I was wondering if people know if bootlegs are coveted by collectors these days. The web site discogs.com seems to be a good place to look up the value of old albums but I didn't see much for bootlegs.

They have a ban on boots I think.

The value fluctuates and they really only have value as an artifact. All the music is readily available and often in way better fidelity. Might be exceptions to that, but they are rare.

Bottom line: I doubt you will be able to retire on them. Best to play them.

jb

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jbwelda
They have a ban on boots I think.

The value fluctuates and they really only have value as an artifact. All the music is readily available and often in way better fidelity. Might be exceptions to that, but they are rare.

Bottom line: I doubt you will be able to retire on them. Best to play them.

jb

There is an ironic twist for the bootleggers in that you can find lots of their releases on YouTube. Not that they could ever challenge that. A bootleg double-cross. However, you figure that the money was made on bootlegs within a year or two of their release so they are already satisfied.

jb

Way back i purchased one at a local record shop in the late 70's of Led Zeppelin live in 1977 and it had Kasmir on the first side and No Quarter on the 2nd side and the sound was horrendous and awful and thus that was the end of that . The cover Photo of Robert Plant with his long curly blonde locks was a great image .

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jbwelda



jb

"We will prosecute bootleggers of our bootlegs"....haha!

Twenty years from now, when the Boomers shuffle off and these boots and boxed sets go to their kids and grandkids they will mostly be worthless. A few extremely rare pieces may have value, the rest is going to landfills.

Yep .... cant recall ever
seeing any sorta ah box-set in the Jetsons ....



ROCKMAN

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However, you figure that the money was made on bootlegs within a year or two of their release so they are already satisfied.

... which to some extent holds true with official releases as well, which is why I'm not a supporter of long copyright periods. Sure, a band like the Stones are still making money off of Stick Fingers, which I'm not denying them, especially since they are still alive and working as a band. But 50+ years after an artist's death? Come on...

i know most is available as mp3 or flac, but fysical records are much more fun, still buying new things on vinyl

Life's just a cocktail party on the street

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wonderboy
Twenty years from now, when the Boomers shuffle off and these boots and boxed sets go to their kids and grandkids they will mostly be worthless. A few extremely rare pieces may have value, the rest is going to landfills.

Even if you are right in general, you never can tell. I sold my vinyl record collection for a few Euros because I thought that it was useless when the much easier to handle CDs were available. Only a few months after my son in his early 20s bought a record Player and is listenig frequently to vinly records. Fortunately I only sold the records I have on CDs and kept my rarities - and my bootlegs.

Some of them were unlistenable from the start (Essen 1970, Frankfurt 1976 where the bass amp broke down come to mind) but if you are into vinyl some of the Bootlegs are still great.

Certainly I do believe that on the big scale bootlegs will be going to landfills but most probably there will Always be a small circle of collectors for Vinyl records.

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saltoftheearth

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wonderboy
Twenty years from now, when the Boomers shuffle off and these boots and boxed sets go to their kids and grandkids they will mostly be worthless. A few extremely rare pieces may have value, the rest is going to landfills.

Even if you are right in general, you never can tell. I sold my vinyl record collection for a few Euros because I thought that it was useless when the much easier to handle CDs were available. Only a few months after my son in his early 20s bought a record Player and is listenig frequently to vinly records. Fortunately I only sold the records I have on CDs and kept my rarities - and my bootlegs.

Some of them were unlistenable from the start (Essen 1970, Frankfurt 1976 where the bass amp broke down come to mind) but if you are into vinyl some of the Bootlegs are still great.

Certainly I do believe that on the big scale bootlegs will be going to landfills but most probably there will Always be a small circle of collectors for Vinyl records.

I'm not so sure. In fact not only Vinyls and CDs are replaced by a new medium (like mp3s, downloads, streaming etc.). The culture of collecting recordings seems to come to an end. In a world where everything is available more or less for free within a few seconds collecting doesn't make sense no more – at least for younger people. They just don't understand it anymore. Therefore there won't be a market for bootlegs anymore in a couple of years.
When my grandparents died some 15 years ago it was nearly impossible to sell their piano – not even for just 10 Euros. The generation for whose upper-middle class having a piano was a natural thing is/was dying and thus the market was full of old pianos… It will be the same with bootlegs – our (grand-) children won't need our bootlegs, they will put them on ebay and find out that they are in fact worthless. Some ten years later there might be a short revival when future hipsters will rediscover them. But another 5-10 years later it will be over for good.

Stones boots still hold their value. I'm not sure about other bands who perhaps weren't as popular.
The best way to look at recent values is to check popsike or to search for specific bootlegs on Ebay and look at items which have actually sold. Check out "Nasty Music", for example. They ain't cheap.

I would doubt that boot prices are that good anymore-- a lot of major bands have opened their vaults are now there are official releases of once cherished bootlegs: Dylan Basement tapes, various Stones concerts, the 50th anniversary Beatles releases with all those bonus tracks, etc
That along with Youtube I don't think bootlegs have quite the draw they used to have

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bob r
I would doubt that boot prices are that good anymore-- a lot of major bands have opened their vaults are now there are official releases of once cherished bootlegs: Dylan Basement tapes, various Stones concerts, the 50th anniversary Beatles releases with all those bonus tracks, etc
That along with Youtube I don't think bootlegs have quite the draw they used to have

I think it really depends on the format. Certainly no one is going to record shows and buying 10th generation, dubbed tapes anymore. But with the resurgence of vinyl there is certainly a market for the classic bootleg record.