Off The Charts

I read this article about this dude that has 3 million records. Obsessed much? The owner of the collection calls it "The World's Greatest Music Collection". It's bigger than the one at the Library of Congress. Possibly the largest private collection in the world. Part of what makes the vault so valuable is that the owner never sold the last copy of a record, so it is filled with rarities. One of the things that separates the dude from most collectors/retailers is his meticulous archiving. In 1983, he published a two-volume Music Master discography that became a reference book for the industry and drew the praise of Dick Clark. Now, he has nearly 1 million records archived on an electronic database. Got to love OCD. The owner estimates the value of the collection at $50 million and said that CD Now nearly bought it for $28.5 million earlier in the decade, just before stock in the online Web site plummeted. He added that over the years, the Library of Congress and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Museum have both expressed interest in the collection. But with the retail record industry dying fast and people downloading more music than buying CDs, he went 21st century and turned to eBay. Selling the collection as a single unit for 3 million in the auction. A buyer from Ireland had agreed to buy the collection but eBay later discovered the bid was a fraud. Do you think he'll take $5000? I can write him a check right now. I'll just have to find a place to keep the records. I've got a guest room that doesn't get much action...