Do you still like record shopping?

[holyzombiejesus]

There used to be nothing I loved more than taking myself off for the day and browsing the record shops but it's slowly became apparent that it's just fucking rubbish nowadays (I'm talking pre-Covid and presumably post too). Second hand shops are particularly bad, with shops using Discogs meaning that anything approaching a bargain has been ruled out. In another thread Phantom Power was dreaming about finding a copy of a Go-Betweens album at a cheap price and I just can't see it happening any more unless you're doing car boots or the more obscure charity shops.

It's not just second hand shops. Those that sell the new stuff don't seem to have much back stock any more either, particularly of the more obscure or interesting stuff, whether that's because of smaller pressings or it making sense financially to focus on new stuff I'm not sure. I'm not blaming the shops but I usually come home from shopping expeditions disappointed and empty handed. If I wanted a limited deluxe new release on orange vinyl (for £3 more than the normal pressing) then I could have filled my boots but I guess Dinked and all that embarrassingly tacky shit stuff just isn't for me.

Probably another factor is that record shops aren't the places of discovery that they once were. Partly due to them focussing on the more popular stuff, partly because of the zillions of bland reissues that most shops stock nowadays and partly because of the daily deluge of available information, it's probably fair to say that the discerning buyer already knows about most of the stuff that they'll possibly be interested in.

Maybe I'm just a boring old man and 'the kids' still find record shopping the exciting and rewarding experience that I did when I was in my teens. Having said that, most record shops I go in don't seem to have any young people in there, just people my age or older.

[Johnboy]

Yeh, I've gone off it

I don't trust new pressings so I prefer the car boot sale

but I tend to focus on twelve inches and 7 inch singles more these days probably cos they sound the best, you give them proper attention, you will give them a proper listen and they're lovely

and I don't have any more time left to listen to more physical albums when there's a ton of stuff available to stream that I definitely want to hear

[Sebastian Cobb]

Still some alright bargains to be had if you get record fairs locally, although you still have to avoid people selling marked up represses.

I still find the odd gem in the Oxfam record shop, the prices aren't bargains but it works out cheaper than discogs with postage. Got an alright Swamp Dogg lp and the Blue Collar soundtrack. Neither of which I'd have wanted enough to get unprompted from discogs but both I wouldn't have passed up if they were in front of me.

[thugler]

Yeah agree with the discogs issue. Prices are completely insane. I mainly do it for a bit of fun and just to see if there's anything interesting. Most of the time when I get tempted to buy some stuff I manage to resist and just think what's the point. I have records I want to get rid of now before I spend any money on more. Why the fuck my local oxfam should charge 15 quid minimum and right up to 20-30 quid for LPs that aren't rare or special in any way I don't know. They're not exactly flying off the shelves anyway.

[Dusty Substance]

Yep. It was my number one thing to do, right up until the world ended last year.

[phantom_power]

I still love it. Trawling through all the shit makes the glimmers of good stuff all the more sweet.

Charity shops definitely overprice stuff sometimes based on Discogs, not realising that part of what you pay for is the assumption of quality you have with a record shop. That said I don't mind paying more in charity shops as the money is going to a good cause

[SteveDave]

I bloody love it.

The last record shop I was in was lazyhour's in Hastings last August. Only 3 people were allowed in at once so it was like me and my family were royalty or celebrities allowed in the shop by ourselves. We bought a shedload of stuff (including a record sold to the shop by the person who's house we were staying in) and avoided a heavy downpour.

I can not wait for the charity shops to re-open. I want to buy point some pointless shit! Having said that the last record I bought from our local charity shop was this https://www.discogs.com/Various-Youve-Got-To-Laugh/release/1802940 banger after banger

[Rizla]

The possibilities of even building up a decent "collection" from 2nd hand shops and charity/car boots, far less bagging the odd rare bird on the cheap as you could pre-internet days seem long gone. Discogs is great, stuff I'd have spent years sniffing out is just there. But even back in the 90s I used to occasionally use those guys who advertised in Record Collector - you'd provide them with a list of stuff you wanted and what price you were prepared to pay, they'd go round all the fairs and get your shopping in for you. Or those lists you could send off for in the same publication, like Malcolm and Annette Galloway, who specialised in folky-psych stuff (Annette was well into Mellow Candle, I remember), I got a few things through them, C.A. Quintet, Rainbow Ffolly.

