Millennials pay for experiences, not possessions. Cousins Travis and Nick Jourdan take Spotify browsing to the next level with subscription service Vinylmnky. Like other monthly deliveries BirchBox or Ipsy, the locals provide exclusive content and autographed, limited-edition wax concentrated solely on debuting new artists. A roster of fresh finds includes Khalid, Mobley, and Jaden Smith.
A passion project the Texas natives tossed around in 2015 while playing basketball, Vinylmnky now counts some 6,000 subscribers in the U.S., Asia, and Europe that can opt in any month, 200 active subscribers receiving records monthly, and hosts regular pop-up events at Native Hostel.
“We were discussing what we were passionate about, and it wasn’t that we jumped to vinyl right away,” admits Nick. “Our passion was discovering new music, and sharing it. We both collect vinyl, so we thought, ‘Okay, why don’t we start a new music discovery service based on the vinyl platform.'”
The familial partners come from marketing and venture capitalism backgrounds, so entrepreneurship proved a natural next step. The company launched in April 2015, debuting Purity Ring’s album Another Eternity on custom clear vinyl. Emailing record labels in the beginning, they now enjoy relationships with “every single major record label and their subsidiaries,” and work one-on-one with the artist and their management team to come up with original add-ons.
“Khalid was so cool because he’s blown up since we’ve worked with him,” enthuses Nick.
Vinylmnky looks to tap into the millennial hunger for exclusivity, slating their target consumer as “four years out of college with a little disposable income. They have Spotify, they have Tidal, they’re looking for the next level of experience with that music.” Recently partnering with Native Hostel, Travis hopes to get his business a foothold in Austin:
“We want to bolster the tribe experience, create a community, and support the artist.”
This article appears in June 8 • 2018.