Usually the death of a recording artist does not affect the value of his or her records. Speculation kicks in immediately after the loss of a superstar. It might be a good time to sell but not to buy. Prices tend to settle back down to pre-death values after sixty days. However, Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” album went up in value and stayed there. A standard black vinyl copy is worth up to $40.00 for an original but the picture disc version is worth up to $400.00 today.