Check your old CD collections as certain albums are now worth up to £8,000

Old CDs gathering dust on your shelves or in your car could be worth a staggering £8,000. With the resurgence of CDs and vinyl records, music enthusiasts are returning to physical media, driven by a wave of nostalgia.

This has led collectors to spend hundreds, even thousands, on rare CDs from artists like David Bowie and Michael Jackson. Many of these sought-after CDs were released in limited quantities or exclusively overseas, while others were recalled for various reasons.

Let’s delve into which CDs could earn you a pretty penny, as reported by MyLondon. Bruce Springsteen, also known as The Boss, released The Future of Rock and Roll as a promo-only compilation in Japan in 1988. This elusive 16-track double disc has been known to fetch around £1,100, with one eBay user currently selling their copy for £907.

Prince’s My Name Was Prince follows a similar narrative. Only 50 copies of this Japan-only collection were issued in 1993 to promote the 12-track album The Hits/The B Side. This rarity is nearly impossible to find, but collectors are willing to pay up to £5k for a copy.

Paris Hilton’s brief stint in the music industry may have concluded in the 2000s, but her debut album Paris is now a hot commodity. This is largely due to Banksy, who in 2006 distributed approximately 500 counterfeit copies of the album across 48 UK stores. He swapped the original booklet for his own artwork and replaced the disc with Danger Mouse remixes. These rare CDs can fetch anything from £750 to a staggering £8k.

Now That’s What I Call Music 4, first released in 1984, only had 500 copies pressed. Unfortunately, the 15-track compilation was re-released in 2019, so it’s not extremely rare, but original discs can still see you pocket between £200-£400 for a copy lying around.

Coldplay’s 1998 EP The Safety had a limited run of just 150 copies available for sale, with the remaining 350 supposedly gifted to family, friends, and record executives. It’s now one of the most valuable CDs from Chris Martin’s band, fetching around £1,500.

In April 1994, Nirvana released a single titled Pennyroyal Tea, an alternate version of the song from their 1993 album In Utero. However, it was recalled following Kurt Cobain’s death the same month. A few copies are still circulating and sell for around £1.5k-£2k.

Michael Jackson memorabilia has always been popular, especially following his sudden death in 2009.

However, the most sought-after disc is the single Smile, which mysteriously vanished. This CD, released only in Austria in 1997, was later cancelled and never reissued, making the few remaining copies worth around £1k-£1.5k.

David Bowie’s Sound + Vision, a 1989 compilation, is also fetching a pretty penny. One of only 350 copies made reportedly sold on eBay for just over £4k in 2013. This collector’s item, featuring 49 tracks and a video disc, came with a 72-page booklet and was presented in a basswood and birch box. Additional copies that were released in 1990 are now being eagerly bought for prices ranging between £70 and £350.

The full list of CDs collectors are on the lookout for

The Future of Rock and Roll (Bruce Springsteen)
My Name Was Prince- Japan-only compilation (Prince)
Paris- 2006 Banksy/Danger Mouse edition (Paris Hilton)
Now That’s What I Call Music 4
The Safety EP (Coldplay)
Pennyroyal Tea (Nirvana)
Smile (Michael Jackson)
Sound + Vision (David Bowie)