Will anyone give a damn about your vinyl once you die?

oh yes, although it may not be looked after quite as well, but yes Eldest Lutyens sprog will be delighted with some of it. The rest she can sell and that is fine. Someone else can enjoy that. And frankly she might make quite a lot of money on it I would imagine!

I've been buying a lot of s/h vinyl lately at local bookstores, some obviously well-cared for and properly stored. I know that a lot of it is probably from children selling their deceased parents' collections for pennies on the dollar. I think it's great that the LPs get made available to people like me who can appreciate them, but it would be even better if someone in the family could appreciate them. It would be interesting to know the provenance of the used records I'm playing. Occasionally, I find names on them. Just makes me wonder.

I've got to sort that out on my will.

You've got to have an heir wanting to be willed your records, don't you? I don't see my childrens' generation being dedicated audiophiles willing to sit and listen to vinyl, even if given to them. 

Originally Posted by Tony2011:

I've got to sort that out on my will.

You've got to have an heir wanting to be willed your records, don't you? I don't see my childrens' generation being dedicated audiophiles willing to sit and listen to vinyl, even if given to them. 

Joe,

I don't think my relatives could care a less what happens to my Naim system or records when I am gone but I know people who would appreciate them once I succumb to the inevitable demise of my being.

Tony

Strangely I have discussed this with No 2 son.No. 1 son won't talk about such things under any circumstances.No.2 son surprised me by saying he would keep them all but I told him to weigh the bloody lot in and spend the money, then I thought,well I may as well do that myself but I'd only want to buy more records and hi fi so  I'll leave it to them.

Strangely enough Mum has still got Dads records and system, he's been gone 9 years now and it just sits there unused, too delicate to be discussed , just hope my lads don't **** about like that with my gear when the time comes. Easy to attach some emotional value, certainly in the raw aftermath of death but it's only stuff after all. 

I know my wife would put my system in a yard sale with a tag $50 or best offer.  Perhaps I should have my attorney tell her the truth in the event of my demise.  Probably better just to take that to the grave I guess.

I put self adhesive "stars" on the polythene covers of all the valuable / collectable stuff so that my wife will be able to use trusted local dealers to get the best price when the time comes.

I also prepare and run off a "Music Collector" report which will be useful to her in that she could email it to the outfits that buy entire collections and advertise in the back of RC / Mojo / Uncut etc. The report shows my own "realistic" sale value so she would know if she was being conned.

My non muso mates think I have OCD but it is actually CDO, let's get it alphabetically correct.

Have a good one

Ron

I appreciate the wide range of responses here. I'm the first one to respond to a topic with dry wit (or attempt at least). But there is also the realization that there can be a fair chunk of change wrapped-up in a record collection the value of which inheritors may be completely unaware. No one (other than the collector on the other end) wants to see a Butcher Cover end up in the $0.99 bin, or worse yet carted off to the landfill.

Same goes for the value of the Naim gear, which as some here indicate, the spouses might be blissfully unaware.

Don’t care much for vinyl. Logistics and basic physics (friction in particular) meant they all (1000+) had to go. 

Now, my Gurdjieff CD series (piano music on Naive played by Alain Kremski) is OOP and can easily fetch $1500 on ebay/amazon today. Hope they have the sense (and education) to sell them proper and get something nice for themselves then. But I really don’t care much.

I've estimated the value of my record collection in excess of £20,000 and that's probably conservative. Luckily my son is aware of the value and know's he's inheriting them. I've already separated out the collectible LPs from the others and written an estimate of the value on the inner sleeve. The values do change but at least it would give him something to go by. I also have contacts that would advise him. For the most valuable items, like my complete Blue Horizon collection, it would probably be worthwhile selling at a specialised auction house like Bonhams.

Hopefully I will have some warning of my demise and will be able to make some arrangements for selling the collection before the fateful day. In the meantime I'm going to enjoy what I have.

I think you will find Jennifer Warnes to be the most valuable !  ATB Peter

Some of those spouses may find the grieving process somewhat curtailed when they find the evidence,. Doing them a favour really.

Not even close Peter. I'll do the honours soon. I promise. TBH I forgot I still had it (old age ). At least there'll be something you like to listen to when you come over. 

Really looking forward to it !  ATB Peter and soft smooth Red as usual ?

Always welcome.  

Strangely I have also discussed this with the other half - as I was in a hospital bed a couple of years ago!  - probably the best bet, to avoid her spending the rest of her life on ebay, is to get the local very good record shop chappies round for a mass valuation. 

