rec.music.collecting.* & marketplace.* CHARTERs and FAQ

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Vinyl Collecting FAQ

PURPOSE AND CHARTER FOR THE VINYL AND CD COLLECTING AND MARKETPLACE
NEWSGROUPS

Welcome to the rec.music.collecting and rec.music.marketplace
newsgroups. How do these newsgroups work? What are the differences
between them? This article will help you get your postings read by the
right audience. The two most important points to remember are:
1) "Marketplace" groups are only for buying and selling things.
* RECORDS go in the rec.music.marketplace.VINYL.newsgroups.
* CDS go in the rec.music.marketplace.CD.newsgroups.
* TAPES AND COLLECTABLES go in the rec.music.marketplace.MISC
newsgroup.
* INSTRUMENTS go in the rec.music.MAKERS.marketplace newsgroups.

2) "Collecting" groups are for discussing the hobby of music
collecting.
* NO BUYING, SELLING, OR WANTLISTS (these go to the "marketplace"
groups).
* No general music discussions -- they go in rec.music.misc and/or any
of the dozens of other artist- and genre-specific newsgroups.

The rest of this article contains a more detailed explanation of these
rules as well as some tips that will help you get your records sold if
you're using the "marketplace" groups.

BASIC POSTING GUIDELINES FOR THE REC.MUSIC.COLLECTING GROUPS
The rec.music.collecting groups are for postings directly related to
music collecting as a hobby. Some sample topics:
Collection care, storage, and display
Valuation, appraisals, and insurance
Useful references (price guides, discographies, etc.)
Favorite retailers, real-world and online
Reissues and specialty releases - quality and availability
"War stories"
The rec.music.collecting groups *aren't* for:
Wanted/Forsale postings. These have their own hierarchy (the
rec.music.marketplace groups) and are off-charter in the collecting
groups. Wanted and forsale messages should NOT be posted or
crossposted to rec.music.collecting.*; the .collecting groups were
created so people would have a place to discuss music collecting
without having to wade through .marketplace-style ads to do it.
Discussion of new releases, except as specific to a particular format.
For example, the fact that a new album is coming out on CD is not
sufficient reason to post to rec.music.collecting.cd about it, unless
there is something special about the CD release that would make it of
interest to collectors (limited edition packaging, different tracks,
tracking or remastering errors on a reissue, etc.)

General "who wrote this song?" questions. These should go in
rec.music.misc or the appropriate genre group if one exists;
alt.music.lyrics also has many folks eager to answer these kinds of
inquiries. The latest version of the Great Floating LP-vs-CD Flamewar.
We've all seen it a hundred times before. Take it somewhere else.

"How Much Is This Worth?" questions come up a lot on the collecting
groups. While these posts are not necessarily inappropriate, there are
probably better places to get this kind of information. Most record
shops -- especially independent stores and those that deal in used
vinyl -- have a number of record price guides to choose from. If you
only have a few records you're curious about, write down specifics and
look up the prices in the store. If you have a lot, it's probably
worth your time to buy a copy of the guide.
If you still decide to post valuation questions, please be sure to
include all of the following information about the release(s) you're
curious about:

Label
Title
Artist
Catalog Number
Condition of your copy (any damage to the sleeve or record,including
simple scuffing, sleeve splits, etc.)

BASIC POSTING GUIDELINES FOR THE REC.MUSIC.MARKETPLACE GROUPS
The rec.music.marketplace groups are for "wanted/forsale" postings
Messages offering musical recordings and memorabilia for sale, or
seeking out musical recordings and memorabilia for purchase. Posts
should go to the group most appropriate to the items being offered or
sought. A "CDs for sale" post should go to rec.music.marketplace.cd,
not to the .misc group.

If you are selling items in more than one format (i.e. LPs and CDs),
you should consider making separate postings for each format unless
all the items are very closely related (i.e., you're selling your
entire Psychic T.V. collection, in which case you should crosspost to
the relevant groups and make it clear in your subject line that you
are selling multiple formats.) Please do not post or crosspost
messages with 150 LPs and five CDs to rec.music.marketplace.cd. and
vice versa.

If you are looking for an item in more then one format, crosspost to
the appropriate groups. (You should not crosspost to .misc unless you
are looking for an item in a format that doesn't have a more specific
group, such as cassettes or 78s.)
The rec.music.marketplace groups *aren't* for:
Anything that isn't a wanted or forsale posting.
Announcements of new releases and services.

