Stephen M Braitman, Accredited Senior Appraiser, Specialty Studies: Music Archives & Memorabilia

Contact

Stephen M Braitman
ISA member since Aug 07, 2023

(415) 897-6999 (Office)

1403 S.E. 40th Avenue
HIllsboro, OR 97123 map

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About

Stephen M. H. Braitman, ASA is a fully accredited Senior Member of the American Society of Appraisers (ASA) and the International Society of Appraisers (ISA). He is also a member of the Association of Recorded Sound Collections (ARSC) and the Music Library Association (MLA).

Stephen has been involved with records and music since the late '60s. He started trading in music in the mid-'70s, buying and selling records, posters, and related items through swap meets, conventions, private sales, and on-line auctions. His personal collection has over 40,000 records and pieces of memorabilia.

 His acknowledged expertise in music and memorabilia makes his appraisal service an important component of estate planning, court and arbitration expert testimony, charitable contribution, and insurance coverage and claims. He is the only accredited senior appraiser with a specialty in music archives and memorabilia, with formal training in the Uniform Standards Of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP). He last passed the 15-hour USPAP course in November 2022.

 Notable Appraisal and Donation Assignments

• Michael Jackson property at the Neverland Ranch
• Elton John personal record collection
• Third Man Records archive, Nashville
• Belfer Audio Archive of Syracuse University, Syracuse
• Grammy Museum, Los Angeles
• Arnold Shaw Popular Music Research Center, University of Las Vegas
• ARChive of Contemporary Music, New York
• Music Department of Florida International University, Miami
• Guthrie Theatre, Minneapolis
• Music Department, Gonzaga University, Spokane
• Arthur Friedheim Library of the Peabody Institute, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore
• Center for New Music & Audio Technologies, Berkeley
• Henri Temianka Archive, Chapman University
• Bobby Jones Archive, Tennessee State University
• Southern Folklife Collection of the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC

 Background

Stephen started writing about music as a young teenager in Los Angeles. He has reviewed and interviewed many recording artists, including Joni Mitchell, Electric Light Orchestra, Neil Young with Crazy Horse, Jean-Luc Ponty, Blood Sweat & Tears, Richard Pryor, The Who, Melanie, Ravi Shankar, Pere Ubu, B.B. King, Judy Collins, Dave Van Ronk, Pentangle, The Band, Giant Sand, Richie Havens, and Tim Buckley.

Since his university days he has been publisher and editor of numerous including Musician’s News, City Arts Monthly, Key This Week San Francisco, Rolling Your Own, Entertainment News, Bay Nights, and SF Live.

 Stephen was a Contributing Writer for Alternative Press for ten years, writing features and reviews on bands and musicians ranging from Apples in Stereo to Zuzu’s Petals. He has contributed on a free-lance basis to many other publications, including the Los Angeles Times, Marin Independent Journal, New Times, Antique Trader, Sunset, San Francisco Chronicle, New York Times, San Francisco Focus, and Electronic Musician, among others.

In 2021, he was the appraiser co-host with Ahmet Zappa for the AXS-TV network television program, Rock My Collection.

 His record company, Amorous Records, released records and promoted gigs throughout California for the new wave bands Silhouette, House of Pants, and Times Beach.

 In addition to his appraisal assignments, Stephen continues to be a major collector of records and music paraphernalia, owning tens of thousands of LPs, CDs, 45s, photographs, magazines, and other memorabilia. His collection has been used as an archival resource for many organizations, including Rhino Records, Sundazed, Ace (U.K.), and MCA Records.

He was a major contributor of posters and flyers for the publication of the popular book, The Art of Rock (Abbeville Press). Photographs from his archive are featured in the noted series of books by Paul Williams about Bob Dylan’s performing career. He was a consultant to Jerry Osborne’s Rockin’ Records price guides.

Stephen also is a Music Analyst for Gracenote, Inc., the digital media company, in Emeryville, CA.

Education

University of California, Berkeley, BA, June 1971

San Francisco State University, MA program, June 1973