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Market dictates pricing, not "experts" writing "price finder" books that are outdated the day they 
are published. eBay and the fact that almost all used record sellers of any side now use eBay and 
have online sites means that ALL records except seasonal cult favorites and truly rare birds have 
gone down in price in recent times. I think the main contributor is the fact that it turns out most 
records are very common and supply available within a few mouse clicks far outstrips demand. But I 
also think, especially in the case of classical music, that tastes change and what was worth a 
pressing run of 10,000 in the 1970's wouldn't sell 1,000 copies today. Also, regarding classical and 
jazz, most titles have been reissued on CD and the market for used CD is even cheaper than used LP. 
Plus there are ubiquitous downloads, with copyright owner whack-a-mole having little effect on the 
pirates and legit downloads being available for low cost and high convenience.

I've saved quite a few classical LPs from the dumpster and noticed that, almost without fail, titles 
from the 50's and 60's are often played to death and go right back in the trash whereas all those 
lavishly packaged 70's and 80's albums are usually un-played or near-mint. Either they were bought 
for status ("look at my intelligent record collection") or the culture had already changed to where 
that just wasn't everyday music anymore. It could also be relatively poorer performances and 
recordings, plus the rise of high-fidelity classical FM radio in many markets. One of the more 
ironic things about 1980's classical is the beautiful packaging lavished on relatively 
lousy-sounding early digital outings. After years of listening to almost all of the significant 
early titles, I now ascribe the bad sound to the recording techniques (too many mics or the wrong 
mics or lousy-sounding venues or bad mixing of mic sources) and the performances (conductors not 
controlling dynamics and ensemble well) rather than to the digital technology. That said, some 
digitals sound much worse than others.

-- Tom Fine

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Steven Smolian" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Tuesday, August 14, 2012 12:05 PM
Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] Record price book


> One of the Janis Bluebirds has an Andy Worhol cover.
>
> Steve
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Association for Recorded Sound Discussion List
> [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Karl Miller
> Sent: Tuesday, August 14, 2012 10:59 AM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] Record price book
>
> Perhaps someone can explain to me...I checked the website and did a search
> on Byron Janis. I found that many of the discs were listed as having sold
> for over $100, yet going to ebay, I see many of the same discs, in near mint
> condition advertised with a buy it now price of under $10. Most confusing.
>
> Karl
>
>
> ----- Original Message ----
> From: Jeff Willens <[log in to unmask]>
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Sent: Mon, August 13, 2012 11:23:34 PM
> Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] Record price book
>
> popsike.com
>