How vinyl records are made, or the new LP capital of the world. What affects the cost of a record?

For modern youth vinyl records is a relic of the past, which, having given way to more modern speakers, remained simply a rare atavism. Some people only know vinyl from work. modern DJs who use records in their work, and it seems that only older collectors still collect such items, and then exclusively for aesthetic pleasure rather than for practical use.

However, in online stores and in some regular retail outlets, vinyl records can still be found, not just in the form of illiquid stock, but as one of the categories of goods that are in high demand, and the cost of vinyl in such cases can amount to thousands of rubles for one record. What explains the popularity of such products?

For the first time the world saw records in late XIX centuries, but then they were made from shellac, and only in the 50s of the last century, after many materials had been tried, manufacturers settled on the synthetic material polyvinyl chloride (PVC). Of course, such a complex name did not catch on among the people, and the records were simply called “vinyl.”

What affects the cost of a record?

Two records that are identical at first glance can differ in value by tens or even hundreds of times. For an ordinary person from the outside, these will be two identical products, but professionals and collectors know very well how the price is formed, and it depends on several factors:

1. Manufacturer country. Each manufacturer has its own production secrets that affect quality, and it so happened that vinyl from abroad was always better than domestic Melodiya.
2. Year of release and rarity. In the case of records, the antique rule “the older, the more expensive” does not work. The record may be just an old, hackneyed medium with compositions by once popular authors, or it may be a rare edition.
3. As for rarity, this applies not only to limited editions or performers who were almost never sold during Soviet times. Sometimes “rarity” means completely unexpected characteristics. For example, if a record came out with a typo on the cover, but it was noticed in time and they managed to discontinue production, then miraculously several hundred copies of records with such a cover that went on sale will have high value among collectors.
4. Depending on the speed of revolutions that the record makes per minute, the quality depends: the higher one indicator, the higher the other, respectively, the more revolutions, the more expensive the vinyl.

And the most important thing is the general condition of the record. Even if the vinyl is quite rare, its price will be significantly lower if it has a dirty, torn cover, and there are scratches and chips on the record itself. The condition of the record can be judged not only visually, but also by the markings on the packaging, which are placed by sellers of used vinyl after evaluation.

Here is a breakdown of these markings:

How much is old vinyl worth?

The cost of a record is primarily influenced by the manufacturing method. Previously, compositions were transferred to vinyl from magnetic tape, but not directly to the record, but through a wax cast, on which grooves were left with a needle. During the production process, a matrix was made from this cast, and thousands of identical copies of vinyl were made from it.

But since there were many factories, and there was only one original matrix, most manufacturers made casts from ready-made records, which reduced the sound quality. The sound was also negatively affected by the use of old magnetic tapes, which were used for re-release.

Consequently, the best (and more expensive) record will be from the first batch: currently such vinyl, and even marked NM, can cost over one hundred thousand rubles. Much depends on the information recorded on vinyl. So, the most expensive record today is considered to be one of the vinyls The Beatles.

Old and new vinyl

Around the mid-seventies of the 20th century, audio cassettes began to replace records, as a result of which, after some 10-15 years, vinyl production throughout the world practically ceased to exist, but today this type of media can again be seen on the shelves. Despite the fact that this is already a “remake”, it has its obvious advantages:

• high strength of materials used for the production of records;
• higher sound quality;
• small circulations, and as a result - the possibility of using original matrix, rather than copies for making new batches.

The cost of such records can currently range from 600 to 11,000 rubles per piece, and such products can be purchased in music stores.

In contact with

MOSCOW, June 27 - RIA Novosti, Anton Razmakhnin. A plant in Aprelevka near Moscow, which once produced millions of vinyl records annually, is turning into a quarter of lofts: attempts to revive the production of discs there have been unsuccessful. However, the vinyl renaissance in Russia did take place, and not without the participation of the Aprelevsky plant. Some of the machines that once produced products under the Melodiya label are back in service. Read about how new Russian vinyl is recorded in a RIA Novosti report.

Priests of magnetic tape

“Few of today’s sound engineers know how to work with this,” sparkles light up in the eyes of Vladimir Selivokhin, an engineer at the Vintage Records studio. He points to a huge, table-shaped, reel-to-reel tape recorder with dozens of levers, knobs and dials: “24-channel Studer - the standard for analogue studio recording!”

