Amazon has unleashed what looks like a dream for anyone with a burgeoning record collection. Amazon Vinyl of the Month Club has gone live in the US and promises one record per month from the "Golden Era of Vinyl".
That Golden Era, according to Amazon, is the 60s and 70s with the subscription service offering "must-haves" delivered to your door for $24.99 per month. On the Amazon Vinyl of the Month Club home page Fleetwood Mac, Led Zeppelin, Miles Davis, Aretha Franklin and Pink Floyd are all listed.
The first two for subscribers are Pink Floyd’s The Wall and The Clash’s London Calling – both very decent value given their retail prices – with each month's LP chosen by "experts at Amazon Music coming from a collection of best albums from the Golden Era of Vinyl (the 1960s-1970s)".
You can return your record for free if you don't like it, although how this works with the subscription model and payments is unclear. Once signed-up, though, you will be able to see what album is lined up for you to get next, and you can choose to skip even before it arrives. There are no tie-ins either and you can also cancel at any time.
The bad news, if you've not already guessed it, is that Amazon Vinyl of the Month Club is a US-only service for the moment. This has been something of a soft launch from Amazon and it seems that the company will be trialing it first before it goes international. Fingers crossed for would-be vinyl junkies based elsewhere. Still, there are plenty of great record shops to visit already with one most likely local to you.
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