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Wanna read my report on record collecting?


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http://www.sendspace.com/file/ya6w42

The full title of my thesis is "What aesthetic values do fans of Metal and Hardcore music genres apply to the purchasing and collecting of vinyl records?", & it was done as part of my final year at University. 12,996 words on collecting records!

Some of you have ever so kindly helped me out with my research for this and so this is your chance to see your name in print! (well, kinda)

I'd love to get some feedback on this if anyone does want to read it.

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Well that was fun! Here are a few points I came up with while reading:

Take into account the audience of who would be reading and grading the paper. You must not assume the intended audience has any concept of the musical genres you are discussing. Either define hardcore and metal right away or drop it down to "rock music". I know exactly where you are coming from, but not everyone will.

Next, I think it would be interesting to add that the seminal US hardcore figures (MacKaye, Kevin Seconds, Cappo, Porcelly, etc) were open about record collecting, starting labels, releasing records and disclosing pressing information. This gave collectors a road map of what records were vital to be collected for the following generations of hardcore fans. The cover of Schism fanzine should be proof enough of that.

I would also include on page 39-40 the use of the internet in the elitism of record collecting. Collectors can now brag about their collections on a global scale through "trade lists". Most completionist collectors have no intention of ever trading their collection. It is simply a place to post their collection and wait for the accolades. Spend enough time on VC and you can see that as plain as day.

It might be something to mention that savvy record labels nurture and foster a culture of collecting by posting detailed discographies with pictures of all the color variants of a release. The visual asthetic of seeing what a rare pressing looks like and how many were pressed will generate excitement among collectors. It sure worked on me.

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Forgot to mention, you really nailed it on most of your points, especially the need for first presses with some collectors. You could have expanded almost every paragraph into its own chapter as well.

I really liked your conclusion section. It brought things together nicely.

Thanks for reading it, glad you enjoyed it, and thanks for your feedback.

You're right about defining Hardcore and Metal straight away, I can't believe I let that one slip. The other points you've made were all points I considered or where part of my report at some stage, but I was working with a 13,000 word limit, and I could easily have written twice that once I really got going. My first draft was over 15,000 words and so I had to cut over 2,000 just to get it under the limit for my assignment.

I also had to keep a lot of the theoretical studies in mind when writing this too, as I'm sure you noticed. A lot of things that I knew about record collecting I couldn't just come out and make bold statements as I would need to back them up somehow. Still, I'd like to think of it as a starting point for some further research, which I think I mention in my conclusion. Glad you liked the conclusion too, my lecturer kept drilling it into me that a good, concise conclusion makes all the difference.

Thanks again pal!

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"...collecting Hardcore Punk and Metal vinyl records has until now been overlooked"

this is the quote i automatically noticed within the first page.

overlooked by who? if it was overlooked, that means people just didn't listen to punk rock in general. or they just got into punk rock and knew nothing about it before, thus they haven't had ample time to find out. As Hardcore/punk in it's majority has always been released on vinyl before any other format. that goes for the 70's till now.

metal has been released on vinyl till maybe the mid 90s, then dwindled till vinyl's resurgence. So there was a bit of a stagnant period or a small lull so to speak

- i also feel there probably are far more politcal bands now with the current politcal climate in world today. Just not all are as popular as bad religion was. I think probably because Bad Religion was around when interenet was not around and the only larger labels were able to promote and produce said bands.

overall all i really liked it. i liked how you compared each individuals answers with others. It was a long read but worthwhile and entertaining.

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"...collecting Hardcore Punk and Metal vinyl records has until now been overlooked"

this is the quote i automatically noticed within the first page.

overlooked by who?

With this statement I meant it had been overlooked in an academic sense. When researching literature I found plenty about records and collecting but nothing that focused exclusively on metal and hardcore record collecting

Glad you enjoyed it, could of been longer, I had a word limit I had to stick to though!

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