Not a store.
A personal project.
This is what the next chapter in a vinyl DJ’s life might look like when your ears aren’t as sharp as they used to be and your body only works during daylight hours.
It’s an endless cycle. Buying records, cleaning them, pricing them, adding them to the site, selling, packing, shipping. But through it all, there’s joy – you’re giving music a second life.
Divert Records is not a typical e-shop with automatic stock updates and rapid turnover. From the beginning, it’s been a curatorial project where every record must first pass through ears, hands, and eyes before appearing on the web. The selection isn’t based on algorithms, trends, or what’s currently selling best. It’s built on listening, searching, and gradually deepening the relationship with music.
Searching through distributor chaos
A large part of the catalog comes from literally digging through distributor warehouses. These are places containing hundreds to thousands of titles, among which many forgotten things lie. Yet in this abundance, vinyl records occasionally surface that have exactly the right atmosphere, character, or sound that captures attention.
It’s a process similar to finding a needle in a haystack. It requires hours of time, patience, and focused attention. But that’s precisely why you’ll find records here that have a story and a reason to exist in the catalog.
The basic selection rule has long remained the same: Every vinyl must have at least one track that personally moves me. It doesn’t have to be the main track or the most popular remix. Sometimes it’s the B-side, an understated dub, an experimental moment, or an ambient passage that comes midway through the recording. Genre-wise, it can range from disco through house and techno to slower, deeper, or more abstract territories. What matters is that there’s a moment with emotion, something you can return to.
If it doesn't sell, it stays in the collection
This approach has a practical dimension too. If a record doesn’t sell, it stays in the collection. And that’s precisely why it must have value for me. I can’t afford to add things that don’t interest me just because they “sell well” or are currently trendy.
Divert Records is thus a naturally filtered selection – not a warehouse full of random titles, but a place where every record has passed through a personal sieve. Every vinyl here has its reason. Nothing is chosen randomly and nothing is just “filling numbers.”
Second hand: Learning from other DJs' collections
With second-hand vinyl, the whole process takes on even deeper meaning. Often these are parts of collections from various DJs and collectors who have spent years building their taste and musical perspective. When I go through their selection, I see not only individual records but also the logic of selection, connections between genres, and the stories these vinyls carry.
Thanks to these collections, I’ve gradually begun diving deeper into styles like techno, ambient, electro, and jazz, understanding their evolution, context, and interconnections. Each new collection that comes to me expands musical horizons and pushes my understanding of electronic music further.
Divert Records is thus also a form of learning for me. It’s not just sales – it’s a continuous process of discovery in which each record becomes a small piece of a larger puzzle.
25 minutes of care for every vinyl
Every second-hand vinyl goes through a detailed process before appearing on the web:
Cleaning – The record first undergoes basic cleaning to remove dirt and dust from previous use. The goal is for the vinyl to sound as good as possible and for the customer to receive their record in the condition it deserves.
Photography and condition check – The sleeve is photographed from both sides. The condition of both media and sleeve is checked and everything is described in detail. The exact condition is stated – VG, VG+, NM – along with specific flaws if they exist on the record or sleeve. This might include light crackling, scratches, worn corners, or other small details that are part of used vinyl reality. It’s important that the collector is as accurately informed as possible and knows what to expect.
Recording the complete content – This is the key step that distinguishes Divert Records from most online shops. The entire record is recorded directly from the turntable and added to the web in full length. Not just short snippets or excerpts from YouTube. Complete tracks. Why? Because I want the customer to hear the precise sound of that specific piece – including the vinyl’s character and any light crackling. No fake samples, no idealized previews. Real sound from a real record.
Adding a single second-hand vinyl to the web takes approximately 25 minutes on average. Sometimes less, sometimes more – it depends on the number of tracks, their length, and whether the label is already in the database. I try to gradually add logos and basic descriptions to each label when information is available. This creates not just a catalog of individual titles, but also broader context of labels and their musical direction.
Personal deliveries and real meetings
All records are physically in stock in Prague. Thanks to this, it sometimes happens that I deliver vinyl personally – whether to local customers or DJs who are in town for a few days.
These moments are always very pleasant for me because an online shop suddenly becomes a real meeting and conversation about music. We talk about what they’re currently playing, what set they’re preparing, what they’re looking for. It’s not just a transaction – it’s an exchange of opinions, recommendations, and musical discoveries.
It’s happened several times that I’ve personally delivered records to DJs who were playing in Prague clubs but came from Berlin, Tel Aviv, or Amsterdam. They needed something for their evening set and knew they’d find exactly what they were looking for here. Such meetings give the whole project another dimension and remind me that behind every order is a specific person and their story.
Slow process, but with reason
This whole process is slower than typical stocking of new titles from large distributors. There’s no automatic importing of thousands of items from CSV files. There’s no “add everything and see what sells.”
But that’s where the value lies.
Every record that appears in the catalog has gone through real time, attention, and personal selection. It’s not about mass-adding hundreds of items without context, but about gradually building a catalog that has character and soul.
Divert Records functions as a place of discovery. Some records sell quickly – usually those with strong track records or from well-known producers. Some find their owner only after months or years, when the right person comes along at the right moment. And some stay home as a natural part of the collection.
This too is part of the selection philosophy nothing is chosen randomly. Every record has its reason for being here, in this catalog, in this project.
It’s one DJ, one turntable, and an obsession to find vinyl records worth attention. Records that have character. Records you can return to.
Divert Records is a filter. A place of discovery. A curatorial project where every record has its value.
