Ask Dave: Is That Collection You Want To Offload Worth Anything?
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- Опубліковано 26 вер 2024
- I'm often asked what to do with a large collection of recorded classical music, either collected over a lifetime or inherited, when it's time to get rid of it. Unfortunately, the simple reality is that it's probably not worth anything at all, and your best bet is to just give it away or throw it out.
The best thing you can do if you inherit somebody's collection of classical music is to dive right in...keep on listening!!!
I completely agree with your assessment. I recently had to dispose of approximately 7,000 classical CDs as we moved into a smaller venue. I had already ripped over the preceding years all my music on a server. I had reached the same conclusion that they were basically worthless. Giving them away proved to be almost impossible as libraries, conservatories and musical societies are not interested in physical products. I finally gave them to a Health care foundation who regrouped them around certain themes and auctioned them away for a small profit. At least, they will benefit a few patient’s….
Did you try selling anything online? If you had CDs on labels like DG or Harmonia Mundi or Decca or London I doubt they would be 'worthless' on ebay.
Except my time is more valuable than anything I could earn selling them one at a time.
@@DavesClassicalGuide Dave I would venture to guess a collection of your significance could sell for $75k - $100k. Specific things like the Munch box, the Greatest Pianists of the 21st Century, any Solti box sell at over $1000 each. Whether one cares to invest the time in recouping that is certainly up to the individual collector.
I bought 300 💿z from my late friend who knew he will die because he had cancer and I paid him U$400.00 I’m happy I did that since he really was my ancient friend and dear to me.
If I have spent money on an LP or CD and listened once, I have paid less than the price of a concert ticket. It gives me the opportunity to relive that piece over and over. It has fulfilled its purpose in my life.
In Germany we have the Deutsches Musikarchiv (German Music Archive). Wikipedia: 593277 CD/SACD/DVD, 369861 analog recordings, 161.893 historical recordings, music sheets and so on (in total over 3 million items. It is regulated by law and funded by the state. Yes, a very socialist idea to preserve our culture 😉. But Dave, you are right. My collection of thousands of CD, DVD and Vinyl is (with a few exceptions) worthless (in money). But I enjoy it every day. Greetings from Northern Germany.
I have more stuff than they do. I'm not sure that's what M. Coutaz had in mind.
@@DavesClassicalGuide From there Website: The German Music Archive of the German National Library collects and archives music in order to preserve it for posterity and make it available to the public. We are therefore Germany's main music bibliography information centre.
Our collection is based on the sheet music and sound recordings which all German music publishers and labels are obliged to deposit by law.
Our holdings currently encompass more than 2.4 million works. These also include historic sound carriers such as shellac records, phonograph cylinders and piano rolls for self-playing reproducing pianos.
Nah, not a socialist idea. Atleast centre-left 😉
@@pawelpap9 Would they accept Dave's collection though?
When I realized I'd been hauling around boxes of LPs for decades after ripping the rare ones to CDs, I gave them all away to someone who was newly interested in classical music and very excited to have them. One of the few that I kept was a deaccessioned library copy of Arthur Loesser's "Sic Transit Gloria Mundi" recital that came with Loesser's personally typed copy of his entertaining program notes.
Indeed.., across the line. Just enjoy while you can.
I have volunteered for a local Friends of the Library where they accept thousands of CDs and LPs weekly. You won't make any money off getting rid of your music but you can have the satisfaction literacy and youth programs will benifit from your generosity.
That's a great idea. Where I live there exactly such a group that conducts an annual fundraising sale of donated books. I can't remember if they also do other media but probably they do. There's also a public radio station that does the same thing, and music media is definitely part of the offerings there. I might start doing some of my stuff bit by bit just to keep my kids from having too much of my crap to deal with. I'll have to do that with a lot of my dad's collection when he passes, I think.
Our town library store sticks CDs on the "free" rack. Even so, I take very few home, mostly for replacement jewel cases.
@@geraldmartin7703 This place makes hundreds, sometimes thousands, of dollars a week on CD's - even at only two bucks a CD.
Expecting to recoup on classical recordings is sadly not likely to happen but there are more options available to someone who wants to attempt to see a collection go to a good home. Firstly, there are retailers that would take then especially if the cost is low to none. Libraries are another option even if only for use in a library sale. I have acquired so many cherished classical CDs and LPs via these channels.
Just throwing collections away as you suggest insures that no one will ever make use of them again. It's entirely wasteful and pointless.
Agreed. A CD takes more than 200 years to decompose in a landfill...SMH
One thought: thrift stores. For some years now, thrift stores are my best source of CDs.
Donating unwanted recordings will keep them out of landfills, get the shop a dollar per disc, and maybe someone will find some new music that they love.
