When starting Vinyl Deli, the mission was to create a vinyl subscription box (or to most, a “record” subscription box) which every customer would love. I think we’ve been doing a good job of that so far. It doesn’t mean things are perfect, but it’s certainly a good start.
The product is relatively simple. Vinyl records handpicked by humans based on the customers sonic tastes, shipped to their door every month. It’s my attempt at truly translating the traditional record store experience, online.
If you’re a customer who wants to let me know how we’re doing, past or present, whether you have had a positive or negative experience, please feel free to email me at [email protected].
And that there is my point. There are typically two types of people who will use this opportunity to either criticise or compliment the experience Vinyl Deli provides.
Those who hate us and those who love us.
For me, creating an experience people love is the number one rule of all business. If your customers don’t love you, your employees don’t love you, what are you building?
Honestly, I don’t know the answer to that question. It’s not something I would want to be a part of if that weren’t the goal.
Thankfully, I’m confident we’re meeting that goal for many of our customers and more will fall for us as we make further improvements. It’s all about the wining and dining, kids. 😉
Part of that journey is creating an area where people can discover and listen to music within a humanised way, digitally.
We’ve called this area “The Cuttings”. It’s a content hub housing a podcast called Crates & Vinyl, our curated playlists and mixes, and the ever-questionable Sample Sunday YouTube series.
We want to create content where you can discover or rediscover music at every corner, through engaging entertainment.
For me, I discovered Royce da 5’9, Oliver Cheatham, Herbie Hancock and Public Enemy playing Grand Theft Auto III, Vice City and San Andreas.
Video games have been key in developing the musical tastes of millennials, including my own. But it’s not the only influence.
People discover through other entertainment avenues, or through recommendations at a record store. We want to be able to provide new ways to discover music which is not only traditional but personal and humanised, no matter the generation.
Below I’ve highlighted my favourite Crates & Vinyl episode, Sample Sunday and playlist so far.
Crates & Vinyl 005
AIN’T NO SUNSHINE WHEN CRAIG’S GONE
The episode where we test Craig’s knowledge of the podcast, discuss girlfriend updates and swoon over Baby Yoda. But who doesn’t love Baby Yoda? The episode’s a bundle of laughs.
Sample Sunday 033
Let’s Talk About Black Milk
Recorded just before lockdown in March, this is my favourite Sample Sunday of recent memory. Featuring music from Black Milk, I had a lot of fun teasing Rhian with song names.
JB’s Zeal & Desire
A Playlist to Groove to
The perfect playlist to get groovy to with your loved ones. A selection of some of the funkiest, soul-driven R&B & Hip Hop.
This is the start of something which will be much bigger, and I hope you join us on this journey.
You can stay in touch by joining our mailing list below. You’ll receive plenty of personalised music recommendations, updates and insider information by being a part of our growing community.
To learn more about our vinyl subscription boxes, please visit our join page.
Much love,
Jordan