Record Collecting

Record collecting is the hobby of collecting sound recordings, usually of music, but sometimes poetry, reading, historical speeches, and ambient noises. Although the typical focus is on vinyl records, all formats of recorded music can be collected.

Scope of a record collection

The scope of a record collection may include a focus on any of the following categories:
* genres (or subgenres)
*artists (or producers). Some collectors may attempt to collect every release by a favorite artist.
* recording labels (or sublabels)
* periods (or music scenes)
* formats, e.g. 78s, 7"s, LPs, EPs, Mono, Reel-to-reel, Cassettes, 45s, SPs, CDs, etc.
* specialisms, e.g. unusual physical specimens (odd shapes, colors, sizes, speeds) regardless of recorded content, records having original "stock" generic sleeves identifying the label, variations in the record's label design as issued by particular companies, or imported copies. Demand is usually highest for the "original" or earliest pressings of records, often identified by variations in the label or cover. Avid collectors develop specialized knowledge about such details.

Pressings

One collectible record format is known as a ''test pressing.'' Five to 10 initial copies are often pressed for the purpose of checking the mix or levels on a record, or to ensure that the die is cutting properly. Though usually meant for the artist, producer, pressing plant, or record label to keep as reference, they are sometimes placed in special packaging (such as a photocopy of the real record sleeve) and given out to friends or devoted fans.
First pressings of original commercial releases usually have higher values among collectors than later pressings. Also collectible are 45s with picture sleeves, and original editions of LPs (and other formats) which often have inserts and other features not on subsequent editions, or tracks or cover art later withdrawn or altered. Subsequent pressings often have the same label and catalog number but can be differentiated from the first pressings by the cover, colour of the label, matrix numbers on the disc itself, etc.

Errors

Records that have been Mispressed and have incorrect content or have Misprinted labels or covers may be more valuable, especially if a very limited number was released to the public.

Promos, reissues and bootlegs

Promotional or "promo" copies are free records, cassettes or CDs sent to radio stations, music journalists, and music critics to announce a new release coming soon from the record company. They are identified by the label, which typically takes the form of plain text listing the name of the recording and its associated credits, as well as markings specifying it as "Promotional", "Audition," "Demonstration" and/or "Not for Sale." Record and cassette promo copies typically come in the form of white label discs and clear cassettes, respectively, while CD copies typically come in the form of CD-Rs with black-on-transparent labels. Because many commercial cassette releases use identical clear plastic and white print, promo copies are oftentimes distinguished solely by text on the J-card specifying them as such. Promo copies of best-selling records can have a slightly lower or higher value than "stock" first pressings. Occasionally promo copies were pressed for records that were never released; include other songs or features not found on the official commercial release (e.g. Talking Heads' 1988 album ''Naked'').

Reissues of popular records can be released by the same label many years later with the same catalog number and cover art, but are often undertaken by a different label, some of which (such as Rhino Records) specialize in reissues and have access to certain labels' catalogs and "vaults" of unreleased master recordings.

" Bootlegs" are illegitimate releases. They vary in value and in sound and pressing quality, and come in several categories. Bootleg LPs, tapes and CDs often feature recordings from live performances or tracks not commercially released (including those never intended for release that were stolen or illegitimately acquired). Some bootleg 45s are re-releases of rare or valuable singles – exact copies of rare records, with the original label graphics and numbers - known in the industry as "counterfeits."

History

Background

Record collecting has been around probably nearly as long as recorded sound. In its earliest years, phonographs and the recordings that were played on them (first wax phonograph cylinders, and later flat shellac discs) were mostly owned by the rich, out of the reach of the middle or lower classes. By the 1920s, improvements in the manufacturing processes, both in players and recordings, allowed prices for the machines to drop. While entertainment options in a middle to upper-class home in the 1890s would likely consist of a piano, smaller instruments, and a library of sheet music, by the 1910s and later these options expanded to include a radio and a library of recorded sound.

After the phonograph cylinder became obsolete, the record was the uncontested sound medium for decades. The number of available recordings mushroomed and the number of companies pressing records increased These were 78–rpm, originally one-sided, then later double-sided, ten-inch shellac discs, with about two to four minutes of recording time on each side.

Growth in the recorded sound industries was stunted by the Great Depression and World War II, when the recording industries in some countries were affected by a restricted supply of raw materials. By the time World War II ended, the economy of these countries began to grow again. Classical music (which was a large portion of 78–rpm releases) was slowly edged into a minority status by the influx of popular and new music, which was less costly and thus more profitable to record.

Early collecting

Music journalist Amanda Petrusich has reported that retrospective 78 collecting began in the 1940s, focusing on rare early Dixieland jazz recordings. In several articles and in her book ''Do Not Sell At Any Price'', she writes about 78rpm record collectors such as James McKune, an influential collector of jazz from the late 1930s and of country blues.

1950s

The introduction of both the 33 rpm, 12-inch LP record and the 45–rpm, 7-inch record, coming into the market in 1948/1949, provided advances in both storage and quality. These records featured vinyl ( polyvinyl chloride or polystyrene), replacing the previous shellac materials. Further groups of small labels came into existence with the dawning of the rock and roll era in the early-to-middle 1950s, and the growth of a market among post-war teenagers with disposable income to spend on 45–rpm singles. Rock and roll was much less costly and more profitable to produce than the big band jazz and professional singer/song-craftsman music that it replaced in popularity.

Ronald D. Cohen relates that the hillbilly-focused Disc Collector magazine was formed in 1951. Various important online library catalogues list copies of Burke's Register of Record Collectors, which existed from 1957 at the latest.

In the United Kingdom, rare 78–rpms were traded, usually American rock and roll, musicians and record labels such as Little Richard Chuck Berry, and Sun Records. Labels such as London-American (now London Records), RCA Victor and Capitol were priced at a premium. One of the earliest UK record collectors was Mike Adams, who was first known for trading in 1958 on Merseyside. He later became a DJ on the BBC
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