After finding out that I'm interested in music, the manager at the charity bookshop I volunteer at has decided to let me price vinyl. Help me do it well and learn more about vinyl along the way! [more inside]
posted by bibliophibianj on Mar 3, 2009 - 3 answers

Which are the best books in Continuum's Thirty-Three and a Third series? I just read Daydream Nation and ended up frustrated and and a bit disappointed. [more inside]
posted by OmieWise on Jul 24, 2008 - 18 answers

How can I reach independent musicians? My friends and I have built a great service for artists who promote their music online. The people who use it rave about it. But we'd like to grow to serve a lot more people in a more eclectic range of music. [more inside]
posted by racecar on Jul 23, 2008 - 13 answers

Looking for a place to buy pizza boxes (for mailing LPs) in Toronto. [more inside]
posted by winston on Dec 12, 2006 - 9 answers

I'm in Waco TX for tonight and tomorrow (Fri 6th October - Sat 7th Oct) visiting family. Anytime I travel I like to visit the local record shops. I'm staying close to Baylor University. Are there any decent cool shops in the area (20 mi radius) for second hand CDs & Records? Books too while I'm at it.
posted by horseblind on Oct 6, 2006 - 8 answers

How can I improve an LP Record with a tight spindle hole? [more inside]
posted by OmieWise on Oct 3, 2006 - 11 answers

I enjoy early American popular music (say up until the late 1920s), and especially period recordings of the same. I have about a dozen CDs compiling this music, and have downloaded other songs from alt.binaries.sounds.*. I'm looking for other sources of free mp3s of early American popular music. (Don't fret about copyright issues: the stuff I'm looking for is old enough that it's in the public domain.) I'd also love recommendations for modern(ish) recordings of these old songs. I know Garrison Keillor performs some from time-to-time (and just did on his last broadcast, for example), and I know of Joan Morris/William Bolcome and Jody Dall'Armi.
posted by jdroth on Oct 2, 2005 - 19 answers

I'm part of a Chicago-based band, and we're on the cusp of releasing our first full-length studio album. We're not on a label, so we have to find radio stations to play our stuff and record stores to carry our CD's ourselves. Are there any good resources out there to help indie bands find these? Can you share any indie-friendly stores/stations in Chicago yourself?
posted by buriednexttoyou on Mar 21, 2005 - 9 answers

Today, at an antique mall, I found, for $2 each, three Edison discs (also known as "Edison diamond discs"), big, thick (1/4"), 78-size records. I'm quite sure they're not valuable or anything, but I'd like to know more about them: when they were made, what the serial numbers etched into them refer to, who the artists were, etc. Does anyone know how to learn more about these things, either online or in print? [more inside]
posted by Dr. Wu on Mar 20, 2005 - 12 answers

Has anyone had success selling music on gemm.com? [more inside]
posted by hydrophonic on Feb 22, 2005 - 11 answers

We were rearranging the shelves in my house today, and we found a bunch of old tapes from my
Dad's friends from when he lived in Spain (he was born there, as was I). His friends mixed
a bunch of bands together to make this very cool-sounding tape, and the thought struck me: Why not
rip this? (edit: also found bunch of old tapes my brother made of a punk radio station. woot!)

Of course, I lack the knowledge required.

So my question essentially is: what sort of process, programs, and materials is one required to
go through to convert these tapes to mp3? Would the machine I'd have to buy also double as a
tape-pl-ayer itself? What about records? I've been wanting a record player for a while, and I've
been wanting to rip some records as well. Are there record-rippers which double as players? Are
there record/tape player/rippers all combined into one machine? How complicated is this process?
How expensive does it have to be? I don't want to end up with really badly ripped files, but I
don't want studio equipment, either. Basically, what do I have to go through to get good
sounding, 192-320 kbps mp3s from my tapes and records that I could then distribute via
BitTorrent? Thanks.
posted by Lockeownzj00 on Feb 12, 2005 - 17 answers

Good Mexican Food and Record Stores in Denver, anyone? Enter for more... [more inside]
posted by TomSophieIvy on Jul 12, 2004 - 17 answers

Is there a record store somewhere in downtown L.A., near the 7th St. metro stop? For various complicated reasons, I'm stuck in downtown and desperately need CDs! [more inside]
posted by josh on Jun 18, 2004 - 8 answers

How should I move on from spinning records at house parties to spinning in bars and clubs? [Witness the further depth and detail of this enigma upon clicking the "comments" link.] [more inside]
posted by badstone on Jan 28, 2004 - 6 answers

Where could I find some good dancehall records (especially people doing their thing over hip hop beats)?
posted by Slimemonster on Jan 13, 2004 - 3 answers

I just came into some perfect quality classical music, but i have no turntable. My stereo is pretty decent, so I want to ask if anyone has advice on a cheap (but high quality... how often do you hear that) record player? I'm not doing any scratching, just music playback. [more inside]
posted by Keyser Soze on Dec 18, 2003 - 11 answers