Post by g***@gmail.comI'm curious to know what people think about this question. I've posted
some thoughts at www.grunin.com/eroica/pirates.htm, but I'm very
interested in other points of view.
Regards,
Eric Grunin
www.grunin.com/eroica
Did pirates exist before the appearance of the lp?
A great question and one that, in itself, is yet another
argument in support of inclusion of pirated recordings
in discographies. Looking forward to someone (anyone?)
who can answer this.
So on to nostalgia. My first encounter with pirated
recordings (in the LP era) was at the Discophile shop
on West 8th St. in Manhattan's Greenwich Village.
To that point, I was aware only of discs that officially
existed in Schwann, High Fidelity, etc. or sold at
Goody's or the Record Hunter. I believe there was
also a shop (whose name and exact location I can't recall,
possibly on West 44th St. between Fifth and Sixth).
I'm doubtful whether it was possible to have a viable
pirate trade during the 78 rpm era (aside from one-off
acetates) since the means of production and distribution
were probably far more limited than they were in the
post-war era.
As to whether pirated discs should be included, that
question has appeared to be settled in practice. Some of
the finest examples of discography (e.g. the excellent
series of pamphlets produced by the Danish Nationaldiskoteket
and others since) have included them. One book on the
subject (Lewis Foreman's Systematic Discography, 1974)
does not seem to address the legal question but does
point out their existence, highlight their pros and cons,
and even devotes the better part of four pages listing
sources for non-commercial or "unofficial" recordings.
Jerry