Ashgate Popular and Folk Music Series The Vinyl Revival, Gender, Collecting Aesthetics

The book explores record collecting and vinyl consumption in the 21st century within the context of the vinyl revival. The book highlights gender, and how gender disparity is expressed in vinyl communities. Veronica Skrimsjö considers vinyl consumerism and collecting and how the collector identifies themselves within the socio-political environment of the Global North, with a particular focus on gender. The book includes considerations of Record Store Day, DIY, and DI-together cultures, as well as the historic context needed to evaluate record collecting in the 21st century. The work is aimed at both an academic and a general readership and as such strikes a more informal tone. Personal experiences are emphasised throughout because vinyl consumers are not a homogenous group, and it is only via personal experiences that we can understand the complexity of consumption. The personal experience also helps make the content more relatable, which is crucial as old stereotypes helped distance the collector from the everyday consumer. Readers will benefit from a different perspective on record collecting and consumptions as the book highlights active, creative consumption and provides an in-depth, innovative analysis of how gender inequality is constructed within this context.