My local charity shops - as we call them in England - have stopped selling CDs. Every now and then I'd find a gem for 50p, but I guess those days are gone!
I'd have to check with our local thrift stores, but I think CD's may well have reached the same status as old cathode-ray TVs in terms of who will take them (the answer being no one). But there is a public (non-profit, commercial free) radio station where I live that conducts an annual sale of donated music and books, and I think that's probably where my dad's collection, minus the recordings my siblings and I want to keep for ourselves, will go.
@@soozb15 I am in NY and local thrift shops in my area keep increasing the price of CDs and vinyl. People are buying them and they are making money - which is great for the business and keeps these things out of the landfill.
@@MDK2_Radio Quite the opposite - at least in my area. CDs and Vinyl are always selling quickly at thrift shops. I know because I go to these often and the media sections are always mobbed.
@@TheAboriginal1 vinyl is definitely still in vogue, but I'd be surprised if that extends to classical recordings.
“…everything available to everyone all the time!” I can’t picture a nobler sentiment!
A practical talk, thank you, Dave.
I've just recently discovered the ironic joy of classical music on 7"45s! Now I've started collecting them to go with my 78s. You're right: they're worthless; but they're fun for me. I only collect stuff I find locally, or when traveling for other reasons. They're attractive to me for the nostalgia and the social history interest - seeing what inconvenience folks accepted to consume music seventy or a hundred years ago, compared to me with hours of music in my pocket available with a touch on a tiny screen. My 19-year-old kid collects typewriters, so I guess it runs in the family (our interests happily overlap at Leroy Anderson on vinyl).
Incidentally, yesterday I stopped by an estate sale after work, hoping to find crusty old records, but came away with a bag full of CDs - interesting stuff (not the usual greatest hits albums) - Mehul, Ludolf Nielsen, Huber, Benda, Dittersdorf, Michael Haydn, Peterson-Berger, and more like that - I paid $5 for more than fifty CDs. That's pretty darn close to nothing. But I gotta say, I feel a kinship in taste to the collector who died and left them behind. That's all I wish for my collection when I'm gone.
Another implication in this message - which I take seriously as a middle-aged guy aware of my mortality - is that when I buy a new CD or LP (I predominantly listen to physical media) I sorta ask myself, "What lifespan will this have for me?" Will I listen to it once, or a few times, or often?" & "Will anyone want this after I'm incapacitated or gone?" It's a sobering thought that has slowed down my collecting & made me hope I'll find one or a few listeners who will personally want this stuff - but I'm not holding out much hope for that, as none of my family or friends would be that interested in it.
As an older guy in my 70's, I've found that to be true with a lot of the stuff I have accumulated: music, books, photos, etc. Who the hell will care about any of it in the long run? So, I donate as much as possible to Goodwill. Maybe someone younger will find value.
Largely agree. Nothing I’ve bought in my decades of collecting has been with one eye on ‘flipping’ it or selling it on at a profit. Over the years, various friends have donated parts of their collections to me, because they know the items will be used and valued by me - in other words, I’m giving them a loving home. But in advising ‘chuck it out’, maybe you’re tempting fate? People said exactly the same things about vinyl and cassettes 30 years ago, not foreseeing the strange (and, to me, inexplicable) renaissance of those media. The idea of the CD as ‘fashion icon’ might seem strange in the streaming crazy 2020s, but …stranger things have happened!
A CD revival (in time) would surprise me a lot less, as it has so much more going for it compared to its successor than the LP/casette had in their day. The three big ones are:
3) booklet information (when streaming, do people really go online to search for it?)
2) sound quality (most streaming is below CD standard)
1) longevity (a streamed bit of music exists for as long as the firm hosting it chooses to keep it available, AND for as long as that company remains in business; in other words: valuable things WILL disappear).
@@vdtv Well said. It could be closer than we think. 90s nostalgia is just beginning to gain momentum. As we all realize, it would be the exception rather than the rule that any specific recording would be particularly valuable. At least CDs sound better for longer though.
Dave, there is one option that might be considered. When I was working on my doctorate (Doctor of Musical Arts), I also was a library assistant at the music library, and my university had a sound archive that did collect jazz recordings of historical importance. I believe that instead of purchasing them, the owner would donate them and receive a wright-off that could be used for towards their taxes as a charitable donation. That was the archive, but in the regular music library I, and many other student assistants, had the task of working with over 10,000 classical recordings. We arranged them by record label, and within each of them they were filed by their respective record numbers. We also searched the library holdings of other universities via the early years of the internet to obtain all of the information to place them in our catalog. Yes, it was a lot of work, but bit by bit they were all catalogued. The recordings were invaluable because we conservatory students were able to hear and learn from the innumerable interpretations of artists that ranged the gamut of the 20th Century. That was where they had their value, not in the actual monetary value of the record. I did notice that you made some reference later on in the video that was similar. There are smaller colleges, universities, community colleges, etc. where their budgets may be limited as to what they can purchase. It might be worth considering.
