Roots Archives Forum

Besides the Jamaican music industry wasn't really organised.So I doubt if any producer wrote down how many records he sold or how many he pressed...

btw, here's some detailed information, though its limited to a couple of artists only.
http://pageperso.aol.fr/gregchek/disco.html

It's not exactly what you're looking for, but http://www.popsike.com is a database of past ebay prices. From this you can get a rough idea of how expensive (and by proxy, how rare) an album is. I should remind everyone that ebay occasionally resembles a parallel universe when it comes to vinyl prices...

Thanks kukuman, that's actually helpful.

It would be interesting if there was a database of known totals of vinyl pressings, just for curioisity's sake, but it doesn't look like there is one, eh...

Try this website its got all the ebay auction sale prices for reggae http://www.popsike.com/index.html

Producers didn't take care over financial records it seems so I doubt you'll ever find this information. And those that held this stuff in their heads are sadly leaving the planet for their next lives in ever increasing numbers.

The reasons for this lack of information may be simply that this loose way of doing things was the 'Jamaican way'. But perhaps there were other reasons why such details were so often NOT recorded.

For instance, if a producer actually kept clear records of production runs and sales then the artists would have been able to keep a closer tab on what they were owed in royalties, or how much they had lost by accepting small one off payments for performances.

And of course such information would have been interesting reading for the tax man!

Those are good points, Leggo Rocker. Especially the tax evasion one. I hadn't thought of that...

**["Rare Record Price Guide"](http://www.recordcollectormag.com/rare-record-info.php)**

Not sure if this is worth investing in if you only buy reggae vinyl, but it does have a surprising amount of reggae listed in it - 7s, 12s and LPs.

My experience with print based record pricing guides is that they are simply way off on a lot of records. Online selling and eBay in particular have completely re-written the rules on the valuation of second hand records.

Prices are often higher because of the increased access to the market for buyers offered by online selling. And there's also the 'impulse' effect of online auctions that drives some people to bid very high in order to secure a record they are desperate to own.

But also, because more records have found their way out of dusty basements and onto the web for sale, some 'rare' records have turned up on the market in larger quantities, pushing the prices down.

It's not an easy market to navigate nowadays.

I've had a bit of a hunt around that Rare record Price Guide site and found some handy vinyl storage solutions there.

I especially like the retail storage as it allows you to flip through records easily, which is less likely to damage the covers than ordinary shelf storage or cubes. It also is better than crates as it gets them off the floor and increases the volume of records per square foot of floor space.

http://www.reddisplays.com/products/ret ... /vinyl.asp

Hey Leggo Rocker

Good to hear from you. Well, all I can say is it's rapidly becoming my favourite book!

Particularly amused to see a Ringo Star single worth £2,000!!!!

Regarding acccuracy of print-based guides let's face it we've all seen the same album, with a similar description go on eBay for a) a lot of money, b) very little money and even c) not received a single bid.
So it's worth somewhere between $60 and $0.

As you know ultimately it's what you think it's worth and what you are willing to pay.

Incidentally, I saw Joe Higgs "Life Of Contradiction" on Grounation recently in a shop for £39.99.

I thought that was incredibly expensive. Looked it up in "Rare...." and it says £20. That sounds more like it to me. Maybe £25.

"Suffering" by Don Carlos? £40. That sounds about right although I have seen it on eBay for $150. Didn't sell at that price though. So....

"Harvest Time" meanwhile they say £60. Absolutely no way.

As I say a brilliant and facinating read.

Mind you, as I said in my previous post if you are only into reggae I would probably take a rain check on it. If, on the other hand, you are a generic music junkie go out and buy it tomorrow.