His collection was sold a while back, to a collector in Brazil, Zero Freitas, a millionaire who is collecting vinyl records in general, and is planning on making his library, much of which has never be reissued, available to the public. There was an article in New York Times, a few months ago.
If I had that kind of money I would buy it in a second. I love vinyl. I love the way it sounds. I love the way it smells. I love the feel of it in my hand. I can sit in a dim room on a Saturday night and put on some Sam Cooke and just get lost in the sound. I hope he has found a buyer since this video came out.
I was seperated by my record collection once. I was moving and there was no way in hell they were gonna be kept in storage and in the summer too! So, a friend of mine took them, and it was the most horrible month and a half EVER. I feel for this dude, only someone who collects, being records or whatever will understand. You create this perfect place of zen around your record player and your records. You play one and you're instantly in peace.
I can feel for Paul. I am almost 66 years old and I have been collecting 45's for about 50 years. The day has to come when I have to give up this wonderful hobby. In the past I have purchased quite a few 45's from Record Rama - a great place! I came to know early that the Pittsburgh area was a "hot bed" for record collectors. My best to you Paul and I sure hope your vinyl finds a great home. Take care, Ronnie Salyer
Paul I am 53 years old and have been a collector of vinyl since I was 11 years old. I am so saddened by the fact that no one is inetersted in preserving this beautiful Archive of History. If I had the money and was younger I would love to be the caretaker of your legacy. I currently have a modest collection of 10,000 LP's not close to your domain but it is my pride and joy. I hope that someone steps up and brings responsibility to this one of a kind collection of vinyl records. Peace & Love
Part 3. Storing: Always store vinyl standing up. DO NOT ever stack your records as a lot of collectors do because the weight will soon cause vinyl to warp and your record jackets will soon have that ugly ring on them from the pressure. When putting your records back in the jacket, very gently slide them back in and don't let them slide fast/drop in. Letting them drop in jacket will cause edge of record jacket to start to get that ugly split. Doing these things will keep your collection beautiful
That is what it is all about!! In the midst of all those years he had those records he didn't go for the money, he stayed true to the love of the music and the vinly!!! I hope whomever bought that collection cares for it the way he did!!!
I showed my dad this video a few years ago. He got pissed and went on some rant about how Paul McCartney or somebody like that with the money and means should buy this and preserve it. Its not true that no one gives a damn
I am 13 years old. I have been collecting for about 1 year. I have some rare stuff of all sorts. I mainly collect Jethro Tull & Graham Parker at the momment. This guy is a great hero. UW2
I hope this collection is never lost! What a shame if it is. Where's those highly successful people who say they care about so much? This guy is GIVING this stuff away!
I thought I saw this collection up on ebay for 2.5 million. Of course, I put a watch on it and checked it every day ( in case I got that winning lottery ticket). Just going thru them would be hours and weeks of fun - I'm constantly amazed by the records I don't know about and the discovry of something new brings my love of music to the forefront again. I hope his health improves and they can live out some of their dreams.
My heart sank when he said his asking price was only a measly 3million compared to the actual price of 50million. It really shows how physical media is deteriorating into nothingness and fast. Soon, records that were once priceless gems and held so close to our hearts will be worth pennies. It's a sad state of affairs.
What a lot of people don't know is that vinyl is pure sound and hits frequencies that cd and especially mp3. I suggest to anyone that don't believe that the quality of sound isn't better, sit down with a vintage turntable and receiver with some high end headphones or speakers and tell me it's it's not the most richest sound you ever heard.
i lived in omaha ne and i worked at a place called homers a record store exclusive to the metro area of lincoln and omaha. the place has been around for over thirty years. its been a hangout for all my friends from high school and college, it used to have 8 or more stores around the metro area. now there is only two left and one of the stores had to be moved to a smaller location. i lost my job when my store closed and i lost a lot of good times. its sad that these stores are closing down.
There is nothing like vinyl records, they will ALWAYS remain a classic, if there is a new release on vinyl, I will definitely purchase that over a CD, great vid also
If I was the owner of this collection I would do the following: Separate the rarest 300-500 records or so in the collection and put them for sale individually on eBay. The average items in the $20-50 price range each I would put them for sale as a lots of 10 or so. The ramaning items I would donate to a government institution, such as The National Sound Archiv (if it exists), and/or donate to some charity institution or as a last resort sell them as a bulk to a paper/plastic recycle company.
