VMP Magazine

VMP and 12on12 are working together to bring listeners highly exclusive and quality vinyl that function as both music and art. RUN DMC’s collaboration with 12on12 — a limited-edition curated album of handpicked songs that inspired the ground-breaking group’s music, with bespoke album art and an exclusive beanie — is available in the VMP store now.

As VMP approaches a decade of creating transcendent, tangible experiences with music, we are thrilled to announce that we will be opening a new audiophile-grade pressing plant in Denver. The new plant is scheduled to open by the end of 2022 for production, tours and special events.

VMP and Pearl Jam’s Ten Club are partnering to release the first-ever deluxe 2LP reissue of Pearl Jam’s Yield, as part of Legacy Recording’s celebration of the album’s 25th anniversary and VMP’s 10th anniversary this year. Click here to pre-order Yield and read below to find out more.

Welcome to the VMP Community Updates Page! Stay in the loop, and get the most out of your music journey.

Our team is constantly working hard to grow and evolve the VMP experience to be as seamless as possible for our community. We’ll be using this page to post updates about member perks, new site features, exciting improvements and more.

Be sure to subscribe to our newsletter, The Standard to be notified when we share a new round of updates.

This September marked five years of VMP Hip-Hop, VMP’s third Record of the Month subscription Track. To celebrate, we asked Hip-Hop subscribers who are still members today after receiving the first-ever Hip-Hop Record of the Month — Noname’s Telefone in 2017 — to reflect on what the Track means to them. Read below to hear from them about why they’ve continued to subscribe, their favorite VMP Hip-Hop records and more.

Death Cab for Cutie’s bassist Nick Harmer curated albums from VMP’s back catalog to share memories of home and the Pacific Northwest, and his admiration for fellow artists.  His picks range from ’70s outlaw country to ’90s hip-hop and more. Read more below to learn about why he picked each record (and click here to read the liner notes for Death Cab for Cutie’s Transatlanticism, the VMP Essentials Record of the Month for June 2023).

OFFAIR, like VMP, wants to facilitate deeper explorations of music, by cultivating “a space for established artists to release music that explores beyond their familiar sonic territories.” Music for Water, Lullabies for the Damned, Mouthful of Salt and The Power of your Subconscious Mind Vol. 1: SPACE are the result of that intention: ambient albums to soundtrack daily mental spaces and moods, evoking outer space, the ocean and beyond. Learn more about VMP’s collaboration with OFFAIR below, and read a Q&A with the artists — Highland Park Sleep Collective, If Anything, Suspicious, Niia and Pauli The PSM — conducted via email.

VMP, the Miles Davis Estate and Legacy Recordings, the catalog division of Sony Music Entertainment, are excited to announce the 17th entry in VMP’s Grammy-nominated Anthology series: Miles Davis: The Electric Years. Collecting seven albums from one of the most fertile, daring eras of Miles Davis’ career, The Electric Years is meant to preserve these albums on vinyl for a new generation of people ready to have their minds blown by Miles’ blending of electronic, rock, jazz and everything else he felt like experimenting with. 

VMP today announces Truth Is Where It's At: The Best of Gospel Truth, a VMP-curated, exclusive box set that chronicles highlights from Stax Records’ 1972 gospel imprint, which features 6 albums that are now being reissued for the first time in over 40 years. Read below to learn more about the box set and click here to read an excerpt from the liner notes, written by Memphis  journalist Jared “Jay B.” Boyd.

In collaboration with CuationRiah, VMP is offering one winner a chance to win a VMP exclusive 25th Anniversary Edition of Mariah Carey’s Butterfly,  pressed on 2LP Champagne Wave vinyl.

VMP and 12on12 are working together to bring listeners highly exclusive and quality vinyl that function as both music and art. Read more about the partnership and 12on12 below in a Q&A with founder Claudia Moross.

Sylvan Esso’s Nick Sanborn — aka Made of Oak — spent some time with VMP’s back catalog to curate a collection of his favorites, including a “perfect” Christmas album, a life-changing record from the early aughts and a Midwest rap classic. Read below to hear from Sanborn himself on why he picked these records (and click here to read our interview about Sylvan Esso’s latest album, No Rules Sandy).

Read below for the full terms and conditions for Lee Fields x VMP Giveaway. 

Five years ago, VMP issued its first Hip-Hop Record of the Month. In celebration of this special milestone, we’re hosting a sweepstakes for VMP Hip-Hop subscribers. Two grand prize winners will receive a record bundle of 10 sold-out Hip-Hop albums, while five runner ups will receive a record bundle of five sold-out Hip-Hop albums. Anyone who subscribes to VMP Hip-Hop as a primary or add-on Track is automatically entered to win. Read below for additional details about the sweepstakes and the full terms and conditions.

