Twenty-five years ago, Kevin Lewandowski founded Discogs, arguably the destination online for obsessive vinyl collectors and music nerds of all stripes. It is a marketplace for buying and selling records, obviously, but it’s also become so much more. It’s a shockingly comprehensive database that covers not just albums and singles, but all the various versions and pressings. It’s a really fun rabbit hole to disappear down when you’re trying to figure out what obscure pressing of Ministry’s The Mind is a Terrible Thing to Taste or Psalm 69 you had in high school, because you definitely blasted the cover of “Lay Lady Lay” all the time and 100 percent never owned Filth Pig.
In the years since it debuted, Discogs has grown to be much more than just a site where audiophiles go to trade rare first pressings of Beach Boys records. There are forums, groups, user-created lists, and more. It’s part eBay, part Reddit, and IMDB — just specifically for music.
With more and more people turning their back on the algorithm and rediscovering physical media, now seemed like a perfect time to check in with Lewandowski.
