Independent file shops are additionally an effective way to purchase new releases, as they usually give larger cuts to smaller artists than larger shops do, particularly when you’re shopping for music from somebody native who can drop off data on consignment.
Discogs is a mixture between a private catalog of your individual file assortment and a market to buy hard-to-find data from others. Prices can usually be excessive for super-rare vinyl, however this can be a good place to browse to get an concept of the relative costs of releases you are searching for.
With greater than 600,000 contributors since its inception in 2000, Discogs is well the preferred place on the web for vinyl collectors to showcase their catalogs (and promote helpful objects) to others. The database on the positioning consists of over 15 million releases, spanning 8 million artists and 1.7 million labels (!). Needless to say, if you cannot discover it right here, it is fairly darn uncommon. Discogs additionally sells CDs, cassettes, and different musical media (although it sells principally vinyl).
Experience Vinyl is a file membership with out the trouble of a month-to-month membership. The firm presses attention-grabbing and uncommon releases each month, however you are underneath no obligation to purchase them. These embody a 500-disc restricted version of Eliott Smith’s From a Basement on the Hill, a blue urgent of Leon Russel’s self-titled LP, and a crimson vinyl urgent of Sly & the Family Stone’s Fresh. Prices vary from $25 to a whole lot, relying on what you are shopping for.
Looking for cool and obscure data? Check out Dusty Groove, a Chicago-based retailer that was one of many first to promote vinyl on-line, promoting its first data in April 1996. Dusty Groove looks like an area file retailer on the web, as a result of that is basically what it’s. Each day, tons of data are added to the homepage, together with a number of the finest descriptions you may ever learn on a procuring website—making it instantly clear that this can be a retailer for music lovers by music lovers.
EIL seems prefer it hasn’t been up to date for the reason that early 2000s, however the uncommon vinyl market remains to be the one place you may discover some unique releases. With 250,000 totally different data in inventory, the UK-based outlet is a good place to discover uncommon European music that will by no means have made it stateside. “Yes, we all know the design of our web site seems a bit of bit dated to some, however others suppose its cool retro seems match the data we promote, and we focus our time on shopping for and promoting mint situation data, not design,” reads the EIL website.
The world’s most popular online auction site is a decent place to find rare records, though you’ll want to be specific in your search. Make sure you get photos of the record’s condition before you buy. I prefer buying from actual stores, or from private sellers on Discogs, but sometimes eBay is the only (or the cheapest) place you can find something.
The Secretly Group consists of famed indie labels Secretly Canadian, Jagjaguwar, and Dead Oceans, which basically signifies that when you like a contemporary indie band, there’s a good shot they’re on the label. The firm’s month-to-month file membership prices $240 per yr (you possibly can divide it into cheaper six- and three-month increments), and it grants you entry to limited-edition new releases from its artists. Angel Olsen’s Big Time is the June 2022 launch, in gorgeous pink and blue vinyl.
