Check out the film
score bestseller list at
amazon.com
• Newest Major Reviews:.• This Week's Most Popular Reviews:• Best-Selling Albums:
. 1. Nim's Island
2. The Life Before Her Eyes
3. Horton Hears a Who!
4. Leatherheads
5. The Spiderwick Chronicles
. . 1. Moulin Rouge
2. Gladiator
3. POTC: Curse of the Black Pearl
4. Star Wars: A New Hope
5. Edward Scissorhands
 6. Pearl Harbor
7. Schindler's List
8. Titanic
9. Braveheart
10. Home Alone
. . 1. Varèse Sarabande 25th
2. The Last of the Mohicans
3. Legends of the Fall
4. Schindler's List
5. LOTR: Return of the King (Set)
Collector's Corner


Informational Resources:

Bootlegs, Promos, and the Unreleased
(includes distinctions about the differences between bootlegs and promos, as well as the circumstances behind unreleased scores)

Collectible Series
(includes catalog information about the collectors'/club series published by Varèse Sarabande, Film Score Monthly, Intrada, Prometheus and more)

The Original Collectible CDs
(back when CDs occasionally sold for over $1,000, in the days before mass the CDr market prevailed, these were the hot titles)

Current State of Collectible Scores

Additional Resources



        Not always is the best film music available on commercial albums, and just like any other genre of music, there are fans of film music who strive to obtain their favorite unreleased film scores. In the early days of CDs, between 1986 and 1994, the price of rare film music CDs could often each above $1,000. Rare LP records still existed in their day, though they were never as popular as the promotional and bootlegged CDs that prevail today. In the mid to late 1990's, the new medium of the Internet caused piracy, as well as legal promotion, of rare film music to skyrocket. Online auction services allowed more buyers and sellers to connect, spurring an increase in the production and distribution of both bootlegs and promotional CDs. The changing landscape of personal PC burning of CDrs has changed the collectible film score scene in 2000 and beyond. Nearly any piece of film music can be obtained, legally or otherwise, in today's secondary Internet market, and Filmtracks offers you information about some of the CDs you will find, as well as samplings of rare film music never pressed onto a commercial CD.

        Note: To be clear, Filmtracks does not support the growing bootlegging industry, nor is it particularly fond of what mp3s have to offer. It is important to understand that film music record labels struggle to survive financially, so bootlegging of music that is already commercially available is unacceptable. In many cases, Filmtracks assists record labels in their pursuit of bootleggers, with rising success. Nevertheless, promotional and bootlegged items still exist, and to also serve the interests of Filmtracks visitors, we offer information about those items which do exist on the secondary market, without passing judgement on their origins. After all, the Filmtracks editors are film music collectors too, just like you, and when this site was first opened in 1996, its primary concentration was on collectible soundtracks. Finally, while Filmtracks maintains a vast library of rare film music in its Montana offices, we very rarely trade our supplies to other fans. The best we can offer is information about them, and audio samples from them, so that you can decide for yourself whether to buy these products on the secondary market when you find them.



Audio Samples from Collectible Scores:


A newly added feature in August, 2001, Filmtracks offers you samples of film scores that you likely have not heard before. Most of these scores failed to achieve a commercial CD release, in part or in whole, but have either been distributed promotionally by the composer, or bootlegged for the secondary market. We don't ensure that the music in the clips will always be good, because much of the music is commercial unreleased simply because it isn't very listenable. The quality is for you to decide. In all cases, the clips have been encoded in Real Audio 5.0, ISDN stereo. Clips will continue to be added on a monthly basis.

Young Sherlock Holmes: (Bruce Broughton)
(0:38), 191K young_sherlock1.ra

Innerspace: (Jerry Goldsmith)
(0:37), 185K innerspace6.ra
6. Let's Get Small (Geffen release)

   Jade: (James Horner)
(0:39), 195K jade1.ra

Innerspace: (Jerry Goldsmith)
(0:40), 201K innerspace10.ra
10. Air Supply (Geffen release)

   The War of the Roses: (David Newman)
(0:38), 190K war_roses1.ra

The Relic: (John Debney)
(0:38), 190K relic1.ra
1. The Relic Main Titles (promo)


Anywhere But Here: (Danny Elfman)
(0:45), 238K anywhere15.ra
1. Suite (partially commercially available)

The 'Burbs: (Jerry Goldsmith)
(0:34), 128K burbs2.ra
2. Welcome to Mayfield Pl. - (review)

Cherry 2000: (Basil Poledouris)
(0:42), 170K cherry2000_21.ra
21. End Credits - (review)

Farewell to the King: (Basil Poledouris)
(0:49), 144K farewell_king5.ra
5. Battle Montage - (review)

Good Will Hunting: (Danny Elfman)
(0:23), 48K goodwill6.ra
6. Them Apples - (review)

Independence Day: (David Arnold)
(0:30), 150K id4_118.ra
CD1/18. Spaceship from Roswell - (review)

SpaceCamp: (John Williams)
(0:28), 144K spacecamp14.ra
14. Home Again - (review)

Vibes: (James Horner)
(0:24), 118K vibes7.ra
7. The Journey Begins - (review)

   Mi Familia: (Mark McKenzie)
(0:31), 167K mckenzie.ra
1. Suite (1996 promo compilation)

The 'Burbs: (Jerry Goldsmith)
(0:22), 69K burbs4.ra
4. Klopek House - (review)

The Family Man: (Danny Elfman)
(0:40), 200K family_man23.ra
24. (Untitled) - (review)

