Discogs ( ; short for "

discographies Discography is the study and cataloging of published sound recordings, often by specified artists or within identified music genres. The exact information included varies depending on the type and scope of the discography, but a discography entry ...

") is a

database In computing, a database is an organized collection of data or a type of data store based on the use of a database management system (DBMS), the software that interacts with end users, applications, and the database itself to capture and a ...

of information about

audio Audio most commonly refers to sound, as it is transmitted in signal form. It may also refer to: Sound *Audio signal, an electrical representation of sound *Audio frequency, a frequency in the audio spectrum *Digital audio, representation of sound ...

recording A record, recording or records may refer to: An item or collection of data Computing * Record (computer science), a data structure ** Record, or row (database), a set of fields in a database related to one entity ** Boot sector or boot record, re ...

s, including

commercial Commercial may refer to: * (adjective for) commerce, a system of voluntary exchange of products and services ** (adjective for) trade, the trading of something of economic value such as goods, services, information or money * a dose of advertising ...

releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. Database contents are user-generated, and described in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' as "

Wikipedia Wikipedia is a free content, free Online content, online encyclopedia that is written and maintained by a community of volunteers, known as Wikipedians, through open collaboration and the wiki software MediaWiki. Founded by Jimmy Wales and La ...

-like". While the site was originally created with the goal of becoming the largest online database of

electronic music Electronic music broadly is a group of music genres that employ electronic musical instruments, circuitry-based music technology and software, or general-purpose electronics (such as personal computers) in its creation. It includes both music ...

, it now includes releases in all

genres Genre () is any style or form of communication in any mode (written, spoken, digital, artistic, etc.) with socially agreed-upon conventions developed over time. In popular usage, it normally describes a category of literature, music, or other form ...

and on all formats. By 2015, it had a new goal: that of "cataloging every single piece of physical music ever created." As of 2025, its database contains over 18 million user-submitted album listings.

History

Discogs was started in 2000 by Kevin Lewandowski who worked as a programmer at

Intel Intel Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Santa Clara, California, and Delaware General Corporation Law, incorporated in Delaware. Intel designs, manufactures, and sells computer compo ...

. 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. The Discogs Marketplace is modeled similar to

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon (company), an American multinational technology company * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek myth ...

and

eBay eBay Inc. ( , often stylized as ebay) is an American multinational e-commerce company based in San Jose, California, that allows users to buy or view items via retail sales through online marketplaces and websites in 190 markets worldwide. ...

, where sellers offer items for sale and a fee is charged on the sold item. 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 The subscription business model is a business model in which a customer must pay a recurring price at regular intervals for access to a product or service. The model was pioneered by publishers of books and periodicals in the 17th century. It ...

-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 A revenue stream is a source (or category of sources) of revenue of a company, other organization, or regional or national economy. In business, a revenue stream is generally made up of either recurring revenue, transaction-based revenue, project ...

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.

References

External links

* {{Authority control American music websites Companies based in Portland, Oregon Internet properties established in 2000 Online music and lyrics databases Social cataloging applications

History

See also

References

External links