The sound is written here, on the top floor of a low building in the north-west of Moscow. It is one of the few studios still using film. There are only a few of these in Russia; now it is much cheaper and more convenient to record everything on a computer. But audiophiles are convinced that “digital” has no soul, and it is this ephemeral feeling of the “breathing” of music that vinyl fans cherish.

The sound engineer mixes a multi-channel recording into two tracks - the left and right channels. But then from the top floor you have to go down to the basement. The coil is inserted into the third "Studer". A unit similar to a large record player turns on, except that a microscope is attached to the table on which the record is spinning to monitor the tracks. The needle is specially heated, and next to it a mini vacuum cleaner for chips comes to life. A clean black plate is placed on the table - the so-called varnish. Motor, let's go.

Needle on varnish

“The process takes place almost in real time,” says leading sound engineer Stanislav Semenov. “It takes about an hour and a half to make one record. And then the workpiece is sent to the factory. First, liquid metal is applied to the varnish, lowered into a galvanic bath, and within about a day nickel builds up. This creates a matrix, which is then used to print serial records. During daylight hours, two matrices are removed - one spare, just in case."

The circulations are very different - from one to 2000 discs. True, not everyone who publishes vinyl uses magnetic tape for production: most are happy with a digital original.

“Our holding has long had the idea to revive vinyl production in Russia, since some time ago it became popular again in the West,” says Andrey Belonogov, head of the Ultra Production record label and production. “We understood that the trend would come to our country ".

The first machines were purchased in 2010-2011, and the first order with decent quality was printed only in 2012. It took about two years to set up and master the technology. The fact is that the specialists are young people and have not seen Soviet vinyl production. They had to study for a long time, despite their technical education.

“We had to learn everything from scratch - look for some articles on the Internet, descriptions of machines and equipment,” notes Belonogov. “There were a lot of technical and chemical questions.”

To truly achieve quality product European level, so that customers could say: “This is like in Europe and even better” - this took another couple of years,” recalls Andrey Belonogov. So, the path from concept to full-fledged high-quality production took about four years.

Those same machines

The specialists are young, but the machines are the same. They once worked in Aprelevka, then, in the 1990s, were sold abroad, and now have returned. This is common - almost all vinyl producers work on "vintage hardware".

But the raw material for records—vinyl granules—is not produced in Russia. Representatives of Ultra Production talked with technologists who produced gramophone vinyl back in Soviet times. They say it is possible to launch this production. But the USSR, where there were almost a dozen factories, is one thing, and one small factory is another thing. Therefore, granules are ordered from Germany.

How much does it cost to publish a vinyl record? With a circulation of 100 copies it will cost approximately 1000 rubles per piece including envelope. But if you publish a thousand discs, the cost of one will decrease by three times. The price depends on several things - the design of the sleeve, the "apple" (the central paper circle), the weight of the records (there are 140 and 180 grams - it is believed that heavier ones are better).

Bought in a store

On the walls of the studio there are envelopes with brand new records. Valeria, Yolka, the groups "Megapolis", "Chaif", even Oleg Mityaev. “We have our own distribution network, although we can simply ship the products to the customer and forget about them,” Andrei Belonogov shows records one by one, here from his own label, here are made to order. “There are distribution companies that cooperate with many online and offline stores have their own points of sale."

There are few such points of sale left - specialized music stores are practically a thing of the past. Nowadays it’s easier to find vinyl on the Internet or in so-called corners in fashionable bookstores. Records made at Ultra Production stand on the same shelves as new releases from Western bands.

“In general, the impressions are positive,” says record collector Alexey Fedorets about vinyl remakes. “But there are defects, such as the Depeche Mode reissues. I think that disdain for remakes is the result of prejudice.”

"The reissues that I came across were both excellent and disgusting in sound, but most of, 70 percent, deserves the description “tolerant,” says his fellow hobbyist Kirill Starikov. — As for the new ones, it depends on the luck of the one who did the mastering for vinyl. Sometimes it’s good, more often it’s not so good.”

