Austin Record Show is back this year

I have never been to the Austin Record Show and I'm considering going this year (May 8,9).

I was wondering if it's worth going to if I'm strictly a CD collector?

Appreciate insights from folks who have attended in recent years. Thanks so much!

 

Wait till the Fall. If you are from Texas......go, but; it could be ugly compared to the '19 shows.

 

Record Shows.....boy, do I miss them. Even more than concerts.

 

Funny they have one in New Jersey that's been going on for decades and runs well through Covid......so many states are empty of them. The Greater Orange County Record Show in Buena Park has a dead Facebook and record show site for near a year. You'd think they'd update its existence.

 

Prices-wise, how would you rank Austin show in comparison to record shows of similar size in Europe (e.g. Holland, UK)?
I'm especially interested in Jazz/Funk/Soul/R&B/Library albums, but not exclusively.

 

Obviously cheaper......the sellers there load up at Austin and other shows in the U.S., well not now. I now see ringed out Billy Joel LP's selling for $12 in Denver.....maybe they'll figure out they are worthless. Snap, krackle pop.

 

I decided to make the trek. Not paying $30 for early admission though, when general admission is free. Will report back here with my findings, post-show

 

Saw some photos from friday.....yikes, looks like many dealers blew it off. One guy said he couldn't find his top 5 dealers he buys from.

 

It’s my first Austin show, so I can’t compare to previous years, but there was definitely some vacant dealer space. In speaking with other attendees, past shows typically always sold out of available dealer tables.

I’d estimate that about a third of the dealers had CDs for sale - more than I was expecting for a “Record Show.” And the pricing was generally very good too - in the $3-5 range. I just didn’t find many early pressings, and the handful of MFSL’s I encountered were priced at market.

I spent a couple hours at the show and left with two CDs for $6. I had a nice time and had some good conversations, but the juice wasn’t worth the squeeze for CDs, IMO.

 

Here are a few pics I took right after the show opened for general admission.



This seller had by far the most CD's for sale



Typical cd pricing

 

If you eliminated the spacing for covid it was way down for dealers big time. Most I spoke with said it was their poorest show in many years.

 

The poor guy on the PA system would announce every hour that shoppers should keep 6 ft social distance while browsing.

Ummmmmm....not gonna happen at this, or any, record show.

 

Probably by order of the city.......but looking at the photos there was no need.....talk about empty compared to '19. Once tables open it is a 2 deep feeding frenzy.....distance: inches fromeach other. I hope the Fall show is back to '19 standards

 

I can't remember last time I was there but it was great a weekend at the record fair and the rest of the week by the record stores

 

1994 Austin Record Show was amazing.....those were the days.

 

I saw the 2019 Austin Record Show. Which was very special. I enjoyed this show a lot.