You may have been seeing ads on social media, or maybe you haven’t, about a subscription service called “VNYL”. This is a service that you pay a monthly fee for and you receive 3 vinyl records catered to your music taste to your door. These 3 vinyl records you can choose to keep or give away to someone else, but regardless they are yours to keep.

I saw an advertisement on my Facebook page for it and was curious, so I checked out some videos on YouTube of people “unboxing” their VNYL box. To be honest, I had mixed feelings about it. Some videos their boxes were catered to them so well and they seemed very excited about it, but I also realized that those were the people featured in the ad that I saw on Facebook. So I tried to find videos of people that were not featured. And those videos were hit or miss; some people loved it and others hated it.

I came to understand that the ones who hated it were ones who tried the service when they were just a start up company and were giving out “used” records that could be found at any vintage record shop and were not catered to the receiver very well. But, I found a video that explained that the company has stopped doing that and are sending out new records of all genres, decades and artists.

After about 2 weeks of watching these videos non-stop I decided to try this out for myself. I figured if I didn’t like it I could alway cancel it after a month or two (I usually try these services out for at least 2 months to give them a chance).If I didn’t like what I got I could just sell it at my local half-price book/record shop. Of course I wouldn’t get total value for it, but it would be something.

I went on the site, got the invite code and signed up. I filled out my music profile, linking my Spotify profile as well as listing bands/artists and genres I love and ones that I hate. They also allow you to select a plan (1 record a month or 3 records a month) and tell them how adventurous you are with music. If you want to stick to what you know, if you are willing to get stuff you might never heard of, or somewhere in-between.

Once I finished filling out my music profile I then picked a “vibe” and this is something that you have to do each month (from what I gather). And this “vibe” comes along with a previous playlist where you can listen to music that is featured in that vibe and get a sense of what you are feeling for the month. Based on that and your profile that you fill out, someone hand picks 3 vinyl records for you.

For this month I picked the “#EndlessSummer” vibe because it had a lot of punk bands on the playlist and that interested me the most. And I’m glad I picked it because my box what spot on.

I first received Taking Back Sunday’s “Tell All Your Friends” album, which is such an influential album to all early 2000s alternative/punk lovers! I was so excited when I pulled this out because I remember owning this album when I was younger, but through the process of moving a few times I lost it.

Next I pulled out A Day To Remember’s “Homesick” which is one of my favorite albums from high school! Again, an album that is home to some of ADTR’s most popular songs, some of which are their best songs ever (in my opinion) and one that I once previously owned. I think I loaned it to a friend and just never got it back, but now I have it!

And lastly, I got an album from some one I’ve never heard of before (I selected that I would like new music from time to time). Its called “Facades” by Peter J. Brant. I have never heard of him before, and in my hand written letter from the person who put together my box, they never mentioned why they picked this album for me. So I am curious to know hear what it sounds like and if it is something that I would like. If not, I will try and find a friend who likes similar music and if they want it or I will give it to the half-priced store by me.

Overall, I was very pleased with my first box. The person who curated this box for me was named Sam and this is what he wrote in his letter to me:

“Hey Stefanie, Welcome to VNYL! Thanks for filling us in on your relationship with music! For your #endlesssummer box, I’m starting with something nostalgic, for the All Time Low/Good Charlotte fan in you – Taking Back Sunday’s super influential debut! Next up, since they made your “Spring/Summer 2016” playlist on Spotify, here’s A Day To Remember’s intense “Homesick”! Enjoy, Sam.”

I think Sam it the hammer on the nail with this first box and I will definitely be receiving another box next month. Hopefully it is as good as this one.

If you are interested in VNYL, click here to go to their site.