My Music Collection
A few Photos of my collection through the years
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I still think a large collection built up over many years like I have, is a fantastic thing. It has taken me a lifetime to collect, and with it are attached many happy memories.
Of course I have bought records in record shops just like everyone else but that's almost history already! we only have one 'real' one left in our city now - the Interweb has eaten them all
More interesting is the records I bought at music festivals, record fairs and at gigs. The signed in person ones, the promos, the many I have bought mail order from around the world and waited excitedly for weeks to get here. The token holiday purchase I always have to make when I'm abroad and of course not forgetting the ones I've had bought for me by family and friends. For me it's like a link to the past and an easy way to dip into any decade of choice.
I think part of the fun is also the thrill of the chase. I know being able to obtain almost any music you want at the click of a mouse is pretty cool but there is something intrinsically satisfying about tracking down a rarity which only appears on the market very occasionally - and that special 'something' is missing from making it so available. I guess it's the rarity factor; Limited Edition vs regular copy, some people care some don't I guess
Of course the music is the main thing but I still feel it's a shame for future generations. After 30 years of collecting they won't have a huge stack of tactile, colourful and maybe even signed items to treasure, but a boring old hard disk or MP3 player full of files to show for it and I'm sorry but I just can't get excited about that...
As well as making and listening to music I have always been a fanatical collector of music as the pictures will probably testify to
It's always been a balancing act between 'buy music' or buy Synths and high tech to make music with. I think I have ended up until the last few years, buying more music than gear. I guess that has now evened up a little
When I find the time I would like to expand this part of the site to include some of my most prized possessions from the world of Electronic music, with pictures and information about them, Special Editions, promo's etc
The bands I have seriously collected for many years are Tangerine Dream, Kraftwerk, Jean Michel Jarre and Yello and I have pretty decent collections of all of them
The trouble is, I like 'so many' bands that collecting to that level for all of them soon proves impossible unless you are a lottery winner with an endless bank account and 24/7 free time
In my experience therefore, a 'completist' you will not be, unless you restrict yourself to 'one group'. From my point of view that means missing out on far too much fantastic music so I could never do it though I have come across people who do it
For that reason I am a lot more selective about what I buy these days. If I see something I always wanted but never got, I will still buy it, even on vinyl but I don't buy rarities obsessively now
Electronic music has always been pretty specialist so even collectable items are never worth the sort of money that well known groups fetch but that doesn't really bother me.
I admit I like the fact some things are rare; it certainly adds that certain 'something' but the financial value isn't a big deal