Piccadilly Records, Manchester

A Manchester institution.
I've been coming here for years& it never dissapoints! Fantastic independant record shop. I usually feel out of my depth or intimidated in record shops (high fidelity style) but NOT here. Helpful postits explaining genres etc are great as is the monthly booklets with top releases etc.
The best record shop in Manchester if not in the whole of the uk!!!

When I was 15 or 16 and first starting coming into the city centre on my own, I thought Piccadilly Records was the coolest place in Manchester. I still reckon it’s the best place to buy vinyl, especially if you’re looking for DIY and Indie releases.

Sometimes visiting this shop can feel a bit like you’re in High Fidelity. But even though the staff seem like real musos, they’re nice, friendly and non-judgmental. And believe me, I’ve bought plenty of stuff from there that could have been sneered at!

Piccadilly Records is a Manchester institution and it doesn't half know it.

For the travelling record buyer, the place can seem moody and aloof. That said, after a handful of visits, you'll find that the reality is that half the staff are so shy that, if they had fringes, they'd hide behind them.

Anyway, they've got a great and varied amount of stock in there if you're after the kinds of things record shops sell - by which I mean, go to HMV if you want the latest Michael Buble LP, Piccadilly Records is more likely to have Elliot Smith LPs on the shelves alongside Can reissues and great new comps from underground labels.

Split across loads of genres and styles, Piccadilly really is a very good record shop and once you get past the Oh So Coolery of it, you'll be fine.

Essentially, Piccadilly Records suffers from the same thing that most record shops do, and that's a sense of boredom when faced with a request deemed 'obvious'. To slate 'Piccadilly' for that would be churlish.

Away from records/CDs, there's a decent range of label T-shirts and record bags behind the counter.

It's a big ol' shop and worth spending your wages in if you're neither a hardened crate digger or mainstream pop fan. It sits exactly in the middle of those two.

Located in the Northern Quarter, Piccadilly Records offers a wide variety of cd’s, records etc….A much better place for music lovers to go and add to their collections than HMV!

Piccadilly Records is the main independent record shop in Manchester and is located on the fashionable Oldham Street in the city centre. It has a good range of CDs catering for people of all tastes and is a great place for finding out about new artists. The shop sells a big selection of vinyl as well which is nice to see now that most places are scaling the amount of it on sale down. They also have a good selection of CD and 7” singles as well as selling tickets for gigs across Manchester. This is the best place to go if you want to pick up something that you probably wouldn’t find in HMV.

Mecca of music. The picadilly records guide to the year, along eith the pitchfork guide to the year has all you need really. Everything about this place is value. As well as cds and vinyl, the magazine rack’s quality too.

Some of the vinyl in here is so expensive! Most i could find on the internet cheaper!

Also the staff seem to be a bit moody and are posers. All seem to be the “I work in record shop and i’m better than you” types. They never seem to step onto the shop floor.

great shop. great cds

Fantastic stalwart on Manchester's record shop scene.
This shop gave birth to itself back in 1978 when 'CD's' and 'Mp3 waps' were more akin to citizen band radio speak than anything related to home music listening.
In 1997 Piccadilly Records moved from it's home just off Market Street to a more suiting home on the Northern Quarter's Oldham Street nestled like a vertically stacked collection of classic vinyl amongst what is quite possibly the most concentrated collection of record shops in the uk, if not the world (neighbours on this street alone include Eastern Bloc Records, Fat City and Vinyl Exchange)!

Aside from the quality staff (though don't go in asking for 'local hero Shane Ward') who posses a great knowledge on musical history, past and present gems and a largely versatile Vinyl and CD collection (the good vibe to the place), Piccadilly Records is reputedly doing very well notwithstanding the current climate of 'Digital Downbits' and 'online carrier bagging' (others, I'm led to believe are finding it tough) – this is most likely down to their extensive online web presence.

Last year Piccadilly Records won the inaugural Best Record Shop award as voted by listeners of Giles Peterson's Worldwide show on BBC Radio 1 and it's not in the least surprising.
Everything is catered for here from avant-post rock, new-psyche-folk to nu jazz, broken beats to the self proclaimed 'weird shit'. I asked if they stocked any 'Pre Organic Quaver Grime' and lo and behold a rare Vinyl piece by 'Fitz Stummer and the Shin Pieces' was produced. Probably.

Frequently voted amongst the best record shops in the county, Piccadilly Records stocks most genres of music. Staff can be a little standoffish, but are extremely knowledgable, and it's possible to spend hours browsing through the racks. Many of the cds are accompanied by short, heplful reviews written by the staff to help in your selection. There aren't many places like this left, so it's a genuine treasure.