In celebration of her touring Here And There festival, Courtney Barnett herself curated a collection of her favorite VMP records, available now. Read below to hear from Barnett on why she hand picked these albums.

After releasing VMP exclusive pressings of all of Fiona Apple’s previous albums, it only makes sense that Extraordinary Machine would be next. In celebration of this highly anticipated moment, we’re hosting a sweepstakes for members to win a VMP bundle of Fiona Apple’s records, including Fetch The Bolt Cutters, When the Pawn… and Tidal. 

Any VMP member who purchases Extraordinary Machine from Tuesday, August 30 at 10 a.m. MT through Friday, September 2 at 10 a.m. MT will automatically be entered to win the bundle, and a total of ten winners will be selected. Winners will be notified by Wednesday, September 7. 

Read below for the full terms and conditions around the sweepstakes. 

To celebrate the vinyl-only, VMP exclusive release of David Porter’s first new music in nearly 50 years — Chapter 1…Back In The Day — he spent some time with our back catalog to put together this curated collection. Read below to hear from Porter himself on why he picked these records.

Denver’s Rocky Mountain Record Show and VMP are partnering to give away three pairs of tickets for early bird entry to the RMRS along with a five-record bundle of VMP exclusive records including:  De Stijl by The White Stripes, Tenacious D by Tenacious D, Sun Ship by John Coltrane, The Low End Theory by A Tribe Called Quest and At Folsom Prison by Johnny Cash.

Two winners will receive a pair of early bird tickets, while one grand prize winner will receive a pair of tickets plus the record bundle.

Read below for the full terms and conditions around the sweepstakes.

It’s no secret that at VMP, we’re Willie huge fans of the country outlaw star. In collaboration with Luck Presents, we’re hosting a sweepstakes where one lucky winner will receive 2 VIP week-long tickets to this year’s Lucktoberfest — which takes place October 28 through November 6, 2022, in Willie Nelson’s Luck, Texas (just outside of Austin) — VMP Anthology: The Story of Willie Nelson and a three-month VMP Country membership.

Click here to enter the sweepstakes on ToneDen and read below for the full terms and conditions.

In collaboration with AaliyahLegion, VMP is offering one winner a chance to win a VMP exclusive of Aaliyah’s self-titled album pressed on 2LP Red & Gold Galaxy vinyl, and includes a Listening Notes booklet written by Amileah Sutliff and an original art print by Jacob Rochester.

Rock The Bells and VMP are teaming up to bring one lucky hip-hop head a classic R&B record and a prize that will show up at your doorstep every month. Enter here for the chance to win a VMP exclusive of Aaliyah’s self-titled album pressed on 2LP Red & Gold Galaxy vinyl. It also comes with a Listening Notes booklet written by Amileah Sutliff and an original art print by Jacob Rochester.

Plus, you can win a VMP Hip-Hop three-month vinyl subscription, where you’ll receive a curated hip-hop record every month for three months along with discounts on everything in VMP’s store, free shipping and exclusive 48-hour member access to weekly new albums. 

Read below for the full terms and conditions of the sweepstakes.

In celebration of John Michael Montgomery’s self-titled album, our Country Record of the Month for July 2022VMP is announcing a giveaway. Enter here for a chance to win a 1995 John Michael Montgomery Hat and $100 in VMP store credit.

Read below for the full terms and conditions for the John Michael Montgomery giveaway.

Read below for the full terms and conditions for the Nominate Me, Pardner contest in celebration of the one-year anniversary of VMP's Country Track.

In celebration of our collaboration with The James Brand, we’re inviting everyone to participate in a giveaway to win The James Brand x VMP: The Abbey Knife, a VMP beanie and $100 in store credit. Read about the giveaway details below.

Wondering how best to celebrate the 89th birthday of the one and only Willie Nelson? Enter VMP’s Birthday Giveaway for the chance to win The Story of Willie Nelson Anthology box set; Willie Nelson’s latest studio album, A Beautiful Time on black vinyl with an exclusive poster; two tickets to the upcoming Outlaw Fest in the city of your choice and a Willie Nelson Chia Pet. 

Read below for the full terms and conditions for the Willie Nelson Birthday Giveaway.

In celebration of the release of his memoir, My Life in the Sunshine, Ayers is joining our Instagram stories for a live takeover. Send Ayers your questions through VMP’s Instagram stories and you’ll be entered to win a copy of the book along with a selection of records. Read more below. 

