Discogs is bringing its Crate Diggers record fair to Toronto and Montreal for the first time.
The online music database, which has become a major resource for vinyl collectors and retailers, is also teaming up with label Dine Alone Records to organize and promote both events, as well as respective after parties.
The Toronto event will take place on June 17 and the Montreal market happens on June 10. Venues and after party lineups have yet to be announced, but it’s safe to expect Dine Alone acts will be well-represented on both bills.
The day-long record fairs will host roughly 30 to 60 vendors and local DJs will spin while buyers peruse bins. Admission is free.
“Both Toronto and Montreal are have increasingly grown in the Discogs community of buyers and sellers,” Discogs spokesperson Jeffrey Smith tells NOW. “[We] wants to be involved with the community in real-life as much as possible. Crate Diggers gives us that opportunity to physically talk with sellers, new users, contributors to the database, and DJs/musicians in the city’s scene.”
The 17-year-old company has offices in Beaverton, Oregon and Amsterdam, and claims to have the largest online physical music database. Created by 326,000 contributors, its catalogue encompasses more than 8 million recordings.
Vinyl is Discogs’ most popular format, accounting for more than 80 per cent of sales transactions, and many physical stores use the site as a reference when buying and selling vintage releases.
Last year, the company acquired record fair Crate Diggers, which was founded by Discogs community manager Liz Madduz and DJ Zernell Gillie of Grimy Edits four years ago. The first event took place in Portland and was followed by fairs in Los Angeles, Miami and Berlin. Discogs has continued to expand the number of cities hosting Crate Diggers since taking over.
Discogs’ year-end report for 2016 showed that releases added to the database by Canadians increased 25 per cent, from 43,634 to 54,532.
Overall, vinyl sales in Canada have been going up. According to data firm Nielsen SoundScan, vinyl sales jumped 29 per in 2016 over the year prior.
kevinr@nowtoronto.com | @kevinritchie
