A second hand CD/DVD store which is great for browsing and finding good quality discs at good…read moreprices. It has a large selection and you could be suprised of what might crop up if you just ask the quite knowledgeable staff. Apart from mainstream hits there's also a grand choice of good oldies and lesser known bands to choose from. Don't be deterred by its dark interior and the owner's abrupt manner. It may not be a flashy music chain store, but it's a good place to hunt for a bargain and discover new music.

Hogs Head music hails from a dying breed of music stores, probably because it has much more…read morepersonality than the high street. Dark, dingy and inspiring, it's the kind of place that begs you to dig in and have a look around. With an eclectic, decently priced selection of second hand music and DVDs, the stock is in very good condition considering how little you pay for it. The owner was very helpful when I was in, and seemed genuinely interested in your custom. It had a great selection of music DVDs and I was especially impressed with how much punk music they had. Including what I am assuming is a rare live Bouncing Souls DVD, which I might go back for since I regret leaving it. All I can say about Hogs Head is I wish there were more independent stores like it. Great quality second hand CD's, rarities and low prices, you can't go wrong in here!

Look maybe they have a good online store but they are no longer a bricks and mortar. Storefront…read moreclosed 2 years ago.

I was impressed by the low prices and selection, but didn't buy anything since I was visiting and…read moredidn't want to overstuff my suitcase.

When I was in Edinburgh last month, I had to visit some local record shops and Vinyl Villains was…read morethe best one for used vinyl IMHO. You walk in and are surrounded by records. The better stuff is hung from the ceiling so I naturally had to ask the gentlemen to grab a few of them so I could look at them, which I ended up buying. (As soon as I left Edinburgh, I regretted not buying something!) The prices were pretty good as well, which is always a huge plus. But the gentlemen was nice and was fast with everything. I would definitely go back to Vinyl Villains if I'm in the area again!

Incredible selection. Great staff. Found an early Siouxsie & The Banshees record. Layout and…read moreambience was very cool

In the past if you wanted to track down a specialist record you had to beg, borrow or steal to get…read moreyour hands on it, but now you'll most likely find any item of music recorded somewhere on the internet. This shop appears to have forgotten this fact and still offers the rarer CDs and records at high prices and in today's market it doesn't stand a chance. The owner is very helpful and knowledgeable so despite the fact the stacks of boxes make general browsing impossible, if there is something you are after it can be found here. However, for the rarer CDs you're looking to pay on the wrong side of £10 with no negotiation on price. Simply put, the internet has made this shop redundant.

The owner, Doug is beyond helpful finding what you're looking for. This is a fantastic place to…read moreactually dig, which is half the purpose of loving vinyl. Or, if you're not bothered sifting through the alphabetized mountains of vinyl, just name an album and Doug will know exactly where it is. I have never seen some many consecutive copies of desirable titles. People are literally dropping off new boxes o lf hard to find titles while youre trying to focus on stuff thats already in the shop. There was not one artist I named that he was unable to locate I'm his store. Such a fantastic experience and will make for a great digging story. Left the city with no money because of this one store. Don't take my word for it, ask around the Edinburgh vinyl community and theyll know Doug on a first name basis

This location is not available. Go to the 42 Shandwick Place location which I visited and fell in…read morelove! Awesome store with a pretty good collection of items. The staff were friendly and helpful if you have a question. Film and books are downstairs. CD's are down in and to the right, while the l.p's line the middle to the back and to the left. New releases and specials are in the front of the store. Music lovers, you will not be disappointed! The special prices of some items are like icing on a cake!

Once a thriving independent with a string of shops across the country, Fopp is now a small chain of…read moreeight shops bankrolled by HMV. Whilst this branch is a lot smaller and smarter than the original Edinburgh branch on Cockburn Street, it still stocks a cracking selection of CDs, DVDs, box-sets, graphic novels, books and tee-shirts. There's no listening booths unfortunately, but a lot of the new releases come with written descriptions and the staff are usually willing to play certain album if you ask nicely. As for the stock, we're talking fantastic compilations, back catalogues, re-issues and new releases for bargain basement prices. With great Blondie, Human League, Cocteau Twins, Nick Cave, Nina Simone, Ella Fitzgerald and Bob Dylan remasters for £3 each, I defy any fanatical music or film fan to come out with less than half a dozen goodies!

