I am looking to dispose of my large collection of around 2,500 cassettes and 250 reel-to-reel tapes. Content is principally unsung composers/compositions ( c. 1780 - 1930 ) with many commercially unrecorded gems. All cassettes are in smart cases each holding c. 40 cassettes and the tapes are in marked boxes. I am offering this collection free to anyone willing to pay the mailing costs from Australia.
Please contact me if you are interested or have any suggestions as to how I can dispose of this treasure trove short of the waste dump.
'Mike'(?),
Whilst I'm personally not in a position to acquire or handle these, I wonder if there are full/hero members of UC, or someone suitable they in turn know, who could act as custodians of what appears to be a valuable collection if say the rest of us treated it as a 'kickstarter' project to get the funding for 'postage'. Obviously, we would need some idea on costs but it's a first thought on keeping them safe/saved, and from there in due course hopefully some 'unique' uploads might arise.
Best wishes
Richard
I'd certainly help with postage. At 78, I don't have the time or the energy to undertake digitizing whatever is not in my collection. Or things that others might want.
Jerry
Kind of assuming that the offer has expired and that Aussie landfill has won?
Australian landfill now charge exorbitant fees for dumping... so the offer stands. Any interest?
May I suggest that you contact the British Library Sound Archives, or similar in Australia. Additionally the BBC might be interested, if you have anything recorded by them originally.
I shall probably regret asking this, but what would postage be to the US, do you have any idea?
Probably depends on which part of the States you live in.
I got a recent quote for a guy in Winnipeg, Canada, of A$ 1,255 ( sea freight). For air freight you are probably looking at 3 times this figure.
You probably regret asking now.......
For the interest of any other potential takers, total weight is c. 280 kg and volume 0.95 m3.
BTW, I live in Melbourne.
Mike, I sympathize with your situation. Radio Stations and libraries used to be interested, but not any more. I'm afraid they're just redundant media.
I decided to keep my cassettes and reels rather than put them on the tip.... I've digitized most of the former, but the reels still await my attention - by which time they probably won't be playable, given the Townsville climate.
Anyway, I hope you find a home for at least some of your collection...
I am in discussion with Mike regarding the possibility of bringing these over to the UK. Then I had in mind, if possible, over time importing them into MP3 files and making them available on the net.
Unfortunately my work/life balance has taken a dramatic shift towards work recently, which isn't helping.
But this would be, whilst by no means impossible, unquestionable a large and expensive project. So whilst I am waiting for a bit more time to consider this, I thought I would throw out a line to see if anyone had any advice, suggestions or a desire to get involved in one way or another?
Mike has kindly got me a quote for sea or airfreighting them. Air is expensive but I know what I am doing in that respect. Sea freight is cheaper but I have no experience.
Anyone? By the way for information I live in SE England, about 10 miles from Gatwick Airport.
R.I.P. My huge tape and cassette collection. Gone but not forgotten. Future postings will begin with the words: " I once had a recording of...".
What was the upshot?
Aussie landfill won!
I'm very sorry to hear it Mike but I do understand. If I had the means I would have been most tempted to make an offer. At some point I will want to get rid of my 1300 CDs (once I have transferred them all...), many are rare (many more aren't!), but they just take up so much space. I will offer them to libraries and music schools etc but fear that landfill beckons also...
Christopher, I've just in the last few months downsized my CD collection so that instead of taking up loads of space on shelving, 80% of it fits neatly into a small cupboard, about 2 x 3ft - I too have roughly 1300 CDs and now I have space for even more! I don't want to advertise the manufacturer of the storage system I used here but if you pm me, I will send you the details. It wasn't cheap but it made a huge difference.
Actually, if anyone else is interested, please ask! :)
Yes, but... transferring CDs is no problem - just takes a few seconds - but cassettes and tapes need to be played all the way through to transfer them on to digital media.
I estimated about that it would take at least 6,000 + hours to transfer my collection i.e. at say 8 hours a day = 2 -3 years!
Mikehopf's dilemma shows that perhaps there may be further possible initiatives that our group could look into: It would be fantastic if, on each continent, a centre could be established from where CDs could be exchanged, or where collections could be dumped, or given away free, or sold to other members, or donated, or disposed of in any sensible way.
Consider my situation: I am not a youngster any more, but I am still actively collecting CDs, and I am blessed with a wife who eagerly listens to everything in my collection. However, the low value of our (South African) currency as well as the expensive shipping rates (> $14) of Amazon, JPO, etc. have, for all intents and purposes, stalled my collection. I would love to get my hands on CDs that some of you may be disposing of.
A starting point could be a site where members could list what they have to sell / give away.
Dreaming?