An optimist assessment. “Vinyl is cool again, as much as it ever has been if not more so. The power of the internet, too, is changing the way that vinyl records are thought up and sold.”

http://www.gizmodo.com.au/2017/02/were-living-in-the-real-golden-age-of-music-on-vinyl/

The latest issue of Billboard confirms that the retro revolution continues. The cassette audiotape format grew at the retail level 75 percent in 2016. That means 129,000 new cassette tapes were sold. A relatively small number in the overall scheme of music marketing, but still significant. The biggest seller in the cassette format? The soundtrack album to Guardians of the Galaxy sold 4,000 copies.

By the way, vinyl sales were also up, 10 percent, last year, to 13.1 million

After Bob Dylan, everybody’s doing it….

A new center will celebrate the glory days of Boss and other American musical icons…. the Bruce Springsteen Archives and Center for American Music, and will be housed at Monmouth University in West Long Branch, New Jersey.

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/bruce-springsteen-getting-his-own-archive-180961758/

The world of record collecting, music memorabilia, the auction and donation scene, and appraisal are ever-changing. But we can probably expect to see something like these predictions in the coming year:

• The new Vinyl Resurgence Bubble will burst in 2017. Hipsters will stop paying $35.00 for reissues of classic LPs that can still be bought as used originals for $2.00. There will be a huge markdowns on new vinyl LPs, perhaps approaching the legendary 2-for-$1.00 days of the early ‘70s.

• A major academic institution will be embarrassed when it is discovered that their sheet music collection, dating back to the late 19th Century, was accidentally sent to recycling when a digital librarian was put in charge during the archivist’s vacation. “Nobody plays music from paper anymore,” was the librarian’s first response.

• Music memorabilia auction prices go higher and higher, catching the eye of investment firms. Major auction house like Christie’s and Bonham’s are sold to Silicon Valley entrepreneurs.

• A previously unknown Robert Johnson recording is discovered on an 8-track cartridge found at an Indiana Goodwill.

• A new trend of classical music performance catches on: DJs remix classic symphonic recordings live in concert.

But you can buy a new pair for just $850.00 at Rockaway Records….

http://www.rockaway.com/catalog/product/view/id/26415/s/wing-dings-sneakers/

More records were sold in early December than digital downloads, a first for the United Kingdom. Details were lacking for a comparable figure of U.S. sales, but U.S. vinyl record sales have also continued to climb. This leads one to conjecture about the future of the collectibles market, as there will certainly be  vinyl releases that will not sell well and will become rare … and valuable?

http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/world/87331282/Vinyl-record-sales-overtake-digital-music-in-UK

The great Nigerian worldbeat musician King Sunny Ade has increased the global stature of the Hard Rock Cafe’s vast memorabilia collection.

KSA donates to Hard Rock’s memorabilia collection

…And Sometimes Not….

As someone noted on Facebook, it comes out to only $1,364 per LP!

https://www.modaoperandi.com/dennis-hopper-records-gg16/m-o-exclusive-dennis-hopper-s-personal-collection?mid=37385&siteID=J84DHJLQkR4-tX6ECUUf1bq3cCqNvR3bAg&size=OS&utm_campaign=us-BR-Holiday16&utm_content=J84DHJLQkR4&utm_medium=Linkshare&utm_source=J84DHJLQkR4&utm_term=clktrkr_all_na_G

…but it’s definitely a strong statement as a logical extension of the punk ethos.

Don’t get nostalgic: Punk music memorabilia burned in London

http://www.toledoblade.com/Music-Theater-Dance/2016/11/26/Don-t-get-nostalgic-Punk-music-memorabilia-burned-in-London.html

These kinds of lists are fun to read, and generally change substantially from year to year (though some items always remain). The fickle marketplace dictates an always shifting popularity and, thus, changing values. Here’s a snapshot of today’s “most valuable” from the UK Mirror newspaper. Prices in British pounds.