[holyzombiejesus]

I can not wait for the charity shops to re-open. I want to buy point some pointless shit!

Haven't Fortuna Pop got any copies left?

[holyzombiejesus]

The Rhythm mail order catalogue pissed all over Discogs. God, I miss getting that through the post every month or so.

[purlieu]

I've had so many shitty experiences buying music online, particularly shops taking the money even though they haven't got the item in stock, then me having to pester them a couple of weeks later before they let me know they can't get any more and refund me. That's especially fun with a limited edition item that's not available elsewhere so I have to end up spending twice as much to get it from a scalper. That and things going missing in the post.

So yeah, I'm really looking forward to being able to actually go into a shop and buy something rather than ordering it online and hoping it might come.

[The Culture Bunker]

I seem to think of trips to the record shops as almost being completely tied to working in the city - a couple of trips a week was something to get me through the days, the hope of finding something great that I hadn't heard before. I wasn't a big spender - maybe £10/20 a week, and I certainly picked up a lot of crap on the basis of vaguely recognising an act and giving them a try.

The last year, I've replaced that with going through playlists on youtube through the day. If I liked the sound of something, I'd try more of their stuff and if that passed, buy their album(s) on bandcamp. I probably spend more money, but presumably the artists themselves are getting a decent slice of the action and I get to scratch the itch of having new sounds to enjoy.

I guess when I'm back at the office, I'll go back to the old ways, if the shops ever reopen.

[SpiderChrist]

The Rhythm mail order catalogue pissed all over Discogs. God, I miss getting that through the post every month or so.

Is that Rhythm in Cambridge? If so, totally agree - Nick's a top bloke.

[Pink Gregory]

My go-to shop in Taunton (Blackcat Records) closed a good 5 years ago and I haven't found anywhere like it since.  New stuff on boutique or smaller labels (Thrill Jockey, Southern Lord etc) and older, second hand stuff for between £8 and £12. 

Think he just runs a discogs now.  I tend to go for Bandcamp or Norman Records now, but the sense of discovery is gone.

There's one second hand record shop in Bristol that I'm aware of, and it's nae cheap, and Rough Trade is...fine...honestly HMV is actually quite good, for CDs anyway.

[another Mr. Lizard]

Can't beat a good browse through record racks. Something I did regularly from the mid-70s up to the time the local independent shops began to close. I moved house last year and found that there's an amazing second hand vinyl place very close to where I now live. Managed one visit there (under COVID restrictions, I had to book a two hour slot on a particular day), had a great time, a good chat with the owner about my music likes and dislikes, and spent about £80 - he seems to purposely not price items a la discogs but sells most stuff for about £8-£10, reasonable as far as I'm concerned. Looking forward to getting back there.

[Gregory Torso]

I still enjoy the second hand places - love going to Record Collector whenever I'm in Sheffield - but yeah, it's nice having a Rough Trade in Nottingham but I usually just go in there, look for a while, think "fucking hell, i'm not paying £30 for a record" and leave. Vinyl is really a luxury item now, collector's pieces, it's all silk-screened cover, splatter vinyl, limited edition runs. I think people of a certain age prefer to own physical things maybe, but it's no surprise that most record shops are full of men in their 40s and 50s, when there's Spotify and YouTube and that. I mean, I'm happy for its resurgence and enjoy supporting proper shops, but prices are fucking ridicuous, and have been for years. I tend to buy old seven inch singles more than anything else, the occasional LP if it's reasonable ad something I really want. I've had good experiences with Discogs mainly, although it does feel like "cheating" and you can't replicate the joy of stumbling across something you've been looking for for years or even didn't know about that you'd get in pre-internet record shopping (back when I'd hear something on John Peel and tape it and just have that tape, knowing that there was no chance of stumbling upon a record by Ruins or The Geroggerigegege in fucking Lincoln).

[holyzombiejesus]

Is that Rhythm in Cambridge? If so, totally agree - Nick's a top bloke.

Yeah. Bought and sold lots through there back in the late eighties and early nineties. I probably sound like an old man but I really miss that lack of immediacy and air of mystery surrounding music. Going in to Eastern Bloc and looking through the Creation or Bam Caruso sections at all these strange covers that you'd only really heard about in fanzines and only heard on Peel (if you were lucky). Looking at the actual grooves on the way home to see if there were any clues as to what happened on the actual record. The reason that My Legendary Girlfriend is my favourite Pulp record is that I'd read so much about them in zines but never heard a note or even seen a record in the wild, then one day I saw MLF and I was so excited to get it home, and when I played it it sounded so fucking brilliant and strange. Closest I get to that nowadays is not listening to a download before release date.

