GOING VINYL?
This is an article for you who are considering buying a vinyl player and start collecting vinyl records. Metal was made to be played on vinyl so here are some things you need to know about vinyl records.
The language and the formats:
A Vinyl Record = An analogue sound storage medium made out of polyvinyl chloride
Vinyl = Polyvinyl chloride = A type of plastic
LP = Long-Playing (Full Record, often more than 6 tracks)
EP = Extended Play (An EP contains more tracks than a single, but less than a full LP, Often 4-6 tracks)
MLP (or Mini-LP) = Slightly longer than an EP, but shorter than a LP, often retailing at a lower price than a LP.
Single = Single (Shorter than an EP, often contains 1-3 tracks.)
DLP or 2LP = Double LP (Two vinyls in one album)
12" = The size of the record (12" is often used for LPs and EPs)
10" = The size of the record (10" inch vinyls are not that common)
7" = The size of the record (Often used for singles)
Picture-Disc = An album with an image on the playing surface, sometimes it comes in other shapes than your regular black vinyl.
Colored Vinyl = Instead of a regular black vinyl, the vinyl is colored in another color and sometimes even many colors or patterns.
RPM = Revolutions Per Minute.
33 1⁄3 RPM = The standard speed that most vinyl records play at.
45 RPM = Sometimes use for 7" singles.
78 RPM = Sometimes used for 10 " singles or EPs.
8 1⁄3 RPM = Hardly in use longer.
16 2/3 RPM = Hardly in use any longer.
CD / DVD / Bluray = Different digital formats. (Thus not vinyl)
When you buy records online or through different re-sellers, they grade the condition of the albums with a scale from 'Mint' to 'Poor'. Often both the album and the picture sleeve are graded with this scale.
Mint or (M) = Perfect Quality, unplayed or still sealed.
Near Mint (NM) = No obvious signs of wear, no seam splits, folds, creases or cut-out holes.
Very Good (VG) = slight wear and scuffs. some ring wear or discoloration can be found.
Good (G) = Good is seldom good, the album is often in pretty bad shape. Expect seam splits or cut out holes.
Poor, Fair, Bad (P, F, B) = Avoid this, often broken records, many seam splits, holes, terrible wear and writing.
So how is the value of each record determined?
Well, it's the old supply and demand thing. A record made in 1983 in mint condition is in nine times out of ten higher valued than an album that was pressed yesterday. If they were made in the same amount of copies. If you're searching for an obscure heavy metal single from 1982 that was pressed in 100 copies, you will probably have to pay a ton of money for it if anyone else finds the album compelling.. Especially if it's sought after, which it probably is. For example: Metallica's Kill 'Em All on original pressing (Megaforce) can be expected to be sold for about 100 dollars. If you want to go cheaper and at the same time get better quality for your buck, then buy a newly printed LP. Kill 'Em All on a Universal pressing from 2016 can be sold for about 20 dollars. So you have to ask yourself do I want to pay extra for original pressings or should you buy cheap and new. Are you a collector or a listener?
As you can guess, the closer to Mint the more expensive the record, but who want's to have albums that are hardly playable and with record sleeves full of holes. Not me! Pay some extra and take care of your albums, buy and use protective plastic sleeves and make sure that all the weight from your albums doesn't tarnish the sleeves. Be a little careful when you take out your albums, it will help your long time value.
I must also mention the inner sleeve, which often is a white / beige sleeve that holds the record. Sometimes the inner sleeve is covered with photos, lyrics and info. Sometimes there is a special lyric sheet included and if you're lucky even a poster or a sticker, but that is not that common.
Cut-Outs and holes were often added to the records by the manufacturers when they got the unsold albums back from the retailers. So they made these cut-outs and sometimes they cut off the corner or just drilled a hole into the album sleeve to be send them back to the market as bargain albums, which might seem kind of dumb in retrospect, but money talks.
Another problem with vinyls are stickers, people seem to enjoy putting a ton of stickers on the artwork, a cheap and good way to remove them is by steaming water and let the steam do all the work. If that doesn't do the job, there are liquids you can spray on the covers.
Where to find albums?
If you wonder what the value is of a record I suggest you visit Popsike and search for the album and the pressing there. If you're interested in buying records I suggest that you go to record markets, stores that sell used albums, local record stores or buy 'em online at auction sites like eBay or Discogs. There are also labels and webshops that sells vinyl records. You can check the link section of this site to find some good retailers. The best choice is off course to visit a local record markets and to look through the used record bins if you have any in your area.
Because if you buy online you need to pay for shipping and that can cost as much as the whole album. But it's cheaper to buy a few albums at the time instead of ordering one at the time. If you find the right place you might lay your hands on some serious metal for 2-3 dollars per album. So go out there and hunt your favourites down.
Happy Hunting!
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