“I don’t see the point in buying remakes,” vinyl lover Oleg Kamenev is not so optimistic. “A light “wave”, careless packaging that leaves marks is in the order of things. It does not depend on the mass production and the coolness of the record label in any way, except for Blue note products (a well-known jazz label - editor's note) no complaints. I encountered a certain rustle between songs on the colored ones, but I can't say that this is some special property of them. In probably half of the cases on vinyl in relation to the CD released in parallel the tops are littered. Why? I don’t know. The most annoying thing is when the album sounds perfect, but the record shows traces of how it was packaged.”

The drive continues

A large room in a dacha near Moscow. A stand made of rough wood, on which a vintage Norwegian amplifier with round handles softly glows with dials. Above is a vintage German record player. The record is spinning.

“Like almost everyone else, I haven’t listened to vinyl for many years,” says the owner of the dacha, 45-year-old Muscovite Alexey Akimov. “But somewhere in 2010 I got involved, put together a good vintage system for myself. I listen, he listens - and now seriously - an adult daughter, the youngest son is listening."

My son, two-year-old Gosha, plays here. Soviet children's songs - "We came to the port today" - are replaced by the British Ten Years After. Both Akimovs generally have a wide musical horizon - from Zykina to little-known English groups of the late 60s. It seems that the work of Russian recording enthusiasts, who have revived a forgotten format, will not be in vain.

33 rpm

Until recently, only collectors and DJs who used records for their reckless scratching were interested in “vinyl.” Now the good old format is returning to people. Over the year, according to the same Nielsen, sales increased by at least one and a half times. And this is only data for stores, without taking into account sales at concerts, free print shops and indie chains. According to most experts, taking into account independent players gives a figure showing what kind of Last year The vinyl market has grown significantly and exceeded the level of 10 million units per year. And although in the overall ranking of media, black LPs (long play) are much inferior to rainbow CDs and make up barely 2 percent, the picture is impressive. Whatever you say, the vinyl trend is an objective reality. Moreover, apparently, the trend promises to be stable and long-lasting. In New York, for example, the hunt for “vinyl” has already turned into a fashionable type of shopping. Pretentious and advanced youths roam in droves through the music stores of Manhattan. The lazier ones “shoot” the rarities they find on numerous sites. Through their efforts, the owners of the famous Amazon.com portal are selling 250 thousand units of musical “black gold” for an average of $20. Interestingly, an envelope with the artist’s autograph raises the price approximately 25-30 times. Collectible records are becoming more expensive every year, and if you use them as an investment, you can make 30-40 percent per annum.

Last but not least, reissues of the once famous albums of Jimi Hendrix are in demand (remember the one with a record amount of nudity on the cover, Have Your Ever Been (To Electric Ladyland), The Beatles (Sgt. Pepper... with a crowd of celebrities) , Red Hot Chili Peppers, etc., etc. Everything plays according to the new rules more people. Stores that previously only had CD departments are introducing vinyl departments.

Of course, both record labels and the musicians themselves are keenly responding to this retro boom. Demand creates supply. In England and the USA, some people are simply starting to release a new record on vinyl. This is what the new one promises to be, for example. joint album two hard rock legends - Metallica and Black Sabbath. Often musicians do the following. The album is posted on the Internet, but it is not released on compact form. But they make a limited edition on black records. For the advanced.

Marketing director music company"Soyuz" Oleg Pavlov told "Itogi": "Today, there are 20 times fewer vinyl discs in the music we distribute than plastic compacts - about 1000 CDs for 50 vinyls - but the gap is gradually narrowing. In "vinyl" we "New albums from singers Sade, Depeche Mode, Metallica have been sold. Last year there were Keith Emerson, Ian Gillan, Nazareth, Rummstein with their latest albums." There are already similar examples in Russia. For example, “Time Machine” and Makarevich with Time Machine. "They signed up for the famous Abbey Road, - continues Pavlov, - why not release it on vinyl? The album was released in a collector's edition of 1000 copies. I myself have a “vinyl” number eight hundred or something.” In general, in the fashion for “vinyl” we do not lag behind the world VIP zone.

