damaged, and the best way to prevent further damage is to buy a stock
of replacement inner sleeves. If you're buying records, be on the
lookout for dirty tricks sellers might pull on you. One of the most
common back in the day was to use a paper cutter on the edge of the
outer sleeve, so that a once frayed edge now looked brand new. Things
like this are no different than you trying to refinish some rare 18th
century piece of furniture... don't do it yourself, and don't fall for
it in the marketplace! 6)
Age - This category is at once both simple and complex.
After all, it's almost human nature to assume that "old =
valuable", but I can assure you that this is not always the case. There
are records or CDs made two months ago that are already more valuable
than many records made 50 years ago. But on the other hand, as time
passes basements will flood, crates of records will get smashed or lost
during moves, and bad memories of ex-girlfriends or boyfriends will lead
people to burn once cherished records... or at least throw into the trash
can. In other words, as time passes, the number of copies of any given
record will decline, therefore (theoretically) increasing the value of
any given album. But here again, time might just be working against you:
the almost all-consuming passion you once had to own one hard-to-find
Husker Du album has now probably been cooled by pressures from work and family.
Technology marches on, and you might not even have the capability to
play the records you once held so dear. This last thing in particular is
what killed the market for 78rpm records from the 40s and 50s back in
the 1980s. Even though just about every home had a record player in
1983, very few of them were able to play 78s. It was for this
reason alone that the value of most 78s fell to around $1 apiece, with
the (obvious) exceptions given for rare early rock and roll, jazz and
blues 78s.
What
Does It All Mean?
So - now that you know all of this stuff... what
does it all mean? Well, once you know "The Principles", you can put
any record into an equation and figure out how how much it's worth
relative to similar records. Here's an example using common versions of
Duran Duran's Rio album: |
