Are Vinyl Records Only “Made To Be Played”? | Talking About Records 

I am in the "made to be played" camp. I do get however that for some people the artwork/artist support/ investment may be the driving factor. To each their own!

I respect both camps. Nostalgia can be such a big deal that someone just looking at the jacket and record can bring them back to a moment in time.

I buy records to play them and can say yes I have that record. I enjoy the ritual of playing them. I know if you leave it sealed over time it creates a warp. Not sure how much truth there is to it. I’m one that likes to watch my music play either on the turntable or the reel to reel. Great video GI!

I'm in the midrange camp on this topic. I have some records that I don't open that have very limited pressings and are numbered. However I don't go out of my way to make those the focus of why I buy records. Most of mine I open and play them because I love the whole experience.. From reading the insert to putting the record on the platter and slowing watching the needle lower in anticipation of the beautiful sound that only vinyl can deliver. I say do what makes you happy, but by all means, have some records that you can listen to, even if you're a collector.

Hey GI, I love your channel and I live in Gold Coast Australia. It’s funny before I started collecting Records, I used to collect fine wine (still do to some degree). What I found really frustrating about collecting wine was after spending lots of time and money buying the wine, you either just let it sit there in your wine fridge or you drank it and then it was gone, What I love about collecting Records is that after you find them you can play them over and over again. I am definitely in the camp of playing the Records and it’s one of the things I love about the hobby. Love you work mate cheers.

You make a great point about people collecting vinyl like they collect baseball cards. I never really thought about it that way. I notice that I listen to my records much less since the arrival of music streaming. It's just more convenient which is great for my busy lifestyle. In previous years I couldn't wait to get home and play my records. Now, it feels more like a chore which I really hate. So perhaps I sort of have fallen into the collectors only category without even realizing it. I don't buy as many records anymore and I have paired down my collection until I start becoming more motivated to play them. It's kind of sad! lol

always a great topic for discussion. One of the biggest differences in the records you showed sealed vs what people buy today is that it's unusual for those records to exist. today, half the people buying records dont even own a player. imagine how many sealed taylor swift records exist (and will never be opened) vs a 1970s zeppelin reissue. as for slabbing them and rating them - that is a horrible development coming out of the video game market. it will only entice more people who dont play records to get involved in vinyl, purely to scalp and profit.

I play my records , although I have bought a dozen+ for nostalgia reasons. Most of them which have got lost thru the years. The oldest sealed record I bought was Jimmy Castor - Hey Leroy , from 1967. #2 is Kool & the gang - Kool jazz from 1973. On both occations , after I payed , I broke the seal to inspect the record in front of the wide eyed store owners. That is tremendously fun. Hey , I’m gonna play them as soon as I come home anyway. Might as well have a laugh while I can. Yolo!

Lately I’ve been buying records at every concert I go to with my friends or kids and leave them sealed. I place them in an outer sleeve and leave a note of the concert date and who I was with. Since all concert tickets are digital now, these records are just for memories. Other than that I open and play all my other records.

Always transcribed them to R/R, first a Teac 2300SD then to a Revox B 77.

The way I see it is, if you're going to sell albums to people who are just in it for collecting, and have no intention of ever breaking the thing open, why not just put in a blank plastic disc. No music needed. Do you know how much money you can save, and also make? Think about it.

I have bought records, brought them home and forgotten of them. After realizing that the album I bought is not very good, I held onto the record and sold it for 3 times what I paid for it. Some new albums actually do go up in value if you hold onto them for a while.

I definitely have bought records I wouldn’t have otherwise due to FOMO marketing. BUT, I’ve said this before, two things that are no good to me on vinyl: a scratch record or an unopened one. I’ve been bashed for finding a rare, sealed pressing and cracking the seal. Certain people think it’s crazy for me to open the record and that I immediately depreciated the value of the record. My perspective is, why spend all that cash on something you can’t enjoy? I buy cars to drive and records to play. If I want to look at them, I’ll go to the dealership or a local record store. Otherwise, if it’s coming home it’s going to be enjoyed. 👍

I'm firmly in the player corner. I don't have a single sealed record. Same for books, they are meant to be used. Strangely enough, I am a professional museum curator, so should have the pristine-collector mind, but I don't. Needless to say, to each their own. Jedem Tierchen sein Pläsierchien. -- I was once at a charity auction with a Fender Stratocaster. I asked the person who got it what he liked to play on it, but he was one of those don't play collector. Don't get it at all. -- The only thing I don't like about the not-players, they cause supply delays for those of us who like to use the record as intended. Then there is also the artwork on lyrics sheet, etc. that cannot be seen on the Spotify stream. And that is such an important part of having the physical record. my 2c.

