Why You Should Buy Vinyl From Independent Record Stores

It’s true, the big faceless department stores have all jumped on board the vinyl record revolution. You can find dirt cheap copies of a lot of records in those stores. So why should you choose to spend your heard earned with an independent record store? We’ll tell you why.

Independent stores are motivated by passion, not profit

There’s a particular superstore retailer in Australia that has become known for selling vinyl. The other day I was in one of their stores buying some electronics and I made a point of venturing into their vinyl section. I was fairly disappointed with what I saw. There was maybe a couple of hundred records, haplessly strewn about the place with no discernible system of organisation. Artist labels next to genres. Only one Metallica record, but nine Taylor Swift records. The truth was plain to see – the people selling these records didn’t give a toss about them. Most of them probably don’t even own turntables. Nothing other than the likelihood of a sale has been used as criteria for their offerings. It made me feel dirty.

Conversely, when you enter an independent record store, or visit a niche retailer’s website – the care that has been taken to curate a thoughtful catalogue is obvious. Record stores like this stock titles they know might take months or years to move. They’re there for the collector who will one day stumble across something they’ve been endlessly searching for. Stores like this do it for the love of music. Sure, they have to make some kind of profit in order to stay open. But they're not in it to make their fortune. They just want to get the music out to the people.

Customer service is not dead

If you go into a big retailer and ask for a specific record you’ve been looking for, you’ll likely be met with a blank expression. They’ll begrudgingly attempt to find it for you, and chances are they won’t put much effort in. Remember, their motivation is money. So if it’s not instantly creating a sale for them, their interest will fade quickly.

At an independent store, the same scenario would play out much differently. Us record store owners love the challenge of finding a record for customers we can see are excited to own it. We’ll usually share stories about the artist with you, and we’ll always go the extra mile to find the title for you, even if it takes time and more than one interaction. Here at Bayou Records we say, “If it’s been released, we’ll find it for you.” This has been the case with all local record stores I’ve ever entered. You can’t put a price on this kind of service. We believe in building a relationship with our customers. We value human interactions, even if they are over online chat or email. We want to get to know you and we appreciate the time and money you spend creating your vinyl collections.

It's about something real

It's true you can probably buy a record from a superstore in Denmark and get it shipped to Australia for $15 less than if you purchased it from your local record store. But it will take weeks to arrive, you’ll get no follow up from them other than pesky marketing emails, and you’ll likely have completely avoided any human interaction throughout the entire process. In the end, that is completely anathema to the idea of vinyl.

The vinyl revolution came about because people were drawn back to the analogue age. They were excited by the idea that they could hold music in their hands. They loved that they didn’t need an internet connection to play it and were fascinated by having to listen to the songs in the order the artist intended.

So the soulless transactions one can carry out on cold, impersonal websites or barn like retail stores are at odds with vinyl ownership. Consider the collectors you follow on Instagram – their accounts are almost always characterised by personalised setups. They take time to organise the vinyl just how they like it, they spend far too much on quality audio equipment and then they take the time to make videos showcasing and explaining what they have and why.

Vinyl record collecting is a very intimate exercise. It’s a physical manifestation of a person’s taste in music - a feature of every human to be cherished. Independent record stores understand this. We love this about or customers and we want to encourage it.

Here at Bayou Records, when we sell a record, we love the idea of the customer’s excitement when they see it on their doorstep and the pleasure we know it will bring them when they spin it for the first time.

Conclusion

Undoubtedly, all of this won’t be enough to convince some that they should spend more and buy from an independent record store. But let me finish with this thought. If you make the decision to support your local record store, you're doing more than just buying a record for yourself. You’re making a statement about what you stand for. You’ve got a choice. You can contribute more to the already morbidly wealthy owners of superstores, or you can choose to support your local seller. If you do that, you’re saying, “I value the knowledge, care and service these stores provide. It’s worth supporting.” And if you do that, you should be commended.

So buy your next record from your local record store.