Today this “Beginner’s Guide to Vinyl” thing crossed my path and irritated the crap out of me. I am a musician, and I also write about music for a living, and I have also put out records before (long, long ago), and I have worked at record stores at varying points over my lifetime. I did college radio. I am a sad, sad music industry lifer, the child of two musicians (one of whom is also a sound engineer, and one of whom is a Girls Rock Camp volunteer as a retiree. My parents are cool). This is my world. I know it can seem myopic at times.

It didn’t make me angry because I look down on people looking to get into collecting records. I didn’t make a bunch of flip posts about it because I want to guard the gate to my clubhouse. On the contrary: I want people to get into records. Records are a great joy in my life, and I want nothing more than to share them with others, in many different ways. Sharing music that made an emotional connection with you with people you care about and watching it maybe make an emotional connection with them is one of the purest and loveliest things in a world on fire.

It made me angry because it’s completely unnecessary: a waste of money and time. Whether you are a casual music listener looking to buy a few records that you listen to now and again or a budding head chasing the dragon of a never-ending collection of records that resonate deeply with you, you do not need this book. You don’t need any book on record collecting, not in an age of easily accessible Internet expertise. Starting a record collection is very easy, and you should never let some petty tyrant tell you you don’t belong there because you don’t listen to the right records or know the right passwords. Listen to what you love, on your terms.

Here is a completely free guide to starting a record collection in 2016, post-many trend pieces about vinyl being Back (it never left, it just wasn’t terribly popular for a while). (PS: nobody paid me anything or asked me to mention any of the products I mention. They are purely my preferences. You could make an argument that I get money from Bandcamp because it’s my job to write for them, but this was done purely because I care and I want people to get into records, and nobody at the company told me to do it. I really do believe in the platform.)