record collecting

[k mcbain <fu.manchu@xxxxxxxxxx>]

thanks to all of those who have helped. I must admit, it was the Recording 
Angel that first inspired me to write about music collecting - particularly 
the passage about Clarence - i have since interviewed a man almost as 
interesting as him - possessing 15,000 records, but owning no turntable, 
playing them only at a friend's...

anyway, further to my last mailing...

 just what is it that constitutes a 'collector'? - the amount of items, 
the genre of music, categorization...?

in an age where portable MP3 Jukeboxes will carry up to 1,200 CD 
equivalents by 2005 - possibly all downloaded from the Internet (either 
paid for or poached in some way); where CD burners and mini-disc 
players/recorders allow those with only the minimal knowledge of music to 
effectively copy and then possess the 'collection' of someone else; where 
'originality' is merely a term for re-appropriating (see bastardizing) 
records of old in the market place; and where a 'pure' collector finds a 
much valued track, acquired with much effort, now remixed and released on a 
compilation album - is the nature of collecting music bound to change?

naturally the market has a major influence on what music enthusiasts [is 
this different to collectors?] can acquire. is collecting perhaps a way of 
resisting this? Norman Lebrecht's book 'When the music stops' has been of 
great interest in the area of classical music and its alleged demise - due 
also in part to the role that critics play. A music collection without 
doubt becomes an extension of the self. When items that have been fought 
over and tears shed for find themselves re-hashed by the latest star, or 
used as a backing track to the latest cough syrup or car - is the 
value/aura of those items diminished or heightened?

one last question - does a collection, as an entire entity, provide space 
for collectors to 'produce'?
cheers,
kate