MannyE
Exterminate!
What???? no NRBQ? MONSTER!!!!!!
Estimate how much money you have wrapped up in your music collection
- Thread starter biscuithead
- Start date
KDAC
Addicted Member
Conservative estimates:
CDs: $10,000 (lowball)
Cassettes: $5,000
Vinyl: $ 2,000
I use the word "conservative" due to loss/theft. I worked back-office at a multinational bank in between the mid-90s and early 2000s. I clearly remember inadvertently leaving behind a full-to-capacity and then some 200 capacity CD wallet full of retail priced prerecorded CDs in the lunch room during the Spring of 2001. Of course it was long gone when I went back to look for it. During that period of time, I was spending $13 to $16 per album... Sheesh.
CDs: $10,000 (lowball)
Cassettes: $5,000
Vinyl: $ 2,000
I use the word "conservative" due to loss/theft. I worked back-office at a multinational bank in between the mid-90s and early 2000s. I clearly remember inadvertently leaving behind a full-to-capacity and then some 200 capacity CD wallet full of retail priced prerecorded CDs in the lunch room during the Spring of 2001. Of course it was long gone when I went back to look for it. During that period of time, I was spending $13 to $16 per album... Sheesh.
biscuithead
Me likes the eargasm retroplasm...
We celebrate our differences in this thread! I have moved my music many times, I do understand weight and back aches. I wish I could shake the troglodyte from my hair and just I-phone/I-pad/I-tune/ Stream-tooth my way to musical happiness. I am just too tactile, and stuck in my era.
I love music. It frees my spirit and inspires memory recall. Lyrics deliver philosophy and challenge, and instruments deliver introspection and meditation. It is the most acceptable addiction I've ever had. I was curious if the value/cost of music exceeded the value/cost of gear for most of us... but with modern delivery methods, it is hard to measure the cost of music. For me, this thread has opened up a new understanding about modernity... it might offer a less $$$$ oriented musical environment. This I like.
dshoaf
That high voltage buzz
I pulled my initial investment out decades ago. The agreement I have with the family is that the hobby is self financing. That is, if I want something else, I need to sell or buy-and-repair/restore something else in order to finance it. In other words, the hobby is self-financing because it is off the household books and I need to use my wits and experience to repair things to make enough $$ to but something else.
So, I've got a small savings of my own - in cash and paypal - that I use to purchase other gear when the opportunity arises. For the most part, I've been pretty fortunate that most gear I buy aren't stinkers and are repairable.
This means that I don't even think about the investment any more.
Cheers,
David
So, I've got a small savings of my own - in cash and paypal - that I use to purchase other gear when the opportunity arises. For the most part, I've been pretty fortunate that most gear I buy aren't stinkers and are repairable.
This means that I don't even think about the investment any more.
Cheers,
David
musichal
poet emeritus
I'm similar, though my method is not completely 'self financing.' We live debt-free, no house or car payments or any other payments, just the usual bills, which allows us an agreed amount of spending money each month - the rest goes into savings. So I have what I call my audio kitty that I've saved up, and add to it when I sell stuff, too. Once your kids get grown and they become self-financing, it's easier for sure. Though I call it audio kitty, I've also used some of it to buy guns, a golf cart and sundry other items. I spend, build, spend and build. In pretty good shape now, and I've been looking at speakers. It builds faster since I virtually quit buying CDs about three years ago.
Now Christine saves almost all hers. She retires in less than two years, and I think maybe I'll help her find a hobby.
Unfortunately, for me the issue is available space, which has shrunk considerably over the last decade, having moved from a house to an apartment and then to renting a room. I have space for about 1200 lp's. I still buy music regularly, but if I decide to keep something, it means something else has to go to make room for it. It was quite an adjustment to go from being able to have an ever-increasing collection, to having to do some rather ruthless culling, and then realizing that each new purchase would either be a temporary possession or have to displace something I've long enjoyed. The norm for quite a while had been to see the experience of buying a record as more like renting it, deciding that the experience of hearing it even just a time or two was worth the asking price. Lately, however, I find I just can't let go of thrift store Lawrence Welk and Slim Whitman finds--I foresee a big change in my collection in the coming years as my musical tastes become more and more like those of my long-departed grandparents!
