Bootleg Vinyl

[welcomdmat]

I did a quick search, so hopefully this is not an overly beaten topic.

Bootleg vinyl -- why is there so much of it? I understand that someone feels there is a demand not being satisfied for xyz album, but I regularly hear about wait time for vinyl presses, so I don't understand how the math ends up working out -- doubly so with the small volume of sales.

I was going through some of my purchased new versions of older albums. For Krautrock selections (as an example), I have a fair few -- all of my Can, Harmonia, GuruGuru -- that seem to be bootlegs. I have a couple others that are no more or less common that are legit represses. Some boots are better than others, some represses are better than others -- and that goes across the two as well.

I just bought a new record (Harmonia, Musik von Harmonia), and it has no signs of legit reissue, has UA on the label and dead wax, non-gatefold copy of original art, all the other signs of a bootleg. This is an album that will only appeal to a very small percent of the listening public, so why bother?

Are bootlegs a labor of love?

 

[SiliconTi]

I think they are profitable in other countries and make their way here.

 

[welcomdmat]

When you say other countries, do you mean the EU or more like Argentina and India? It seems to me that profitability would require either a large market or many small markets (like the EU or Africa on the whole).

 

[elvi]

Bootlegs have their place.. One of my most valuable LP's is a bootleg.
Pink Floyd, a nice set.

 

[jnicholson14]

I have a couple of boots of legit albums that are good sounding dupes on colored vinyl. I got them unsuspecting, thinking they were legit, but they sound good. Other boots are live albums unavailable elsewhere. I like these a lot if they are high quality sound board recordings. Not so much if they are handheld tape recordings from someone's pocket.

 

[welcomdmat]

I completely agree that there are some albums -- live and studio -- that are very hard to get in a non-bootleg version. Some are really good, some are not so good.

My question is who are the masterminds behind their production? When only a small audience exists for these albums, how are these folks getting paid for their efforts? Additionally, how are they getting time on the limited presses around?

 

[Pio1980]

I completely agree that there are some albums -- live and studio -- that are very hard to get in a non-bootleg version. Some are really good, some are not so good.

My question is who are the masterminds behind their production? When only a small audience exists for these albums, how are these folks getting paid for their efforts? Additionally, how are they getting time on the limited presses around?

Also, who cuts them? How good can they sound, given the probable source of the content off a random LP.

 

[jmchrislip]

I bought some in the 70's. Some were good others terrible. Some sounded like they were recorded live with a hand held mike while others sounded pretty good.

 

[Mr.White]

What the OP is describing is a pirate, not a bootleg. Bootleg is this sort of thing;



Material that was never officially released.