Flatliners: (James Newton Howard)
(1:07), 225K flatliners2.ra
2. Redemption - (review)

In Country: (James Horner)
(0:42), 175K incountry19.ra
19. In Country: Finale - (review)

Independence Day: (David Arnold)
(0:31), 156K id4_28.ra
CD2/8. Launching the Ship - (review)

Species: (Christopher Young)
(0:36), 74K species12.ra
12. Star Bright - (review)

We're No Angels: (George Fenton)
(0:29), 137K were_no1.ra
1. Introduction/Main Titles - (review)

   The Witches of Eastwick: (John Williams)
(0:30), 154K witches2.ra
8. The Dance of the Witches (bootleg)

The 'Burbs: (Jerry Goldsmith)
(0:45), 179K burbs13.ra
13. End Titles - (review)

The Family Man: (Danny Elfman)
(0:40), 199K family_man28.ra
28. (Untitled) - (review)

Baby: Secret of the Lost Legend: (Jerry Goldsmith)
(0:24), 88K gold_tribute20.ra
20. The Family (SPFM Tribute) - (review)

Mulan: (Jerry Goldsmith)
(0:25), 131K mulan_33.ra
33. The Pendant - (review)

Shipwrecked: (Patrick Doyle)
(0:29), 149K shipwrecked1.ra
1. Opening Titles - (review)

Under Fire: (Jerry Goldsmith)
(0:29), 137K under_fire12.ra
12. Nicaragua - (review)

Wind: (Basil Poledouris)
(0:31), 116K wind1.ra
1. Prologue - (review)




The Current State of Collectible Scores:






As of summer, 2001: It's important to remember that the collecting field is always changing. Whatever notions or judgements you make about the secondary film score market today will be outdated by next month. The minute a "price guide" is set up to evaluate the current standings of soundtrack CDs, a re-release, bootleg, or suddenly flurry of interest can radically change the prices. Legitimately released collectibles, such as those available through the Varèse Sarabande CD Club in the late 1980's and early 1990's, continue to escalate because most of them are no longer in print. In response to the vast economic swings in Europe and the United States in the 1990's, record labels have come and gone, and thus, there are a significant number of commercial albums that have become collectibles themselves. The labels continue to fight the short lived, but popular, studio method of including entire scores on isolated DVD tracks, a practice that will likely all but disappear by 2003.

Before the Internet, ads in film music magazines often carried much of the load in rare score dealings. When Filmtracks first opened in 1996, the USENET (and the rec.music.movies newsgroup in particular) was the most popular method of exchanging rare scores. Then, when the auction craze hit two years later, sites like eBay were instantaneously the prevailing secondary marketplace. Even Filmtracks adopted an auction in the midst of the frenzy. The personal computer business changed this around 2000, when both Windows and Apple computers began shipping with CDr burners built in. With small time CD burning, both for personal and business use, becoming easy enough for elderly grandparents to master, the bootlegging industry suddenly changed. More and more previously unavailable, and still commercially unreleased, material began appearing from the likes of engineers, musicians, and fans who happened to hold copies of master tapes of film scores. With these technological innovations, you can find just about any score you want, for relatively low prices.

Often times, people e-mail Filmtracks and ask, "What's the most collectible soundtrack CD of all time?" Ten years ago, there was an answer to this question. The sold-out Cherry 2000 album from the Varèse Sarabande CD Club once sold for $1,200 between two high powered film music collectors. As recently as 1999, the Mulan picture disc, featuring Goldsmith's complete score for the film, sold at $600. But prices such as those are extremely rare. Most average film score fans who want their favorite music these days are satisfied with a CDr copy of it, and most of them don't even require stellar sound quality. But there are still hardcore collectors who will settle for nothing less than the original. The Goldsmith "Society for the Preservation of Film Music Tribute" album is still considered to be the biggest collectible from the old CD era, even though much of the music from it is available elsewhere now. It was limited to 500 copies and was passed out to guests at the annual SPFM tribute dinner in 1993, containing all previously unreleased music from four older Goldsmith scores. An original sold in 2001 for $400. But don't expect to see such prices for much longer. With countless film music websites offering message forums, as well as the blossoming popularity of instant messaging technologies, film score fans are becoming friends fast, and they are sharing their collections of film music in ways never thought possible ten years ago.

Where will the collector's market go from here? Eventually, the bandwidth available to transfer entire, digitally perfect quality scores over the Internet will become fiscally available to the average consumer. Already, Filmtracks can transfer and entire 74 minute album (650MB) from its Montana offices to its Virginia server in about an hour. When bandwidth speeds allow for your parent's generation to do the same, which is arguably 4 - 6 years away, then the entire concept of the physical CD as a collectible will need to be re-evaluated.




Other Resources of Interest:



To acquire collectible CDs online, the best sites to browse first are the soundtrack specialty outlets. They include:


If they don't have what you're looking for in their listings, just contact them and inform them of your request. Otherwise, the auction market at eBay will be your best chance of acquiring that rare item. Don't forget, also, to announce your request on the film music message boards online, including the Filmtracks ScoreBoard, in case there is another fan who would like to trade with you.





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Site/page created 9/24/96, updated 8/1/01. Version 3.0 (Filmtracks Publishing) Copyright © 1996-2001, Christian Clemmensen. All rights reserved. "Real Audio" logo and .ra are Copyright © 1996-2001, Real Audio (www.realaudio.com). The reviews, audio, and notes contained on the filmtracks.com site may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of Filmtracks Publications.