Does your vinyl or CD collection need specialist cover?

As any music enthusiast will know, amassing a vinyl collection can take years. If your collection is stolen, damaged or lost, you need cover that can help you replace those rare copies you might own that are sought after by collectors and music connoisseurs.

Similarly, if you have been buying CDs for the last four decades, you may have a collection of around 1000 or more. That amounts to over £10,000 – £15,000 of audio which will need the appropriate insurance.

Whilst most standard home insurance will cover records and CDs, if your collection is large or you have rare copies, specialist cover is likely to be more suitable. If the value of your collection is high it could put you in excess of certain limits, such as the total value of all items in your home, or the maximum limit for any one group of items.

The resurgence of vinyl

If you have built up a substantial vinyl collection, it’s worth checking its current value as hidden gems can be worth large amounts of money. If they’re in mint condition, rare, only released in a specific country, limited in number, by a famous artist, or feature unique cover art, they may have risen in value. Discogs is one example of an online music retailer through which you could get an idea of prices

Rare vinyl can run into hundreds if not thousands of pounds. In fact, Bob Dylan’s “Blowin in the Wind” sold for $1.8 million in 2022, and Ringo Starr’s copy of “The Beatles: White Album” sold for £620,000 in 2015 (it was the first copy in the press run).¹ Even singles can fetch high prices with Frank Wilson’s Northern Soul track “Do I Love You (Indeed I Do)” 7-inch 45rpm 1966 selling for over £100,000 in 2020.² Taking time to find the value of your vinyl by talking to an expert or researching online can help you obtain the right figure for appropriate insurance and establish whether you’re sitting on a goldmine.

The Digital Age

Like owning vinyl, establishing whether your CD collection holds any hidden gems can be helpful when it comes to getting the right cover. If only a limited run was made, or there is a story or controversy around the music, it can drive the cost up.

Take for example the Japan compilation “Prince – My Name was Prince”, worth up to $5,000 a copy.³ Only 50 copies were released in Japan in 1993 and at the time of release Prince was in a legal battle with his label Warner.⁴ A mannequin named Prince featured on the CD cover resulting in the album quickly taken off the market, making it rare and highly collectable.

The $4 million CD

The most expensive music ever sold was in fact a double CD. In 2015, Wu-Tang Clan’s “Once Upon a Time in Shaolin” sold for just over $2 million.⁵ Proving that less is more, only one copy of the record was made with the caveat that the buyer could not sell or make money from the record for 100 years (but they could release the music for free). The hip hop artists released one copy in protest at the devaluation of music in the digital age. The Wu-Tang Clan also issued a stipulation in the sale contract allowing themselves or actor Bill Murray to undertake a “heist or caper” to steal back the record with no legal repercussions. In 2021 the album changed hands, this time selling for $4 million.⁶ The double CD was stored in a silver box and included a lyric book and gold leafed certificate of authenticity.

Your record or CD collection might be worth a lot more than you thought. If you have worked out the replacement cost of your music collection, talk to us about getting the right cover.

If you have any questions about your home, motor, travel, second home, or boat insurance, don’t hesitate to contact us.

Alternatively, email:

m.brown@lloydwhyte.com

What matters to you, matters to us

1-2. https://www.pexels.com/photo/white-and-black-compact-discs-4734715/
3-4. https://au.finance.yahoo.com/news/11-surprisingly-valuable-cds-you-might-own-024109655.html
5-6. https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/jasonleopold/the-government-released-new-photos-of-wu-tang-clans-once

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