Sure, it's a good idea except that most of them don't even want donations anymore--unless you make a financial contribution as well to catalog and store them (then they keep the money and use it for something else, while volunteers do the actual work).
After writing my comments, I realized that when I was doing my doctorate was 30 years ago, and things are different today. Even though it was a lot of work, it was still interesting and educational. One of the most humorous moments was watching a foreign student watching opera videos all of the time in order to learn a role. Later on I felt sorry for him because it limited his ability to understand the characters he was learning to sing.
What you are saying is so, so true, alas! I have a huge collection of sound recordings (78 rpm. discs, LPs, audiocassettes, open reel tapes including some pre-recorded ones, and CDs). The 78s and LPs alone total about 156,000 discs. They include a very large portion of the catalogues of "pirate" vocal classical recordings (e.g., B.J.R., M.R.F., Eddy Smith's various labels, and so on and on), lots of presigious acoustical 78s from celebrity vocalists, string players, chamber music, etc., numerous rare ethnic music recordings from the Middle East, etc., etc. However, try as I might, I cannot find anyone to whom to leave them. Now, I just have some wildass hope that I can find a young collector of very wide tastes to whom I can leave them. I am not concerned that the collection remain intact, just that the records are not destroyed! I resign myself, however, to knowing that these records are unlikely to find any "takers", even cost-free. That's just how it is these days, when sound archives (not to mention other collector sources) are bulging already with more records than they know what to do with.
If anyone lives in Europe, there are several companies that will buy your old CDs, probably for only pennies on the dollar (cents on the euro), but it's still worth doing. You download their app, scan the barcodes and they pay the shipping to their processing centre. They also, wait for it, *recycle* CDs that can't be sold as opposed to throwing them in a landfill... I have offloaded *hundreds and hundreds* of old CDs like this. There are also specialised shops in Paris that will take some quality classical CDs off your hands for a fair price or give you store credit if you're still alive to spend it 🤣
"Pay the shipping" might be the difference between it being a worthwhile endeavor or not. But then again, the recycling aspect makes it the right thing to do.
There is at least one U.S. based business that also does buys your used CD's and electronics, and they pay for the shipping. You still need to provide a box, but that's it. You probably won't get much, but it sure beats having the items go into a landfill. I never sold to them, but I have bought from them.
Local stores currently aren't paying a lot for used media or books (at least in the Seattle area), but at least there's a good chance your items will eventually make it to a good home. Goodwill is another good option. I've bought a lot from them in the past, and now they're getting some of the items back so they can sell them again!
Thanks, Dave. I really felt that you were talking to me. It's a sad situation. I would love to find someone whose jaw would drop when they saw what I have accumulated as I, too, love physical product. I have been that person toward other people's collections. The feeling is indescribable. I wish there was somewhere that folks like us could meet and share our collections and experiences with like minded people. At a minimum there is, at least, your site where a subject like this is, at minimum, discussed.
I couldn't agree with you more. I buy LPs and CDs to listen to, not as an investment even though Discogs keeps telling me my collection is worth $xxx,xxx.xx. That's funny money. Jokingly, I say my collection is someone else's problem when I'm gone!!!! 😀
I collect composers and a few soloists. I try not to duplicate the CDs I have.
I agree with you entirely. I bought what I bought for personal enjoyment with never a thought for what it was worth to anyone else. I am friendly with a man who runs a record business from his home and recently he decided to thin down his personal collection by offering CDs for a small price and I l bought one of the Chandos Movies discs off him - disc, liner notes and case are in immaculate condition and I'm very pleased with it.
The joy of collecting is like the predator's hunting instinct. Part of the value of the prey is the excitement of the hunt. So I value this or that one not only because of how they sound but by association with the joy I felt when I discovered it, wherever. These feelings do not have any commercial valence; they are an added value (Mehrwert). You usually cannot sell or buy that experience, unless the item is signed by the artist, or Washington slept there, or something. But that reduces it to an antique, like a musical instrument in a museum.
I save my classical cds mainly because I value the liner notes, and although some are available online, it's more convenient alongside the cd. I also hate listening to music in the ether -- without any frame of reference or context whatsoever.
