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There aren’t many people in this world who don’t like some sort of music. It might be the Italian falsettos of opera singers gone by, old-school 1990s hip hop, the randomness of acid jazz or good old 1960s rock and roll. There’s something out there for everyone. Music is one of those things that connects with people. The fascinating thing about music is that it can provoke a whole host of emotions within individuals which makes the listening of music a hugely personal experience. Think about the times you’ve been sat on a train to see hordes of people with chunky headphones adorning their ears. Do you ever wonder what they’re listening to?
If you’re an avid music fan, but you haven’t managed to build a collection yet, then you’re not alone. Millennials across the nation are now used to the transience of items and the ease at which to listen to what they want. You only have to hop online to Spotify or Deezer to begin listening to a random playlist generated from your selection of one song. Apps are now intuitively trying to figure out your likes and dislikes, and attempting to pigeonhole you into a genre of music that you must like to listen to. It’s time to relinquish our grip on all things twenty-first century and return to a simpler way of collecting music; a way that will give you ridiculous amounts of personal satisfaction.

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Physical Music

Forget fads and passing crazes, think about the music that you adore. It doesn’t have to be super focused and could be an eclectic mix, but it pays not to have a scattergun approach when formulating your music collection. You might be into reggae and ska from the 1980s a la Madness. Perhaps American Motown is more your thing. You may even enjoy hearing the dulcet tones of country music. Whatever it is that you love listening to and singing along to in the shower, start by collecting this.

Your next choice will be what format of music to collect. If you’re lucky enough to head to top quality car boots or flea markets, you might be able to find a vintage HMV gramophone. These cool little wooden boxes complete with turntable play vinyl. We all know the value of vinyl nowadays. Achingly cool and not solely for the hipsters, vinyl records are back with a bang. People long to hark back to the age of innocence with the crackly recordings and less perfect studio sounds of MP4. You may even choose to invest in a mid-century piece of furniture complete with Scandinavian styling, ebonised legs and a turntable up top. If you want to claim your own vinyl collection, you’re going to need an instrument on which to play your records.

If vinyl seems a little too vintage for you, why not hunt down the more accessible CDs. Still giving you something tangible and tactile to hold, CDs are cheap, and you’ll find boxes of them languishing away at car boot sales. As long as your music of choice isn’t restricted to vinyl, then you can have a lot of fun trying to find the elusive B-side of your favourite 1970s disco funk band.

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The Life Of A Collector

As you begin collecting music, you will quickly find that your enthusiasm gets fired up and the art of music collecting will slowly take over your life. Every spare minute you may find yourself scouring the classifieds, logging onto eBay or venturing to the largest car boot sales in the area. Whereas your social calendar was once packed, you may find it diminishing as you allow your music quest to take over. Try and maintain some perspective, so you don’t turn into one of those weirder breeds of hoarder. You still need a life. Make time to see your mates, head out for dinner once in a while and don’t become a recluse.

As you become a more experienced collector, you may find that the rooms of your humble abode quickly become lost under a sea of vinyl. If this is the case, it may be time to look out for another studio for rent that will accommodate your newfound passion. Look for a living space with higher ceilings and larger room dimensions. This way, you can whip up a storage unit or shelving to house your collection in a more organised way.

There’s nothing worse for any music collection than for it to be stored haphazardly. You need to treat your little musical nuggets of pride and joy with the respect that they deserve. How you organise is entirely up to you. You could go down the traditional alphabetical route or arrange your vinyl or CDs by theme or genre. If you pride yourself on the visual aspect of your collection and you have managed to source some vinyl LPs with iconic artwork, think about organising these pieces so that the stunning artwork is always on display. Record sleeve frames are available now and can be picked up pretty cheap.

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An Expensive Hobby?

If you’re just after some decent music and don’t mind the condition of the CDs or vinyl that you’re purchasing as long as it plays your tunes, then music collecting can be a relatively cheap pastime. It’s only when you venture down the path of high-end collecting can your hobby turn into a more lucrative game. That’s not to say it isn’t worth it. The 1969 red and white label ‘Day Tripper’ album by the Beatles is worth $750 in the good old USA because of its scarcity. The rarer a piece of music, the more value it has. Like all things bordering on antique, they are only going to get more and more scarce as the years go by, so you need to think of your music collection as an investment. You need to enjoy the music and listen to the tracks that you’ve lovingly collected, but you also need to keep the sleeves, cases and covers in excellent condition so that they increase in value.

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Getting Started

The hardest part of building a music collection is knowing where to start. However, that first CD or vinyl LP that you purchase will see you well on your way. Your hobby will quickly snowball and before you know it, you’ll be knee deep in your favourite sub-genre of American blues. Start by heading to iTunes, Spotify and the like and just listening to all sorts of music. If you already have a favourite genre, type that genre in and it'll give you relevant results. K-pop fans, for example, might want to see future KPop music releases here so that they can plan what they're going to buy in the coming months. Find your niche before you hot foot it to a flea market to begin your collection. You might even want to raid your parents cupboards and listen to the kind of music they were listening to back in the Stone Age. Something might strike a chord with you and what once was a parents embarrassing taste in music, could now spark a newfound respect from you.

Collecting music is a joyous activity. It’s a hobby that you will never tire of and will always present challenges as you hunt for more elusive albums. With music, the collection is always far from finished which is why it becomes all-consuming and addictive. Some people have been collecting music for decades with thousands of vinyl LPs adorning the walls of many rooms of their homes. They show no signs of stopping. Why not take the plunge and begin your very own music collection today?

Chiino
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