We Beta Tested The New Discogs App For You

Discogs, the so-called "world's biggest music database and market," has released a beta version of their first mobile app on iOS. The user-generated website, which catalogs some 6 million releases, started as a database for electronic music back in 2000; it's since expanded to encompass music of all genres, but it's still the first stop for DJs and collectors looking to buy and sell rare, limited, and out-of-print dance music vinyl. There is even a record store in Berlin that prices its stock based on the lowest Discogs price for the same release.

Compared to the Discogs website, the app is significantly stripped-down; you can easily search for releases by typing what you're looking for or using the built-in barcode scanner. This ensures that the exact pressing you're holding is the one that comes up; a snapshot of the Ghostly International presents Tangents 2002: Disco Nouveau compilation that we uploaded, for example, instantly brought up the correct release.

From there, you can add items to your Collection or your Wantlist. You can also check the pricing of current copies on sale in the app, although the app takes you to the mobile webpage if you actually want to make a purchase or check info like shipping costs. Still, it's clear that creating an interface for paying customers was the top priority for this app.

Browsing is far more limited. We decided to try perusing Richie Hawtin's formidable discography as Plastikman to see how well it worked. The first thing we noticed was that the list of aliases that appears on every artist's main webpage oddly appears under the artist name in the app, but cuts off after only a few characters. It doesn't even say that it is a list of aliases (of which Hawtin has many), and there is nothing to click on for more information. The biography is complete, however, and you can still access the list of releases.

The Releases page seemed complete, albeit a bit confusing. The Discogs website sorts by release type (Album, EP, DJ Mix, etc.) and date, but no such order was to be found on the app, with singles, albums, and podcasts all listed in together, in no particular order. Even odder, when we clicked one release, Plastikprodukts Member CD.1996, it directed us to the 5 Years Get Physical compilation. Huh?

A database hiccup, fine. But the tracklisting for the aforementioned Get Physical compilation didn't even list the artists—just the song titles. And considering the scoresof multi-artists compilations in the dance music world (hello, mix CDs?), this seemed like a fatal flaw.

Another missing component we'd like to see is the famed Discogs forums, which are an indispensable archive of some of the best conversations about electronic music to be found anywhere on the web. These often insightful and well-moderated conversations by true music fans rarely devolve into typical online arguments. How many open forums on the internet can make that claim? It would sure be nice if future versions of the app allowed us to participate in such sophisticated dialog.

Perhaps Discogs' most glaring omission, however, is a feature for seamlessly selling vinyl on the app. In its current iteration, the system requires users to scan their collection in using the app, and then go back through their collection to sell stuff using Safari. Considering that Discogs collects a commission on every item sold, you'd expect this functionality to be a top priority in future versions.

Then again, this is a beta site, after all. Hopefully some of these complaints will be addressed before the full release, and in the meantime, you can sign up to become a tester on their app page. And if you're not lucky enough to be one of the 1,000 users selected for the beta test, you can still take the Discogs App Survey, which will help influence future updates. The app is expected to be released in early 2016, with an Android app to follow not long after.