All very true. Collecting eventually becomes an issue as I’m sure it is for many people on here. It becomes simply physically impossible to listen to it all, mostly even a couple of times! So I think quite a lot about what to get rid of, gradually, so family don’t get loaded with disposal at the end of the day, but also so I get more realistic about what I’m going to listen to. Letting go can be an enjoyable exercise so long as you pay attention to what you do listen to and what you don’t. Anything you haven’t listened to for ten years, well, gees, will you miss it? There’s a curve going on when you collect, collect, listen to learn, but at the end of the day you don’t need to have it all accumulating and sitting around. So you gradually relinquish a lot of it and keep the really cherished and important things.
Thank you for your insightful and compassionate perspective, and great information! 💛
This is a great reminder for me to surround myself only with stuff that I really enjoy. I shouldn't keep it around out of some delusion that anyone else will want it.
Agreed. Except that the person themselves who amassed and owns the collection should not be the one to throw it away. As long as they remain alive, it will still retain some residual value to them, however vanishingly small.
I’m crying in my beer right now! But, it begs the question-is my CD collection my music, or does my music transcend my preferred medium? The point you made that CDs were CHEAP entertainment made a lot of sense. Thanks Dave!
You are o joy to listen to, dear mr Hurwitz. Well said, as always...
It's heartbreaking what's thrown out & staggering how cheap so much classical repertoire is in charity & music shops (if less consistently cheap online). At the local dump I recently rescued the quite sizeable classical LP library of a local radio station, including some rarities (eg, much of the Lyrita catalogue...)😊
I added a comment earlier that either didn't save or was deleted - I can't remember exactly how the comment read but I do want to add that ebay is still a pretty hot market for CD boxes and 'lots' of big name labels like DG, Philips, EMI, etc etc. I am on ebay often and see big boxes like Karajan 1960s, 1970s, Bernstein boxes etc routinely sell for $300+ at auction and quickly.
Yep. Sold each of my Karajan boxes for at least cost, some times profit. They are out of print and there is still a market for them.
"...now that we have digital archives, it's entirely possible that the ability to access and listen to entire recorded archives will become a permanent thing." Yes, that's right. It is also entirely possible that these digital archives will disappear in a blink of an eye if some motivated madman decides to cause an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) at the wrong time and place. Of course, if and when that happens, I suspect that recorded music history will not be at the top of most people's minds.
Sad but true. CDs is nowadays worth less than the air they displace. But it has been a better investment than cigarettes. I have enjoyed my time with them and still does without risking my health.
A highly enlightening video that should be taken seriously by those who hoard CDs because of their collecting mania, but without listening to their music to beautify their everyday life!
I recently destroyed a collection of CDs that was moldy due to flood damage, even though the discs were still fine mostly I still decided to dispose of the whole thing. None of it had any worth beyond a few dollars. Even if I held onto them for some reason, they would simply be thrown away anyway when I died. It’s all junk in the end anyway, as unfortunate as that may seem to our material selves. I love my collection, and I’ll do what I can to maintain it, but in the end it will all be destroyed by something or somebody anyway.
As with most of us, our collections simply grew. Two disks here, three there to fill a gap or to get another view of a masterpiece... and over twenty years it becomes a thousand or more. Most have limited production so few should be really common.... and they should be selling for close to retail because they are practically indestructible, right?
Nope. If such were so I could sell them off for a new car.
Yes, I collect music to listen too. The value is in the music to me, no one else. It's the music that matters.
A very realistic viewpoint. And yet, there are many who would be interested in acquiring a tastefully-curated collection. I fall into that category. It's my hope that I will someday come across an extensive collection of CDs that extends from early music to new works. I suspect that there are very few such collections in existence, but one may always hope.
Funny story. After 9/11 I lost my job and had to downsize. Selling off items to supplement my income. One of them being a Bust of Brahms music box. Bought it in my teens. It was beautiful and to me seemed rare and priceless . I took it into an antique/retro shop. The person at the counter examined it and looked underneath and said, "this was made in China". Stupid me. I never checked when I bought it to see where it was made. The dealer did give me five dollars for it though. Lesson learned.
My idea for my library of books and CDS when I'm no longer around is for my daughters to donate them to a women's prison. I'm not sure if there would be any interest in my collection of classical CDs, which is at around 3200, or the other 700 or 800 of jazz, blues, rock and similar genres. Neither am I sure that anyone would be interested in the English language section of my library at a women's prison here in Spain. It's just an idea, it might be unrealisable, and I don't even know whether my daughters would be willing to actually see it through.
The material possessions of those who are no longer around are often devoid of any meaning for those who remain here.
The Princeton Record Exchange in particular will go around the country to buy large collections. Don't expect to get a ton of money but the offer will be fair and the music will get back into the hands of others who want it. Businesses on the west coast of the USA like Amoeba or Rasputin will also buy it, but I'm not sure if they travel. Once again, don't expect to get anything close to what you paid in most cases.
