Although CDandLP.com is hardly an unknown entity, many readers may yet to have taken it for a test drive.
The site has much to recommend it, particularly for those enamored of French pressings. Though available in 5 languages, this French company has a distinctly French accent and a number of classical sellers, and their wares, can only be found here.
Those into comparison shopping, whether driven by price, shipping, condition, or pressing, know that eBay is not the be-all and end-all destination for classical. On occasion, the desired LP can only be found at a rival marketplace, be it Discogs (to be profiled in a future issue) or cdandlp. Those who have stopped right there need not hesitate: bookmark cdandlp and shop!
- Launched: 2001
- Location: Saint-Étienne, France
- Website: https://www.cdandlp.com/en/
- Blog: https://www.cdandlp.com/en/blog/
- Forum: https://ask.cdandlp.com/en
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cdandlp
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/cdandlp
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cdandlp/
- French | English | German | Spanish | Japanese
Tidbit: Composer Jules Massenet was from this area and every two years the city of Saint-Étienne stages a festival in his honor.
In 2001 two avid record collectors, Xavier Brescia and Steven Bargain, hit upon what was then a quite novel idea. Their passion for vinyl knew no bounds or borders – the two friends had traveled worldwide in search of that elusive LP. Why not create a website allowing one to travel virtually to shops all over the world. At the time, there were very few e-commerce sites dedicated to music. cdandlp would become an internet pioneer, still thriving today more than 20 years after launching their site from Paris.
In 2003, Xavier and Bargain moved their operations to the French city of Saint-Étienne, located about 37 miles (60 km) southwest of Lyon. Originally available only in French and English, in 2010 German, Spanish and Japanese versions were added, reflecting the growing international participation of buyers and sellers around the world.
Registration is easily done and the user-interface is friendly and easy to navigate. The site boasts a powerful search engine, which can be refined to Artist, Title, Label, Seller and Item #-only queries. Customer service is available in English and the site also hosts a forum whereby buyers and sellers can seek information and advice from the wider community.
Record fairs have always been a favorite destination in Xavier and Steven’s travels. In fact, speaking with the dealers in attendance not only helped convince them of the need for an online marketplace, it also helped grow their site listings as sellers who had limited themselves their brick-and-mortar location or the occasional fair now realized their potential customer base was exponentially larger. Enter cdandlp.com.
The editor has been a buyer on cdandlp.com since 2008 and I can recommend the site without hesitation. Two classical sellers with large and enticing catalogs are SOULABLETA (Belgium) and KLASSIKLABEL (France). Explore for yourself at cdandlp.com.