Rotterdam Record Stores

Delft citizens like me have the privilege of combining living in this small, easily manageable and picturesque town with easy access to two big cities, The Hague (the country's administrative center and 3rd biggest city) and Rotterdam, which is Europe's biggest harbour and the Netherland's either largest or 2nd largest city. They are always in competition with Amsterdam about it. Both cities are capitals of multiculturalism, Amsterdam boasting the most nationalities and Rotterdam the biggest percentage of citizens of foreign descent - including the current mayor Ahmed Aboutaleb, a moderate socialist of Moroccan origin. Otherwise, they couldn't be more different: Amsterdam is a showcase for traditional Holland, all small typical Dutch houses, bridges and canals. It draws millions of tourists, not only because of its undeniable beauty but also because of its "liberal" attitude of institutionalised and controlled prostitution and drug trade. Rotterdam, on the other hand, was mercilessly bombed during Word War II, destroying all its more traditional features. The Dutch decided to rebuilt it using the most progressive architectural ideas. It often seems to be copying New York, with its skyscrapers and bridges. And if you want to see the innovative architecture I was talking about, step out the train on the Rotterdam Blaak station and take a look at the closed market and Piet Blom's cube houses. Blaak is also a good place to start your record store walk, about 5 minutes from the Oude Binnenweg street which houses many shops, including the Donner bookshop and Media Markt. This is where I usually start my record shop walk in Rotterdam, basically a straight line of shops less than 20 minutes away from each other. Now, I know it's not a real record shop, but I felt I had to mention it as it is a place that sells records and CD's. Following the general trend, its music department is constantly shrinking - now it's much smaller than the DVD's department and probably equal to the Games one. As usual with these shops, advantages include good prices on CD's (offers €6-12, the rest €12-20) and listening stations. Vinyl is making a comeback here as well so there are also (new) LP's on sale (€20-30).

A bit further up on the same street (Oude Binnenweg 121) you can find Rotterdam's Velvet Music. Velvet is usually a good record shop chain, though this shop isn't as big as, say, the one in Leiden or Delft. Maybe 20-30% of the shop is dedicated to vinyl (LP's €15-30), mostly you'll find (new) CD's and DVD's. There are a lot of CD's on offer (mostly 2-for-€15), the rest cost €12-20, more or less the usual prices. 

After crossing Eendrachtsplein, Oude Binnenweg gives way to Nieuwe Binnenweg. Here, on numder 81A, you'll find De Platboef. We're talking about THE best 2nd hand shop in The Netherlands. Huge selection of CD's: Pop/Rock/Alternative/Metal/Rap/Blues - all genres, really. By the entrance, you'll find stands with €1 CD's that are always worth searching. Lots of 90's hits, pop music past its sellout date, but some cool stuff too. If you're missing albums by the likes of REM, Cranberries, Madonna or Lenny Kravitz you'll probably get them here cheap. Most of the used CD's cost €5 (actually between €3,5-7,5). Mingled with the rest, there are also new CD's in the usual price range. Used LP's take most of the 2nd floor (€5-10), new ones mostly downstairs (€8-30). Mainstream and Alternative rock, psychedelia, reggae, r&b, metal, jazz/country/blues, really all genres are represented. Just a few meters away (Nieuwe Binnenweg 67b), on the opposite side of the street, is Demonfuzz Records. A great store for vinyl lovers, carries lots of LP's and 7'singles, both new and used. The price range is between €7-30, not really cheap but mostly good and often rare stuff, not the same old LP's everyone is trying to get rid of. Classic rock, indie, psych, soul etc.

Just turn right on van Speykstraat 145, a couple of corners later, to find Vinylspot. Like the name suggests, the store carries just vinyl, mostly used but also new. There's a huge selection of jazz, and a sizeable portion of classic rock. Prices mostly between €15-30 but also some offers €5-10. Searching has revealed some weird rarities, though nothing to get (me) really excited about. Back to Blaak (as Amy used to sing) and the Markt square, instead of heading to Binnenweg you can take Botersloot Street (behind another impressive building, that of Rotterdam's public library) and head for Songs for Sale, a nice store with a large collection of second-hand music (corner of Botersloot en Meent). The shop is divided almost 50/50 between vinyl and CD's. The prices are very good: used CD's mostly cost €4,5 and no more than €7. Special offers go for €2,5, and new CD's between €9-18. Used LP's between €4,5-15, mostly €5-7 and new LP's around €20. A completely different experience is Hans Tweedehands, behind the Rotterdam Centraal station (Provenierssingel 89). It's quite small and stacked with (2nd hand) CD's almost  to the ceiling. There's a good variety and competitive prices but not enough room to move. Any sudden movement may result in the CD stacks falling like dominoes all around you. I never see other clients here, which makes me think that Hans probably uses this as a warehouse and sells his wares online or at festivals and record bazars. Nearby, on Walenburgerweg 81, you can find Hitsound which is somewhat specialised in Oldies and Country music. Mostly CD's and some secondhand vinyl. This being Holland, there's also a market for techno/dance music of which I'm not a fan. I'll just mention some shops specialized in this kind of music, according to internet sources: Thatz-It (Zwaanshals 362), Triple Vision (Nieuwe Binnenweg 106), and Clone Records (Raampoortstraat 12). There's also Blues & Rock Records on Burg. Baumannlaan 130a, but I've never been there as it's on Overschie, which isn't walking distance to the center. Lots of sites mention Plato as one of the record stores you should visit in R'dam, but it's been closed now for 4 or 5 years. I guess this blog is going to be just as outdated sometime, so take notice: this info, prices etc. are current as of January 2017. UPDATE 2020: I haven't gone record hunting in Rotterdam for quite some time, but my internet search reveals that Blues & Rock Records is permanently closed and Triple Vision has moved and only functions as warehouse and distribution. A shop I haven't checked yet is Pinkman Records (Schiestraat 14, walking distance from Central Station). Also, at the North-Eastern part of the city, De Oorzaak (De Vijverhofstraat 60) and JensDoRecords (Zwaanshals 294B). Hans Tweedehands apparently goes now by the name Van Hoffe In- en Verkoop and, judging by the photos on google, has a bigger emphasis on vinyl but hasn't changed much otherwise: the records are still packed on top of each other on huge stacks which, as you probably know, is a horrible way to treat vinyl.