Vox even ordered a box set I wanted Saved my buying from…read moreeBay We should all try this place and keep a independent record store in Edinburgh Great wee joint and can't wait to get my new deck so I can start buying more from them

The Box part of the name is pretty appropriate for this wee record shop, as it's not the biggest of…read moreplaces. It does a lot with it's small space though, with a hell of a lot of stock to spend some time browsing through. If you're on a budget go to the back of the shop, where there is a bargain basement section. When I was there they had a special 50p for everything deal, but normally I think prices are pretty decent. I didn't have a big look through here, but this looked like the usual shelf-fillers you get in most second hand stores - the greatest hits of Bread in about half dozen different front covers, and lots of 70's and 80's stuff. The key thing here is that everything is all fairly priced, so it's cheap enough to take a punt on. The main space is set up for new records, and quality second hand stuff. I couldn't see a huge new releases section (I couldn't see a section for stuff out that week, for example), but there was good selection of newer releases, and a solid local offering. There were boxes upon boxes in this area, and i don't know what the deal is with opening up the ones at the bottom - a wee bit more space may actually be a help if it means they can get more stock up and visible. Finally, a sale selection had some genuine bargains - in fact, the prices were pretty fair throughout the whole shop. Special shout to the guy behind the till, who was really friendly. All told, this is a great wee record store, and one that would definitely reward some serious browsing time.

I'll never forget the day I walked past this Shelter shop and spotted a huge gold batik print…read moreopened out as a backdrop for the window display. It. was. beautiful. And it was only £30, which is more than a bargain in anyone's book. Unfortunately, my then boyfriend who I was walking with didn't pick up on any of the ten or so hints I dropped on the way home, even though it was 3 weeks to christmas (!) and so sadly it doesn't belong to me. Whoever does own it, you are very lucky. And you have amazing taste. The moral of my ramble is this: whilst some charity shops' stock is not the sort of thing you'd drool over in the window, this place definitely does not fall into that category. It's like a cross between a vintage clothes shop and a one-off homeware boutique, but at amazing prices. What's not to love?!

Shelter is a charity shop, so I feel a little politically incorrect bashing it, but my complaints…read moreare totally aesthetic. The other ones on the street, namely Oxfam, Cancer Research and Barnado's are so much nicer to look at! One the one hand, the other stores may just be better at concealing the fact that all these products have been owned by someone else (a fact I'm sadly not too comfortable with) but it'd also help if Shelter was a little bit better organised. What it does have going for it is that it's not as strict on what it sells, so you could leave with anything from a tunic made in India (I did!), some cooking utensils, a book, or a colourfully sequined hat!

Calling car boot enthusiasts, bargain hunters and vinyl collectors…read more Packed floor to ceiling with potential swag, Backtracks is a shambolic, secondhand shop that sells everything from old record and tape decks to video and DVD players, lights, speakers and playstation machines. Some of them are neatly arranged but the majority of stuff feels haphazardly stacked or piled on top of older, dustier stuff. As the title implies, there's also crates and crates of well played 45s, 33s, tapes and DVDs. Prices are rock bottom and whilst lots of it could be categorised as bad or forgotten pop, rock, blues or classical, there are some classics from Pink Floyd, Jimi Hendrix, The Kinks, The Who and The Beatles if you're prepared to dig hard enough.

Backtracks Music is hopelessly hilarious. Never have I seen a place so full of junk. And that's not…read moreparticularly a bad thing. Places full of junk are places full of charm. But my oh my, if you decide to be the one to sort through it all to actually find what you like, good luck to you. I've never properly stepped inside. I tried, but the felt like the whole place was just too precariously arranged. Like the whole thing might come toppling down at a wrong turn. And I'm notorious for really (really) not being aware of my own surface area. Or anything around me, for that matter. I did have a great deal of fun leafing through their record collection, though. They're all pretty cheap records, but I didn't recognise a single name, and didn't feel like taking the risk buying something rubbish. All I have to say now is: venture in at your own risk.

When I was in Edinburgh, I HAD to dig in some of the local record shops and this place was on the…read morelist. They only have new vinyl, which was a disappointment to me, but they had a pretty good selection nevertheless. It's a very clean place that's well lit and easy to shop it. They also had a few good sales on some of their new records. If I bought new records, this would be a great place to shop.

I love this shop, my favourite place to buy vinyl and they have a wide and varied and superb…read morecollection as well as music related memorabilia like books, t-shirts and posters. The staff are lovely and very helpful and down to earth and I love my new Assai record player. Highly recommend you pay a visit, you will not be disappointed.