In celebration of their latest album, Fortune Favors the Bold, 49 Winchester and VMP are teaming up for a giveaway. Enter here for a chance to win a Yamaha MusicCast Vinyl 500 Turntable and five of the band’s favorite records from the VMP store, including: Joshua Hedley’s Neon Blue, Esther Rose’s How Many Times, Willie Nelson’s A Beautiful Time, Sturgill Simpson’s The Ballad of Dood & Juanita and Townes Van Zandt’s For the Sake of the Song. 

Read below for the full terms and conditions for the 49 Winchester and VMP giveaway.

After starting their own vital outlets for buyers and sellers of vintage music recordings — Collectors’ Choice Music and Hep Cat Records & Distribution — Gordon Anderson and Gabby Castellana came together to create Real Gone Music. As their site explains, Real Gone is “a reissue label dedicated to serving both the collector community and the casual music fan with a robust release schedule combining big-name artists with esoteric cult favorites.” In celebration of Black Music Month, these six records from Real Gone’s Black Jazz catalog are available in the VMP store now; learn more about the collection below.

Read below for the full terms and conditions for Cécile McLorin Salvant’s Ghost Song Q&A giveaway contest: 

For our The Story of Vanguard Anthology, VMP tried something new. We invited purchasers to write into our Anthology Mailbag to submit any questions they have about the set, or VMP Anthology in general. At the end of this experience, a few lucky participants were chosen to receive test pressings from the Vanguard Anthology. The Vanguard Anthology community came through with some fantastic questions, so we decided to open up our Anthology Mailbag again to purchasers of our Philadelphia International Records Anthology — and you all did not disappoint!

This month marks the one-year anniversary of VMP Country, VMP’s fourth and most recent Record of the Month subscription Track. To celebrate the occasion, the first 13 Records of the Month are available in our store. Here, we look back at the first year of VMP Country with the Track’s director and talk about what’s up next in its second year. 

Want to nominate a loved one to win a one-year subscription to VMP Country? Enter here!

Read below for the full terms and conditions for The Story of Philadelphia International Records mailbag contest.

One of our goals at Vinyl Me, Please is unearthing--with the help of labels we work with--long-lost albums that haven’t had a reissue, and deserve to be heard. Sometimes, these albums sell for exorbitant prices on Discogs, if they’re sold at all. We’ve recently put a bunch of these titles in our store, so to help you keep which albums are which straight, here’s a breakdown of some of these titles.

Two albums, long out of print on vinyl and coveted by cratediggers, are back out now, and available in the Vinyl Me, Please store. Here’s what you need to know:

Last summer, Vinyl Me, Please presented the first official U.S. vinyl release of Mariah Carey’s legendary Daydream album. It got us thinking: What other famous, classic pop albums don’t have vinyl issues? It brought us to the star of this year’s Super Bowl halftime show: Jennifer Lopez.

Buckle up, Lambily.

We’re excited to be rolling out a totally refreshed brand and website today. Before I explain the new brand, I want to give you some history.

Ask the Ages isn’t an album; it’s a trip you take, an experience you endure, a wall of noise that swallows every free jazz album in its wake. It’s a masterpiece, front to back, maybe the best jazz album of the ‘90s and definitely the best free jazz album of all time. Featuring Sharrock’s interstellar guitar playing, Pharoah Sanders blowing like a maniac, Elvin Jones drumming like each Tom is a boxing opponent, and Charnett Moffett puncturing things with his bass, it’s an album we here at VMP can’t recommend enough.

When Mark Linkous tragically died in 2010, he left behind a catalog that seemed destined for constant reappraisal: his sonically daring, broken and sad deconstruction of folk rock, indie rock, and singer-songwriter music was ahead of its time in 1995, and feels even more out of lockstep with anything happening today. He remains a singular talent, a performer who deserves the kind of lavish box set that performers who sell many more records than he did in his day get. Which is why VMP is pleased to announce this: Box of Stars: The Sparklehorse Collection, a new box set that compiles Sparklehorse’s first four LPs, all of which are out of print on vinyl, and none of them have received the kind of reissue treatment we’re giving these albums.

As you know, the Wednesday before Thanksgiving is, since cannabis became legal in some states back in the mid-2010s, the busiest single day for marijuana dispensaries, as everyone staring down a trip home to their po-dunk hometowns, with their former high school bullies and right wing nutjobs, loads up on the kush to get through the Thanksgiving holiday. We can’t help you with the weed — at least not yet, Weed Me, Please coming soon? — but we can help you have the perfect soundtrack for when that weed hits, thanks to our collaboration with Jazz Dispensary. Below, we give you a rundown of each album in our five-album capsule collection. You can buy them in a bundle here.

VMP exists to explore music together.