Black Gold: The Cultures & Practices of Record Collecting ! ! ! A Thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy By Simon Poole ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! Faculty of Design, Media & Management, Buckinghamshire New University Brunel University ! January 2014 ! ! ! This copy of the thesis has been supplied on condition that anyone who consults it is understood to recognise that its copyright rests with its author under the terms of the United Kingdom Copyright Acts. No quotation from the thesis and no information derived from it may be published without proper acknowledgement. ! Abstract ! ! This thesis considers the positioning and re-positioning of vinyl records and those that collect them. It does so in the context of vinyl’s decline as the primary carrier of music. It is constructed within a theoretical framework of material culture and broader cultural studies. It draws on qualitative data collected through a standard survey from 344 record collectors in 21 countries. The data is discussed and presented in theoretically conceptualised chapters. I consider vinyl as a physical artefact, as ‘thing’ and contrary to historical and contemporary engagement with music as ephemeral, as experience. I discuss vinyl in terms of eras; of both disc manufacture and what I have termed three eras of collecting. I argue that the economic and cultural trajectories of vinyl lead to differing states of desirability along these journeys. Vinyl is then positioned as a collectable object, contrary to established collecting theory, drawing on the varying states of desirability. Notions of the past are considered in relation to vinyl’s historical position as primary carrier during the ‘golden era’ of popular music. The differing patterns of nostalgia are discussed in relation to how they enable record collectors access to the pasts of popular musics and deVines markers of collecting that allow identiVication of differing nostalgias. I argue that the sensory nature of the vinyl experience, how these objects are positioned as markers of collectors’ taste, contribute to attitudes regarding condition through the idea of patina. This taste and accompanying practices are further discussed as contribution to the social aspects of collecting, to status, shared cultures and knowledges. The practices of collectors are varied and complex but with common focal points and issues. Collectors value the physical engagement with vinyl, the large artwork and the attentive, prolonged ‘slow’ engagement with the format. Nostalgic practices of record collectors vary dependent on their length of engagement with the culture as well as their age. Collectors’ experience of vinyl as either the primary or as a marginal deliverer of music also contributes to differences in practice. These markers impact on their attitudes to condition of second hand records and the trace of previous ownership. This work crosses between, and contributes to, discourses of material culture, cultural theory, and poses challenges to established ideas of !collecting. ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! "2 ! Acknowledgements ! ! I would like to thank my Supervisors, Ray Batchelor and Paul Springer, for their help in the production of this work. Professor Springer for the encouragement in the Virst instance to undertake the project and for valuable feedback and discussion of records along the way. Doctor Batchelor for his boundless enthusiasm for study in general and this study in particular. Should I ever have PhD students of my own, I shall endeavour !to meet the high standards you have set. Many thanks. I would also like to thank my Parents for their unwavering support during the !turbulent times in which this work was undertaken. It is greatly appreciated. I would like to thank peers and colleagues and students who have offered support and !guidance along the way, challenged my ideas and helped me frame my thoughts. I would like to thank the uncredited photographers who, when asked, took photos of me in record shops around the world as I researched and shopped. I would also like to !thank the shop owners for allowing me to take the photographs. I would like to thank those friends and collectors who entertained the idea at the !beginning and who offered robust challenges and support along the way. Finally I would like to give love and thanks to Odry for creating the perfect environment in which to read, think, research and write.! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! "3 ! ! ! ! ! ! I declare that, except where explicit reference is made to the contribution of others, that this thesis is the result of my own work and has not been submitted for any other degree at Buckinghamshire New University, Brunel University or any other institution. ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! "4 ! Table of Contents ! ! !Abstract...............................................................................................................................................p.2 !Acknowledgements..................................................................................................................p.3 !Author’s Declaration...............................................................................................................p.4 !List of illustrations....................................................................................................................p.7 The Intro.............................................................................................................................................p.8 ! The Structure..............................................................................................................................p.13 Methodology...................................................................................................................................p.17 Research Design: Theory, Frameworks, Writing............................................................p.17 Design................................................................................................................................................p.17 Sampling..........................................................................................................................................p.22 Data Collection..............................................................................................................................p.24 Data Analysis..................................................................................................................................p.26 ! The Collectors.................................................................................................................................p.27 Chapter One: Music Becomes a Thing.....................................................................p.32 A Fleeting Thing............................................................................................................................p.32 Folk/Art/Pop..................................................................................................................................p.35 The Pop Stage and the Place of Vinyl Records.................................................................p.39 The Vinyl Aura/A Different Kind of Thing.........................................................................p.44 ! The Eras of Collecting.................................................................................................................p.47 Chapter Two: The Social Life of Records................................................................p.53 Multiples and Variants...............................................................................................................p.55 The Markers of Luxury...............................................................................................................p.60 ! Types of Commodity and Exchange......................................................................................p.63 Chapter Three: The Problem of (talking about) Record Collecting.................................................................................p.72 Object or Objet...............................................................................................................................p.75 Collecting and the Utilitarian.................................................................................................p.76 Abject or Abjet...............................................................................................................................p.79 Types of Collector.........................................................................................................................p.81 ! The Need to Collect......................................................................................................................p.84 Chapter Four: Past/Times....................................................................................................p.90 New Music/Old Music................................................................................................................p.92 The Lived and Unlived Past ....................................................................................................p.95 The Past Divided...........................................................................................................................p.97 ! Other Pasts......................................................................................................................................p.102 !