MannyE
Exterminate!
I'm sure there will be plenty of takers for your Led Zeppelin LPs. Miami is a treasure trove of "101 Strings"
biscuithead
Me likes the eargasm retroplasm...
I have also implemented the " no audio expenditure comes from the family coffers" rule... But that was just about 8-10 years ago, and I was buying music for 20 years before that. Although my Audio hobby is completely self funded also, since it was money that put the music on the shelf, I still counted it.
I do fully respect all of us that fund our hobby with our hobby, I don't know why more people don't do it. It really takes very little effort, just a little know-how, and time. 8-10 years later, I have pieces that I never dreamed of. Rock on brother David
robert_kc
Super Member
I collect tube amps, and I like classical music and opera. My investment in equipment far outweighs my investment in music. I'm currently "upgrading" one of my systems to multi-channel, which is a first for me. I think I will soon have all of my hi-fi systems where I want them, and I'll focus on adding recordings, particularly multi-channel SACDs and Blu-ray. However, I've reached a point in life where I'm becoming more aware of the burden that all of my "stuff" will place on heirs who must dispose of it. And collecting more physical discs will start posing a storage problem. Are all multi-channel SACDs available for download?
Can someone please explain if discogs is a convenient way to catalog my existing recordings? I was unaware of discogs and have just starting reading about it. (Thanks for making me aware of it - that's what makes AK great!) Am I correct that I can look up all of my existing recordings in discogs, and then download a list into Excel? Is this faster than manually typing a description of each recording into Excel? I have no list of my recordings, and this is an issue that I need to address. Thanks for any guidance.
Can someone please explain if discogs is a convenient way to catalog my existing recordings? I was unaware of discogs and have just starting reading about it. (Thanks for making me aware of it - that's what makes AK great!) Am I correct that I can look up all of my existing recordings in discogs, and then download a list into Excel? Is this faster than manually typing a description of each recording into Excel? I have no list of my recordings, and this is an issue that I need to address. Thanks for any guidance.
twiiii
Lunatic Member
Today I buy LP's and a few CD's a record stores that specialize in LP's from the past. Which I can buy any where from 3 to 6 dollars a piece. New LP's over $20,00 each don't interest me. If I'm going to pay that much they better be direct to disc recordings or I'll buy CD. I bought all my Telarc CD's for cost directly from the rep. I can remember buying top of the line LP's back in the 70's at anywhere from 2.99 to 4.34 whole sale. So I have spent a lot less than MSRP. But off the top of my head I know the number of CD's, SACD's, DVD-a and LP's I have and multiplied by the average selling price when in stores. But what about the 1600 DVD's I didn't value. Some of those are strictly music performances, Basie and the like. There is the Jazz collection from PBS, too. Should they be counted? There are the 100 or so live boot legs. Then there is the 500 or so dubbed copies of LP's from the long gone first collection that are now dubbed to CD. I don't personnaly place any value on them. Compared a few CD reissues, some are better, some are worse. . How do I place value on them?
DougMac
Super Member
I bought my first record in 1956 and haven't stopped yet. I'd be hard pressed to come up with how much I've spent over the years. When I was a kid, I'd get $1.00 a week in allowance. Every week I'd spend at least part of that to buy a 45.
When my younger son was in high school, his trombone teacher came over once a week to give lessons. He looked at my record collection and told my son:"My, your Dad has an eclectic musical taste!" I agree, and this has led to a fairly substantial accumulation. This was helped when folks left vinyl, but knew I still like records. I've picked up a number of great collections, often numbering in the hundreds for free.
That brings us to expenditure vs worth. I came across a box of 45s at a benefit sale. I bought 136 records for $45.00. They dated from the mid 50s to the mid 60s. Most were in original picture sleeves and almost all are in pristine condition. Discography and Collector's Frenzy show that group is worth ~$2,400. In addition to those 136, I've got around 2,000 more 45s alone.