These days, the most common way of selling off large collections seems to be putting a box of 100-150 CDs on eBay with pictures of the CDs in the aggregate. It's more work than selling to a store but much less than piecing out the discs individually, and what collectors still exist will find the listing. This is going to be a case of be happy with what you can get - in most cases it won't be much but some may surprise the seller.
All of this is really to ensure others enjoy the music one took time to collect - it won't come close to the original outlay in most cases, even discounting inflation.
Digital downloads are not exactly as cheap as they should be, especially old releases. You can often find a used CD version of an album much much cheaper than the digital download from the label's website, even new cds
I just recently bought a bunch of CD's at Goodwill, some of them good performances (as supplements for taking along in the car) for as little as 99 cents each. I suspect that people are loading them onto (I do not give free advertising, so I won't name the device) and thengiving them away at charity stores. Also, some of the earliest classical CD's bought forty years ago have been owned bypeople who dod little to convince potential heirs of their merits. Off to Goodwill!
It is unfortunate that we don't teach music appreciation to kids any more. Too bad!Say what you want, but what could be a better use of the time than to listen to some great musical masterpiece such as Bach's Mass in B, Bruckner's fifth or Eighth, Mahler's Second or Third... among others, before I even bring up opera. Or binge-listening Haydn string quartets!
The 40-hour workweek determined necessary to ensure that people could ge industrial jobs in the 1930's is no longer to meeting our needs . Little could be more fulfilling than great music.
Thank you for this, Dave. Truly.
LPs from some classical 50’s-60’s labels, like Decca, EMI, British Columbia, RCA Living Stereo, Mercury, can fetch decent money. Do not throw those away. For everything else, see if your local record store wants it or just donate it to Goodwill. You’ll get very little in return, but it’s easy and perhaps other music lovers will have access to it.
If your friend has a list, he may put it up, and some of us may buy some things! 🙂
The things that have value are rarely CDs - at the moment. What you need is to own one of those rare things in LP form that is beloved or even legendary among audiophiles. And I had one of those, by sheer luck. It is the Rossini two-LP set of string sonatas on Philips by Accardo, Meunier c.s. which is a brilliant record of exuberant, youthful works (with no repertoire talk yet, hint, hint) that, when I looked it up on eBay, gave me quite a jolt. This was in the period when I was winding up my LP possessions, and I had just got rid of that one to a deserving friend. The eBay prices were in the region of $1000 to $1500. Not the fantasy prices of for sale items, but the prices they had actually gone for!
That good friend was, unfortunately, dying. He was leaving his estate to a human cesspit (former fellow student who had gone on to do nothing as a profession; a leech on society 100% by choice). So I said nothing, and it's gone to landfill eventually. That does hurt a bit, I have to admit. I have the same recording on a Japanese pressing on CD now, but it's also available on Eloquence. One that certainly didn't need remastering.
Such valuable records are very, very rare. And as far as CDs are concerned, I don't think they exist. But with everyone now chucking their CDs out, they are becoming scarcer, and the desirability of them is only going to go up from the "no value" period we are in now. In my lifetime? Don't know, don't care. I bought mine not as an investment, thank heavens, but as things to enjoy. And I do. What happens to them after my death is of supreme disinterest to me. Except... Should I return as a ghost, it wil give me endless pleasure to haunt that human leech and scream at him all through the night how much money he threw away. Hah hah hah HAAAAAAAH!
100% agree. I collect for pleasure not profit and I know my collection is monetarily worthless because 95% of it I've acquired for little more than pennies from charity stores or secondhand record dealers (the classical section is almost always the cheap corner - huzzah !). Only yesterday I bagged a selection of seemingly brand new Pinnock / Archiv Bach and Handel discs for 50p each, and my fourth Beethoven symphony cycle (Drahos / Naxos) for £2 ! One day I may even get round to playing them.
Could not be truer. A close friend opera director can pick what he wants. The rest can be tossed. I won’t care since I’ll be dead
Being still 24 years old and only having a modest collection I would be thrilled if someone wanted me to inherit their collection. I would cherish going through it. As a student I couldn't pay a lot for it but if someone needs a new home their cd's, I would certainly want to be the first to know.
keep in touch. The grim reaper is getting close...
@@martinhaub6828 Sorry to hear that. Have you been diagnosed with an illness?
Remember also that LPs are expensive but popular novelties to youth today. Rinse, wash with mildly soapy water, rinse again with distilled water, gently wipe off excess water and allow to air dry for several hours, and my 1970's high school era LPs sound like new, except for the Columbia Harry Partch Quadraphonic LP that a class bully (probably a future Los Angeles Classical FM DJ or Classics Today critic) ground chalk dust into.
