cratedigger

See also: crate-digger

English

WOTD – 20 April 2024

Etymology

Cratediggers at the Beat Museum in San Francisco, California (top), and the Steady Sounds Record Store in Richmond, Virginia, U.S.A.

From crate +‎ digger.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈkɹeɪtdɪɡə/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈkɹeɪtˌdɪɡəɹ/
• Hyphenation: crate‧dig‧ger

Noun

cratedigger (plural cratediggers)

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

   Synonym: digger

   • 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:

     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.

   • 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:

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

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

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

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

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

   • 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:

     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.

   • 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:

     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.

Alternative forms

• crate-digger

Translations

person who habitually looks through crates of vinyl records at music shops

• Dutch: platensnuffelaar m
• Finnish: äänilevyjen penkoja
• Macedonian: please add this translation if you can

Further reading

• record collecting on Wikipedia.Wikipedia