As a record collector, I first felt sorry for him. Then I thought about it. If his record collection is about 2 million, worth 50 million, and he's asking for 3 million, which is 47 million less than the actual value, the two million records you're selling for 3 million is broken down to $1.50 per record. If u have a store, selling every record for 1.50, you'll mathematically get your 3 million. But you mark every single record at four dollars, you get 8 million, 5 million more than u wanted.
I would rather buy separate albums because I already saw stuff in the video I can care less about. I would buy the 60s stuff like. I would go crazy if I had that many albums. I would have no idea where everything is.
I feel sorry for this guy and I do think he should get this kickstarter thing. I disagree with what he said about people not giving a crap about those records anymore. After the countless hours I have spent moving my grandma's growing record collection around for her so she could relive some of the better times in her life. Seeing her smile and tear up like that shows me that people still do care. I believe that if you fight hard enough, this kickstarter thing is more than possible.
:::I agree with moroderswaps: large collections are easy to get damage. A small but decent collection can be stored in the right way (dust sleeves, poly-lined inners, the record outside the jacket, etc), and the best, you can actually listen to them.
There's more than the up-front cost. There's the cost of the real estate, a structure to put the collection in, the taxes on that real estate and structure, the energy to maintain appropriate temperature and humidity, security, etc.
Paul, If I had an extra million or two I would give it to you just because I think of what you did with your vinyl is worthy of a Noble prize. I only dream of having a friend that I could talk vinyl to nonstop on a daily basis. I would hate to hear that you have to sell your whole collection to anyone because I truly believe that a guy like you should have a movie made on him. At least a documentary of some sort done by someone like QT who loves music. Good luck, Rob/Boston
i've not been able to get this out of my head... since i was little its been my dream to own EVERY single record released/made and i thought i was doin ok lol, im 26 this year and have so far discovered loads of jazz from the 78rpm era, loads of US soul/blues/doo wop from 40s 50s up to the charly reissues in the 80s/90s..... massive fan of rocksteady/reggae/ska etc own lots of orig issue stuff there.... rock/pop, from UK so obviously all the Beatles, Stones. Led Zep, Cream, orig issues etc...
He can't go and sell this man, this collection is a piece of art on it's own. I'd say we all donate $1 till we have enough to make this man happy among his records for the rest of his life.. it would be a terrible thing to see this disappear..
I like it. I'd collected vinyl records in large amounts if I had a place for it. I think this man worth respect. To collect 1 million vinyl records and to hold them is like to be a hero. IMHO, he IS a hero. And thus he has showed his position to CD lovers. Analog sound is a lot much better than digital, and the fact that many people deny this is a fact that they are becoming robots. This man - does not. He did not broke. How about you?
Incredible clarity of picture! I've a mere 4,700 records, tapes and disks, but as a collector, can identify with you. Gawdnose what'll happen to my collection when I go (I'm 57 right now). But I'm slowly putting some of the gems up on RU-vid (and trying to dodge RU-vid's arbitrary "strikes" as I go). ONE quibble - 1881? I also have an Emil Berliner disc - but it says "Patented Nov. 8. 1887" (my particular one - Souza's "Love Me Little Love Me Long" by Miss. Alice Raymond is dated 1895).
What the fuck. Why has no one with 50 million to throw around not fucking done this already? What celebrity WOULDN'T want to own the largest record collection in the world, ESPECIALLY a musician?! Someone needs to right this wrong, and not give him just the 3 mil he's asking for, but at LEAST 25 million. This dude is my fucking hero.
That's the problem. There are many collectors who may want only a small piece of the Archive. But to part out the Archive it loses all integrity and history as a collection. It's the same fate that befell many 19th century private collections of art and artifacts during the Depression.
Im only 16 years old but Iv been listening to records all my life because my parents played them all the time. the only music i listen to is classic rock and nothing else i even have a small collection of records and a turntable. I cant get enough of led zeppelin and i have every record released by them. Nothings better than sitting back and listening to a turntable . nice colection ,it kinda makes me jealous.
I just left a message for Sonic Youth, instructing them to buy it. We'll see if that happens...... Totally amazing work here!~ I'm astonished that this situation exists. Such a miracle.
He means that it is an example of the type. It is a Berliner, manufactured by Emile Berliner, the inventor of the flat disc record. I have one also, mine dates from 1899.
Same thing. I do collect vinyls a lot and love them, along with cassettes over anything else. You can get soo many music that you can't find anywhereelse on the internet. It's soo sad when we come to realize that peoples want only to buy downloadable music only to find out that the quality is awful, and that they never get the feeling that Vinyl and tape guys have....
