[badawat]

Hi Guys,
I've started to consider that I might need to join the equivalent of AA for record collectors.

Has anyone started to think or consider that they might be addicted to buying vinyl?
Do any of you consider this a bad thing and/or are you able to live as a functional addict?

Reading the topics about Money, I'm interested to know if any of us have started to feel both the positive and negative consequences of collecting vinyl (especially the soundtracks).

I'm researching this for a documentary idea (very early stages). I'm aware of the great Vinyl doc by Alan Zweig (if you haven't seen it, its a study into the reasons why people become vinyl collectors).

I do find this board and its inhabitants who share my passion to be very interesting.

I'd love to hear some of your stories.
Do you keep your purchases away from your partner, do new releases affect your work life, do you get a rush when buying, opening and listening to your new soundtracks? Do you buy multiple versions of the same record?

Cheers

badawat

[matowest]

I would say I'm addicted, for sure. I used to be a big collector of Mondo prints and prints like them. Lately, though, I'm having much more fun collecting vinyl. I have multiple copies of some records, too. I just really enjoy movie soundtracks and I have a "collector's" personality, so I'm predisposed to this stuff, I guess. My lady doesn't mind, though she doesn't know exact prices of some rarer records I've bought. She was the one who bought me the record player in the first place, so I don't think she can actually complain too much about a habit she started, haha.

[chandler75]

I do feel a little antsy when I haven't bought anything for awhile (say 10 days) and am then more inclined to get something that I don't really need or want - especially if it says "limited".

But I'm getting better, partly because pretty much everything is "limited" nowadays with most of it not being very limited at all. 200 copies are a limited number. 400 copies for a popular title, maybe. 500 variants + 1500 regular editions are not really that limited (unless we're talking "Drive" or something similar that will also appeal to the teens/hipsters).

I certainly understand why the current genre labels have increased the number of pressings recently from, say, 300 copies to 1500 copies today, but I'm not sure the fans/audience are there, and I have a feeling a lot of copies are ending up with flippers (who might actually eventually get burned) or in the closets of collectors.

But that's not really was this topic was about, sorry...

[badawat]

thanks for the replies so far Rasmus Drews and matowest! Do you guys ever find stopping yourself from buying or do you just give in? Do you sell records that you don't like or keep them for the sake of "completionism" or just having it in case?

Looking forward to reading other's thoughts if they're keen to share.

[chandler75]

Sure, I'll put 3-4 vinyls in my basket on Amazon and when it comes time to checkout, I'll look at the total amount and ask myself "Do I really need these"? Often I don't and I just delete the order.

But half the fun is also looking for new stuff. I can easily spend an hour in a record shop or on eBay without buying anything.

Another funny thing is that I actually do enjoy "the hunt" for new limited editions. It makes me feel like I have to work for it and not just fork over the cash. I don't mind updating that F5 to get that rare alternate version. When I finally managed to secure my two copies of "The Fog" (first edition) on regular and black vinyl, I did kinda have a buzz the rest of the evening. I went to a party the same night and people thought I was high.

But due to the increase in the number of copies it's not that much fun anymore. A lot of new limited editions that would before be gone in 30 minutes or less are now for sale for days, weeks, months before they actually sell out.

As for selling records, I don't really do that, but I might at some point. I like to have an extra copy of some special releases just for the sake of having one. But as these records are becoming increasingly less rare, there's really no point. I can always get another copy if I need one down the road.

[bansel]

I can without doubt say that I have an addiction with this. I usually hit up my local record stores a few times a week, and look through the bay every night while on the couch.

My wife and I usually get home from works minutes of each other. I try to rush home everyday to beat her there so she doesn't see the big stacks of square cardboard laying on the front steps (sometimes 6-7 on a day). In general I have at least one record arrive each day by mail. My mailman thinks it's hilarious.

Here's where it gets muddy. My wife and I are recently married, and we started a joint bank account. Now, she is cool about my record collecting and thinks it a cool hobby and all, BUT, the other day she was looking at the bank account history and said 'WHAT ARE ALL THESE PAYPAL TRANSACTIONS?!"