By ear and color

The question that inevitably arises is: why is the old regime format now in favor? Because of the invasion of sound files? Or, the more accessible musical fast food is, the more you want eternal values? As they say now, the current trend is the oven. In any case, the reduction in music budgets is rather a benefit for fans of black “pancakes” in large colorful envelopes. Record labels are trying to recoup lost CD profits on LPs. Releasing the latter more and more and playing, of course, on nostalgia. Like, in those days when tube amplifiers ruled the roost, everything was better. The grass is greener, the water is wetter, the overtones are richer and the frequency range is wider. That’s why digital recording can’t hold a candle to analogue recording. This approach is reminiscent of the film industry’s frenzied promotion of the 3D format, designed, under the pretext of super technology, to once again lure the lost flock into the halls, too carried away by home theaters. Only in in this case Instead of “progress,” the bait is, on the contrary, “conservatism.” And little by little, the former audience is expanding: now vinylophiles are not only collectors, but also music gourmets.

Fans of vinyl are confident that its sound is more natural than that of a compact, due to the lack of electronic “compression”. In their opinion, “vinyl” “breathes”, instruments are better placed in the stereo stage space. "Stereoscene" is a virtual concept. The above means that the sound picture, the ratio of instrument voices here are more detailed and convex, and have a greater perspective. The CD supposedly doesn't have all this. What can we say about electronic files? MP3 is just a bare sound track. Soul without body. “The other day I met with Andrey Tropillo,” Alexander Kushnir, director of the Kushnir Production music agency, told Itogi. “Let me remind you, this is the man who recorded all the St. Petersburg rock of the 80s. And so he said: of course, digital technologies and mastering kills the heat that is present in the studios."

However, Artemy Troitsky has a special opinion on this matter: “Now people mostly listen to music downloaded from the Internet. Both “vinyl” and the public CD format have long lost their main function - to be carriers of music - and have turned into souvenirs. Like scarves , caps, posters... These are products for musicians, journalists and crazy music lovers. Well, talk about what is heard better on “vinyl”, I think, is from the evil one. What is really better is the design. It’s one thing when you take a piece of plastic under called "compact". Another thing is a colorful paper album, a thing much more designer than a CD."

However, it is clear that when compacts appeared, the original natural sound began to undergo significant transformations - ever since sequencers, decoders and other excesses appeared. The sound was compressed by compressors during mastering, extraneous and random noise, clicks and rustles were removed from it. As a result, the progressive part of the population switched to distilled CD. In Russia this happened in 1994-1995. But it was precisely those who were the first to change their musical orientation who quickly became full of compressed sound. “I am a lover of “warm” sound,” admits Alexander Kushnir, “and I have a rather bulky device, English system 1932. There is a gold reserve of disks - new wave, synth-pop, lounge. Bob Dylan and Rolling Stones Better, of course, to listen to on vinyl. Although there is one variety of CD that I accept - Japanese. I have no idea how they chemistry it, but they managed to create a sound that is as close as possible to analog. And, say, the band Massive Attack is enough for me to listen to on Japanese compacts." Japanese CDs are a compromise niche. They are good for professionals who place serious demands on acoustics, but do not dare to completely switch from a laser turntable to an "igloo". Japanese compacts cost two times more expensive than usual, about 30 dollars versus 16. But they are worth it.

Why aren't people switching to vinyl yet en masse? Probably, the desire to keep abreast of new products is still stronger than the desire to enjoy sound. After all, only big names can afford to release a new product on vinyl, and the process is long. But a young group in Detroit or Manchester posted new track online. It was quickly transferred to Russian music lover sites. And here healthy information greed takes over: listen, don’t wait. And when curiosity gets stuck, there is no time for subtleties.

Of course, collecting is a passion, but those who collect records strive for the rich, clear sound that only vinyl can provide. They are called audiophiles, philophonists. Like any rarity, old records have their own value. The price range is very wide, from 3 rubles to the equivalent of the cost of a good car.

The most expensive vinyl disc is listed at £100,000. This is the first disc by the Beatles when they were still called The Quarrymen and belongs to Sir Paul McCartney. In Russia, foreign disks from the 60s and 70s are highly valued, and depending on its condition, it can cost quite a lot of money.

Many, after first tape recorders and then CD players came into fashion, found it difficult to collected collections vinyl discs were sent, some to the attic, and some to the trash. Craftsmen made flower pots from them and Wall Clock. But with the cessation of production of gramophone records, they gradually moved from the category of old ones to the category of rarities. And, as you know, they collect rarities and their collections are worth quite a bit.

Vinyl records have also become a collector's passion.

Of course, real collections are not cheap, and purchasing a modern vinyl disc player also costs a lot of money. The simplest player costs about $1000, and more serious equipment costs $100,000. And the cost of a record that has not been filed in good condition starts from $300.

