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Record Collecting

    Record Collecting Editor's Picks

    • How to Start a Record Collection

      Music fans young and old have begun to collect records again for a number of reasons. These fans have a nostalgia for a simpler era in music and prefer the sound of original records over reproductions on CD. No matter the reason, a fan needs to know how to start a record collection without wasting time or money. more »

    • How to Showcase a Record Collection

      Collectors who have rare records or a significant number of albums to their name often want to showcase them. There are a number of ways that a music fan can showcase a record collection. The key for record collectors interested in how to showcase their records is finding the best approach for their living space. more »

    • How to Collect 45 rpm Records

      The old 45 rpm records started getting produced in the early 1950s. The seven-inch record has a single recording on one side. Most 45 rpm records were double-sided and contained a song on each side. As technology changed and compact discs were invented albums including the 45 rpm were not made often. Because they are available in... more »

    • How to Rate a Record Collection

      Record collectors who think they have a winning collection need to learn how to rate their records. Like comic books and sports cards, a record collection can exist in a number of grades from poor to mint. Record collectors should use all of the resources available to them to find a reliable rate and grade for their record collections. more »

    • How to Select Rare Jazz Records

      The collection of rare jazz records is a pastime common to experienced musicians and young fans alike. Rare jazz recordings that are in perfect condition on vinyl are a significant financial investment and a significant addition to a record collection. Music fans need to learn how to select rare jazz records to get the most out of... more »

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    Wikipedia

    Record collecting

    Record collecting is the hobby of collecting music. Although the main focus is on vinyl records, all formats of recorded music are collected.

    History
    Record collecting has been around probably nearly as long as recorded sound. In its earliest years, phonographs and the recordings that were played on them (first wax cylinders, and later flat shellac discs) were mostly toys for the rich, out of the reach of the middle or lower classes. By the 1920s, improvements in the manufacturing processes, both in players and recordings, allowed prices for the machines to drop. While entertainment options in a middle to upper class home in the 1890s would likely consist of a piano, smaller instruments, and a library of sheet music, by the 1910s and later these options expanded to include a radio and a library of recorded sound.

    After the fall of the phonograph cylinder, the record was the uncontested sound medium for decades. The number of available recordings mushroomed and the number of companies pressing records skyrocketed. These were 78 rpm, double-sided, ten-inch shellac discs, with about four minutes of recording time on each side.

    Growth in the recorded sound industries was stunted by the Great Depression and World War II, when some countries were hamstrung by a dearth of raw materials. By the time World War II ended, the economy of these countries began to grow again. Classical music (which was a large portion of 78 rpm releases) was slowly edged into a minority status by the influx of popular and new music.

    The introduction of both the 33 1/3 rpm, 12-inch LP record and the 45 rpm, 7-inch record, coming into the market around 1949/1950, provided advances in both storage and quality. These records featured vinyl, replacing the previous shellac materials. Further groups of small labels came into existence with the dawning of the rock and roll era in the early to middle 1950s, and the growth of a market among post-war teenagers with dis read more at » http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Record+collecting

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