Agree that an individual collection has no value as such but individual items may have a value as Discogs will show. Of course any dealer will only pay a fraction of retail and large collections will be further discounted. Dave is right - buy classical music because you like/love it - not as an investment.
Donations to library sales may be my best bet. At least there is the chance that someone will find a recording they will like or if not, they may be likely to pass it on for another donation cycle.
David, you are so correct on many of these points!
I work in a Vinyl/CD store and I can tell you that “Classical Music” on Vinyl and/or CD is completely at the bottom of the rung on the market demand ladder. Basically no-one comes into our store looking for it, except for ME!
Given the revival of the LP n the last few years, there is a small demand for certain recordings and record labels, but this is truly a niche market, not with the general public.
SACDs are second and the lowly CD is almost worthless.
It’s sad but true!
The thrift stores I visit are awash in classical (and easy listening) L.P.s. Try to find a Beatles L.P... .
Almost worthless is wonderful. Yesterday I brought a seemingly brand new and well reviewed Beethoven symphony cycle for £2 in a charity shop.
Well said Dave!
If I was offered Dave's whole collection for free I would have to say no. Apart from the space required, at my age of 68, there is no way I would have time left to listen to even a small part of it. You have to sleep, eat, and leave the house don't you ! Surely a collection of this size can only be used for reference purposes and used for comparison with new releases, and maybe pull down your favourites. I notice you chucked Rattle on the floor, but will you still keep it I wonder? Or have you a sin bin reserved for Simon and Roger??
I wouldn't take Dave's cds either. Well, maybe one or two. But I would take his collection of scores, especially complete works editions.
I will hang on to Rattle for professional reasons, as you kind of suggest. If I had my choice, I'd get rid of it, and a lot else besides. You are right, of course. There's no reason to accumulate so much stuff--especially duplicates in order to compare reissues of the same stuff. It's ridiculous, unless you have some other use for it.
This is a sobering but necessary reality check. My collection has a handful of OOP box sets and rarities that might sell on Discogs or eBay, if I were patient. Indeed, I am always selling a few odds and ends this way to prune my collection and generate a little cash for more collecting. But I know that, were I soon to die, the lion's share of my CDs would end up being donated to Goodwill. Would this still be the case in a few years? Perhaps not. The next time we have a big 2008-style economic crisis, I suspect a lot of the big streaming services will fail and a lot of music that people expect will always be there on the internet "cloud" will suddenly disappear. Just as there is currently a roaring secondhand market in old jazz records, I could foresee a time when classical music on phyical media could become more valuable. Am I holding my breath, however? No.
I'm no collector but I do take issue with today's norms nevertheless. Someone like Dave has a collection going, and near to no-one will be interested in taking it over in the future? There was a time, like only a decade or two ago, that public libraries were into building themselves little collections of popular music. Ours had a really neat section on American Jazz and Blues. All gone. I don't know what you guys think, but a mass product once like an old book, second hand now, has still for me some worth left. There are lists on here done by famous people with their best ever books and near to none of them is a recent reprint. How about the American Library of Congress? Surely they have a section on classical music recorded in the US
The libraries I used to use have gotten rid of their books to install computer monitors (as if we didn't all have those at home anyway). Don't get me started on libraries.
Dave - when did you start collecting ? how did you acquire such a collection ? have you listened to EVERY single disc in your collection ? and do you have a special favourite selection you keep finding yourself returning to ? I need to learn more about my music guru. Best wishes from Shropshire.
I started collecting records when I was still in single digits. I have heard everything in my collection at least once, but then I had many decades to do it. As for favorites, check out the "Dave's Faves" playlist .
One has to come to terms with the idea that one's collection is not a valuable archive. Unless one has a close relative with the classical collecting bug (unlikely), that collection will be dispersed to second-hand stores -- and that is the best-case scenario, the worst case being that the records will be consigned to landfill. There's nothing wrong with records ending up in Good Will. It is an opportunity for other people to discover new music at a reasonable price, something which is to be welcomed. In the meantime, those records are in your house to be enjoyed for their musical contents, nothing else!
The Library of Congress has over 500,000 LPs; 450,000 78-rpm discs; over 500,000 unpublished discs; 200,000 compact discs; 175,000 tape reels; 150,000 45-rpm discs; and 75,000 cassettes.
Not so much...
A splash of ice cold reality to our collective faces.
Dave reminds us that the world is rarely as we would wish it to be.
