Label Launches an App Described as “Tinder for Vinyl”

Even though you’ve never used Tinder, the app’s nomenclature has slipped into colloquial talk. Just about everyone knows what it means to “swipe left” or “swipe right.”

This was the thinking at Universal Music when they were devising their Sound of Vinyl Project, a plan to turn every day into a version of Record Store Day.

Curated by Henry Rollins, users get recommendations through text messages, all based on your profile and anything you might have purchased in the past.

The service was first launched in the UK a couple of years ago to help offset the decline of neighbourhood record shops–smart, given that Britain has more vinyl obsessives per square metre than anyplace on the planet. But as of yesterday (October 12), the app’s footprint has expanded.

Rollins’ mandate is quoted in Variety:  “[T]he guys behind the counter were like train-spotters,” telling you which record to buy and which to return to the racks. “This site is a combination of discovery and education,” he says. “I want to reach that one kid in Montana alone in his room with the Joy Division poster on the wall, and convince him to buy the first Velvet Underground album on 180g vinyl. I want them to hear ‘Led Zeppelin II’ the way I first did.  It’s the kind of experience they won’t get listening to an MP3 on their cell phone earbuds.

“[T]he guys behind the counter were like train-spotters,” telling you which record to buy and which to return to the racks. “This site is a combination of discovery and education,” he says. “I want to reach that one kid in Montana alone in his room with the Joy Division poster on the wall, and convince him to buy the first Velvet Underground album on 180g vinyl. I want them to hear ‘Led Zeppelin II’ the way I first did.  It’s the kind of experience they won’t get listening to an MP3 on their cell phone earbuds.

“Music is not just a background for doing other things,” says Rollins. “Bands made albums so that you’d shut up and listen.  You need to pay attention, so that when the side is over, you get up and flip it over.

“This site is for kids in those small towns across the U.S. where the nearest record store is 20-30 miles away. I used to drive every weekend from D.C. to Rockville, Maryland, to Skip Groff’s Yesterday and Today to buy the latest U.K. imports… I’m just a kook who loves vinyl records and can talk about them for hours.”

I am so down with this. To check it out, go here.