Today’s Hits on CD: Tomorrow’s Collectibles
A new website series by George Reynoso
I’ve been working so much to stay ahead of the curve in the music business, I’ve decided to share some of my thoughts on future collectibles with you, my valued customers. Our efforts have taken us beyond day to day store operations into the world of e-commerce, where the value of collectibles fluctuate based on offers at hundreds of different music sites that either sell or auction LPs and CDs, or offer streaming. To say the least, it’s a fast-moving, fluctuating, even crazy marketplace these days. For our store customers, we try to make sense of all this so you can shop with confidence knowing that you are getting the right selection of collectible LPs at a fair price.
Now the CD is beginning to enter the collectibles market. In not too many years, your CD collection may contain collectibles much in the way that LPs now dominate this market. This series of articles is meant to give you a head’s up on how and where this emerging market is going so you know the potential value of your CDs early in game. It helps you so you can take the necessary steps to protect your collection now. It helps us because an educated customer makes a better, more selective seller of CDs as well as a buyer.
Streaming music from web music services has been changing the music industry much in the same way that past format transitions changed our listening and buying habits. From early cylinder recordings to ‘78s to ‘45s to vinyl LPs to 8-track tapes to cassettes to today’s CD format, change in the music business is the rule, never the exception. But for an item to be truly collectible, one aspect never changes. For true and pure collectability, an item has to be something you can touch, feel and admire. In other words, a download is a download, but a CD is an actual manufactured product. This is just one of the pitfalls of music streaming, a subject we’ll take a closer look at in future articles.
The values for a CD collectible are much the same as they are with a vinyl LP. They come with a record label, are produced under stringent quality control standards and probably most important of all, they are packaged with unique artwork that announces the theme and style the artist is projecting at the time of release. Today’s CD has the additional advantage of providing booklets with photos, lyrics, credits, bios, messages from the artist, fan club information and sometimes more. And while untold millions may download an MP3 version or stream a song or more from a newly released CD, the CD itself is produced in a fixed quantity. These features, then, create the essence of collectability.
There are other collectability concepts to keep in mind, and these will be explored in upcoming articles. Don’t miss any of these website features to find out how to start building true collectibles into your CD library, a series we are providing as a public service to our loyal as well as new store customers. The world of music changes fast, and All That Music & Video “Collectors’ Marketplace” is keeping pace to stay up-to-date and help you benefit from these changes. In the next few months, you’ll also see some changes to our familiar logo that reflect our new marketing position as your true go-to source for music collectibles. We’re still El Paso’s favorite independent music store. But our growing services to collectors will have a prominent place on our sign and in our advertising to help point the way to the future of recorded music, a feature of our store that many of you are already enjoying as fans of collectibles.
-George Reynoso
