Buying records

[DannyL]

Who here still views themselves as a record collector, and if so what sort of stuff do you buy? I was wondering how/if people’s habits have been changed by the MP3 revolution.

I’ve been getting back into buying records again lately, though mostly represses, I haven’t ventured into scary collectors waters yet. Lots of reasons why, I said in the musical glut thread:

buying LPs is a bit different from download piggery – walking out a shop with more than 4 LPs always seems a bit much. Plus I find 25-35 minutes at a time per side much more digestible than say a 50 tune CD doublepack. Having a physical object means you’ve got some cover art to stare at and something to stack next to your record player and trip over, rather than a never-ending accumulation of weightless, contextless MP3s.

There’s also a bit of sentimental attachment to my youth in here - even though the majority of stuff I owned has been sold, lost or abandoned in various house moves.

Time will tell if it’s just a passing fad for me. At the minute though I’mejoying being able to pick up reggae represses on 7”. A lot of canonical stuff is also available these days – saw Tago Mago last week. If it keeps up, I probably am severely going to regret it the next time I move house.

Any thoughts?

 

[Gabba Flamenco Crossover]

Yeah I've got back into buying records a bit recently. I pretty much gave up from 2002-2007 - prior to that I was living in Croydon which had a lot of boss record shops, and I was bang into it. I suppoe maybe I just got bored and fancied a break. But recently I've been asked to DJ at a few more places, and my studio (which I've spent quite a bit on in the last few years) is pretty much where I want it to be, so I've got a bit more cash.

Just picking up 12"s for DJing though, not really 'collecting' as such.

 

[UFO over easy]

depends what you mean i collect, but not a collector. consciously collecting is more clinical than what people on here seem to do i'd say.. I'd consider that deliberately going after valuable/rare records, for the benefit of advancing your social status with other collectors and being generally snobby about it. Also, to pick up on what you said, going after the canonical for its own sake.

 

[DannyL]

Yeah, I guess I'm still finding my feet with it again and figuring out exactly why I want to buy these things as opposed to going for the canonical or whatever. Things like Gemm and eBay are making it so easy, as well that it's frightening - unless you're going to indulge that fetish for first pressings or whatever - which I don't have the money/patience for.

 

[UFO over easy]

It's a tough one innit. I think being a 'collector', in the way I defined it, was more of a justifiable thing to be before mp3. Curiosity at hearing recordings not many people could get their hands on, rare b sides, different mixes, japanese only etc.. whereas now you can just download those tracks and spend the cash you've saved on reasonably priced records, putting money into the hands of artists and record labels rather than other fiending record collectors.

 

[Ory]

i collect, but not a collector

Same here.

I buy for the sake of buying really. I don't DJ, so most of the time my records just end up sitting inna corner. But that's fine.

I don't buy CDs as I find them useless, and I don't buy expensive original editions if represses are available. What matters is owning that piece of music that I love on vinyl. I mostly just buy dubstep right now, but also detroit techno, jungle and a bit of house when money allows.

 

[mms]

i buy records cos i prefer records than any other format, and alot of stuff i get is vinyl only. I don't really collect records, i just like the music and i don't really have much truck with fetishising editions either, but i'd much rather have a record than mp3s.

 

[petergunn]

i def collect records...

i got hooked at a young age and never looked back...

not sure when it went from simply buying records to collecting records... i mean, i started buying records b/c they were CHEAPER, like the Doors first LP was a dollar for the vinyl or 15.98 or the CD back when i was 13... now, i'll spend 40 bucks on a record that i can get on reissue or CD for 12 bucks... which i think is the definition of a collector!

as far as i recall, the most i've spent on a record is like 50 bucks, for some quebecois psych thing... i HAVE bid much more on records on Ebay, but:

a) i never won
b) i was selling alot of records on ebay at the time, so in my mind, it was like a trade...

i wonder when i start spending 100 or 200 dollars on one record...

