Rap Beat Spot

Finding Cheap Vinyl Records: Where to Look?

A lot of people that produce rap beats like to inject a little “vinyl” flavor into their beats, whether it’s to get an old-school sound, a unique sound or just to mix it up a bit overall.

Personally, I don’t like a lot of the sterile beats out there today that all sound like they came off the same Roland sound module. That’s just not my style. I like old-school beats that are rich with flavor, uniqueness and vinyl samples.

So.. where can you find some cheap vinyl to work with? Sampling new vinyl releases might not be the best idea, since you can run into copyright issues if you were to resell any music.

But, there’s a wealth of old records out there that will keep you off the radar. If you sample from obscure stuff, you’ll not have to run the risk of getting sued by somebody for using their sounds on your beats.

I like to look in the following places for cheap, obscure vinyl records to scratch and take samples from.

Pawn Shops

There is always a thick supply of old vinyl records for cheap at the local pawn shops where I live, I can only assume this carries through to the rest of the world.

Thrift Stores

This is a sleeper – I frequently find old vinyl at thrift stores for less than $.50 per record. Not bad. A lot of times you can talk the person manning the till to give you a whole box of shitty old vinyl records for a few bucks, cause they’ve been sitting there unsold for years.

Record Shops

You’ll pay more money here, but there’s always gonna be a discount section or used section for vinyl if they carry vinyl of any type.

Garage Sales

People will almost give away old records at garage sales, plus this is the best place to work bartering skills to get a better deal.

Your Parents

People who lived through the vinyl era may still have their vinyl collections. Ask them if they have anything you can have. They may not want to give away their prized, favorite albums from their youth, but they may have a bunch of vinyl that they just want to get rid of.

Schools/Libraries

Sometimes, and I really say “sometimes” seriously, schools or libraries hold auctions or sales to move out the old crap so they can make room for the new crap. The old crap sometimes includes gems like VHS tapes, audio tapes, and vinyl records. This is probably more rare now, but if you can find an auction or sale that includes old vinyl, you’ll be able to get it for CHEAP.

Conclusion…

I’m sure there’s many other sources of cheap vinyl out there. Just keep digging around in various small shops and auctions/sales and you might surpise yourself with all the old vinyl you might find. If you have any stories about finding old vinyl, or anything to add, drop a comment below and share it with the world. Yeah!

Tags: beats, old school, vinyl