People spend too much money on vinyl (we, as turntable owners, can attest to this). Much of this is because records are viewed as collectibles not just because the buyer wants to get to the music onboard. For example, if someone really wanted to hear Aphex Twin's Caustic Window LP, they could have chipped into the Kickstarter campaign to fund the digital release of the album. Instead, one unnamed individual dropped $46,222 on a rare copy of the album's vinyl format in an eBay auction.
The entire sales scheme at work here is a stroke of genius on behalf of a dedicated group of Aphex Twin fans. An organization known as We Are The Music Makers (a homage to a track from the electronic artist's classic album Selected Ambient Works 85-92) sought to raise $8,000 to buy a demo of the "lost" album from the performer, which they would then digitalize for distribution amongst those who chipped into the Kickstarter campaign. They raised more than $40,000, and then sold off the demo to the lucky/loaded buyer for a sum eclipsing the initial Kickstarter campaign.
Funds from the eBay auction will be split between those who contributed to the original digitalization push, Aphex Twin, and a charity yet to be named. Kickstarter contributors are due to vote on what charity will receive the funds.
It doesn't seem Aphex Twin (nee Richard James) is done selling his wares yet. Two more obscure vinyls have found their way onto eBay: Melodies From Mars, an unreleased 1999 album, and 1995's Analogue Bubblebath 5, another LP that didn't see the light. Although there's no official word whether James was behind the drop, it seems sensible in light of the recent Caustic Window campaign.
UPDATE: According to Rolling Stone, the purchaser of the Caustic Window vinyl was Minecraft founder Markus Persson.
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