Category Archives: vinyl road rage

Collecting Vinyl Vs. Mp3 Downloads

Record Shops, We Buy VInyl, ,

I’ve been pondering an article by Dave Allen about the future of music, where he points out that today’s music consuming public doesn’t seem to want to OWN music as much as have access to it.

This is a bit of a contradiction in my world, where people seem to be quite rabid about their record collections, new acquisitions, etc. To read Dave Allen’s article, you might come away thinking that buying and selling vinyl is an endangered pastime.

But after a second look, it seems clear that where Dave Allen’s music-consuming discussion ends–with a warning to musicians to carefully reconsider the type of business they’re in–my world actually begins.

Because when you think about the type of business vinyl buyers and sellers are in, it seems clear that it’s more than just the music. There is a real addiction (at least for me) to the entire experiece of collecting vinyl. The thrill of the hunt, the artwork, the tactile nature of an LP versus the intangible download…all of these things add up to a desire for EXPERIENCES and not just the simple act of listening to a new record.

Taking Dave Allen’s advice, I find that buying and selling records has as much to do with nostalgia, community, and aesthetics as it does sound. Knowing that makes it easier to understand and articulate.

I’ll never be a vinyl purist–I do love the convenience of the MP3–but there are just some things that beg to be purchased on vinyl. In some cases, vinyl is the only way you can experience the release short of Youtube posts. In others, that must-buy urge is fueled because the packaging is amazing, the artwork is really good, and the music is strong enough to motivate you to support the artist by purchasing the album. Maybe everyone doesn’t share my love for the aesthetics, so I ask–why do YOU collect vinyl LPs?

–Joe Wallace

Turntabling: Selling Records Again in 2013

Record Shops, , , ,

It’s been a while! The site has been dormant for some time because of a variety of things happening behind the scenes, but Turntabling is coming back in 2013 to sell rare, weird, obscure, fun and innovative music on vinyl and CD once more. The site is going to be getting a bit of a facelift, I’m getting very active on Twitter, Instagram and elsewhere, and basically Turntabling is coming out of the woodwork in the new year to do what we do best–live the vinyl lifestyle and blog about it here.

Keep watching this space, we’re live and active again as of now.

Record Show Calendars

Record Shops, , , ,

Vinyl collectors tend to find the really awesome record shows and mark their calendars accordingly, but woe to the poor collector who doesn’t know where and when the shows are–how many amazingly rare, cool and lustworthy vinyl titles have you missed because you just…didn’t…know?

Here’s a collection of resources to help you mark your calendar:

Record Shows Of America is one of Turntabling’s go-to resources for record show dates, and the name is a bit misleading as the site also covers record shows in Canada, too. “Record Stores Of North America” doesn’t really have the same ring to it, but that’s what this site truly is. Recommended!

There’s also good info to be found at the Goldmine Record Show Calendar, and Goldmine also gives our neighbors to the north some love as well.

Vinyl Times also has a record show calendar which urges you to contact the shows by e-mail prior to traveling–good advice!

These are what we’d consider the top three online resources for record shows–at least that we’re currently aware of. Some excellent results can be had by Googling the name of your state or city along with the phrase “record collector shows” to find events in your area that might not have made it onto the listings for the sites mentioned above. Believe it or not, some events don’t take advantage of these centralized show listings–usually because they don’t know they exist, we’re guessing.

The Vinyl District Record Store Finder App: An Interview with TVD’s Tim Broun

gear, Record Shops, , , ,

The Vinyl District is an outstanding vinyl blog that has gone above and beyond just writing about LPs, seven-inch singles, and turntable culture; they now also offer a record store locator app letting vinyl junkies world-wide discover and share record stores. Turntabling put a few questions to TVD’s Tim Broun about the app, developed by Shoutem and available for both Android phones and the iPhone.

To begin, how did the idea for this app begin? Was there a particular day or something you can point to that made you say, “This is a really good idea–why isn’t there a record store app already?” Or, perhaps, “Why isn’t there a GOOD record store app already?”

Tim Broun: Around the same time last year, I started writing for The Vinyl District, and met the guys at Shoutem – who actually developed the app. The idea for the app itself was something that had been jelling for a while as I’ve been involved with digital music & online marketing for some time now, and I was looking for a way to combine both the physical & digital worlds. Opportunity knocked, and everything was in synch.

What did it take to develop the app? How crowd-source dependent is the record store database? I was lucky – I have a connection with the developer, Shoutem, and was able to put it together with a lot of help from them. Regarding crowd sourcing info – at the beginning I used a lot of online information to start off. Now that we’re a few months into the life of the app we’re very dependent on crowd sourced info. There is no way we can remain relevant without our users participating – what are stores up to? Moving, closing, opening, etc…

Without being TOO technical, how does the app work? At the moment we have six tabs of information in the app:

1. The Vinyl District blog feed – this works off of an RSS feed.
2. The All Stores – this is the meat of the app & works off of a back end database that I oversee.
3. Social – this is the social aspect of the app which users can leave comments & photos on if they’re signed into the app either with a dedicated account, or via twitter or facebook.
4. Record Fairs calendar – this works off of a feed we’ve set up in partnership with http://www.recordshows.net/ – a website run with a record dealing friend of mine.
5. Profile – the profile specific to each user & phone.
6. Contact/About us – info on The Vinyl District & how to contact us.

What does the vinyl buyer get out of participating in crowd-sourcing the record store details? How can vinyl lovers contribute to the record buying experience by contributing updates and info? At the moment, I can only say they get the same enjoyment out of sharing information that they might get out of blogging, or posting on Facebook. Very soon we might be launching some features which will further benefit users of the app, but I can’t really say at the moment. Vinyl lovers can currently contribute by emailing us at info@thevinyldistrict.com, posting on the wall of the app, or on the app facebook page (http://facebook.com/tvdrecordstorelocator).

The app went global recently, tell us what it took to do that, and which countries can we expect to find record shops in? It was global the moment we launched, but it took a little research to get listings of stores from other countries to include in our database. Most of the stores we have are in the US & UK, but we currently include stores in about 25 countries. The list currently reads:
– Australia
– Belgium
– Canada
– Croatia
– Czech Republic
– Denmark
– Estonia
– Finland
– France
– Germany
– Greece
– Iceland
– Ireland
– Italy
– New Zealand
– Norway
– Portugal
– Russia
– Singapore
– Spain
– Sweden
– Switzerland
– Turkey
– United Kingdom
– United States

 

What other projects are you working on? Anything vinyl-centric? Between the app and my day job, I’m super busy! I DJ from time to time, and hit record stores when I can. Especially in upstate NY near Woodstock & New Paltz. I blog at Stupefaction, and The Vinyl District, and also work with a music photographer named Eugene Merinov. I also run a Facebook page for the app here. And we encourage everyone to let us know about store openings, closings, and places we may not know about either on the facebook page, or email us at info@thevinyldistrict.com.