 

[Pangaea]

now, i'll spend 40 bucks on a record that i can get on reissue or CD for 12 bucks... which i think is the definition of a collector!

yeah this is a problem for me it's usually about half the price to get a CD of something rather than the vinyl (even cheaper second hand) but right now i can never bring myself to buy CDs unless it's the only format going, and even then i hate buying them! so a lot of the stuff i bought on CD a few years back when i wasn't buying records i've gone and splashed out for on vinyl too...

i think that's more to do with love of a format rather than being a collector though? i've made a pact with myself that i won't start chasing first pressings or anything like that. dangerous territory...

i'm sure i'll start picking up a lot of cheap but interesting stuff on CD more frequently in the future though, second hand or whatever. i can imagine loads of people getting rid of their CDs on the cheap as they become more irrelevant

 

[IdleRich]

I only buy records, in fact I haven't got a cd player, tape player or computer or anything other than some turntables (and a portable). I think this may be related to the filtering process that people were talking about in the glut thread - if you (virtually) only listen to items that you physically have then you are automatically restricting yourself and hopefully you prevent yourself from being overwhelmed. I also definitely like to have the objects themselves, if I just have a file or a cd, in some weird way it doesn't feel to me as though I possess the music. I recognise that this is a strange, probably slightly perverse position and I can't really justify it and I wouldn't necessarily expect anyone else to agree with me - collectors are definitely people who conflate the object with the music I guess and that can't be right. I definitely prefer having the original issue of things although I'm not dogmatic about it (I'm not going to pay hundreds of pounds for a record - until I'm rich - so if a record costs that much and I want it I'll go for the reissue). I don't really go for "canonical" items so much as just loads of random seven inches and I'm not really a collector in the sense of being a completist, I often have one or two tracks by a band that I really love but never bother seeking out the rest of their stuff which is also probably slightly weird. I do think that if something takes ages to get your hands on then you appreciate it more but of course there is a danger of overvaluing things because you found it for fifty pence in a car boot sale after ten years searching.

 

[john eden]

I probably collect UK dancehall vinyl. I try to keep up with current reggae sevens as well, tho there is less than ever before I like.

Repress sevens I will get if I have been after a tune for years, but not if I have it already on CD.

Other than that there is a complex alogrithim in my head which includes factors like:

• projects I am thinking of (articles, blog entries, mixes)
• price
• rareness
• boredom at work, etc.

I get sent a load of free CDs and mp3s now which is wicked but overwhelming and I think I try to keep that apart from the music I have on vinyl (which I don't get sent much of). So listening to records remains special.

As time goes on I find myself getting more picky though - I won't generally spend time looking for stuff in charity shops these days or take a punt on stuff for a quid on the offchance.

Similarly I think I've made a decision to avoid new vinyl obsessions - so not a great deal of grime twelves.

 

[DannyL]

Curiosity at hearing recordings not many people could get their hands on, rare b sides, different mixes, japanese only etc..

Yeah, but I think with the MP3 glut there still tends to be a lot of stuff that's not making it onto soulseek or whatever. If you look at people's collections you'll tend to see the same albums over and over again. There's still a little bit of digging involved and I suppose this is one of the reasons for the popularity of album MP3 blogs - the ones devoted to giving up loadsa rare stuff. this might change over time though as more and more stuff gets digitalised. Regardless, there's an endless glut.

This also puts me in mind of the Elvis shop in East Ham which I once stumbled into - nothing but Elvis, all sorted by *country*. I thought it was great, loads wonderful covers and typefaces. Didn't buy anything though.

as far as i recall, the most i've spent on a record is like 50 bucks, for some quebecois psych thing

That's supercheap really. I've got a mate who's a dealer and some of the prices he quotes me are just terrifying. Rare reggae and roots dubplates - scary stuff. £100 is quite common, kind of entry level - but I can't imagine being that saturated with tunes that I'd need to spend that much just to get the next thing.

if I just have a file or a cd, in some weird way it doesn't feel to me as though I possess the music.

I can empathise with that re. files - there so easy come, easy go that they become less valuable. I'm a teacher and I've taught lessons about filesharing and so on - and most of the kids don't put any value on the contents of their IPods or whatever. If it goes down, so what? They can just fill it up again.

don't really go for "canonical" items so much as just loads of random seven inches

This is one of the best things about buying reggae represses - there's so many you tend not to end up just collecting the canon, and if you go to a few places with a decent selection you end up with a bunch of random weirdness. Seems to be more of a limited range with rock represses and such but I suppose that's where Gemm and EBay come in.

 

[droid]

I
Similarly I think I've made a decision to avoid new vinyl obsessions - so not a great deal of grime twelves.

