Thanks to BoingBoing, I found out about an intriguing sale on eBay.
From Thomas Edison to American Idol, this is the complete history of the music that shaped and defined five generations. 3 million records and 300,000 CDs containing more than 6 million song titles. It’s the undisputed largest collection of recorded music in the world. About half of the recordings are new and never played, and every genre of 20th century music is represented. There are countless rare recordings worth hundreds, or even thousands of dollars each on the collectibles market. Organized and cataloged, the collection is meticulously maintained and housed in a climate-controlled warehouse. The estimated value of this amazing collection is more than $50 million.
Every recording in the collection was purchased by the collection’s owner over the past fifty years and represents a lifetime of work and his desire to see the music preserved for future generations. Advancing age and health concerns are forcing the owner to sell.
The history of 20th century music belongs in a museum (existing or new), or a music library. The collection’s owner is seeking a private collector or a philanthropist willing to buy and donate the collection. A donation would qualify as a tax-deductible event. The collection contains many thousands of duplicate copies, which could be sold individually on the collectibles market to recoup a substantial part of the purchase price.
This sounds very impressive, and I hope it finds a loving home. My friend Glenn Howard is in charge of a similar effort with American Musical Heritage Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to “Preserving recordings of the Past for the People of the Future.”
That being said, I would bet some serious money that my friend Stretch Riedle has more recorded versions of LOUIE LOUIE than either one of these guys!
If you’ve got extra $3 million, this collection could be YOURS!
I wonder if the owner of this collection ripped everything to MP3 or AAC?