Usually, the records are under $20 bucks a piece, but sometimes more in the $40-$60 range. And I don't even want to talk about when she saw what I paid for the Death Waltz Sub!

I get around it by countering with something like "WELL YOU JUST SPENT $350 GETTING YOUR HAIR DONE!"

What can I say, I have a problem. But it's a fun problem to have

[thenuthouse]

My wife really has no issue with me buying records, so long as the bills get paid, house cleaned, pets and kids fed, etc. They live in the basement, for the most part, so she only has to see what I bring upstairs to play when reading on the couch or cooking dinner.

And, frankly, she has a roughly equivalent habit of buying books, which take up an equal amount of space. For the most part, she enjoys what I play (dissonant punk rock or the more squealing soundtracks aside), and I enjoy reading what she buys, so it's a pretty copacetic partnership.

We don't buy tchotchkes nor do we have an extravagant lifestyle, so the majority of our disposable income goes to DVDs, books, and records. We're not avid partiers or anything, and her school schedule, combined with both us working in a university setting, means we've off schedules, so having readily-available entertainment is always nice.

[chandler75]

Compared to books, dvds and hairdressers, I don't think that records are money out the window (so to speak)... You might not make a fortune, but there will probably always be buyers for these on Discogs and eBay. So you can always argue that it's an investment

[ghostfires]

I am absolutely addicted. I cannot stop regardless of how much I try to ignore it.

I keep discogs, blackest circles, experimedia. and forced exposure open 24/7 on my phone. I search for vinyl online probably 3-5 hours a day at least no matter what.

And yes, I keep the majority of my purchases from my wife. She knows I get vinyl in on a daily basis, but she doesn't know how much I spend or anything along those lines. I do sell a lot of my vinyl too that I don't like, so I use that as an excuse to keep buying more...that I've turned enough around and often enough to pay for itself basically. While that is the case sometimes, it is not the case all the time.

I am absolutely in love with vinyl records. I cannot ever get enough. I don't obsess in the sense that I must own every edition of a record release. I use to be that way, but I actually found a way to talk myself out of it all...and brought myself back around to buying strictly for the music. If I don't like the music, I sell it. I feel my addiction is to music itself. I buy music non-stop - at least 10-20 a week, whether its vinyl or cassettes. My record collection has tripled over the last 3-4 years.

I definitely do not buy things strictly because they're rare. I also don't buy much of any mainstream music. I am VERY picky when it comes to music I will take the time to listen to. John Carpenter, Enigma, Expo 70, and a few others have been my main musical obsessions over the years.

I think about music 24/7, talk about it as often as I can, and buy it daily in some form or fashion.

[thedeepness]

Wow. I feel like most of you have already described me. Music is a lifelong obsession for me. I don't play anything but have music playing basically 24/7, even at night. I like to call myself a "professional appricator", if only I got paid for it. I just fucking love music. You can always find something for every mood. My wife has always known this about me but having seprate bank accounts is huge in keeping the depth of my "addiction" hidden. I spend alot but I am very thrifty (cheap) in other aspects of my life to make up for it. To be honest the only kind of music my wife isn't that into is soundtrack and some of the heavy/hard stuff I like which is a bit of a bummer. She is ok with the more classical/jazz scores but the horror/scifi/synth stuff I love drives her crazy, especially if she is in a bad mood.

[ghostfires]

@thedeepness - hah! That's funny that you mention your wife doesn't mind the classical music, but really dislikes the horror soundtracks. That is exactly how it is here with my wife. If I get a Richter, Johannsson, Swod, Cipa, Fram, Eluvium, Gonzales, etc type of modern classical record in - she's totally fine with whatever I had to pay to get it here. Now if she sees yet ANOTHER Carpenter soundtrack, or something in the similar style, she immediately gets irritated.

[thedeepness]

@ ghostfires - The wife says they make her edgey and tense, sometimes nervous. I think that is what I love about them, the emotions. I will never forget listening to the Star Wars score with my son for the first time. He was just 2 and had seen parts of A New Hope once (I skiped through alot) and the lego star wars a few times. The entire time we were listening her was either running around saying "hide, its the bad guys" during Vaders theme and imperial music or saying "yeah, here come the good guys". You could tell he understood the mood the music was trying to convey.