How to Find and Aquire Out of Print Music

Have you ever heard a song the radio and couldn't place the origin of it? Lots of times when I used to listen to classic country shows on the radio I often heard songs that I never could find available on compact disc or cassette at the normal retails stores. Many times, out of print recordings are never re released onto modern mediums except in a few rare cases where demand calls for it. Often times it can be very difficult to locate the album or 45 rpm record you maybe looking for.

Early on in my love of country music, I found it useful to have a turntable for records as well as a cassette deck to transfer my newfound treasures to for the car or wherever. As far as older mediums, records held up the best and are far easier to work with than cassettes or eight track tapes. When I first began collecting, I scoured many thrift stores such as Goodwill, as well as flea markets searching for the classic country artists I heard on the radio. Of course, this was the late 1990's before computers really took off. Most of the time I would have hit or miss results, which was very frustrating.

The joy involved in collecting is finding that maybe at some time, you favorite artists may have covered a hit from another artist. Many artists released several albums during their career and most compact disc releases only cover a few highlights. Some times a whole album is re released onto compact disc, however the original source tapes may have very seriously degraded leaving less than optimal sound quality. Also, it was a common practice that for many years, a song was released as a "B" side of a 45 PRM record that was not released on the corresponding album.

In recent times, I have found using a combination of available resources streamline the process of collecting records. As opposed to just over ten years ago when I began collecting, you can have wonderful results without even leaving your home. Spending money on gas to go dig through filthy thrift stores and haggle at flea markets is no longer required to find that long lost 45 or album you have been searching for! All you need now is a computer connected to the Internet, an active pay pal account, and hot cup of coffee!

The tools of the trade and how you use them often determine the rate of success you will have with your endeavors. I will begin with sharing how I go about finding those long lost songs that no longer receive airplay. The first thing you need is what is called a discography. That is a list of albums by an artist as well as the content on them. I use a web site devoted to classic country called LP Discography. They have a complete discography on almost everyone who was anyone in country music from the 1950's to the present. Often, it's very easy to pull up a discography on an artist and learn quite a bit about them and their career. Reading through them often peaks my interest to acquire an album I may not have known about.

The next step is the acquisition. There are many different record stores on the Internet, however I often find the most flexibility with Ebay. Ebay offers features such as "buy it now", standard auctions, as well as "make an offer", all of which can get you a great deal on records. Also, most time you can find bulk lots where you can get several records all at once, which is great to start a collection with. What I usually do is find the artist and album title from the discography and search for it on Ebay. Most time I can find several different copies in varying conditions and prices to choose from.

Often times, you may find interesting items by simply browsing Ebay. Ebay has a whole section of their records department devoted to the country genre that can be browsed by price, number of items, time ending and beginning, and condition. Several times I have purchased groups of country albums that were still sealed! When buying records on Ebay, always check the pictures and go by the item condition. Most sellers who specialize in records use the Goldmine grading scale from Near Mint to Good, which is confusing because good in record grading is actually not very good. Near Mint to Very Good is the range the best results can be found in.

Using a discography to research, and an auction site such as Ebay, is the most fast and efficient way to acquire out of print music. Once you have them in your collection, you can listen to them as is, make compact discs or mp3 files with your computer or even create your own cassettes if you happen to still use that medium. All of which makes discovering classic country music fun and exciting!