After so much change and news announcements in the world of pensions over the last year or so, we appear to be in a bit of a lull – perhaps it is because all the politicians are on holiday! Last year, Richard Collinson published an article about collectable cars which we know many of you enjoyed but we have recently become aware of the increasing collectability and increasing prices of second hand LPs.
Vinyl is having a bit of a renaissance with annual production now exceeding 6 million copies a year compared with just a million in 2008. Many new artists publish at least a small amount of their music on vinyl and sometimes these become collectable overnight. John Lewis now stocks vinyl records ……….but not CDs and the old EMI LP factory in Hayes is now back in limited production and hosts vinyl music evenings of old classic records on super-hifi turntables and systems.
In the second-hand market it is the very first pressings of classic records that are coveted as well as eighties and ninetiies LPS as at that time most music was only issued on CD. Recently a reasonable copy of The Beatles Hottest Hits – a Scandinavian compilation of Beatles hits with the Fab Four dressed in Eskimo furs on the sleeve – sold for £1,200 on ebay. Mint copies go for nearer £2000. More recently Keane’s Hopes and Fears LP – issued in limited numbers – sells for over £200 as does Pink Floyd’s Division Bell.
So before you consign your dusty LP collection to the tip or the charity shop (Oxfam have a dedictaed vinyl record website) think again. Your vinyl could be a valuable asset for the future or, simply, buy a new turntable and enjoy those crackling tunes.
What next? Over the last 3 years there has been a rapid decline in CD sales as Digital Downloads takeover as the preferred media, particularly for the young. What is an interesting development is the free Digital Download that accompanies most new vinyl LP releases!! Could we be seeing the demise of the CD and will old CDs become as valuable as second-and LPs. Sorry, but probably best to hoard it all.
