A members-only record club for people who'd rather finish side B than refresh a feed. Album-of-the-month reviews, vinyl pressing grades, and conversation with curators who actually press play on the whole record.
Every tier includes the monthly album pick, the long-form review, and access to the private members' room. Higher tiers add vinyl pressing grades, listening parties, and the annual box set.
For folks who want the words without the wax.
Billed monthly · $96 / year
Reviews + vinyl pressing grades + live rooms.
Billed monthly · $180 / year · save $36
For collectors & obsessives who want the box.
Billed monthly · $420 / year
We do the listening so you can skip the algorithm. Here's how a month at The Album Club actually unfolds.
Choose Listener, Crate Digger, or Archivist. Your card is billed the 1st of every month — cancel from your dashboard anytime, no emails required.
Every month at 9am local time, a 2,500-word review lands in your inbox with one record our curators think deserves a full evening of your attention.
Sunday 8pm GMT the listening party opens. Drop into the chat, swap notes on side B, and ask the curator anything — it's surprisingly civil.
Crate Diggers and Archivists see the pressing grade and our recommended cut. Archivist members get the annual box set shipped in November.
For the spreadsheet people. Every feature, every tier, no asterisks.
| Feature | Listener · $8 | Crate Digger · $18 | Archivist · $42 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly album-of-the-month review | |||
| Companion playlist & members' threads | |||
| Vinyl pressing grades + recommended cut | — | ||
| Monthly listening party (Sunday 8pm GMT) | — | ||
| Full review archive (84 picks, 600+ essays) | Last 12 months | Complete archive | Complete archive |
| 10% off Vinyl Shop + pre-order priority | — | ||
| Annual numbered vinyl box set (12 picks) | — | — | |
| Quarterly 1:1 curator call | — | — | |
| Early access to Members' Sessions | — | 48h after Archivist | First 24 seats |
Still on the fence? These are the five we hear most weeks.
Your membership is active the moment you finish checkout. The next monthly review lands on the 1st of the following month at 9am in your local timezone. Join on the 15th and you'll get a "what you missed" digest of the current pick so you can catch up before the listening party.
Yes — upgrade or downgrade from your dashboard at any time. Upgrades take effect immediately and we pro-rate the difference. Downgrades take effect at the start of your next billing cycle so you keep the features you've already paid for.
Our seven rotating curators cover folk, jazz, post-rock, ambient, soul, hip-hop, electronic, and the stranger corners in between. We don't do listicles or "best of" roundups — each pick is a single record we think a thoughtful listener should spend an evening with. About 30% of picks lean classic, 70% are from the last five years.
For every monthly pick, we sample at least three pressings of the record — usually a recent reissue, the original, and one audiophile cut — and grade surface noise, channel balance, mastering choices, and jacket quality on an A–F scale. We also name the specific pressing we'd buy with our own money. Crate Diggers and Archivists see the full report.
When you cancel, you keep access through the end of the period you've already paid for. After that, your dashboard locks but your account stays — rejoin later and everything picks up exactly where you left off, including your comment history and any vinyl box sets you've already received.
"I joined for the reviews and stayed for the Sunday listening parties. Three years in, I've bought fewer records on impulse and listened harder to the ones I own. The pressing grades alone have saved me from two bad reissues this year."
Pick a tier, finish checkout in under a minute, and the next review lands on the 1st. No contracts, no guilt, no algorithm.