Instruments and gear. Postings offering or seeking hardware belong in
the rec.music.makers.marketplace hierarchy, and are specifically
off-topic in rec.music.marketplace.

Frequent repostings of the same items for sale by the same seller.
Please do not offer the same items for sale more often than once a
week. There isn't enough turnover in readership to warrant posting
your ad every day.

Try to make your subject line as specific as possible in the space
available. Your subject line is like a little advertisement for your
posting; you want to encourage people interested in what you're
selling/seeking to read your message. The best way to do this is to
let them know as much about your posting as possible in the space
available to you. Some common abbreviations have come into use in the
marketplace groups that will help save space:
WTB == wanted to buy,
FS == for sale, and so forth.
Here are some examples of how to design a good, specific subject line:
Bad....Subject: Promos
Good...Subject: FS: Tori Amos/Y Kant Tori Read/Kate Bush 12" promos

Bad....Subject: WTB: Sinatra
Good...Subject: WTB: Capitol Sinatra CDs: "Tone Poems", others

Bad....Subject: LPS FOR SALE!!!!
Good...Subject: FS: 250 Jazz LPs- Verve/Blue Note,Stan Kenton, more

If you are selling a *lot* of items, get information about the genre
and major artists into the subject, and put a more detailed summary of
what you're selling in the first few lines of the actual message so
people don't necessarily need to sift through your entire message to
see if you have something they want.

Group Charters

GROUP CHARTERS: REC.MUSIC.COLLECTING HIERARCHY
CHARTER: rec.music.collecting.cd (passed 143:19, Aug 1995)

Discussion of issues relevant to collectors of audio compact discs.
Postings belong here only if they have some direct bearing on the CD
format -- the mere availability on CD of a given release is *not*
sufficient reason to discuss it here, unless the item is only
available on CD, a CD reissue, has CD-only features, etc. The group is
also not for discussion of musical quality, how much you like an
album, and so forth, as none of these questions are specific to the CD
format. Wanted and for-sale postings are off-charter here and should
be directed to the most appropriate rec.music.marketplace group.

CHARTER: rec.music.collecting.vinyl (passed 153:16, Aug 1995)
Discussion of issues relevant to collectors of vinyl LPs, singles, and
related recording formats. Wanted and for-sale postings are
off-charter here and should be directed to the most appropriate
rec.music.marketplace group.

CHARTER: rec.music.collecting.misc (passed 143:20, Aug 1995)
Discussion of music-collecting issues for which there is no more
specific rec.music.collecting newsgroup. Wanted and for-sale postings
are off-charter here and should be directed to the most appropriate
rec.music.marketplace group.

GROUP CHARTERS: REC.MUSIC.MARKETPLACE HIERARCHY

CHARTER: rec.music.marketplace.vinyl (passed 151:18, Aug 1995)
Postings offering and seeking sound recordings on vinyl (LPs, 7"/12"
singles, and so forth). Such postings belong in this group *only*,
both so that people interested in the material can find it and so
those who wish to avoid such postings can do so easily. Posters are
encouraged to be as specific as possible in their subject lines,
including a description of the genre and/or artists involved. Messages
offering the same items from the same seller should not be
posted more often than once a week.

CHARTER: rec.music.marketplace.cd (passed 146:17, Aug 1995)
Postings offering and seeking sound recordings on compact disc. Such
postings belong in this group *only*, both so that people interested
in the material can find it and so those who wish to avoid such
postings can do so easily. Posters are encouraged to be as specific as
possible in their subject lines, including a description of the genre
and/or artists involved. Messages offering the same items from the
same seller should not be posted more often than once a week.

CHARTER: rec.music.marketplace.misc (passed 143:23, Aug 1995)
Postings offering music-related merchandise (recordings,memorabilia)
for which no more specific .marketplace group exists. Note that
rec.music.MAKERS.marketplace and its subgroups exist for the sale of
instruments and gear; those postings are off-topic here.

This document is Copyright 1995 by Ernie Longmire (Lazlo Nibble).
Permission is granted to download/print out/redistribute/establish WWW
links to this file provided it is unaltered, including credits and
copyright notice. Please ask for permission before publishing this
document (in print, off the Web, and/or for profit) or altering the
file for publishing on the Web.