One of the main reason I built a CD collection rather than a vinyl collection is that the fidelity on vinyl degrade after so many listens. If I had lots of disposable income, I'd collect vinyls from selected bands but never open or play them.

Even if I don't spin the record, I’m opening it and cleaning it because if you don't, that record will warp. I think the industry should stop putting shrinkwrap on records.

Yes they are made to be played or not. ~~/)~~

Yes! Period. Slabbers are merely cover collectors

I think it depends on the individual. I'm firmly in the "made to be played" camp, 100% It just seems silly to me personally to purchase any record to hang it on a wall waiting for the monetary value to go up since that will never happen anyway. Record monetary values are 100% invented. That $200 record is really about $5 and so on. It is whatever someone is willing to pay. That is why I place zero monetary value on my collection and I do not sell my "rejects" or what have you, I give them away. Whatever I paid for a record, if I go to sell it I won't get a fraction of what I paid back. If I paid $20 for a record, I'd be extremely lucky to get $2 for it. It is not worth my time or effort. Then again, I am of a somewhat different reason for collecting in the first place. For me it is not only just the sentimental value, but I'm also somewhat a historian so that gets added which goes along with the artwork, etc. That is why I got a two year plus continuing education in record custodianship so I could "restore" records for the sole purpose of playing and enjoying them. It is why I go for original pressings as much as possible. I want to hear the record the way it was first done, flaws and all. Having said that, I don't worry too much about the jackets because it is near impossible to get one in pristine condition. If I waited for that, I would not have a single record now. Of course, I desire jackets in good condition, but I also embrace reality and I know that will rarely be found. (I have just a few = less than 20 in great condition, the rest are ok to not too great). It is the details that are important to me from a history perspective. I did hit a holy grail in that regard in that I picked up a copy of Chicago - Live at Carnegie Hall 1974. The cover is ok, but finding a sample ballot from 1974 from the previous owner stuck inside was one for the books. I have also picked up records thinking that they were not complete with everything they originally came with and discovered to my surprise that they were complete! One prized example was Jefferson Airplane's "Long John Silver" in its original cigar box form fresh and unassembled!

It really just depends. I can see not opening collector/limited editions or rare stuff that is somehow still sealed after all these years. For example, I have plenty of "play copies" of Nevermind. 13 years ago I was gifted, from a friend, a sealed copy of the MFSL pressing. There is no way in hell I am opening that after all these years. I don't care how big of a Nirvana fan I am. That'd just be stupid. So yeah, that one in particular is sort of like a baseball card for me.

As a kid, I had hundreds of albums - wish I still had them! Several years ago, I bought 30 or so of my favorite albums and framed them, hung them in my mantown. Soon I will be re-investing in equipment and albums and will be breaking those in the frames out to play them!

False. So funny because NOBODY goes up to a sports collector that has bats on his wall or balls in a glass box and goes...."What is the point of having a baseball bat on the wall?....bats are made to play baseball"!! Or the guy who collects stamps...."What is the point of having all these stamps if you are not using them to mail letters?". There is a cross for many between loving music and loving to collect MUSIC STUFF!! ...and sometimes a sealed records bring great joy to the collectors side of "musical stuff".

I use my records to cut pizza 🍕 Pencil through the hole and roll away

Collecting vinyl is like collecting comic books or baseball cards for some.

How often u listing to your records!it looks u got thousands.so u not actually listing to them u maybe play them once in a blue moon

I don't have many newly-made LPs, and I do play them ... except a few cases when a LP was accompanied with a CD. The CD ended up in the car for a month, and the LP stayed untouched. Sorry.

I buy records to play them and can say yes I have that record. I enjoy the ritual of playing them. I know if you leave it sealed over time it creates a warp. Not sure how much truth there is to it. I’m one that likes to watch my music play either on the turntable or the reel to reel. Great video GI!