When my younger son was in high school, his trombone teacher came over once a week to give lessons. He looked at my record collection and told my son:"My, your Dad has an eclectic musical taste!" I agree, and this has led to a fairly substantial accumulation. This was helped when folks left vinyl, but knew I still like records. I've picked up a number of great collections, often numbering in the hundreds for free.
That brings us to expenditure vs worth. I came across a box of 45s at a benefit sale. I bought 136 records for $45.00. They dated from the mid 50s to the mid 60s. Most were in original picture sleeves and almost all are in pristine condition. Discography and Collector's Frenzy show that group is worth ~$2,400. In addition to those 136, I've got around 2,000 more 45s alone.
I replied 5 to 10k, as a large chunk of my vinyl has been dollar finds.
With that said, my first 750 cds or so were mostly at cost, or at least BMG/Columbia records/tapes club finds.
I probably have a real investment of around 20k. Somewhere around 1500 or so cds (quit counting years ago) and as many records.
With that said, my first 750 cds or so were mostly at cost, or at least BMG/Columbia records/tapes club finds.
I probably have a real investment of around 20k. Somewhere around 1500 or so cds (quit counting years ago) and as many records.
Erik Tracy
Everyone's happy when the wizard walks by
I'm a discogs noob.
I'm finding it a tedious process to find exact matches to many of the older 70's era rock records I have.
What I do is first search on the Artist & Title, do a list all for LPs, then one by one I open the entries to see if there is an exact match based on cover, catalog listing, label type, and then diving deeper - Matrix/Runout engravings & stamps.
There is a difference in price. I just finished the "B"s in my collection and over half there is no exact match, so value assessment is problematic.
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Condorsat
Audio Enthusiast
Can't be sure how much money I've got in my music collection. Most were purchased used at various prices from brick & mortar stores & online.
Don't buy anywhere near the "hard media" that I used too ... due to streaming and the maturity of my collection (I own most of what I ever wanted ... aside from rare stuff that I'm not willing to pay up for).
Most of the newer albums I want to hear are available for streaming .... so I tend not to buy many new albums ... unless it's something I feel I just have to own hard copy of.
Don't buy anywhere near the "hard media" that I used too ... due to streaming and the maturity of my collection (I own most of what I ever wanted ... aside from rare stuff that I'm not willing to pay up for).
Most of the newer albums I want to hear are available for streaming .... so I tend not to buy many new albums ... unless it's something I feel I just have to own hard copy of.
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robert_kc
Super Member
Thanks for the information. It sounds like discogs will not save be time in cataloging my classical CDs, SACDs, and Blu-ray.
Erik Tracy
Everyone's happy when the wizard walks by
Well, if your CDs, SACDs, and Blurays have barcode numbers, then it may be easier as unique releases *should* have unique barcode numbers.
LPs, I've had to take out of the sleeve and use a magnifying glass to read the matrix/runout letters to see if there is a match, as they don't have any barcodes.
robert_kc
Super Member
Thanks Erik. This is very interesting. I just did a quick check on amazon, and barcode scanners (USB or wireless) are relatively inexpensive. Have you tried this method to quickly scan CDs, and have discogs "do the heavy lifting" on cataloging a collection?
P.S. Does discogs correctly list metadata for classical recordings (e.g., composer, conductor, orchestra, soloists, etc)?
Erik Tracy
Everyone's happy when the wizard walks by
You can also just type in the barcode number in their search engine and it *should* get a match for you.
I don't know about classical metadata, but it should. The rock listings have everything from writing credits, musicians, recording plant, etc.
Earlier I posted "TOO MUCH" From what I've seen so far I'm not he only one!It's your money to do what you want with it but c,mon this doesn't make any sense at some of the numbers being posted here.Get real!When is enough enough?Most everyone here with these huge collections won't live long enough to hear everything they have let alone buying more?