Wisdom from an amiable curmudgeon
I've heard stories like someone stole some cds from a car, but they left the Classical Cds. Many used retailers have disappointed people when they try to sell their stuff when they are told how much you are getting. They have to make money somehow. Don't take it personally. Someone else will probably buy it and derive pleasure from it.
When Cds first came out, everyone was convinced that Lps had simply lost their value but low and behold . . . and then there are jazz 78s of the twenties and early thirties despite cd reissues. . I suspect that David is right but who really knows but do we really collect cds as an investment in anything but enjoyment...
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Dave, I don't know if I entirely agree with you. Most things that people collect are mass produced, such as comic books, toys, old books, even vintage cars. And all these collector's markets are niche. There isn't a mass global market for any of this stuff. And yet, collectors pay huge money for things that were once mass produced but no longer are. Now, I don't know how that would translate into recorded classical music. It may not. But I don't think that just because something was once mass produced would automatically mean that it has no value to anyone but you. I'm just not sure about this.
Not to speak for Dave, but listening to the video, the "mass-produced good" was not the only factor in this. Yes, there are collectors of things out there in the world, but if it's something that is easy to find, a collector likely already has it. If we are talking about one of a kind historical treasures, that is another discussion altogether.
This discussion is about either you voluntarily or, god forbid, your loved ones after your passing becoming involuntarily encumbered by the task of attempting to realize and recoup the value that you once had in a _collection of music,_ something so subjective and difficult and bound to inevitably disappoint.
You can gamble your time and patience looking for a jackpot, or simply appreciate the joy and return in value the music provided. If it suits, you can then graciously pass that joy on to others as you see fit. I think that was the takeaway here.
@@R0bstar-YT 'Collector' boxes are still valuable on auction sites like ebay. They sell for hundreds individually. I know because I buy and sell them often.
One of the reasons comic books became collectable is because they were viewed as little more than trash by the parents of the kids who bought the first generation of them, and most were disposed of leaving very few remaining copies in any condition let alone mint. Old cars become more valuable because their a source of part for collectors and disappear as they're cannibalized that way for the few remaining operable vehicles. Books are really only valuable if their the first editions of landmark works. Toys were often also regarded as nothing to value by parents. I'm not sure vinyl records, especially of classical music, were ever subject to the same kind of treatment as your examples. In the record market, value is placed upon limited editions in mint or near mint condition, or first pressings of landmark releases (though there has to be a way to confirm that, not always easy with major label recordings). You may be lucky enough to own a few such recordings but unless you studiously pursued such records, very little of what you have is worth more than a couple of dollars apiece.
Donate them to a music academy! They have libraries for this stuff, and you can take a tax deduction.
In my experience, the bureaucracy and red tape (copyright0 make this virtually impossible in the UK, even as donations. it's really not worth the hassle.
You can donate your music to the most high end charity shop you can find and get away with a tax write-off. Look up the value of your recordings (on average) on the web and calculate what its worth.
Vinyl might be worth something. CDs are almost always worth nothing. I have been buying CDs from thrift stores ever since they became a dollar a piece, and have amassed thousands of CDs, most of which are classical. I think if I would want to sell them, I probably wouldn't get anything more than 10 cents a CD on average. I will say, though, that among all genres of music, classical CDs are the most well taken care off of them all. They are always without any scratches, and sometimes almost brand new.
I've noticed the classical L.P.s in thrift stores are usually in very good condition.
Understood, because if you have a huge CD collection (as most Classical afficcionados do), you mostly will have played the odd individual recording some 3 times total since acquiring it - unless it was among your 1,000 favorite recordings. :) Plus, the Classical collectors certainly take care of their cherished possessions. For sure they do not haul them about parties or fail to store them adequately... the worst is moving house, when some items can get damaged. I believe it is this function of hoarding and cherishing the treasure that provides for good preservation of the product. And the more pity if it finds no new home afterwards.
You can sell your excess CDs to the likes of resellers like Music Magpie (in the UK) etc. -- who will take them for usually well under £1 each. I have a number of CDs that I've had enough of (or didn't like the first place) which I plan to pass on that way. I suspect the cost of postage may well exceed the financial return, but hopefully they may then stand some chance of going on to a good home. I tend to buy most of my CDs second hand from such resellers -- a kind of library service!
Records have a value as an archive of humanity production, wouldnt it be sad so much stuff get forgot forever ? If you dont know what to do with it, give them to a public library
If you have the right vinyl in the right condition it can be worth quite a lot
That's doubly true of some 78s. So don't throw out those Caruso blue label Zonophones. Each one is worth a hefty four figures. Your 1903 G&Ts of Grieg at the piano are worth thousands.
