Record collecting is a part of being a DJ right? At least it was… maybe it still is. Sort of.
There’s now a new generation of DJs out there who have only ever known mp3′s or CDs. They have never been digging in the dusty back room of a record shop, hunting for rare shaped picture disks, that japanese import that only had 200 pressings, finding a copy with the poster still inside, every release on a long forgotten label or just buying a random record because it had a funny name or striking cover. They will also never know the pain of moving house when you own a ton of vinyl or the cost of transporting a flight case of records on an aeroplane.
The biggest selling 12″ vinyl record in the last 14 years is the control vinyl for Serato Scratch Live. A record that plays a control signal, a tone, a “beeeeeep”! Not only is this testament to how many Scratch Live users there are around the world but also that those users have started to collect the increasingly varying colours and designs that are being pressed.
In response to this Serato have pressed loads of colours, picture disks, 7 inches, 10 inches, etc… Some are widely available, some are hard to find, some are promotional items given to sponsored Serato Artists and some are test pressings or factory pressing mistakes. In the last year i’ve seen crazy bidding wars on Ebay for colours such as the promotional white pairs. Over $400 for a pair!?! Sorry, but that just doesn’t compute with me…. that is like a months rent on my flat… on a pair of records… with a “beeeeep” on it.
I have been collecting proper records for about 20 years and have a few treasured ones including my prized copy of the Animal House soundtrack signed by the main cast including my hero, the late, John Belushi. To me that is priceless but in auction terms my most valuable records are some of the coloured vinyl i have been kindly given as gifts by Rane and Serato. The most valuable of which are my 4 pairs of whites, 7 inches, various picture disks and a very limited pair of marble ones i was given at the BPM exhibition this weekend with this post-it note attached
There are a growing number of people who have taken collecting control vinyls to dizzying heights of obsession and cost. You can read more about their collections on the Serato forum thread on the subject.
Im going to focus my efforts on continuing to collect soundtracks and spoken word vinyl i think… All the while hanging onto these control vinyls incase i ever get the urge to match my vinyl with my outfit.
Cheeba
great post cheeba im now on my way to collecting
great article mate. i guess that’s the most we can ask for these days what with the sort-of-demise of vinyl. although will it die completely? i’m not sure it will.
its a mad mad trend. Even if they produce rainbow CVs, they will never match the coolness of my pop up gatefold of golden era hollywood show tunes or my Tom Lehrer 10 inch.
“…my Tom Lehrer 10 inch.”
nice!
Are those ltd Serato 45s worth anything then?
‘the old dope peddler’… crazy song.
yeah, there is certainly demand for the SSL 7″… just need to get a bidding war going on ebay
All good over here mate. Good look on the website!
Cheers,
Dan
“Sorry, but that just doesn’t compute with me…. that is like a months rent on my flat… on a pair of records… with a ‘beeeeep’ on it.”
You said in your post you collect records. If you’re a serious collector which no doubt you are you probably have some real stinkers in your collection that are worth a bomb. I have some hiphop 12s that are so badly recorded you cant play them out. But they’ll sell for $250 on eBay. In my opinion, anything that promotes vinyl either as an extension of a digital DJ device like serato or as a viable publishing format is good news. If it wasn’t for Serato vinyl would be LONG gone.
Who cares if it’s a beep or a great tune. As long as the format is there and relevant in peoples minds then some people can use it to play their MP3s and collect the pretty colours and we can keep digging and collecting for the music.
thanks for your comment.
“If it wasn’t for Serato vinyl would be LONG gone.”
gotta say though, this is not true! I have worked in one of the major online record stores in the UK and i can assure you sales of D&B and Dub step are still predominantly on vinyl and sales numbers are huge! Its a also growing trend for indie bands to have vinyl releases as well as the obvious CD and downloads.
I guess this trend for collecting CVs is booming because the whole collection is still (kind of) achievable for anyone… there will always be someone who has one you don’t though which keeps the fire alive
Great artical i featured it in on my website
I agree i have thought about collecting them all but then again i kinda found my self throwing my money away when i only end up using 2 pairs the most for the feel not the look. I have the Purple marble red green cobolt blue stokyo shibuya breaks and clears but find that im using the Blue and purple more cause they float really nice on the platter. Im glad that Vinyl is still being used cause the cd player would have mad me hang up the headphones
made*
great blog.
check this out for the passion for vinyl:
http://agrumpyoldmanwithabeard.blogspot.com/2009/10/worlds-biggest-music-collection-yours_19.html
and although the film is old it’s still great: http://vimeo.com/1546186