Discogs needs your help pulling together an international directory of Black-owned record stores

Discogs is pulling together a directory of Black-owned record stores.

The initiative began on the Discogs forum when user bekessler (Ben Kessler from Washington DC) asked users to submit information on Black-owned record stores. The resulting list expanded on an article highlighting ten Black-owned record stores from Okayplayer.

“After the murder of George Floyd, it became common to share lists of Black-owned businesses serving particular cities or interests,” Kessler told Discogs. “People were already doing their best to stay loyal to their favorite small business—record store or otherwise. And as mainstream America turned its attention to the indiscriminate murder of Black people by the police, I think many people began thinking about how they spent their money differently.”

“To the extent anyone was in a position to do the same—that is fortunate enough to still be buying records during a global pandemic—I thought it made the most sense to stand in solidarity with Black record store owners in this small way.”

Check out the current list of Black-owned record stores—which includes 606 Records in Chicago and High Fidelity in Los Angeles—and add your local Black-owned record shop.