Expert: Mike Caldwell - 7/27/2011

Question
Do you know anything about Warner/Reprise Loss Leaders vinyl records? Are their mail-order coupons on vinyl records still honored? are the albums from Warner/Reprise Loss Leaders worth any significant value? Is the original coupon worth any significant value now? Does it help the value of the vinyl if I keep them together? Did the coupon only come in America(band) albums? Or even anything???

Thanks
Trevor

Answer
For those that didn't know about it, the Loss Leader records were a series of albums from the 70s featuring Warner/Reprise artists.  Each song on each album was by a different artist, and featured songs that, according to the label, were not being heard in the mainstream, but still deserved a listen.  A few songs ended up becoming popular anyway, such as "Bang a Gong" and "Sugar Magnolia".
To that end, these collections were sold very cheap, with hopes that people might discover new artists and ultimately purchase their albums.  Hence, the name "Loss Leader".

To the best of my knowledge, any coupons related to those records would no longer be honored, and I doubt the coupon carries any value other than for nostalgic reasons.  
Keeping the collection together definitely improves its value.  Complete collections can improve its overall value by as much as 50% over the amount the records would be worth individually.
I'm not completely sure, but I would bet that yes, the coupons probably would have only been distributed within the North American market.  Given the rock-bottom cheap prices and the fact that it was mail order, I highly doubt that it would have made any sense to market this series on an international level.

Regards,
Mike