Background label, early 1920s 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 three and a half 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 78 rpm 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 catalogs list copies of Burke's Register of Record Collectors, which existed from 1957 at the latest. In the
United Kingdom, rare 78 rpm records 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 and broadcast on collecting records for many years. He wrote several books on collecting including
Apple Beatle Collectables. In the UK, labels considered collectible, such as
Atlantic Records,
Sun Records,
Motown, and
Parlophone (
EMI), turned into mainstream major record labels later on in the 1960s. In the US, New York's Times Square store is widely acknowledged for feeding the doo-wop revival of the early sixties, attention focusing on them from 1959.
1960s With the
folk music boom in the late 1950s to early 1960s, there was suddenly a demand for
archival material. Record collectors fanned out in some countries, searching small towns, dusty barns and mountain cabins for older discs. Initially, the most-desired items were pre-World War II shellac discs containing "
race records" (that is,
blues,
country blues and
hillbilly music), the precursors to then-current rock and roll and
country styles. Later generations of record collectors found their passion in digging up obscure 45s in the genre of
doo-wop, or LPs from the late 1960s "
garage rock" and "
psychedelic" genres. The pop music scene changed with the rise in popularity of
The Beatles between 1962 and 1964. In their wake, thousands of musical bands inspired by their fresh, lively take on rock music with a sharp British sensibility, picked up guitars, and many released records. Many of these acolytes released 45 rpm records in small batches to sell at local concerts and to their friends and families. Due to their relatively small pressings, these obscure local records became highly prized and valuable. One of the famous "collector's items" in record collecting is not a record at all, but merely an
album cover. The Beatles themselves accidentally contributed what is probably one of the most well-known and valuable "collector's pieces" of the rock and roll era: "
The Butcher Cover". This is an informal title for an album cover for the album
Yesterday and Today. Until 1967, the Beatles' LP releases in the UK were substantially different from their LP releases in the USA. These American albums were shorter, had different songs, album titles and artwork. Another Holy Grail for some collectors is Bob Dylan's ''
The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan'', the 1963 pressing that has four songs that were deleted from subsequent pressings, known to fetch up to $35,000 in stereo and $16,500 in mono in excellent condition.
1970s In the 1970s, the record collecting hobby was aided by the establishment of record collecting publications such as
Goldmine,
DISCoveries, and
Stormy Weather, and in the UK,
Record Collector. Price guide books were published, codifying exactly how much certain "rare items" were supposed to be worth. The "grading" of records based upon condition became more standardized across the hobby with the publication of these price guides.
1980s and 1990s With the introduction of the compact disc in the middle 1980s, there began a stratification in the hobby; commonly found vinyl specimens that had been pressed in the hundreds of thousands or even millions of copies became relatively worthless, while the rarest of specimens became ever more valuable. These rare items included 45 rpm discs in the genres of blues,
rhythm and blues, soul, doo-wop, jazz,
progressive rock, and psychedelic rock. Other rare and highly valued items include pieces from highly collectible artists such as
The Beatles,
Grateful Dead, James Brown,
Bob Dylan,
Janis Joplin,
Jimi Hendrix,
The Doors, and
The Rolling Stones. Some are pressings from nations where they were pressed in very small quantities (such as the Sex Pistols' South African release of "God Save The Queen"). Thanks to the
Hip Hop artists such at
A Tribe Called Quest,
DJ Premier,
Monie Love and others, sampling older records that are household classics for
Generation X from genres such as Funk, Jazz curated a dynamic where these records are repackaged & rebirthed for
Generation Y.
2000s Even in the 21st century, as music fans have often opted for
digital downloads over physical releases (and indeed started to collect these in the same way as vinyl), certain contemporary bands have a following of record collectors. This is prominent for instance in the
punk and
alternative genres. For example, the special edition of
NOFX's 1999 release,
The Decline, on transparent vinyl has already reached prices of $1500. Due to the
DIY ethic and constrained budget of many punk bands and labels, releases by lesser-known bands tend to be in limited edition. Specific pressing runs of records are sometimes printed on different colored vinyl, have new or different songs, contain spelling or mixing errors, or may be in lower quantity than other pressings. All such factors increase a specific record's collectibility. For instance, in 1988,
New York City hardcore band
Judge attempted to record their debut ''Bringin' It Down
at Chung King Studios. The bad experience and low quality result left the band so disappointed that they scrapped the session and re-recorded the LP elsewhere. The older sessions, however, were pressed onto 110 copies of white vinyl entitled Chung King Can Suck It!
and sent to fans who had pre-ordered Bringin It Down'' to reward them for their patience, as re-recording caused a major delay in the release. Copies of the record have been sold for up to $6,800 on sites like
eBay. Other music genres also have fervent adherents. For instance, fans of folk rock, psychedelia and other genres have become ever more interested in original short-run vinyl private pressings. Even when these have been reissued, the originals can continue to attract high prices. The first wave of classical collectors concentrated on early stereo orchestral recordings on labels such as the British
Decca and
EMI, and the American
Mercury Records Living Presence series and
RCA Victor Living Stereo series. Some of these records still sell at auction for hundreds of dollars. However, the focus of the top classical collectors has now shifted to earlier material, and rare European
monos from the 1950s by top artists have become highly sought after. The Far Eastern collectors who dominate this market tend to prefer
chamber music, and solo violin and cello. Others still focus on antique 78s. As of 2011 many pressing plants have been reactivated and new releases in vinyl are appearing on an increasing basis, causing what many have called a
revival of the format. The volume of product (9.2 million units sold in 2014, 6 percent of total music sales) confirms a continuing niche interest in the format, while formats such as CDs fail to compete with digital downloads. Sales of cassette music tapes have also increased in recent years (2014–2019) with a cassette tape interest revival almost comparable to vinyl records. == Crate digging ==