5 Tips for finding hard to find vinyl records

record fairStill in search for your favorite track on vinyl? Here are 5 tips for finding that hard to find vinyl record.

 

Note: This article concerns electronic music (house, techno,…) on vinyl, and it is based on my personal experience.

 

1. Go to the record shop

Shop owners themselves are very passionate about music. A few times I had the honour to take a peek into the backstock of the record shop (just ask kindly if this is possible). You would be amazed at what treasures are often burried there. Unorganised records, from old to new, sometimes records that have never seen the light of day. Sometimes I would dive into them for 2 days. Very rewarding days! Another reason is that you meet other people in the record shop who can help you.
Maybe they have that one record you are looking for or know somebody selling their collection. Just ask, it’s that easy!

Interesting links:

http://vinylfrontier.be/belgian-record-stores/
Belgian record stores, brought to you by Red Bull Elektropedia.

http://www.vinylhub.com/
Brought to you by Discogs. Their mission is to document every physical record shop on the planet!

http://www.theguardian.com/travel/2015/nov/11/best-record-shops-in-europe-chosen-by-experts
great newspaper article, covers Kompakt Records, Doctor Vinyl,…

rock to the beat hard to find classic

 

2. Go to record fairs & get there as early as possible.

You will meet kindred spirits. You can dive into collections of (ex-)DJ’s selling their collection, label owners, collectors, record shop owners,…
There are a lot of good record fairs. It’s fun to do and you can meet different people with different backgrounds and tastes in music. Feel free to share your favorite record fair here.

 

3. Record Store Day

The biggest record shopping event of the year, held on the third Saturday of April each year to celebrate the culture of the independently owned record store.
Since 2007, Record Store Day unites fans, artists & thousands of independent record stores across the world.
What to expect? Special deals on records, performances, meet and greets, workshops
and the issuing of special vinylreleases along with other promotional products to mark the occasion.

check out www.recordstoreday.com, www.recordstoreday.be,… and their social media

 

4. The World Wide Web

Go to online record shops and take a peek into their classics (decks.de, https://boomkat.com/classics, http://www.juno.co.uk/,..)

E-bay or amazon.com can be very interesting too. Just type the name of your hard to find record and there you go 🙂
Make sure to perform a worldwide search, that way you get the most possible results.
A little warning though: sometimes it can get a little frustrating because of the bidding system!

Two sites I find very interesting are:

www.htfr.com (hard to find records) and

www.discogs.com (the biggest music database & marketplace).

Discogs is awesome in terms of looking for very rare things.

Tips for buying on Discogs

Do your research
Try to see if you can get a better deal (try all of the above)

Use your wantlist
You can add records to your wantlist so you can stay on top of it

Check out the seller’s profile
Just choose a seller with a decent number of good feedback.
By clicking on the seller’s name, you will be able to see if they are offering any items in your wantlist.

I found this UR record on Discogs (seller: Freaky Records), ordered it & payed it, one day later my order was shipped (the buyer will send you a status update), 7 days later I received my package (delivered by Bpost Belgium).

Use social media. There is a huge amount of communities or groups where you can ask for help and share your passion.
My page For The Love of Vinyl is a community page on Facebook for lovers of electronic music on vinyl based in Belgium. Feel free to pop-up your question any time 🙂

 

5. Repeat all of the above.

In the past, tracking hard to find records could take weeks, months, sometimes even years.

Because of the rise of the digital music distribution in the last 10 years, a lot of DJ’s & collectors have sold their vinyl record collection. So nowadays you have a pretty good chance of finding your favorite record at a reasonable price.

Just keep your eyes & ears open & repeat all of the above if necessary.

I truly believe that your favorite record is out there and waiting for you.

three o' three vinyl classic

Public Energy ‎– Hemi-Sync, Three O’ Three Label: Probe Records ‎– PRO 5 Format: Vinyl, 12″, 33 ⅓ RPM, 45 RPM, released: 1992 found at record store, price: 12,50 euro

Kraftwerk Autobahn Vinyl

Kraftwerk ‎– Autobahn
Label: Philips ‎– 6305 231 D, Philips ‎– 6305 231, Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, released: Nov 1974
record fair, Platen en CD-beurs Hasselt (BE) price: 20 euro

 

Paperclip People - Throw Vinyl

Paperclip People ‎– Throw / Remake (Basic Reshape)
Label: Planet E ‎– PE PCP 1, Format:Vinyl, 12″, 33 ⅓ RPM, Red Transparent, released: 1994
record fair, Platen en CD-beurs Hasselt (BE), price: 15 euro

 

source:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Record_Store_Day



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