The best online tools for record collectors: As that brilliant New Yorker cartoon will testify, having a record collection is not without its complications. Whether the expense of the records themselves, or the inconvenience of sorting a fully functioning hi-fi set up, first-timers and experts alike can always do with a helping hand. (The BEST is our very own TVD Record Store Locator App–which travels along with you for consultation on the fly or before you fly. —Ed.)
Vintage vinyl valued at over £10,000 to go on sale in Newcastle: Classical music-lovers are in for a treat as a vintage record collection worth £10,000 goes up for sale. More than 1,800 vinyl records, including rare recordings, will go under the hammer at the Anderson & Garland auction house in Newcastle on Wednesday, with interest already sparked as far afield as China. The records, including LPs, come from two private owners and combine to make up what is believed to be one of the largest collections ever to go under the hammer.
How Canadian vinyl pressing plants made a comeback: As revenue from music sales has plummeted over the past 15 years, vinyl has come to represent the industry’s Jon Snow—the tenacious little bugger that just won’t die, and has actually emerged from the digital age bloodbath with renewed vigor. Last year, vinyl sales reached their highest level since the late-80s as the format continues to be re-embraced as a tangible retort to the clouding of our collections. While still comprising a sliver of the overall music industry pie, the sector has experienced steady growth since 2007, and increasingly, is one of the few figures on a record company balance sheet that isn’t itemized in parentheses.