Today there are stores where you can buy old records. Of course, here you are unlikely to be offered a unique copy, and most people cannot afford it. But for those who are restoring lost collections Soviet period, luck may smile. Collections are often compiled by recording studio labels. VTO ​​studios at one time released discs with music of approximately the same direction.

After vinyl records have ceased to be produced, you can find them either from collectors or in specialized stores.

Stores selling vinyl records mainly sell old records, since there are very few new discs coming out and they are very expensive.

Today such a store can offer up to 50 thousand records, and almost each one is in several copies. Vinyl in good condition from 30-40 years ago or jazz from the 40-60s are in great demand. years. Old Western records are considered the most valuable because of the purity of their sound. Modern records don't sound the same anymore. Sellers have to go abroad to buy such records. Previously, records in the best condition and not too expensive could be bought in Sweden. Now records are mainly imported from England and Canada. They are bought from private collectors and in specialized markets. Wembley Stadium in London brings together vinyl sellers and buyers from all over the world almost every weekend. Lately Record sales have plummeted in London High Quality. Catalogs are published in England every year, describing rare records and their prices. It is not possible to buy such records on sale; they are sold only through personal contacts or the Internet.

In Moscow, on average, European records cost from 6 to 20 $, from the UK, USA and Canada from 20 to 50 $. English vinyl from the 60s and 70s is considered the best. years

Soviet records produced by the Melodiya company are not in such demand.

Although there are rare recordings on them classical music, Soviet pop music, which were never released on other media. But, nevertheless, the Russian market is oversaturated with Soviet records and their prices range from 100 to 400. Gramophone records with the voices of Chaliapin and Leshchenko, records where the voice of Lenin is recorded passionately making speeches at the Congress of the Communist Party are very valuable.

Now, little by little, the production of vinyl records has begun to revive again. Small factories producing vinyl records appeared in Germany and England.

Now they are gradually gaining momentum, as the largest recording studios, in order to avoid piracy, have again begun to release new songs on vinyl discs.

There are collectors who collect vinyl records solely for the labels. In Russia at the beginning of the 20th century, English records were distributed by the Gramophone joint-stock company. The label of the records depicted a figurine of Cupid with a goose feather in his hand - “Writing Cupid”. This emblem was printed on English records only for distribution in Russian Empire. For distribution in other countries, a label was used with an image of a fox terrier sitting under a gramophone pipe - “The Master’s Voice.” In the labels of the Gramophone company, the color was great importance. The records with the red label were used to record the most famous performers, popular artists were recorded on a plate with a black or green label. All the rest are on a record with a blue label.

Collectors know how rare the first ones are Soviet records with a label on which a peasant in an army coat is drawn, standing on globe in the rays of the rising sun with a huge gramophone trumpet in his hand.

On the labels of pre-war discs you could see the stamp “Not for sale.” It was impossible to buy released records with then-popular performers; they could only be exchanged for broken ones by weight. This was due to a shortage of raw materials for releasing records. And already in the 60s, the well-known Melodiya label appeared on records.
vinyl.ru

Vinyl paradise: America is experiencing a mini-record boom

At a time when the inhabitants of Russia of Eastern Europe and other countries of the old world are glued to television screens and watch the Eurovision variety show; young people, and not only those in the USA, buy in small stores that are multiplying in major cities, tons of vinyl records. But they recorded completely different music...

Vinyl record sales jumped 89% in 2008, leading to a mini-boom in Los Angeles record stores.

Neil Shield knows first-hand the brutality of the music business, having been fired from a leading digital music distribution company in May last year.

But last month Shield returned to music industry: He opened a record store office in Echo Park, Los Angeles. The shelves contain vinyl discs for real gourmets, and at a high price of $100. And, according to the owner, there is no end to buyers. And this is at a time when “digital audio” rules the roost.

In addition, Shield's Origami Vinil store sells exclusively new vinyl, which not so long ago was considered a fossil.

Moreover, Origami is not the only store that opened in Los Angeles, writes the Los Angeles Times. It competes with Vacation in Loz Feliz and Little Radio, operating in business center, under the brand of an internet radio station and concert promoter.

The small boom is the result of the new commercial discovery of vinyl and the fact that it is in price among collectors.

