THE MAP
Every vinyl destination inside the greater Philadelphia footprint. Zoom in to see individual venues.
THE 51 RECORD SHOPS
Philadelphia trades on TSOP, jazz and second-hand depth.
Philadelphia's record culture rides on the shoulders of Philadelphia International Records and the TSOP era. Sound of Market and Long in the Tooth on Spruce keep the historic core; Repo Records on South Street has been the punk-and-indie counter since 1986; Milkcrate Café adds records-and-espresso in Fishtown. Philly's second-hand market is unusually deep — the city pressed enormous quantities of soul, jazz and disco in the 70s and 80s.
Fishtown and South Philly hold the current-day essentials — Milkcrate, Brewerytown Beats, Molly's Books & Records on Passyunk. The Old City and Rittenhouse corridors add the collector-grade rooms. Brewerytown Beats runs the funk / soul / 45s specialist counter that DJs from New York drive down for. Sun Ra came from here; the spiritual-jazz second-hand market never really cooled. One active pressing plant keeps Philly labels domestic.
THE FIVE ROOMS
1517 Cecil B. Moore Ave. The funk, soul, jazz and 45s specialist — DJs travel from NYC weekly.
2027 Sansom St. Compact, curated new + used — jazz, indie, dance, rock. The tastemaker's counter.
538 South St. Punk, indie, hardcore, rock second-hand — the South Street survivor.
15 S 11th St. Long-running R&B, soul, hip-hop, gospel — a Black Philadelphia institution.
400 E Girard Ave. Records-and-espresso model done right — new releases, second-hand, weekend DJ sets.