Elton John, Quincy Jones to Curate Vinyl Subscription Service
Elton John, Quincy Jones, George Clinton, Talib Kweli and Sean Lennon are among the first artist curators tapped for Experience Vinyl. As Billboard reports, the new vinyl record subscription service will launch in April.
For less than $30 a month, subscribers will receive an artist-picked favorite album accompanied by personal commentary, the curator’s top ten albums list, access to the Experience Vinyl’s store and various rewards. The service also includes quarterly concert invites and eligibility for giveaways and trips.
“It’s a record club where artists handpick not only the records they love, but the ones they couldn’t live without,” Experience Vinyl founder Brad Hammonds told Billboard. “Who better to send you great music each month than artists themselves?”
The terms of the subscription can vary from annual to trimonthly or month-to-month, and a portion of sales will benefit a charity chosen by the artist. Experience Vinyl’s first curator Elton John will have a portion of his sales donated to The Elton John AIDS Foundation.
With vinyl sales continuing to rise over the last decade, its resurgence has prompted non-traditional and former retailers alike to also offer the medium. Urban Outfitters, Barnes & Noble and Whole Foods have dedicated space for vinyl in some of their stores. In 2015, mail-order retailer Columbia House announced plans to revive its business shortly after declaring bankruptcy with a vinyl-only subscription service that was to launch last year, though its Columbia House Record Club website is currently not active.