@@bbailey7818 I just looked up my friends complete mozart set and it sells for $489
Let me know when you decide to get rid of your collection Dave. I'll be right over!
Sadly, not even libraries are interested in your old recordings. Records take up space they can ill afford. Only other collectors may be interested, and only in specific items. And the medium changes will render some records unplayable. Dave is absolutely right, enjoy what you have now. Even your children could not care less!
I'd disinherit them then!
Hi Dave. You brought up the legacies of record labels. On that topic what do you think of Apple acquiring BIS.
I don't care.
They could give it to me.
But Dave - money aside - what about the historical value of a collection such as yours? Is no one interested?
Interested? Sure. Willing to pay money? I think not.
My entire collection is but one of your double-think cases. So, I'll take the lot! Grin!
Gee Wizz Dave ! - That was a cold slap with a wet fish !
But you are probably right - Nobody Cares about MY collection but ME
i feel the same way about my physical collection, and it's always fun to explore and dig through the archive. i feel enriched every time i revisit something or finally get around to something for the first time. And i've accepted this archive that i take such good care of means diddly squat to any of my friends and loved ones. Outside of the extra cost it may incur, i doubt anyone would object to my request to be buried with it.
Depending on the size of the collection, the extra cost might be formidable. 😉 How big of a hole do they need to dig?
Make the cascet out of cassettes or CDs to save from materials.
You can only take MP3s with you.
a steam shovel would be recommended. @@MDK2_Radio
I am very surprised by your statement, Dave, because, in Paris, I know three large second-hand classical CDs shops, where CDs can be sold at fair prices. Personally, I go there very often to sell / buy CDs in order to keep only a "reasonable" quantity of preferred CDs in my home. I precise that "reasonable" is a purely personal appreciation !
3 ???? I only know of just one !!
@@operanostalgia3820 "Melomania" (the best one), "Joseph Gibert" and "La Dame Blanche", all three in the "Quartier Latin".
I sell used stuff too, at Academy on 18th St in Manhattan, but I was talking about a situation in which someone was talking about getting major money for a huge miscellany of stuff, including real-to-real tapes and the like. Of course, it's nice to get a few dollars (or Euros) here and there, but you're not going to retire on your profits.
@@philippecassagne3192 Amazing places!
Gibert hardly takes classical cd's anymore and if they do it is for peanuts. I don't know the dame blanche any good?@@philippecassagne3192
A few years ago I cleaned up my LP collection that I had accumulated over many years (45 years), since at that time I had a lot of duplicates (LP-CD) .....I made 11 boxes of 2 cubic feet, after going through my collection, and I went to take it to the church not far from my home. Church which has a sale at least twice a month kind of thrift store in his basement....hoping to have made people happy......in my will, it is my two nephews who will inherit my present collection....because they both love music. Fortunately.....!
I have been buying and selling for years now. Sometimes I panic and say how am l going to listen to all of this stuff l have, especially classical. So many cycles of Beethoven piano sonatas etc. l get a fraction of what I paid for them but weed out the ones I feel are expendable. I go to NYC or Princeton if I feel ambitious. It’s a bad habit that I’ve had for the past 30 years or so. It’s always fun to find new things, after l part with the cds and lps l don’t want anymore. And of course taking a loss on them.
I guess I won't be unloading my Norrington/Beethoven cycle anytime soon.
You can have mine.
We know all are going to die and many things we fond may not be matter to the next generation. Yes, it may be worthless but as for now we can't throw it away or maybe wait someone keep our things in the future.
Good talk, and it affirms what I've been thinking myself. I was planning on setting up an account at discogs to deal with my dad's collection once he passes on*, but I was going through the value of some of those works and few are really saleable. I haven't told him because he seems convinced that he has a real treasure trove, but I think it's only that if you consider that he has really striven to collect every recording of Bach's Matthew Passion, that you might see value if that's something someone else is after. But few of those recording are both scarce enough and in demand enough to be worth anything. So it's probably going to be part of the estate sale, and the rest will be donated to charity, from whence I'm sure a lot of it, sadly, will end up in the landfill.
* I do possess a number of rare original punk rock records, which is another side of my tastes, and I can fetch a fair price for a lot of those. It's perhaps a result of the Classical music world's obsession of everyone recording and rerecording everything that there's little in the classical recording world that's comparably valuable. Maybe nothing - some of my punk records are worth low thousands of dollars, and is there any classical release even worth hundreds? Maybe the first edition of Solti's Ring Cycle?
Actually another person made a suggestion about a Friends of Library charity, which made me remember that our library in Denver does that. There's also a public radio station in Boulder that as an annual sale of books, records, and CD's for fundraising. That might be better than Goodwill, whom I had in mind when I wrote my comment.