About Company
The early years
The first standalone issue of Record Collector was published in March 1980, though its history stretches back further. In 1963, publisher Sean O’Mahony (alias Johnny Dean) had launched an official Beatles magazine, The Beatles Book. Although it shut down in 1969, The Beatles Book reappeared in 1976 due to popular demand.
Through the late-70s, the small ads section of The Beatles Book became an increasingly popular avenue through which collectors could make contact and buy, sell, or trade Beatles records. Reflecting a burgeoning collecting scene in the 1970s, as time went by, the adverts were becoming dominated by traders who were interested in rare vinyl outside of that within The Beatles world. In September 1979, The Beatles Book came with a record collecting supplement, and the response was positive enough for O’Mahony to launch Record Collector as a separate entity in March 1980.
Taking off
By June 1980, Record Collector was a glossy A5 publication which ran to no more than 100 pages. With the addition of another editorial staff member – Peter Doggett, who stayed with the magazine for almost 20 years – RC began to take shape and assume its own identity. Aimed at the collector’s market, early issues would focus largely on the music of collectible artists from the 50s, 60s and 70s.
Uniquely, Record Collector features would consist of both prose pieces on the history of the artist, and detailed discographies of their UK releases. These discographies would provide all the information needed for collectors to pore over, and which enabled them to differentiate between different pressings of outwardly identical releases – catalogue numbers, release dates and distinguishing features of the records/record sleeves themselves. Most notably, however, they would also include a valuation of each record, so that dealers and collectors had a springboard to work from.
Collectors who couldn’t make it to London and other major cities where record fairs were being held, or the biggest record dealing shops were based, found themselves limited by their situation. The mail order listings in Record Collector were important, and one of the few places for buyers and sellers to make contact with each other. At its height, this section was up to half of the publication. However, at the turn of the 21st century with the success of selling to consumers on-line via sites such as Ebay, many sellers now use this type of method the amount of lisitings has greatly declined.
Currently
In 2003, Record Collector became a full colour publication – marking the fact with a psychedelic special – and printing 13 issues a year. The magazine was updated steadily by Editor-In-Chief Alan Lewis, former editor of Sounds, NME, Black Music, founding editor of Kerrang! and involved in the launches of both Uncut and Loaded. Lewis left in April 2011 and was replaced by Ian McCann, formerly of NME, Black Echoes and The Independent. His debut came with an issue focused on "the 51 Best Investments in vinyl" which drew press coverage worldwide. The magazine has since embraced multimedia, launching Facebook and Twitter feeds, and has broadened its outlook slightly, offering comment on subjects such as Amy Winehouse's death and music linked to the 2011 England riots.
Record Collector continues to serve the collector, offering retrospective features, full discographies and in depth interviews. Its outlook has expanded to embrace the phenomenon of collecting via the internet, whether it be through online trading, or downloading music. RC also includes Q&A pages where readers can have questions about their rare and obscure records answered; some of the largest news and reviews sections in music print; one of the few fanzine review columns in print; a focus on curio releases from around the world; interviews with a variety of collectors, who talk through their personal collections; and monthly features on eBay and record fairs.
From being the only monthly music publication for the majority of the 80s, Record Collector has maintained its popularity well into the 2000s. Having encouraged a few trends in the reissue/collecting market, most importantly of all, RC has made the collecting market more widely established and accepted, and has remained an important publication for collectors and music enthusiasts alike.
Record Collector is an important magazine because it provides a sense of history to the scene. It assesses the importance of artists’ contribution to music, regardless of whether they are flavour of the month. As a result, RC has both rescued various artists’ careers and instilled a sense in the reader that the quality of the music and the integrity of the artist is what really counts… a human voice in a corporate environment. - Arthur Brown