1. ‘White Album’ by The Beatles originally owned by Ringo Starr – £730,876. Ringo Starr sold his copy of the ‘White Album’, last year at auction for $910,000, which was the first ever to be created – the other Beatles members had the second, third and fourth pressings.
2. “That’ll Be The Day/In Spite Of All The Danger” by The Quarrymen – £100,000. The 1958 original is the only known copy of the pre-Beatles disc recorded at a local electrical shop by McCartney, Lennon and Harrison with drummer Colin Hanton and pianist John Duff Lowe.
3. “Love Me Do” by The Beatles – £80,500. There is only one known pressing of the one-sided acetate, unedited version with count-in hence the huge price tag.
4. “Music For Supermarkets” by Jean Michel Jarre – £10,000 – £30,000. In 1983 Jarre made 1 copy of this album and then destroyed the master tapes, which is why the price is so high for this record.
5. “Do I Love You (Indeed I Do) by Frank Wilson – £25,000. Only 2 originals have ever surfaced on the Motown label offshoot Soul.
6. “God Save The Queen” by Sex Pistols – £12,000. Before they were kicked off the A&M label about 300 of these were pressed making this record very rare.
7. “Would You Believe” by Billy Nicholls – £10,000. Only 100 copies of this 60’s psych/folk/rock album, pressed in its original guise, were manufactured.
8. “Please Please Me” by The Beatles – £7,500. It’s important when buying Beatles albums to check the matrix numbers that are cut into the run off groove. These numbers will allow you to work out which pressing you have. As Beatles albums were made by the million it is often these numbers that make the difference between a £10 vinyl and a £1000 treasure
9. “Kind Hearted Woman Blues” by Robert Johnson – £7,000. Only two photographs of him exist and his 78’s records are just as rare, especially those released on the Vocalion label.
10. “Bohemian Rhapsody/I’m In Love With My Car” by Queen – £5,000. The EMI special edition of the single was also an invite to a company event. For this reason, the 7” record came with matches, a pen, a ticket, a menu, an outer card sleeve, a scarf and an EMI goblet. If you have a complete collection with all of the different items, then this is extremely valuable.
11. “Pride” by U2 – £5,000. It was originally pressed in Australia on clear vinyl, coloured vinyl is extremely collectible especially when only 5 copies were made, like with this U2 album.
12. “Midsummer Night’s Scene/Sara Crazy Child” by John’s Children – £4,000. The single was pressed on 7” vinyl but for some reason was never released.
13. “Latch On/Only A Daydream” by Ron Hargrave – £3,000. There are only six UK copies known to exist hence the high valuation.
14. Led Zeppelin’s 1969 first album – £3,000. Led Zeppelin’s first vinyl album is very common, however the initial pressing had turquoise lettering of the band’s name on the front cover. It was swiftly replaced with the now familiar orange lettering.
15. “Love Me Do/PS I Love You” by The Beatles – £3,000 250 demo copies of this 1962 7” single contained the misspelling, ‘McArtney’.
16. “Space Oddity/Wild Eyed Boy From Freecloud” by David Bowie – £3,000. Only a couple of copies of the 7” single with an unreleased picture sleeve are known to exist.
17. “Tinkerbells Fairydust LP” by Tinkerbells Fairydust – £3,000. A slightly obscure British pop group, Tinkerbells Fairydust recorded this bubblegum psych album for Decca, but it was never released. It had extremely unusual packaging and a laminated front sleeve with a mono stereo ‘peephole’ on the back.
18. “Erotica” by Madonna – £2,000. Picture discs are also very collectible and when Madonna released this album in 1992, it was quickly withdrawn from sale because the toe-sucking image on the cover coincided with similar stories involving Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York. Consequently not many were sold so it’s a rare find.
19. “Love is Strange” by Wings – £1,500-£2,000. “Love is Strange” was due to be released as a 7” from the Wildlife album, however Paul McCartney changed his mind at the last minute, however a few copies leaked out onto the market and are now valuable records.
20. “Tudor Lodge” by Tudors Lodges – £1200. This is their one and only album and was released on the legendary Vertigo label.

Source: http://www.mirror.co.uk/money/records-worth-more-house-20-9307868