If you feel self-conscious about collecting vinyl then you're most likely a hipster, otherwise you're a collector/enthusiast.

It's hipster not to be hipster. Can't win.

a couple of months ago i decided to hunt down some information on what a hipster is because i'd been hearing the term a lot and its ambiguity was beginning to kind of stress me out. after spending all my free time over the course of three days searching for and reading articles and blogs, i learned that it basically boils down to being alive or dead. if you are alive, you are probably a hipster. if you're dead, not so much.

as far as the difference between them and record collectors, record collectors are probably the only people who are not hipsters while still managing to be alive (i hope it's obvious that this is, in part, in jest and not totally serious). they are a culture unto themselves.

my dad is a record collector. about ten years ago he had over 6000 albums. this number has likely dropped due to his relatively new penchant for partaking in record shows and conventions where he sells many and buys few. i've been with him behind his table at these things, and something i noticed that really defines a collector is that if they have zero information on a record they've just stumbled upon, they will buy it because there is that chance that it might be special. another thing about them is that it's an obsession. it's probably safe to call them hoarders. there's something about buying records that makes them feel like all is ok in the world.

as for me, i don't buy records. i do prefer the sound, but if you've ever moved 6000 of them out of an attic apartment into another attic apartment (my dad likes attic apartments) it's hard to remove the memory of weight from the process of spending money on them.

I don't see any hipsters around here but I don't understand the big deal about it. As long as you're not a dickhead I don't have a problem with you, trends change. Why the big fuss?
I admit I dislike pretentious people, and people who do things superficially, who think they are cooler than everyone else to make themselves feel elevated and better about themselves, but the majority of people that I have met that conform to this "hipster" thing at least aesthetically, are genuine and nice people. Maybe it is different in Dublin or in other countries, I dunno.

Guess I'm collector of music I like and usually on cds & lps (don't have an ipod or i-anything, don't need it).

I know collectors at record shows and most of them are completest of some artist, era, record label or whatever. Even the collectors that are not looking for anything specific are pretty well knowledgeable about whatever they buy, or if not, they find out what they need to know from the record dealers. Then again, I've seen people buy albums based only on the cover art.

A record collector buys and listens to music he wants to hear and appreciates the longevity of a particular album.

A hipster has too much money to know the difference.

This.




I'd probably be considered a hipster from time to time through the clothes I wear, I love clothes and fashion. I was actually called a hipster last night for wearing my bowler hat, I nearly cracked up. I ****ing love that hat.

Vinyl has been perpetually "coming back" ever since it went away.

Hipsterdom has become a paradox. It's mainstream, and the subculture is all about not being mainstream. So in order to be a REAL hipster, you'll have to NOT be a hipster.
I'm confused.