Service Review: Vinyl Me, Please
The records from my first three months of Vinyl Me, Please.
Shortly after I posted about my foray into the world of vinyl, I was referred to a service called Vinyl Me, Please. Vinyl Me, Please is a “surprise a month” service for record collectors. You pay $23 ($27 after shipping, at least to Indianapolis) and they send you a record. In addition to just a record, there’s a cocktail recipe, and a weekly newsletter with MP3 downloads.
I signed up right away because I’m always looking for new music. And Vinyl Me, Please is curated music from independent artists delivered straight to your door. Plus, cocktail recipes!
The Music
So far everything I’ve gotten from Vinyl Me, Please (over the last three months) has either been an early release or a limited edition. One was even a Vinyl Me, Please exclusive color. It’s not a huge deal of course, but it’s always fun to know you’re one of a few that have something. The records have all been incredibly varied. Singer-songwriter, pop-punk, and hip-hop have all been featured over the last three months. Nothing was disappointing. Granted none of them have made it into heavy rotation, but I’ve listened to each of them a few times.
The Cocktails
I was really excited about the cocktails that matched the records. But I never actually made any of them. Looking at the recipes they were really thought out, and I could see how they’d work with the record well. But they also tend to be more on the craft cocktail side of things. I just haven’t felt like taking the time to concoct them.
Overall
Vinyl Me, Please is a cool service, and I think the price is fair. I think I’d be more interested in a service like this that was maybe $14 and was a new CD every month though. Because even though these records are all good, they are the least played records in my collection. I think I’d listen more if they were in my giant CD carousel and just happened to come on. For me, records are much more of a “I feel like listening to this record right now” experience, than a “let’s find something new” experience. I’m going to keep my Vinyl Me, Please membership for a few more months at least though, because when it comes down to it surprises are fun and I look forward to my surprise record every month.
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Nicole is a Software Quality Engineer, music collector, and chronic project starter. In her free time she enjoys reading trashy romance novels, catching up on her game backlog, and bourbon.
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$27 for *a* record? And I thought Columbia House was steep…
Most the ones I buy are $20-$25, so $27 shipped seems fair.
And how bout the monthly album-inspired piece of art you’re supposed to receive as well? I found that to be a strong selling point if it’s really something wall-worthy. I haven’t pulled the trigger on this membership yet. Your thoughts on the included art?
My wall space is at a premium, so for me it wasn’t a selling point. Some of it has been done really well. And since it’s the size of a record it’d be easy to find frames for. They have some examples on Instagram and post sometimes on their Twitter too.
Thank you!!!
Thanks for reviewing the service. I’m looking forward to my first disk. I am curious if you are still subscribed to the service. An update with further thoughts about the music you’ve received would be welcome.
I cancelled my subscription around Christmas, to save for gifts. Reinstated it a few more months later. I just cancelled it again this month, just because I have a few things I want to save my “fun money” for.
Overall, I’ve been pretty happy with the music. There have been a couple that don’t get played often. But most I listen to fairly regularly.
I received my membership as a gift for Xmas. I am extremely picky about the music I listen to, so for me, having someone send random choices of what THEY think I should listen to is simply not for me. I have an extensive music collection, including lots of vinyl, but the idea of being sent something I didn’t expressly pick is a turn-off. I received my first record about a week ago, and it remains unpackaged in my basement. Maybe I will warm up to the service someday, but frankly, if I wasn’t afraid of offending the gift giver, I would have cancelled and gotten their money back.
I completely understand that. On the plus side, some of these records sell for around $20 each on Discogs (some much higher, and some much lower) so you should be able to flip them and get something you truly love.
Once again, the pre-selected “Record Of The Month” doesn’t interest me AT ALL. I tried to “swap” it like the program says, but apparently you have to do that BEFORE the 2nd of the month. So….Another package on its way to my house which will never be opened….
Looking at their site, it looks like December was Nina Simone. It’s going for $30 on Discogs: https://www.discogs.com/Nina-Simone-Nina-Simone-Sings-The-Blues/release/9485790
On a personal note, who doesn’t want a little Simone on their turntable?
The same situation here. I was able to find one record which looked mildly interesting to use the $25 credit which came with the membership/gift. I was very turned off by having to give my credit card information to just find out the nature of this gift and once I did, I had to contract them to turn it off. When record stores where common I would buy a dozen records a week and most were things which just looked interesting. I found a lot of really cool music that way. This really takes the fun away from looking for new music.