My Vinyl Collection (So far…)

I’ve always been that person who still buys CDs instead of downloading music because the feeling of having a physical copy of the album to…

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I’ve always been that person who still buys CDs instead of downloading music because the feeling of having a physical copy of the album to hold wasn’t something I wanted new technology to take away from me. Even now, obsessed with my Spotify premium, I still love the feeling of going out to the shops and buying a new album. Which is why, as vinyl seemed to have come back into fashion over the years, I wanted in on the hype as they are so much prettier than CDs, and I consider them more of a collection than the masses of CDs I have in my drawers.

T H E  R E C O R D  P L A Y E R
Last Christmas I received a Goodman’s white and rose gold record player. I chose this one, firstly because of how gorgeous it will look sat on top of my drawers with its rose gold details, but also because you can also plug it into your computer to record your vinyl which is a bonus. I like how portable it is, you can use it for hours without plugging it in which is perfect for me. It’s not too heavy for me to carry downstairs if I want to listen to music outside of my room.
 
 
W H E R E  I  G E T  V I N Y L S

Seven months later, I have a grand total of eleven vinyl records, which although isn’t a mighty amount, it’s enough to write a post about, without it being too overwhelming. I came to realise, as I was going through my collection, that apart from the ones I received for Christmas (or the one I got before I even got my record player), I purchased them all from HMV.

This is partly thanks to their amazing sales, which twice a year have deals on I simply can’t resist, and also becoming a member of Pure HMV this year. It cost me £3 to join, which I was a little sceptical about, as normally loyalty cards are free, but this one has come with so many benefits when building my collection, such as member-only deals (with huge savings), and building up points towards store discount. It’s definitely helped that vinyls and blu-rays have double points, and my dad uses my card a lot when he buys DVDs, but in just over half a year I have already earned a £10 discount, which I can’t wait to use towards my next vinyl purchase.

Of course, I would love to explore and support an independent record shop, but there is simply none around me so HMV is an obvious go-to. It’s definitely believed that vinyls are crazy expensive, and they can be, but the offers at HMV mean it’s easier to build your collection, and all of these albums are by artists I absolutely adore.

T H E  C O L L E C T I O N 
The Script – Freedom Child
Niall Horan – Flicker
Ed Sheeran – +
Ed Sheeran – X
The Killers – Hot Fuss
Coldplay – A Rush Of Blood To The Head
Taylor Swift – Reputation
5 Seconds Of Summer – Youngblood
The 1975 – The 1975
The 1975 – I Like It When You Sleep For You Are So Beautiful Yet So Unaware Of It
George Ezra – Staying At Tamara’s

We will start my collection with the very first vinyl I owned, September of last year, when The Script released their Freedom Child album. We bought the CD and vinyl bundle from their website as they are both signed, and I couldn’t think of a better vinyl to start with.

Niall Horan’s Flicker album I received for Christmas from my Auntie and it’s a real good one on vinyl. I actually haven’t played it in a while, and as I write this I remember how much I love it – On The Loose, the first track, is my favourite. The Killers’ Hot Fuss vinyl is an album I wanted for a while, so while it was on sale I took the chance to purchase it on vinyl. I really wanted to listen to Mr Brightside on my record player, but I love All The These Things That I’ve Done as well.

Ed Sheeran’s first two albums, + and X, are two of my favourite albums, and two vinyls I’m very happy to own. X I received from my parents at Christmas, it has two records in it which I guess makes it better quality sound? Then + I bought later at HMV’s post-Christmas sale, making it an absolute bargain, especially as it is an orange coloured vinyl, which is why I was even more excited to own it.

Coldplay’s A Rush Of Blood To The Head is probably my most played vinyl. My collection would have seriously been lacking something without a bit of Coldplay, and I’ve fallen in love with their second album since I bought it on vinyl (again, an HMV post-Christmas sale purchase). Rush of Blood is one of those albums that sounds ten times better on vinyl, you know? I would love to own more Coldplay vinyls but they’re so expensive! A Head Full of Dreams is my dream vinyl to own, so hopefully one day it will make an appearance in the collection.

Taylor Swift’s Reputation vinyl was an exciting purchase, after months of not buying any, I suddenly found on a pureHMV offer for £12.99 and seriously couldn’t say no. I mean, how could I say no to two picture discs of Taylor? They are so pretty; it may not be my favourite Taylor album (1989 is just unbeatable), but I’m so happy to own it on vinyl now too.

When 5 Seconds Of Summer’s new album Youngblood came out, I was of course going to buy it on vinyl rather than CD format this time round. The light blue colour of the disc received a huge excited grin from myself as I opened it up. It has become one of my favourite albums since it was released lately.

Possibly the best offer HMV have ever done – both of The 1975’s vinyls for £19.75?? YES PLEASE! Especially as normally each they are about £25! I didn’t even care about the huge chore of carrying two heavy vinyls around college with me all day as it was well worth the purchase. I own their second album on CD already but not the first so I was excited to finally own that one, as well as on two clear discs each – I had no idea what colour they would be but I didn’t yet own clear so that was exciting.

My latest vinyl purchase, and hopefully the last one for a little while as I really should stop spending, is George Ezra’s latest album Staying At Tamara’s. I’ve been going on and on about this one non-stop so I had been itching to have it on vinyl, and finally picked it up on my trip to Cambridge the other month.

H O W  I  S T O R E  M Y  C O L L E C T I O N
 I really wanted to be able to display my vinyls rather than just having them all away, so after scrolling Pinterest for ages for inspiration, I persuaded my dad to make me some vinyl wall stands, which he drilled onto my wall. I also painted them copper to match the accents of my record player and also because copper is the best of course. I used normal acrylic paint for this and it worked just fine, I really felt like one of those YouTube DIY gurus…
I display six of my vinyl records on my wall near my record player, then the other 5 I keep stored in vinyl sleeves. It worked out pretty well that I have six stands for my wall and five sleeves!
T O  G R O W  M Y  C O L L E C T I O N

I know my collection isn’t the biggest, as I’ve only been buying vinyls for a few months now, but I hope to grow it more soon. Although I’m trying to stop myself from buying much more right now as I have only recently bought new ones, there are always a few I have my eye on.

I would love Harry Styles’ vinyl, as this is one of my all time favourite albums and I mean it’s Harry Styles, how could I resist? As I mentioned earlier, I’d love another Coldplay one, and perhaps Ed Sheeran’s Divide as then I would have his full collection. Besides that, I imagine all the next album releases towards the end of this year I’ll be purchasing on vinyl, so I’ll just have to wait and see who releases something soon!

Are you in on the vinyl craze? I would love your suggestions about which ones I should get next!

EG x