Today I happened to run across a Gizmodo feature from this winter, “There’s A Netflix For Vinyl Records Now.” Huh? A “Netfix for records,” you say?!” Well, no, not exactly—it looks more like a contemporary twist on the old album mail order services your parents subscribed to. And tho’ it IS pitched as a “rental,” you really don’t rent the records; you preview them, presumably to buy them. So, it IS similar to the Columbia House Record Club, but isn’t modeled on CHRC’s bait-and-switch scheme. This new record club’s name, of course, is (ahem) VNYL.
The service is pretty straightforward, although rather than picking particular albums you want to rent, a la Netflix, you select from VNYL’s categories—which are called #vibes. This is where it goes slightly adrift, but we’ll focus on the service because it’s a cool idea. Say you want #work or #danceparty or #betweenthesheets. You pick one of those and each month you get a pack of LPs to play. You can keep what you want for as low as 12 bucks a record, and send back what you’re not feeling at the end of the month.
When Gizmodo posted that piece, VNYL was still in its crowd-funding stage, VNYL is now up and running. I don’t know anyone who is currently subscribed to VNYL and, as its website is a bit thin on details, I’m not sure how well the service has been received. However, I did find a Consequence of Sound interview with the creator of VNYL; he makes no mention of the old record clubs, or even uses the word records for that matter, but does explain how his service works.
Another record club, Vinyl Me Please, has been running for about a year. Unlike VNYL, VMP membership boasts some perks—”member exclusive content,” “a 12” x 12” album-inspired art print, and custom cocktail pairing recipe”—will be in your monthly box o’ records. The only drawback is you need to “request” an invite, as membership is limited. Also, VMP has a fat batch of informative links to help the punters new to playing records; the two links I found most useful were “Tips to help you get started with vinyl” and their “52 Essential Albums to Own on vinyl” (spoiler: the Top 52 regretfully includes Paul Simon‘s Graceland). VMP’s apparent community building certainly suggests they’re encouraging an inclusive culture.
My only quibble is, based on both services’ literature, is I can’t tell if the records they’re dealing are used, new/reissues, or even sealed. However, I’d reckon as these record clubs aren’t exactly targeting picky collectors, perhaps used/new condition is not a deal breaker for their target market.