While Shield's team was preparing the store for opening, they received a sign from above that they were on the right track. Legendary The Who guitarist Pete Townshend, having read about the store's opening on a blog, paid his first visit to the store.

The return of small stores was as unexpected as the "resurrection" of vinyl. After the first hits on CD hit the US market in 1983, "LPs" began to seem hopelessly outdated. Subsequently, consumer attention focused on mp3 files and online services such as i-Tunes. Servers like Amazon.com became the leading stores.

From 2003 to 2008, more than 3,000 record stores closed in the United States, including Los Angeles icon Tower Records on Sunset Boulevard. Independent stores such as Rhino Westwood and Aron's Records in Hollywood have lost about half their profits, according to estimates from marketing firm Almighty Institute of Music Retail. There are 185 record stores in Los Angeles today, up from 259 in early 2007.

But despite the decline of the overall market, some listeners are beginning to rediscover vinyl. And we're not just talking about old fans who grew up with the old format and who appreciate it for the work of the designers, for the fact that the record was recorded with love, and due to the fact that, according to popular belief, vinyl sounds better.

Long-playing records have become a real talisman for younger generation music lovers.

"I'm always amazed when 15-year-old kids come up and say, 'Wow, that's an original Doors record,'" says Mark Weinstein, founder of the Amoeba Music chain, whose Los Angeles branch is considered the largest independent record store in America.

"The major labels might have thought of this years ago. They'd make a lot of money now," he says.

Gradually, with the expansion of catalogs of reissues of vinyl records, new albums began to appear famous groups, such as U2.

Nielsen SoundScan reports that 1.88 million new LPs were sold last year, up 89% from 2007. And this despite the fact that independent manufacturers do not always provide statistics on their sales!

Of course, to listen to records, you need players - and the market responds to the demand with cheap models that are more modern than analogues of previous years. For example, Crosley Radio specializes in retro-style turntables that cost less than $80. In addition, there are models with a USB port so that music from vinyl can be downloaded to a computer.

To stay on the wave, small store owners organize music concerts to help pay rent. Thus, in the Little Radio store musicians performing in the style of soul or country bands perform.

And in Amoeba chain stores, where new and old superstars such as Richard Thompson sometimes perform, they even record numbered records. This year, Paul McCartney released a disc called Amoeba's Secret - a concert recording of 4 songs performed at the Amoeba store in Hollywood.

Many collectors believe that the red price of a vinyl record is no more than $25. However, production is extremely expensive, and therefore prices for new LPs will not fall soon.

The equipment used to produce vinyl is largely outdated, which limits competition and, consequently, falling prices.

"I don't think the market will grow big enough any time soon for prices to come down," says Record Technology owner Don McLeans. "Our newest machines were built in 1984. The current surge in interest in vinyl is temporary. People will soon realize that records are... "It's an expensive business. But we can only make money if we raise prices, but we are by no means turning over millions."

Even die-hard vinyl fans are skeptical about the future of small shops. According to music lovers, in order for a product to be bought, it must be exclusive. And the choice in small shops is small.

“Of course, it’s cool to go and buy the new Yeah Yeah Yeahs or Iron & Wine albums, but in order to hook the buyer so that he will come back to your store again, it’s very important to have something different, exclusive, unknown on the shelves,” he reflects. Scott Tarasco, a Los Angeles collector who spends hundreds of dollars a month on vinyl albums, says: "High-quality used vinyl (usually considered the standard of sound - ed.) flies through the door. There must be something in the store that will make me come back to it again."

Even at superstores like Amoeba, new and used vinyl makes up no more than 20% of sales, says chain founder Mark Weinstein.

Vinyl records, some won’t even remember what they are, for others they are a relic of past years. However, it is worth considering that many music bands continue to release published albums not only on discs and on the Internet, but also on vinyl, explaining that such a recording has its own, unique charm.

You can find out the current prices for rare vinyl records and get acquainted with the real RARE VINYL LPs on the respected website Vinyl-LPs.rf - there are rare and collectible editions of vinyl records released in England, the USA, Germany and other countries, in particular the 1960s-70s-80s years.

The first records appeared at the end of the 19th century and were made of shellac. As a result of the development of technology, materials for making records replaced each other. And only in the mid-20s they began to use polyvinyl chloride for their production. Such PVC records came to be called vinyl.

