[Spun out of control]

Or don't you?

Seriously though, with all these soundtrack labels starting up and offering limited edition runs that you somehow feel you 'must have' (even if you've never heard of the composer, music or movie) how do you decide on which to slap down the money on the table for?

Does the cover design swing it for you, the colour of the vinyl, or is it (cough) 'all about the music'?

Do you just collect horror, cult or sci-fi soundtracks, mirroring the DW, OWS and Priv4te releases, or is it 'any and all' for you?

I guess what I'm asking is who do you ration yourself? Would be very easy to go broke if following even a handful of the many recommendations on this site

[ghostfires]

I still buy first and foremost for the music.

If samples aren't provided, and I can't dig any up - I don't buy it. As much as having complete runs from a label would be nice, I have passed on several Mondo releases and one Death Waltz release just because I don't like the music.

I'm not buying based on the packaging with the exception of buying doubles sometimes on special occasion, like the Rosemary's Baby release for example. I received the black with red coloring inside first, but really wanted to own something that was actually historical (the first of it's kind!), meaning the double colored vinyl blue/red version. I will also buy if I can't decide between two editions, or if they have some real significance...but I won't buy out of impulse just to ensure I own every soundtrack coming out.

I've passed on tons of stuff - especially all the more mainstream releases like X-Men, Batman, Star Wars, Walking Dead, etc. That music doesn't interest me, so it's easy to pass.

[Spun out of control]

Yeah, I came kinda late to the whole soundtrack craze... which means tracking down the older out of print titles has become an expensive business.

I'm more into the cult stuff, being a child of the 80s, and the more synths the better.

Must admit I have been swayed on occasion by the packaging and presentation, such as the double sided Rosemary's Baby you mention. The cultish aspect of collecting them, the coloured variants and the limited numbers creates a 'perfect storm'.

It can become quickly addictive - the Internet gives ready access to all the stuff that would have taken you years to track down at one time, as long as you can stomach the prices being asked!

[philball1974]

Ha the ultimate question!

For me I collect maybe 40/60 soundtrack to non soundtrack. For soundtracks I have the Sub for DW and ill pick the odd one that they distribute, and then ill search discogs looking for some older stuff. I pick up the OWS releases and again will maybe choose 1 or 2 of their distrobuted titles (like copenhagen climax, Surf Nazis)

For non soundtracks I buy a lot of ambient, neo clasical stuff like Max Richter and usually find my way to new stuff through Boomkat, Norman or Honest Jon (my local indie store is a bit tiny)

I dont go for nultiples of things, id never buy a release i have because it has a new colour.

Difficulty for me is I have a budget that i dont exceed. I know thats enough to spend on records, but i tend to get excited just after payday, so then mid month i try to hide from new stuff being announced and potentially miss out on great things.

For me I collect records to listen to them, i went through a phase of having so many unplayed records, or records that i thought were amazing but listened to once. I try not to do that anymore.

[Rob]

I've cut back dramatically in the last few months. I have a DW sub, but the only other new thing I've bought lately is The Congress.

For me now, it's coming down to money. When I see something for £10 on CD or £20/25 on vinyl, I'm going to go for the CD, I can't justify the extra cost. There are exceptions to this for a couple of artists I love and have a load of releases on vinyl like Barn Owl (and offshhots) and Jesu, but it really is the exception.

[orbtastic]

I usually have an internal monologue that goes:

Do you really need this?
to which the answer is...no
followed by some sort of internal justification

I find that having a holding area before pulling the trigger works tremendously, so when I get an online urge, I put them into a basket/wishlist/bookmark and mull it over for a week or two.

Of course some stuff just simply mainlines and has to be bought, usually fully justified when it sells out shortly after.

[Spun out of control]

The holding bay/loaded cart/basket thing is a nice idea that doesn't really work... you come back the next day when you've decided to go for it and suddenly there's an 'out of stock' message... damn!

Now suddenly you want it even more

[orbtastic]

ha, yeah. you need to then sort of mentally file it under "ah well, didn't need it anyway"

it's basically prioritising purchases, that's how I look at it.

anyway don't listen to me, I've probably dropped over £1000 in the last month or so.

[Spun out of control]

@Orbtastic

Ouch... don't know whether to be sympathetic.. or envious..!

[philball1974]

£1000 isn't that like 50-60 records!! good luck listening to them all!!!

[Darren LD1984]

I've just lifted my spending embargo to pick up Cipriani's Concorde Affair '79 and The Great Alligator. I just couldn't pass on them

[hncreature]

Outside of my subs and the other horror / genre labels I do my best to find a stream or at least some samples before deciding - The pricing with shipping on the Euro releases sometimes make that decision easier

[Dollarhyde]

Sometimes I say to myself I cant own every record I want.
If that does not work I say to myself I will own it but sometime in the future, which requires being very patient

I think with the high amoumt of flippers and panic buyers alot of these limited releases and variants will eventually be available at a reasonable price.

[Spun out of control]

Perhaps a larger number of labels releasing these kind of scores and therefore increased competition will help bring down the prices... there can only be so many genre fans out there after all.

That said, I understand the vinyl pressing plants that remain are under considerable strain, so perhaps it will still 'cost' for a while more to own these gems on a 12-inch disk.

[blastman]

By running out of money!

I'm a recent convert to buying soundtracks, I tend to go for interesting packages in the genres or movies that I like (mostly horror/cult/sci-fi). I'll try to buy the limited editions of what I want, but I don't obsessively try to get everything a particular label releases (which is good as I buy plenty of non-soundtrack music as well).

[Spun out of control]

Yep, running out of funds will always do it.

It was more how you pick and choose to spend what you have

[soundtracks of fear]

The time has come to just be more selective, especially now with so much great stuff to choose from. Of course most of us want to buy most things we see. I hope if it's something I really want that I can still get a copy at a reasonable price on discogs. But with the costs and so many I personally have to choose. I buy 95% soundtracks now and started with just horror about 5 years ago which has diversified somewhat as there are a lot of great scores. These long pre-order waits are a bit annoying though especially when you pay in advance,so that is now a consideration unless as it usually is something I need, if you know what I mean. I think I've got a pretty good hold on the addiction though!

[orbtastic]

[quote=27625]£1000 isn’t that like 50-60 records!! good luck listening to them all!!![/quote]
Yeah, depends really. Some soundtracks are in the ~£30 mark...some are 12"s which when I first started buying records seriously were only £2.99 so gone up in price a bit!

I generally listen to everything I buy, I work from home a lot so have a lot of hours to listen. Some stuff I don't touch but I've usually already listened a number of times in some other form.