Steely Dan Do It Again Single Discogss
Tana Yonas speaks to Discogs' Aub Commuter and Christopher Masagatani on the company's history and how they are adapting amidst a global pandemic.
The vinyl customs shifted with the rest of the world in 2020 when record stores shuttered to protect the public from an barnyard virus. They had to get somewhere to stay afloat, and many record shops and buyers moved to Discogs. This rare look inside one of the about honey brands for record lovers features two voices from their HQ in Portland.
We interviewed Aub Driver, who acts as the direct line into the inner workings of Discogs and the public relations pb for the company. He's one of the most visible employees and is oft the face of the company at public appearances. Aub was joined by his colleague Christopher Masagatani, the regional lead for North and S America. Christopher advocates and provides support for sellers on the platform, whether information technology'due south a large-book seller with a record store or a hobbyist seller who works out of their basement. He also supports the growth of stores and the adoption of any new features or initiatives.
Below, we explore what it was like for them to suddenly become a digital shelter for record lovers globally, how the rising of "the selector" is changing the face of the vinyl community, and their plans for being fervent drivers of growing the popularity of recorded music as a physical object.
Tana Yonas: I didn't know the extent Discogs participated in events IRL until last year when you were in Oakland for Error Radio'due south epic vinyl fair in 2019. It was actually heady to see your logo there, and to see your brand playing such an of import role in bringing vinyl lovers out similar I had never seen earlier in the Bay Area. Has it always been important to the brand to have a stake in cultivating the vinyl collecting communities in real life, or was the focus building your culture online via your platform?
Christopher Masagatani: It's definitely a huge part of what we do. In regard to the customs, it's a big function of the Deoxyribonucleic acid to back up not just sellers or buyers, simply besides the one-time vinyl community at large. And that involves everything from record fairs to content pieces to partnerships with other community hubs, and talking with people like yourself. So I would say that information technology'south essential to get to conferences, really engage with the community, and exist there on the ground with them. And that'due south really what differentiates us from companies similar an eBay or an Amazon. Nosotros're talking to sellers, we're talking to buyers, we're advocating on their behalf and that's a real big part of what we do.
TY: Was Discogs more interested in cultivating the online community domestically at first, or have you ever been internationally minded? Was going global e'er the goal for Discogs?
Aub Commuter: I'll let Christopher speak to the in-person and record off-white elements, just I can tell you how we started. Our founder, who is notwithstanding the CEO 20 years afterward, came from Intel and wanted to build a site that would catalogue his own record collection. He was an electronic DJ, and had a lot of 12 inches and records merely didn't take a style to really know what he had.
Once he built it, he opened it upwards to an open up source global community online. A lot of different developers that were out at that place loved what he was doing, and bought into the platform he had created. It launched in 2000 and grew so much just in five years. Over the past 20 years, we've grown substantially to over 13 million releases in the database, only it still is really a passion project for us.
CM: The timing of the launch was huge. The manner our founder, Kevin led with data beginning actually married well with the growth of Google and other search engines — and the marriage of our information with the explosiveness all over the earth with Google. Considering it was internet-based, I think nosotros always led with a sense of openness and sort of worldwide customs in listen. And the rise of Google I think was a big part of the success because nosotros're more than simply a record marketplace. Nosotros're really passionate near the data and that'southward what makes the states unlike.
When you dig into the data — i.eastward. how many people are joining the community not just in the Usa but around the world — information technology's a lot. For me, it'due south engaging with those users in a meaningful way and really keeping them equally a part of a community.
Christopher Masagatani
TY: Can you lot elaborate on why data is then of import ?
Advertisement: The database is the backbone of Discogs. And when I say "the database", I hateful the 13 meg listings that nosotros host. That's really what the mission of this company is, to go every physical piece of recorded music into our database. That's unlike than the Amazon model that wants to sell as many records as possible, that'south more about book. The market is a by-production of the data, non vice versa, which I think really speaks to why we are nonetheless hither today, competing confronting other larger companies.
TY: I'grand a relatively new vinyl collector. I've been collecting for about iii years and in the beginning information technology was very intimidating going into a tape shop, and sometimes it still is even though at present I know what I'm doing. Though shopping online through platforms like Discogs actually immune me to explore more easily, and made it far more accessible. It too seems similar recently in that location's a huge influx of people who have a new interest in vinyl. Information technology's in vogue again and growing. Take you had to change how you're relating to this influx of novice collectors?
CM: Yeah. I agree with you on all points. I mean it's a popular culture phenomenon that we're experiencing right now with vinyl. But I will say that I'll give you an anecdotal story of a record off-white that I went to in Montreal earlier covid. Information technology'south chosen 24 Hours of Vinyl, and it was held in a public infinite. The whole point was to have someone who's spinning vinyl for 24 hours, and then attached to that was a vinyl off-white that would last throughout the whole twenty-four hours. And information technology was and then absurd to see the different kinds of music lovers that came through during the different times of the mean solar day.