Funny you should say that, as thats something I do as well. I avoided listening to reggae and dancehall for years, because i knew it would suck me in and end up being an obsession . I was interested in dubstep back in 05, but again, i knew Id spend too much money on tunes if I started collecting, so I hardly bought anything at all and just listened to a lot of mixes. Thats also why I've never gotten deep into techno apart from the canonical...

I was thinking about the term 'genre whore', which is something Ive accused myself of many times, but I'm more of a musical bigamist - instead of tossing a genre aside after a brief infatuation, I end up getting married, buying a house and having kids, with all the financial implications of running 4 or 5 households at the same time. Ive been visiting my hardcore jungle family recently, and doing some DIY in preparation for a big party, but my digital dancehall family keep phoning me up asking me where I am, and the electronica family is sending my nasty emails.

They all want to know which of them I love the most.

projects I am thinking of (articles, blog entries, mixes)

Almost everything I buy or download is part of some potential project. Djng is a great way to cover up/justify severe musical addiction.

 

[john eden]

ha ha - I like the marriages thing - I think I basically stick with my reggae family and then have the odd affair or sly holiday with one of my ex's!

 

[matt b]

i still buy vinyl. i really only get stuff from physical shops- i don't buy over the internet much.

that means i buy what the shops in leeds have (unless i'm visiting somewhere else for a social purpose)- mainly reggae 7"/10" represses. no new JA stuff at all.

strangely, recently i've mostly been listening to vinyl only after recording it onto my mp3 player. which is a bit stupid




apologies for the dullest post of the day

 

[Dusty]

I think the digital revolution has changed me completely. I used to pick up records and completely understood the love for them... but now I just buy a CD, rip it to FLAC and stack it on a shelf, hardly to be touched again.

I seem to be stuck in some half-way place between the physical and digital. I don't feel comfortable paying for digital files, it feels like I'm throwing my money away into the ether. But I'm much happier to pay for a CD which is basically a digital storage device with a little bit of artwork on the side.

Although at least with CD you are getting WAV quality audio for a couple of quid more than the mp3s would cost you off bleep or wherever... so the audiophile in me is happy enough.

 

[matt b]

cds are completely irrelevant now for those very reasons.

i've always hated the horrible things.

i still enjoy the physical aspect of playing a record, the static when removing a new one from the sleeve for the first time etc. never had that w/ a cd

 

[straight]

I think the digital revolution has changed me completely. I used to pick up records and completely understood the love for them... but now I just buy a CD, rip it to FLAC and stack it on a shelf, hardly to be touched again.

I seem to be stuck in some half-way place between the physical and digital. I don't feel comfortable paying for digital files, it feels like I'm throwing my money away into the ether. But I'm much happier to pay for a CD which is basically a digital storage device with a little bit of artwork on the side.

Although at least with CD you are getting WAV quality audio for a couple of quid more than the mp3s would cost you off bleep or wherever... so the audiophile in me is happy enough.

isnt this what most true record collectors have always done? i remember my mates older bro used to spend silly money on records, tape them then never take them off the shelves for fear of ruining their resale value.

CDs have always been horrible to deal with and care for, in fact i can see CDJs going the way of the dodo soon considering how cheap and reliable seratos and traktor scratch is now and how good a laptop you can get for a few hundred quid. Anyone i know who uses CDJs arent using commercial CDs, its always just from MP3s and considering the price of them its a lot for essentially a control surface

I've been increasing the amount of downloads I pay for now that boomkat/bleep have made music I actually want available. I paid 7 quid about 2 years ago on emusic for a Basic Channel 192 kbp mp3 and i was put off for quite a while

 

[matt b]

isnt this what most true record collectors have always done? i remember my mates older bro used to spend silly money on records, tape them then never take them off the shelves for fear of ruining their resale value.

can we define what a 'record collector' is then?

is it someone who buys a lot of vinyl and then listens to it?

is it more to do with collecting valuable/ rare pieces- like a twitcher?

or is it someone who buys/sells rare records (or at least pays attention to the value of their purchases)?

 

[john eden]

I still prefer buying CDs to buying mp3s for everyting except the odd pop tune.

I paid 79p for "wearing my rolex" off itunes and was happy with that.

But I also paid a fiver for The Cramps "Off The Bone" on CD in Fopp, which came with a nice booklet - and that was cheaper than getting it on itunes.