10 most valuable albums of all time
Some previous records fetch £10,000, other individuals – such as a Blur LP really worth £70 – are quickly risers 
Downloading music could be the potential but vinyl reigns supreme for the music cognoscenti. And that could indicate that your treasured record assortment contains some genuine investment hits.
If you were a punk in the Seventies and have stashed away a copy of the 1977 Sex Pistols album God Save the Queen , it could be well worth £8,000. A lot more realistically, a 1995 box set of the albums of Blur, the Britpop favourites, could be well worth £70.
But if you have a assortment of Bucks Fizz LPs, they are unlikely to be really worth a wonderful deal. Tom Fisher of south London’s Rat Records said: “For information to be saleable the artists have to have credibility. If folks underneath 23 feel the artist is amazing – a band such as the Rolling Stones, for example – then they will sell.”
Dave Hawkins of Cannonball Data in Stoke-on-Trent additional that prices of data by singers from the Fifties and certainly pre-Beatles rock and roll had fallen. “But rock music from the late Sixties and early Seventies is going up in value, so artists such as Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin and other far more obscure bands are a very good investment,” he said.
“Jazz and classical also have their own sought-after products, with unique stereo albums on Decca and HMV commanding high charges.” Mr Hawkins is notably keen on jazz and said unique Hank Mobley albums on the Blue Note label offered for “properly more than four figures”. Reggae and northern soul records can promote for massive sums too – they have been played so significantly at events that copies in very very good issue are uncommon.
Ian Shirley, editor of Record Collector’s Rare Record Value Manual , explained that even though large artists were usually collectable, “1 tip is to acquire information pressed in the late Nineties to early 2000s. The CD was dominant then, which saw restricted pressing of albums of even main names this kind of as Blur”. He extra: “If you are going to purchase information as an investment do your study ahead of getting. There are some genres where rates are falling, such as rock and roll and early Sixties pop, whereas there are other folks – Nineties vinyl – where rates are going through the roof.”
Dave Hawkins
Mr Fisher explained: “Collectors who acquire Beatles albums want pieces in outstanding problem. With The Beatles’ White Album (released 1968) there is a amount on each and every cover: collectors want reduced numbers.” Mr Shirley explained: “We are speaking £4,000-£10,000 for those numbered 1 to a hundred.”
Condition with data is everything. It was frequent to create your identify on the sleeve when you took a record to a party, Mr Hawkins said, but that will have devalued it. It is essential that both the vinyl and sleeve are in excellent situation. “Holding the vinyl in a sturdy light will generally present any signs of damage to the surface,” he stated.
The second crucial problem of vinyl is rarity. For illustration, the Beatles offered millions of records, but obtaining a copy of any of their singles in unplayed problem is virtually impossible, so collectors pay out a premium for them. Mr Shirley stated a copy of the first Beatles album, Please Please Me (1963 ), was first pressed on the gold and black Parlophone label but it quickly switched to yellow and black. If you have a stereo black and gold copy in mint situation it is well worth £5,000 or more.
You can purchase outdated information on the net, at fairs and in expert retailers. But obtaining actual gems is tough. “It really is a whole lot to do with instinct,” said Mr Fisher. He found an unlabelled acetate (a record manufactured directly from the master tape) but had a feeling about it – and he was proper. It was of Mick Jagger and John Lennon singing blues track As well Several Cooks from 1974. He bought it for £20 and it offered for £1,400 eleven years in the past.
Best tip: Just as in stamp collecting, mistakes or small releases include to values. A brown vinyl copy of Twilight Zone by Iron Maiden can promote for around £800, Mr Hawkins stated, as a number of escaped prior to they were pressed correctly in red vinyl.
If you have a copy of the Clash’s first album from 1977, search out for a sticker on it: the 1st ten,000 had one that competent you for a free EP if you sent it off. Most customers did so – that means that a single with a sticker, even in poor problem, will be well worth £50 or far more.
Datatable: Top 10 most useful records
Datatable: 5 quickly risers
‘Hendrix is like Picasso’: The other music memorabilia that can be really worth a fortune
It truly is not just music recordings that are really worth collecting. Music memorabilia can command huge prices.
A current sale at Christie’s included a plectrum as soon as owned by John Lennon that went for £4,000. It also incorporated a Beatles salary receipt for £16,250 and £10,000 for eight lines of lyrics written by Jimi Hendrix in 1966.
With music memorabilia, provenance and fame are every thing. Mike Bloomfield of rockpopmem.com stated: “There is absolutely a premier league for rock memorabilia that would include the Beatles, Jimi Hendrix and the Intercourse Pistols.” He additional that some collectors chose to concentrate on particular bands, whilst others collected sorts of memorabilia such as tickets, posters, fliers and even clothing. “Age is essential,” Mr Bloomfield additional. “A ticket for a Who concert from 1965 could promote for £100: 1 from the Eighties or Nineties may only attain £10.”
Concert posters are well-liked, specifically individuals marketing Beatles, Led Zeppelin and Intercourse Pistols gigs. “Prices of memorabilia have doubled in the final 10 many years for the premium artists,” Mr Bloomfield additional. Nevertheless, he said rates had dropped for pieces related to artists this kind of as Cliff Richard and Adam Faith whose fans are ageing and who no longer have the “cool factor”.
To illustrate this, Rockpopmem.com has a 1968 John Lennon autograph on sale for £975 – but an Eighties autograph by Peter Noone of Herman’s Hermits is on sale for £25. A Sixties Alma Cogan autograph can be bought for £70. Memorabilia doesn’t require to be ancient to be well worth one thing: Mr Bloomfield mentioned Oasis things were collectable now and would be in 20 years’ time also.
Simon Lindley of Paul Fraser Collectibles stated: “There’s an almost magical aura close to rock stars like John Lennon, Jimi Hendrix and Kurt Cobain that makes them irresistible to collectors. Hendrix guitars are like Picasso paintings – they’ve been touched by genius, and that power continues to resonate through the generations. Today we place a lot more importance than ever on pop culture and the worth of iconic memorabilia keeps going up to followers these objects are historic treasures.”
Bonhams has just held an auction that integrated a guitar once owned by Who guitarist Pete Townshend, who typically smashed his instruments on stage. Bonhams’ final enjoyment memorabilia sale included a guitar owned by Robert Smith of the Cure: it was estimated to go for £3,000-£5,000 but sold for £27,500. Katherine Schofield, a specialist in enjoyment memorabilia at Bonhams, stated it had fantastic provenance and handful of Remedy objects came to marketplace. “Also, I feel the Cure’s fan base is now of an age in which they have the disposable cash flow to acquire this kind of pieces,” she additional.
Genres really worth collecting:
1. Progressive rock
2. Reggae
3. Northern Soul
4. Jazz
5. Prime classical soloists
And people not…
1. Pop music
two. Novelty songs
3. ‘Unfashionable’ singers
4. ‘Popular’ classical artists (this kind of as James Last)
five. Compilations