ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book examines the historical development of record collecting, its contemporary status, and the infrastructure within which it functions. It covers the early development of record collecting, following the advent of sound recording and the rise of a gramophone culture, and sketches the post-1960 collecting of 78s. The book considers the issues of taste and cultural capital, and what is 'collectable'. It examines the collectors hunt for new material, and the various sites for its acquisition. Record collectors are among the readers of the music press in general, but also consume a number of publications aimed more specifically at them. The book examines the historical development of these publications since 1970, their emphases and the use made of them by record collectors. It also includes a series of ten collector profiles.
