Out & About Summer 2021

Out&About lifestyle

Vinyl value Record albums are making a comeback among both casual music fans and hard core collectors. But how valuable is that old collection you’ve stored up in the loft? Special Auction Services (SAS) music specialist DAVID MARTIN provides a few pointers about which records people are looking for and why they’re looking for them.

M any factors determine the value of a record to a collector. Here are a few key pointers that determine a vinyl’s value. Old records Age can affect a vinyl record’s value, but it’s one of the less important factors. Early releases in the career of a famous artist may have more value than later releases. Elvis Presley’s first five records for the Memphis-based Sun label sold reasonably well, but not compared to his releases on RCA, making the Sun versions fairly valuable. Records by artists that are not of interest to collectors will have little value, regardless of age. Many easy listening records from the 1950s still sell for only a couple of pounds. Old records may have some value, but not necessarily just because they’re old. The artist Rock, blues, jazz, classical and soul artists are usually more collectible than easy listening, country, spoken word or comedy.

Some artists have a long- time following, while others are popular only while they are actively recording.

Elvis Presley, Pink Floyd, blues singer Robert Johnson or the Beatles records remain valuable and highly collectible long

after they stopped recording or even after their deaths. In the late 1970s, Todd Rundgren and the Cars were highly collectible, but there’s little interest in their recordings now. Exceptions are artists who were influential in the industry, such as Robert Johnson, the Velvet Underground or the Stooges. Although not very successful, they influenced other musicians and, as a result, their records sell for surprisingly high prices today.

Continued on page 62

O&A SUMMER 2021

61