discogs
{{Short description|Website and database devoted to audio recordings}}
{{Use American English|date=January 2022}}
{{distinguish|Discord}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2022}}
{{Infobox website
| name = Discogs
| logo = Discogs logo black.svg
| screenshot = Discogs website screenshot, February 12, 2025.png
| caption = Screenshot of Discogs' home page on February 12 2025.
| url = {{official URL}}
| commercial = Partially
| type = Music
| language = English, German, Spanish, Portuguese (BR), French, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Russian
| registration = Optional
| services = Database, online shopping
| industry = Internet
| num_users =
| author = Kevin Lewandowski
| launch_date = {{start date and age|2000|11}}
| current_status = Online
| country = Beaverton, Oregon, U.S.{{cite web|url=https://support.discogs.com/hc/en-us/articles/360009334513 |title=Privacy Policy|publisher=Discogs|language=en|quote=[...] Zink Media, LLC (d/b/a Discogs), 4145 SW Watson Avenue, Suite 350, Beaverton, Oregon, USA 97005.|accessdate=2023-12-13}}{{Cite web |last=Greenwald|first=David|date=2015-12-29 |title=Inside Discogs, Beaverton's $100 million record store |url=https://www.oregonlive.com/music/2015/12/inside_discogs_beaverton_100_million.html |access-date=2023-06-30 |website=The Oregonian |language=en |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230630152643/https://www.oregonlive.com/music/2015/12/inside_discogs_beaverton_100_million.html |archive-date=2023-06-30 }}
| revenue = Advertising, marketplace fees
}}
Discogs ({{IPAc-en|d|ɪ|ˈ|s|k|ɒ|ɡ|z}} {{respell|disk|OGZ}}; short for "discographies") is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. Database contents are user-generated, and described in The New York Times as "Wikipedia-like". While the site was originally created with the goal of becoming the largest online database of electronic music,{{cite web|last1=Saunders|first1=Luke|url=https://happymag.tv/discogs-what-is-it-where-it-came-from-and-how-to-use-it/ |date=Sep 8, 2021 |title=Discogs: what is it, where it came from, and how to use it|website=Happy Mag |language=en-US|access-date=2019-10-08}} it now includes releases in all genres and on all formats.{{Cite news |last=Sisario |first=Ben |date=2015-12-29 |title=Discogs Turns Record Collectors' Obsessions Into Big Business |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/30/business/media/discogs-turns-record-collectors-obsessions-into-big-business.html |url-access=subscription |access-date=2023-06-29 |issn=0362-4331}} By 2015, it had a new goal: that of "cataloging every single piece of physical music ever created."{{cite web|website = Q the Music|url=http://www.qthemusic.com/14459/guest-column-how-discogs-organised-the-worlds-record-collection/ |url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170420140632/http://www.qthemusic.com/14459/guest-column-how-discogs-organised-the-worlds-record-collection/|archive-date=April 20, 2017|title= Guest Column - How Discogs Organised the World's Record Collection|date=March 4, 2016|access-date=February 27, 2025|last=Lewandowski|first=Kevin}} As of 2025, its database contains over 18 million user-submitted album listings.{{cite web|title=Find Music on Discogs|url=https://www.discogs.com/search|website=Discogs|access-date=February 27, 2025}}
History
Discogs was started in 2000 by Kevin Lewandowski who worked as a programmer at Intel.{{cite web | url = https://ra.co/features/1166 |first1=Richard |last1=Carnes |date=26 Mar 2010 | title = Discogs: Vinyl revolution | publisher = Resident Advisor | accessdate = 2023-12-13 | quote = It took about six months working nights and weekends on Discogs, and I launched it in November 2000.}} It was originally started from a computer in Lewandowski's closet and was limited to electronic music. By 2015, Discogs had 37 employees, 3 million users, and a monthly traffic of 20 million visits.
In 2005, Discogs launched a marketplace where users can buy and sell albums.{{cite web|last=Garber |first=David |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/a3375b/discogs-interview-vinyl-records-marketplace |title=How Discogs Dragged Record Collecting Into the 21st Century |publisher=Vice |date=2015-02-26 |accessdate=2022-03-13}} The Discogs Marketplace is modeled similar to Amazon and eBay, where sellers offer items for sale and a fee is charged on the sold item.{{Cite news |last1=Savage |first1=Mark |date=2018-05-02 |title=Vinyl collectors spent millions on Discogs last year |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-43973448 |url-status=live |access-date=2023-06-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180502211203/http://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-43973448 |archive-date=May 2, 2018}} Its album listings are filterable by the country they ship from, format, currency, genre, style, format description, media condition, year released, seller name, and whether the buyer is invited to "make an offer."
In July 2007, a new subscription-based system for sellers was introduced on the site, called Market Price History. It gave premium users access to the past price items that were sold for up to 12 months ago by previous sellers who had sold exactly the same release (though 60 days of information was free). At the same time, the US$12 per year charge for advanced subscriptions was abolished, as it was felt that the extra features should be made available to all subscribers, now that a different revenue stream had been found from sellers and purchasers. Later that year, all paid access features were discarded and full use of the site became free of charge, allowing all users to view the full 12-month Market Price History of each item.
See also
References
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