There has been resurgence in vinyl record collection in recent years. Many collectors swear by the warmth and depth of music on vinyl digital sound from CDs and MP3s can’t compare to. Meanwhile, less audio-sensitive vinyl collectors enjoy records for sharing the comradery with fellow collectors, being different and the entire experience involved with listening to a record.
Listening to a record is unlike listening to a digital LP. Vinyl records are large and awkward, so you have to be careful removing them from the dustjacket. Meanwhile, placing it on the turntable takes a degree of careful precision to make sure it aligns properly with the central spindle. Then when the needle hits the center of the A-side, the listener gets to do it all over again for the B-side. To collect records, you truly have to appreciate the sound, the experience, or both.
With an ever-growing interest in vinyl records among music appreciators, there is booming interest in a medium once thought lost forever to- what’s considered by many- inferior technology. Now cassette tapes have come and gone, along with the awful sound quality, and CDs are continuing to losing ground to MP3 files, it seems the only growing medium is indeed vinyl.
But just like any collectible, their value is determined by how desired they are in the marketplace versus how available they are. So if you have a copy of “Frampton Comes Alive” (you may even have 3 copies), don’t expect to fetch much for it, as it was one of the most produced vinyl records ever.
If you are in possession of rarer records, such as The Rolling Stones promo album or the David Bowe 7” single of “Space Oddity/Wide Eyed Boy from Freedcloud,” you are sitting on a gold mine. Regardless, hiring an expert estate appraiser is your best route to take when trying to figure what your dusty, forgotten record collection may be worth. And it could be worth plenty.