OMG. That is insane. $3 mil. I cannot believe some rich musician has not bought it. I could see someone like Tom Petty, Elvis Costello, Jack White doing it. I love vinyl. That's why I film my turntable playing records in random places and upload it to TheDailyVinyl. Where could I get $3mil?
vinyl is estimated to biodegrade after 500 years, which makes most of the records in this collection still fairly new! as cd's will last considerably less the collection should be housed by the government for future generations to enjoy and study.
I would buy that collection in an instant if I was some kind of billionaire. What a guy! I have only like 28 vinyl in my collection and I'm only 16 years old, I want so much more!
I saw a DW tv documentary (1999 or so) in which they exposed a CD from a german archive against the light and you could see a spot damage in the surface and it was properly cared,
I give a damn! This is one of the greatest collections of portraits of humanity I've ever seen! I just don't have the $3million yet...how many years you gonna stick around, mate?
dude me and my bandmate were just sayin if we had enough money, this would be an awesomely cool thing to own and we'd each do shares to get it. so historical its crazee. - marcoe
Paul, You deserve a Noble prize for collecting vinyl. If I was a rich man I would give you money and let you keep your collection so you would never have to sell it. You just became an idol to me and I wish I could do a documentary on your collecting lifestyle. You must have some awesome stories. I hope your still well, do not sell your collection, PLEASE. I must find your email address to write to you, Rob/Boston
@wouldntyoulike2know Always hold your vinyl records by the edges. 45's are easy, hold the jacket in one hand and gently let the record slide out so the edge only hits the palm of your other hand. As vinyl slides out stretch out your middle finger so it rests on the center hole no matter if small or not, it's not a huge stretch. Balance the record like that, sit jacket down then take other hand and with open palm of that hand you can hold the record on edge with both hands. I'll post a part 2.
It should go to the library of congress and specially preserved and documented extensively. It's history on wax and should be well respected and taken care of all time.
I think the asking price was overinflated, and the "actual price" was ridiculous. Most common records are worth next to nothing, especially in a 'bulk', 'take-all' buy. It seems like this is actually inventory mixed in with an archive, not actually all a collection. There is unsaleable stuff clearly visible, like a Readers Digest Bing Crosby set. Quick reply to the question he raised: "how can something that old not be worth a lot?" - most really old records (most 78s) are landfill.
Given that there extreme rarities as well as the more common releases all in one archive, i could see this being worth 50 mil easy. I wish i was well heeled enough to go after this archive! On note though, the Berliner disc he shows is not from 1881 (unless it's test prototype). Berliner began making 5 inch metal records in Europe in the mid 1880's, and did not perfect pressing the 7 inch hard rubber records until 1887. As I recall the first available Berliner discs were released in 1889.
whats sad about this guy is the fact that he's constantly speaking of his music as "merchandise"worth this much or that much.... he only sees his massive collection as an investment. I wonder if he's ever listened to his music?
If I had the money, I'd buy all those vinyls up. I love vinyl records...they've just got a tangible "thing" about them that you just don't get with CDs or digital downloads. It's hard to explain.
Asking price of $3million for 2.6million records? That's a $1.15c PER unit, considering the rareness and collectors value of a portion of those records. Considering all the 'rockstars' and big time music producers/patrons who'd rather go buy yet another million $ car to add to their collection; there's seriously something wrong with this picture.
:/ That is truly a shame. Like the previous posted stated- It's the same with books- Folks mostly flock to the library to hop on the computers or take advantage of the FREE dvd rentals.
At the end of the video, the message reads that Paul's collection is worth $50mil, and that he is asking $3mil, and it remains unsold. . That translates to it not being worth even $3mil. . An item (or collection of items) is worth what someone will pay for it. . Maybe someone will take this collection more seriously if he did not hold a 100+ year old record with his greasy fingers, and showed a turntable that was worth more than $50 for his $50mil collection.
Have you sold these records yet mate? To me, your my hero, you are the ipidimy of somebody who had dedicated there life to acquring what I belieev is a fading hobby and you my friend should be in awe of what you have achieved. I think that they should make a statue of you for preserving, the most mind blowing record collection on the face of the planet...DITTO!
You may have two thumbs down but you're absolutely right. The record market right now is insanely competitive. If you disagree go to a record show and find that super rare shit that is good is going for dollars.
God. What I would give for all of that music, all of that history. That man is lucky. And who ever buys the records is lucky. I wish I had three million dollars.