In the morning, there were a lot of families with parents carrying kids while digging. Subsequently that came the real hardcore kind of hobbyist-collector who stayed there for a long time, you know, the choosiest. So you get to happy hour, and the raver types came out in crowds and it was a political party. Information technology was an amazing thing to watch, you know, the demographics changed so much. Then I gauge the signal is we really stay true to our original mission, which is providing the platform for everyone. And I think because nosotros started with that egalitarian approach, we don't really have to adjust our brand. And we'll always stay a platform for everyone.
AD: Yeah, and that nosotros merely went through a very tumultuous year in 2020. One of our main focal points, which has been in the cooker for quite some time, was to update our shipping policies. That was really to benefit new users. We wanted to simplify buying for those who were coming to the site and trying to invest in new things for their burgeoning collections. We wanted to aid people build out their collections by simplifying the process of obtaining records.
TY: A lot of my personal collection comes from international sellers because the music I'm interested in collecting comes from traditions from all over the globe. I'thousand certain you've noticed likewise, because of COVID restrictions, shipping beyond borders was really affected. It was actually difficult to obtain records, for example in Japan, because the government wasn't allowing international shipments via regular posts for most most three months. Was that difficult for y'all to have to standby when there are legal and bureaucratic changes that touch your platform? Especially with Brexit making things a lot more than expensive and complicated to ship to and from England? How do yous adjust?
Advertizing: This is important for this chat and there are two sides to it, right? At that place's this vinyl culture and music side of things that we are very much on the pulse of and tin speak to, but so there'southward another side of the coin, which is an internet-based marketplace. And on the tech side of things, nosotros are constantly monitoring laws across the world, tax laws, import laws. Postal delays we spent a lot of time on considering we are a global entity. So we're constantly adapting to those changes like the Britain VAT upshot.
I'g surprised yous brought it upward, because information technology's something that I've dealt with and brought up 5 times today. Sellers are just and so concerned, because the UK is a huge market place for us. So yes, it's disruptive and it's not the most fun subject area, though it'due south something that nosotros have a lot of minds working on, all the way up to the top of the company. And it's our mission to share the best fashion to move frontward with our community.
CM: Dealing with COVID messed up a lot of different things and one of those things was how quickly things are delivered. Multiple times over terminal yr I waited a month or two to get something from abroad. At this betoken, we tin can only command so much. It's really reliant upon the seller and the buyer human relationship and being very transparent.
That ways making sure that the tracking numbers are always there and that everybody's aware of what's going on. Now that nosotros've implemented these shipping policies, we have consummate transparency where your guild is between a seller and a buyer anywhere in the earth. Nosotros are always working towards doing things better.
I see a lot of older shop owners that were reluctant to have an online channel. They finally had the time for the learning curve to get online, because that's how they were going to survive.
AUB Driver
TY: Obviously at the same time, a lot of physical record shops were either temporarily closed or permanently airtight because of health restrictions, so Discogs has been a refuge for many of them. That'southward particularly true considering your platform is ready-made and is configured to get in very easy for record stores to add their inventory. How did yous handle this? Did you encounter an influx of sellers coming online for the first time? And if so, was it difficult to manage that influx?
AD: You know, there are a lot of new sellers coming on right at present. Only there's many different types of sellers, right? I would say, since the pandemic from a store perspective, I encounter a lot of older store owners that were reluctant to accept an online channel. They finally had the fourth dimension for the learning curve to get online, because that's how they were going to survive. We're talking about hundreds of stores that accept since adopted this equally their online selling platform as a event of non having people in their stores. The younger, more savvy business owners were already on Discogs.
We were able to manage the immense corporeality of traffic that nosotros've seen since the beginning of the pandemic. And to your point well-nigh Discogs being a refuge, that isn't lost on the states. We've done multiple campaigns to back up our record stores. I would say we treat our users the same, merely our record shops represent a peculiarly unique and valuable function of our community that we try to back up in numerous ways. Whether that'due south our fee refund program we did at the beginning of the pandemic, or the seller spotlights we do on our very powerful social channels.
Nosotros also have a sub-brand called Vinyl Hub, where nosotros list every physical record store in the world. And so when you become to a particular city, you can become to Vinyl Hub and accept a ready made list of vinyl stores to store at. You lot can even peruse their inventory before you become. Similar I mentioned, a lot of that growth was fueled by stores that didn't take an online presence before.
TY: Final year saw a decline in tape sales in the US but according to the RIAA, vinyl sales weren't nearly as affected equally CD sales. What about the medium do you lot remember is keeping listeners engaged?
AD: There's apparently a lot more people and a lot more data that we have now than nosotros did half dozen years agone, and that'south all a function of the movement to protect the physical medium. I've idea a lot about that question about why physical music and vinyl is keeping people'south interest. What is it that's fueling that growth? And that's a question that we talk a lot about internally.
I don't know that at that place's a argent-bullet respond, only I retrieve that, and this is me personally, information technology's the rise of streaming and digital life in general. The pendulum always swings, correct? I think where the pendulum is now, information technology has people yearning for an honest experience. You can take that feel with a piece of vinyl, and often you accept a nice piece of art that you can engage with too.