I'd hate for my early Island LPs to go to the wrong home.....! Not quite in the £20k bracket though.

I have a Verdier turntable and a closet full of vinyl and I just don't get the vinyl revival.  I know it sounds better but it is so hard to store, maintain and move vs. an iPod or premium hard disk player, that it is hard for me to imagine anybody caring about my vinyl in the future.

Yes...  That is perfect.  I am doing it for her.  Excellent.

Actually my wife probably had a more valuable collection of vinyl than me.

She was into punk in a big way and her teenage/student collection included some now very collectible singles.  She did the research and flogged the most valuable ones on e-bay a couple of years ago - only a small number of them were worth the effort and the rest languish in the garage.

The value of vinyl is probably at it's peak right now because there is a wealthy generation of collectors chasing those rarer cuts of the 60's, 70's and 80's and demand exceeds supply.  Those punk singles were bought by 50 year olds not 20 year olds and I really struggle to imagine that in another 20 - 30 years those 20 year olds will have developed any interest in the stuff at all.

So, I agree with Skip and really don't see a new generation of collectors emerging in anything like the same numbers (how many people under 30 do you know with a turntable or you can imagine with any likelihood of ever buying one - and that's before you factor in another 20 years of technical development in digital replay).

In 20 years time I can't see anyone giving a stuff about anything other than a few genuine rarities of significance to collectors (NOT listeners or music lovers).  If you have anything in that bracket you should perhaps think of donating it to a museum and you should certainly stop playing it and handling the sleeves if you want to preserve the value for your descendants!  Everything else is waiting to go to landfill.

Olly 

I agree with your post Olly. Vinyl value seems to be at a peak, independent of the economy, and possibly more to do with demographics. I think the so-called vinyl revival is a wave that will die with the baby boomers. Putting digitally recorded music on vinyl seems a novel fad for young TT buyers. I understand that some s/h vinyl sales today are simply for the album covers and have nothing to do with the music. Well, it's all art.

A few things:

1) As some have suggested above, vinyl is collectable right now, whereas all but the most sought-after OOP CDs go for buttons on Amazon/fleabay. Now, just remind me: what was the s/h vinyl market like about a decade ago? Ah yes, that's right, couldn't give it away for the most part. I therefore confidently predict CD will become as cool and retro in a decade or so as vinyl is now. I'm going to do what I do with my wardrobe - stand still and wait for fashion to catch me up.

2) A small but significant number of musical teenagers more pro-vinyl than you would think. I teach 11-18 year-olds and the ones who are really into their music can't wait to buy a turntable and some vinyl once they can afford it.

3) What about adding a clause to your will offering your collection for sale in a Naim-Forum-Only auction? Whether CD or vinyl, you'll know it'll be appreciated after you're helping the daisies grow. A portion of the profits could go to the Distressed Gentlefolks Society Audio Wing.

Mark

Not quite right Mark. The vinyl collectors market was very active a decade ago and even earlier. In the nineties there were many Record Fairs on a regular basis in many towns and cities. Along with buying from the back pages of Record Collector magazine, these fairs were my main source of buying second hand vinyl. There were some very big fairs in London at major venues like Wembley and Olympia and these were packed, not only with Brits but also foreign buyers. There were also many 2nd hand record shops, I remember at least six in Camden alone. This side of the market gradually and mostly died out with eBay. IMO it's the auction element of eBay that has driven the price of secondhand vinyl though the roof in the last decade. 

I don't think CD will ever become cool or retro as vinyl is because it's just data on a disc and not a truly physical source of music like vinyl. It can also be downloaded and copied very easily, unlike vinyl (yes it can be with the right equipment but I don't see the point.)

The number of new vinyl releases are also increasing year on year so between the new and secondhand market I can see vinyl being with us for a few more decades yet. 

ATB

Steve

What I meant was that vinyl is currently rather retro-cool in a way that it wasn't a few years ago. The hardcore collectors are still with us just as they always were, but it's the addition of the achingly hip collectors in addition to the usual crowd that has pushed the prices up and made it higher profile in the eyes of the general public. You know the type - shades, skinny jeans, probably works in advertising and (this week) thinks that a wall full of vinyl makes him look even more excruciatingly cutting edge.

If your average person (neither hi-fi geek nor vinyl spotter) had come into a load of vinyl about a decade ago, I'm sure they would have assumed it was more or less worthless. I'm simply suggesting that that's rather less likely today.

Mark

That's a good one.