Rare Röyksopp Vinyl With Hand-Painted Banksy Sleeve Sells For £3,720

An ultra-rare vinyl copy of Röyksopp’s 2001 debut studio album *Melody A.M.* featuring custom sleeve artwork by legendary street artist Banksy has officially sold for £3,720 at auction. The prized record crossed the block at Wessex Auction Rooms, where a dedicated art collector shelled out thousands to secure the piece of pop-culture history. The item owes its massive valuation entirely to the hand-crafted sleeve rather than the music pressed onto the wax inside. Back in 2002, the Norwegian electronic music duo decided to collaborate with the elusive graffiti painter by sending him 100 completely blank cardboard record jackets. Banksy individually customized the limited batch, utilizing a bespoke stencil to apply green spray paint directly onto the sleeves before they were distributed to fans and industry insiders.

The recent transaction almost didn't happen for the buyer. Reports from BBC News reveal that a local street-art collector initially missed the live bidding lot entirely. Realizing the mistake immediately after the hammer fell, the interested party contacted the auction house directly to offer £3,000. Following additional negotiations and buyer fees, the collector ultimately walked away with the rare item for a final price tag of £3,720. Auctioneer and record specialist Martin Hughes admitted that the physical condition of the media left something to be desired. Hughes noted that the vinyl disc had "definitely been played" over the years, making it clear that the skyrocketing valuation was driven exclusively by the original artwork on the jacket rather than the audio condition or general demand for the band. While recognizing Röyksopp as a great act, Hughes pointed out that fans would not typically drop thousands of pounds on a standard copy of their debut release.

This recent £3,720 sale is actually far from the highest figure one of these hand-stenciled pressings has ever commanded. Back in 2019, a different copy from the exact same 100-piece Banksy run surfaced on the physical music marketplace Discogs. That particular edition fetched a staggering $10,465 (roughly £8,477 at the time), etching its name into the history books as one of the most expensive vinyl records ever sold through the digital platform. For art investors and record obsessives alike, these 2002 promotional pressings represent an ultra-exclusive crossover between early-2000s chillout electronica and the explosion of contemporary urban art.