Key provisions affecting cost

Nowadays, the cost of vinyl records varies greatly due to many factors. The amount for which you can sell or buy plastic depends on the following factors:

• Production year. Records are divided by year of production, so there are modern and old vinyls.
• Manufacturer countries. Different countries- different quality, some have it better, some have it worse.
• Rarity. Rare records can reach enormous prices.
• General state. Even the rarest record in poor condition will not cost a penny.
• Playback speed. It is believed that the more revolutions a record makes per minute, the better the sound quality.

The last point is especially important; it is divided into several types; after inspection, 2 letters are placed on the packaging, which are used to track the condition of the records:

• N.M.– absolutely new record. Can be packed in factory-made polyethylene.
• EX– excellent condition. But I used it several times.
• VG- despite good condition, the box crackles when played. The vinyl of such a record may be slightly damaged, but all valuable information should be preserved.
• G- plays, but with a bang. Sometimes the needle jumps over scratches. The envelope has been preserved, but is in poor condition.
• F- the record is no longer good for anything, you can only hang it on the wall for beauty.

Condition tracking is usually done for old records.

Cost of old vinyl records

The process by which a record was made greatly influences its final value in this day and age.

First of all, music was recorded on magnetic tape. Then it was transferred from the tape to a wax cast using a needle, which left grooves on soft material. Then, after going through many procedures, a motherboard appeared, on which records were subsequently made. And this is where the division begins. The fact is that often only one board was made, containing the original sound tracks. However, there were many factories and the rest made their records using copies of the original recordings, which spoiled the sound.

When re-releasing vinyls, magnetic tapes were also used, and from older releases, which again reduced the sound quality.

From all this we can draw a small conclusion. The best record will be considered the one that was recorded in the first batch with the original motherboard and marked with the letters NM. This is exactly what will cost an enormous amount of money. And the worst one won't cost a penny. For example, now you can find Vysotsky’s records for 800 rubles, however, rare specimens can reach cost 120 thousand.

But this is not the highest price; the most expensive record is the record The group Beatles. One of the first records they recorded, which then cost 17 shillings and 6 pence, was sold at auction for 200 thousand dollars. We don’t have such rarities and the record can be purchased starting from from 500 rubles (melody) to 6000 rubles/piece.

The difference between old and new vinyl

The history of vinyl is divided into 2 stages, between which there is a gap of 10 years. The fact is that starting from the mid-70s, the popularity of vinyl began to decline, as a result of which factories for its production began to close. By the beginning of the 90s, there were practically no vinyl producers left in the world. However, after one decade, vinyl returned to store shelves, delighting collectors and music lovers. Remake, despite being similar appearance, is still different from old vinyl, there are both advantages and disadvantages.

Advantages of the new model:

• Old vinyl was famous for its durability compared to shellac, however, modern vinyl still surpasses its predecessor.
• Despite its comeback, vinyl no longer enjoys the glory it did in previous years, which is why the circulation of such records is small. This is a plus, since recording on them is made from one motherboard, which means the sound will be of high quality on all records in the series.
• The quality of vinyl has been improved thanks to the use of high quality raw materials. Previously, records were made from recycled plastic waste.

The new records have only one drawback - the unknown origin of the master tape.

Remake. Mainly sold in disc stores and household appliances, their prices may vary from 600 to 11,000 rubles per piece.

What to lose on

The main thing in vinyl, after all, is the sound. Soft and tube-like compared to digital, the whole point is that the recording on the record is analog. Current methods of storing music can only store traces of analog recordings, which limits and removes the life from the sound.

To extract high-quality music from black PVC circles, you need a player. If you want to buy a quality player, then prepare the amount from 15 to 30 thousand rubles.

Components of a quality vinyl player:

• Weight more than 10 kg. Oddly enough, it is the large mass that plays a role, because massive structures have more reliable, powerful and durable engines.
• Tonearm Adjustments. Precise settings will help you tune in and experience the fullness of the sound of each record you play.
• Cast drive. The disc on which the record to be played must be solid and cast to avoid damage reverse side records.
• World famous brand. Most often, a world name is a sign of quality, especially with many years of experience.

Vinyl is very interesting thing no matter which way you look at it. However, it is still much more pleasant not to watch, but to listen to the delightful, live music, which only a record can convey.