Sorry, that all got a bit jumpers for goalposts.

[purlieu]

Vinyl is really a luxury item now, collector's pieces, it's all silk-screened cover, splatter vinyl, limited edition runs. I think people of a certain age prefer to own physical things maybe, but it's no surprise that most record shops are full of men in their 40s and 50s, when there's Spotify and YouTube and that.

This, especially with reissues, and also a lot of younger people are spending the same amount of money on music as they used to, but instead of it being £50-100 a month on CDs, they're getting a Spotify subscription and two LPs from their favourite artists with it. It's an odd one.

I definitely miss the sense of discovery from the pre-internet era. Downloading full albums with dial-up was a time-consuming affair, so up until early 2002, every album I bought was next-to-unheard when I got it, and that included a few I bought based on a hunch or knowing the act but not any of the songs. I definitely bought a few duffs (Dario G's album was fucking terrible, even in an era when I enjoyed eurodance; I hated UFOrb until I rebought it about ten years after I sold it) but on the whole the sense of surprise and excitement surrounding a new album far outdid any negative experiences. At this moment, I have five tabs open with Bandcamp pages of albums I want to check out, which sort of spoils a lot of the enjoyment. But without the local indie with its relatively good selection of albums to sift through, and in a time when things are neatly packed into niches and genres more than ever and most of those are somewhat obscure[nb]I never understood the kids at school who only listened to rock or indie or dance or pop or classic pop/rock - to me, Mike Oldfield, FSOL, The Spice Girls, Blur and Therapy? were equals - but all of the above were guaranteed huge sellers so available everywhere from my local indie to WH Smiths.[/nb] I'm my only filter, so this is the only way to find anything new. Part of me is happy to just stick with the artists I already follow, I could average out at least one new album a week even then, but I'm always eager for something new.

[Malcy]

Spent most of last year trawling Discogs and ordering stuff. In December when shops were open I went to a couple of record shops. First one I had been really looking forward to going to for ages and was fairly disappointed.

Still bought nearly 20 records while I was in there though. Picked Up Isaac Hayes Shaft OST for £1, cover was in bad nick and a sticker said the Vinyl was marked but took a punt. Doesn't play great from what I've tried so far. Same with Wings Band On The Run, £1, cover in a poor state but it played surprisingly well. Actually played better than some records I got that were £5+ from the same shop as did a few I picked up from the 3 for £1 bargain or however much it was.

There lies the issue. At least with Discogs etc you get a grading and description of any playback issues.

Second shop I was picking up a Discogs order and had a look around and picked up a couple more while I was there. Records were cheaper and in better condition there too. Totally underestimated the weight of 30 records until I had lugged them around for about 6 miles though!

Looking forward to doing more of the same later in the year. Mind you I've had some great bargains on eBay for new sealed records recently. Ordered one yesterday. 2xLP new & sealed for less than £4 with free postage. Now starting the hunt for similar sellers while I wait for everything to open back up again.

[Brundle-Fly]

I still like browsing in record shops but I rarely buy anything these days. Oh, look, a KPM library LP reissue. And it's £29.99. FFS. I have been avidly collecting music for over forty-odd years and I've got to the point where I reckon I've now hit the ceiling. I will never stop entirely but I've still got stuff on the shelf I bought ages ago I've only listened to once or even at all. That's when you have to re-evaluate. Don't even get me started on Bandcamp.

[holyzombiejesus]

I don't understand why artists on Bandcamp often charge more then the shops. It's usually only a couple of quid more but then you have £4 or £5 postage on top of that, seems a bit bizarre. Other businesses do it, there's a brewery near me that charges more for take outs than the co-op a few hundred yards away.

I still enjoy record shopping to a degree but have almost totally given up hope of ever being surprised by what shops have in stock or of finding a bargain. Buying from a shop seems more like a duty than anything I look forward to doing any more. I even used to look forward to visiting big HMVs in other cities as their stock would sometimes have a few interesting items but I don't think I'd bother with them now even if places like Piccadilly had closed down.

