cratedigger

plural cratediggers · alternative crate-digger

1. slangentertainmentA person who habitually looks through crates of vinyl records at music shops, especially in pursuit of interesting or rare records.

   A little crate-diggers’ paradise for collectors of Latin and easy listening music on vinyl.

   2003, Fiona McAuslan, Matthew Norman, Sarah Lazarus, “Havana and around”, in The Rough Guide to Cuba, 2nd edition, London: Rough Guides, →ISBN, page 154

   5 more examples

   Serious vinyl collectors will have a minor epiphany at Car City Classics[…], where notorious crate-diggers like the UK's Kirk Degiorgio (a.k.a. As One) have been known to close the store.

   1998 April, Scott Sterling, “Localzine: Detroit, Michigan”, in Scott Frampton, editor, CMJ New Music Monthly, Great Neck, N.Y.: College Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 77

   Our audience tends to be what I would call ‘crate diggers’—people who like digging for new stuff.

   2001 November 3, Brian Garrity, quoting Derrick Oien, “MP3.com Recasts Itself as Tech Outfit, Promo Vehicle”, in Timothy White, editor, Billboard: The International Newsweekly of Music, Video and Home Entertainment, volume 113, number 44, New York, N.Y.: Billboard Music Group, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 71, column 4

   Long a crate-digger’s grail and never before available on CD, this is one obscurity that really lives up to the hype.

   2008, Signal to Noise: The Journal of Improvised and Experimental Music, South Hero, Vt.: Pete Gershon, →OCLC, page 103

   But it was a chance encounter with Gilles Peterson, an influential U.K. radio personality and cratedigger with a knack for discovering raw talent, that helped move his [José James's] career into high gear.

   2010 April 3, David J. Prince, “All that Jazz: Jose James Covers the Classics”, in Craig Marks, editor, Billboard, volume 122, number 13, New York, N.Y.: e5 Global Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 27, column 1

   The Beehive is half of a two-room shop that also contains Casbah Records, where cratediggers can flick through stacks of vinyl records while their friends or partners try on clothes next door.

   2013 May, Frances Ambler, Emily Bick, Samantha Cook, Nicholas Jones, Lara Kavanagh, “South London”, in Wayne Hemingway, editor, The Rough Guide to Vintage London, London: Rough Guides, →ISBN, part 1 (Shopping, Eating and Drinking), page 94

   Synonyms: digger