My friend Guy Holloway is disposing of his CD collection and has asked for coverage. Happy to help.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/203649978408
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/203649997854 (opera)
Good luck Guy.
UPDATE on this originally Oct 20 post: Guy advises “it all went for an ok price.”
“Mother of Mercy, is this the end of the CD?” The current bid – with three days to go is just £102 for the whole collection of 5,500+ classical CDs. What would I get for my 10,000 LPs?
Are we collectors left holding the book of Ecclesiastes? “Vanity of vanity. All is vanity.”
But if we are to believe Chico Marx, “You no foola me. I know there isa no vanity clause.”
So, let’s all go back to the music and dance. (Cue for clip of Fred and Ginger to lift our mood.)
Look on the bright side. He will get at least £102! Enough for a month’s gas bill!!
CDs are yesterdays chips
However vinyl is the new Tomb of Tutankhamun
One should get a much better price for a vinyl collection
Guy’s main CD collection – 5,500+ titles – went for £2899 (30 bidders)
The Opera collection – 350+ titles – went from £371 (27 bidders)
Makes you think … High definition label downloads (most of my review copies these days), Specialist platforms (WAV, No Loss), YouTube, Spotify etc (mp3) have eaten right into the market. Books generally remain the better investment, reaching stratospheric prices if you’ve got something special, rare, or sought after with a low initial print run.
I am delighted to read that the price rose considerably in the bidding! For all of the popularity of cloud platforms, nothing to me beats the physical object, complete with art work, notes, photos, etc. The CD comes a poor second to some of the extravagant LP editions esp. the Soria series for Angel (in the US) with tipped-in color art reproductions of museum works. (E.g., first edition of the Beecham Messiah.) And for operas there were cast photos, production photos, story of the opera, complete libretto, essays, etc. – in readable size type! Take up a lot of space, but they have given, joy, comfort and lots of admirable information as well as audible pleasure over the decades.
The collections have also functioned as a reference library for me during the 17 years my program Musical Passions aired on WCLV. And the physical presence was also a springboard of serendipity for ideas and for rediscovering forgotten treasures.
I’ve stopped wondering what is going to happen to all this when I am gone. Whatever will be will be – and it won’t be anything my kids are interested in. I’ve made my peace with that.
You can always donate your CDs and LPs and books to a worthy cause. Ours is the survival of the Elgar Birthplace Museum, known now as The Firs, near Worcester. Our second hand CD, Vinyl and book sales are healthy and provide much needed support to the volunteers who love and run the place. The National Trust currently manage things on a licence basis but to survive into the future we need to build up and enhance a truly national treasure to the memory of one of our greatest composers. Ring Stephen on 01905352274 if you can help. Thanks
I’m with you, Eric. Nothing beats the physical object. And I agree with you about physical items being a “springboard of serendipity”. For 35+ years I’ve delighted in the LP, and the accompanying art work and booklets (I’m thinking right now of those marvellous David Munrow essays/books that came with the LP box sets … But today all my LPs have gone… and although most of the modern / LP later pressings are more or less worthless, the first pressings of Columbia, Decca, EMI etc retain their value, and indeed are appreciating. I sold a good number of individual LPs for £30 – 150 each last year. And the famed Johanna Martzy first pressings regularly go for over £1000 each.
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The reason I’ve let go all my CDs is that, in a new stage of life (including a change of country), they were bearing down on me, and even oppressing me. There was far more there than I could meaningfully listen to again, especially as I am still actively exploring new repertoire. In other words, my collection had for me reached a ‘tipping point’. It won’t work for everyone but I’m now thinking of keeping books and recordings at a cap of, say, 300 each. And if I acquire something new, then I plan to let something go…
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As an aside, I’ve let go my various hi-fi systems – my main one being all naim paired with 802s, and also my Linn and Meridian smaller systems. Yes, I’ve followed the endless quest for hi-fi perfection, and that it itself can be a curse. I often remind myself that one of the most searing and transformative moments of my life was hearing Bruckner’s ninth for the very first time – on a crackling transistor radio… (!!)