[BlodwynPig]

After 25 years of collecting vinyl I stopped pretty much due to a number of factors. I haven't listened to vinyl for a decade as I've not settled anywhere that I feel comfortable parking my record player. Bandcamp is fine. I've bought some vinyl on there recently for way too much money, but counterbalanced with loads and loads of free vaporwave digital releases.

[purlieu]

I don't understand why artists on Bandcamp often charge more then the shops.

Probably price limits set by distributors buying in bulk.

I even used to look forward to visiting big HMVs in other cities as their stock would sometimes have a few interesting items but I don't think I'd bother with them now even if places like Piccadilly had closed down.

The HMV Vault in Brum is worth a visit, their range is ludicrous. I never thought I'd stumble across a Fire-Toolz album in real life, let alone an HMV.

[chveik]

I buy some albums digitally on bandcamp to support struggling artists. I do the rest of my shopping on soulseek.

[sardines]

Bandcamp has been replacing the random record store discoveries for me. Especially if you listen to cassettes, there are a lot of curiosities to find for not much cost. I usually pick up something extra from a label if I'm already ordering from them.
Problem is US postage and now Brexit, it starts to become an expensive gamble- I got stung recently for import duties on 2 records from the UK so I've almost cut out ordering from there which is obviously pretty limiting.
I'm mainly missing record fairs.. I got into a habit of picking a subgenre/a few labels I didn't know about and trying to dive into finding them. I'd maybe only come away with 2 or 3 records but they'd be new to me and that way I could mostly avoid the collectibles market.

[NoSleep]

Won't be buying anymore vinyl. It's bad for the environment and is toxic to you and your family every time you pull a record out to play it (you shouldn't be breathing the air in the room while you do this):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZ2czFuIYmQ

[lazyhour]

My shop is pretty good. Cheaper than Discogs even before you factor in postage, and we take condition super-seriously too. We also work hard to ensure there's a variety of genres and eras in stock, not just the 70s beard-rock that fills lots of second-hand record shops.

There's another brilliant and very well priced record shop also in Hastings, and another one just down the road in Bexhill. Then there's another killer one in Eastbourne.

But then there are hundreds of shit ones all over the country where there isn't a single thing worth buying, either because of price point or because of boring stock.

I agree that overpriced reissues are squeezing the fun out of record shops. That's why we barely have any new pressings in, and when we do we try to make them £16 maximum.

[Bobby Treetops]

My shop is pretty good. Cheaper than Discogs even before you factor in postage, and we take condition super-seriously too. We also work hard to ensure there's a variety of genres and eras in stock, not just the 70s beard-rock that fills lots of second-hand record shops.

There's another brilliant and very well priced record shop also in Hastings, and another one just down the road in Bexhill. Then there's another killer one in Eastbourne.

But then there are hundreds of shit ones all over the country where there isn't a single thing worth buying, either because of price point or because of boring stock.

I agree that overpriced reissues are squeezing the fun out of record shops. That's why we barely have any new pressings in, and when we do we try to make them £16 maximum.

I visited your record shop a few years ago and was pleasantly surprised at your pricing. Sorry I didn't say hello, you were having a chat with another customer at the time.

Talking of eye watering re-issues then feast your eyes on this

https://soundsoftheuniverse.com/product/the-stone-killer-original-motion-picture-soundtrack

I know the original pressing goes for silly money but they're taking the piss.

I still often find bargains at boot sales, just as long as you get there before the dealers hover them all up.

[lazyhour]

Talking of eye watering re-issues then feast your eyes on this

https://soundsoftheuniverse.com/product/the-stone-killer-original-motion-picture-soundtrack

Absolutely fucking disgusting. New Order recently announced a 3LP live album. Best part of £70, it'll cost you. For a live album.

[Bobby Treetops]

"Have you got that new 4 LP Impulse Records compilation?"
"Yes, that'll be £160 please"
"....."
https://soundsoftheuniverse.com/product/breathe

I'm not pointing a finger at Sounds Of The Universe here as this seems to be price you'll generally have to pay for this elsewhere. But who are the greedy fuckers here? The record company, the licensee of the music or the distributors? They must have realized the people buying this will be your affluent Jazz Dad (or mum) with a £2,000+ Linn turntable, who wouldn't blink at buying a record for a three figure sum.

I think I'll stick to hunting through a box of dusty, moldy records in case there's a gem in there, that hasn't been damaged by ravages of time