CDs and vinyl records, once thought to be relics of the past due to the rise of MP3 players and smartphones, are experiencing a resurgence as nostalgia drives people back to physical media.
This means those old discs gathering dust on your shelf or in your car could now be worth a small fortune.
Collectors are willing to pay hundreds, even thousands, for rare CDs from artists like David Bowie to Michael Jackson. These sought-after CDs were often released in limited quantities or exclusively in foreign countries, while some were later recalled for various reasons.
Bruce Springsteen, also known as The Boss, released The Future of Rock and Roll as a promo-only compilation in Japan in 1988. This hard-to-find 16-track double disc has been known to fetch around £1.1k, with one eBay user selling their copy for £907.Prince’s My Name Was Prince is another rarity. Only 50 copies of this Japan-only collection were issued in 1993 to promote the 12-track album The Hits/The B Side.
Paris Hilton’s brief foray into the music world may have ended in the 2000s, but her debut album Paris is now a sought-after item. This is largely thanks to Banksy, the beloved London graffiti artist, who in 2006 distributed around 500 fake copies of the album across 48 UK stores.
He replaced the original booklet with his own artwork and swapped the disc for Danger Mouse remixes. These rare CDs can fetch anything from £750 to a whopping £8k!
Now That’s What I Call Music 4, first launched in 1984, was the first Now album on CD, with only 500 copies produced.
Sadly, this 15-track compilation was re-released in 2019, so it’s not extremely rare, but original discs can still command between £200-£400. Only 150 copies of Coldplay’s 1998 EP The Safety were available for sale, with the remaining 350 supposedly gifted to family, friends, and record executives.
It’s now one of the most valuable CDs from Chris Martin’s band, and lucky music enthusiasts who own one can reportedly fetch around £1.5k. Nirvana released a single titled Pennyroyal Tea in April 1994 as an alternate version of the song from their 1993 album In Utero.
However, it was recalled following Kurt Cobain’s death in the same month. A few copies are still in circulation and can now sell for around £1.5k-£2k.
Michael Jackson memorabilia has always been in high demand, particularly after his unexpected death in 2009. The most coveted disc is the single ‘Smile’, which mysteriously disappeared.
This CD, released only in Austria in 1997 and never reissued following its cancellation, makes the few remaining copies worth around £1k-£1.5k. Another collector’s gem is David Bowie’s ‘Sound + Vision’.
A copy of this 1989 compilation, one of just 350 made, reportedly fetched over £4k on eBay in 2013. It included 49 tracks, a video disc, a 72-page booklet, and was presented in a basswood and birch box.
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