You don't ever have to look at a screen, interface with some kind of algorithm, or any 1s and 0s (referring to the binary lawmaking used in software engineering). You know what I mean? I think that'southward a huge role of the growth because people just want to residue. Yous go from one screen at work to another at home then to another screen in bed. It'southward just too much. It'south kind of like a good book or a conversation or something — it's something real. It's like escaping from the digital oppression that I call back everybody is going through correct now.
CDs aren't almost every bit popular considering we've gone to streaming. And the fact is, they don't make cars with CD players anymore. At that place'due south no need. There is likewise a safety to owning that piece of music. I've heard many stories of people who had an album or movie they beloved disappear without alarm on platforms like Apple, Spotify, or Amazon because the original rights holder doesn't want information technology there anymore.
TY: I loved that caption of non having to look at a screen, and I couldn't assist just recollect about the experience of a hullo-fi bar. I recall in a previous conversation that i of you had said they had a friend who was opening i upwardly in London, so it'south absurd you've had exposure to these special spaces for audiophiles. Are places like In Sheep's Clothing, that are popping up all over the world, affecting the culture of Discogs?
CM: I recollect that's more of a symptom than a driver. Merely that's kind of a hard question to ask when I haven't been to a bar for a yr [laughs]. But I loved going to them in Japan. I really beloved how it adds a refinement to the hobby.
TY: In the case of the hello-fi bar Bright Corners in London, they've created a platform that'south contributed to DJs being called "selectors" like in the case of Donna Leake. She's been hosted on prestigious stages similar Dekmantel and Banality Room, and her sets are non most playing dance tracks or even beat matching. Her popularity is more well-nigh her incredible option of by and large obscure jazz tracks, and she mixes in the traditional Hi-fi/jazz bar mode where y'all permit a track play out. I know even for me she's actually affected how I collect music because now I can be a lot more than weird with what I play. Have you lot seen that effect particularly?
CM: That got bought up recently, ane of our great friends Dor Wand communicated something to me this yr that I've actually taken to centre because I am in your same boat too. And it'south the rise of the selector, right? It'southward not a new word, it's an old vinyl term from Jamaica, where you'd hear a good hearted heckler yelling " Plough on the turntable selector!" Information technology'due south a term that's been around.
But I call back it's taken on a new pregnant. It's really synonymous with taking special care with the story you lot're telling with what you play. I would say I similar to play every bit a selector myself. Every other Fri we spin music as a company, and I'll commencement with a reggae tune, then I'll switch into a Superman themed track to permit me to go into this remix that has the same sample in information technology. I might go from some dance music to some Hawaiian folk stuff, because I don't feel bound to a BPM like your average DJ. I want to tell a cinematic story, and I think that the ascension of the selector mentality is a result of more than people being involved in collecting vinyl.
TY: I would love to hear from both of you lot how you lot envision or would like to run across Discogs evolve, especially once we take covid behind us. A lot of united states of america are in our homes, listening to music in modest groups or by ourselves. Volition everyone go back to record fairs and be involved as an international community in physical reality again?
Our founder, Kevin, is one of my heroes. He's had many opportunities to sell out and hasn't. That actually speaks volumes to his character, and how much he values his community. We use the word community a lot!
CHRISTOPHER MASAGATANI
CM: Well, nosotros have a company vision that nosotros're all working towards. So I think we all accept our ain personal thoughts of what we'd love to see. It'due south notwithstanding then interesting to come across how much growth the community is experiencing, and the growth month over month is exponential. And I don't know if I tin can divulge the numbers, just let me tell you, they're intimidating. When you lot dig into the data — i.due east. how many people are joining the community not only in the Us but around the world — it'southward a lot. For me, it's engaging with those users in a meaningful way and actually keeping them as a function of a community.
I think it is going to be an interesting evolution. And for me, personally, I just tin can't expect to go to record fairs and other countries and travel again because before the pandemic we had plans to become to fairs in Mexico City, Brazil and all over Europe. I just can't look to get back to reality and away from a screen.
Ad: For me, annihilation having to practise with concrete music is actually our intended goal. Then nosotros want to work with everyone that's out there, and to work with a bunch of different partners and businesses to ameliorate the feel for everyone. We are, and have ever been, open source. Another huge part of what we practice is allowing people to tap into our data and improve upon it. We've seen diverse developers create fascinating things with our data all over the net. So I think we can simply go up from hither.
CM: I'll also say something that's also important to me, and I tin't speak for leadership on this. But I know another huge differentiator for Discogs, and why we are successful as a customs, is the fact that nosotros're contained. We're not a corporate entity and not endemic by the likes of eBay or Amazon. For me personally, I want that to always exist the instance because it really gives us a moral high footing when it comes to a lot of issues involving the customs. Our founder, Kevin, is one of my heroes. He'due south had many opportunities to sell out and hasn't. That really speaks volumes to his graphic symbol, and how much he values his community. We use the word customs a lot!
Ad: Final bespeak on that is we are in fact a very independent visitor. Nosotros simply have about 100 employees. People think we're a massive entity. Nosotros've only got 70 people in the states and 30 people abroad.
Source: https://insheepsclothinghifi.com/interview-with-discogs/
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