Discogs, the death of the record store?
- Cobion
- Nov 7, 2019
- 2 min read
For any vinyl record collector, the most valuable tool for collecting, buying, cataloging, researching and selling music has become Discogs. A free website platform, with a database of over 12 million media releases. It was originally created as a database for electronic music collectors in November 2000, that has grown into a community of over 1/2 million members and contributors. It now covers nearly every known music genre and media format in the database.
I began cataloguing my music collection on it in 2012. With its easy search and entry functions, adding my entire music collection of 1500 vinyl records, tapes and compact discs was a simple and straight forward process. A breakout app is available on Android and IOS. Using the app on your mobile device adds a new level to any shopping trip to your local record store, as reviews, market prices and detailed information on the pressing is instantly available.
With the addition of new contributors / members, the database continues to grow and expand. Artists and labels have now begun to add their releases directly to the platform upon release. The historical backlog of past releases is growing exponentially with every new member and release they add.
Instant market values and availability is a fingertip away. The only negative effect may be the death of the local record store that does not make their inventory available on the platform as savvy collectors move away from searching through the record bin to searching through a database to enhance their collections.
As much as I enjoy Discogs, I miss standing next to a fellow music enthusiast and chatting about music while flicking records in a bin at a record store.
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