Annual or Monthly. Multiple tiers available. Every record we release in 2017. Subscriber exclusives. Guaranteed rarest variant of each pressing available. A portion of the proceeds from every subscription donated to The Trevor Project, Planned Parenthood, & the NAACP Legal Defense Fund.
Subscriptions are a lot of work. So we've always avoided them. Lately, though, we’ve been giving a lot of thought to how music can help console and empower along with ways we can best elevate and support the people whom need it most as a company. In the past, we've made one-time donations to organizations doing work we feel is important, but the issues these organizations are fighting for are not going away, so we feel they require an effort on our part that won’t either. We came up with a few long-form ideas that we, as a company, can be giving back more—and you're lookin' at one of 'em.
Our 2017 label subscription represents a broad scope of genres and artists from diverse geographies spanning the entire globe and is the most ambitious project we've taken on as a label. We think we've put together a great selection of albums at an incredible value and hope you'll feel the same. Thanks!!
-Danielle, Robbie, Seth & Kevin
FAQ:
Can you elaborate more on the pricing tiers?
We created the tiers with flexibility in mind. There are three and each has a different shipping profile and frequency:
- Monthly delivery: $225
At least one record delivered to you every month. If we release more than one record within the same month, we'll ship them together. You'll receive an exclusive slip mat, enamel pin, crewneck sweater, t-shirt and other subscriber exclusives like a chance at signed vinyl or test presses for every release. You'll also receive a re-usable discount code good for 15% off anything in our store for all of 2017. If enough people subscribe, we will make an exclusive vinyl variant for subscribers for every record we release in 2017. Subscribe to this tier (vinyl) »
- Digital delivery: $130
Every record we release in 2017 delivered to you digitally on each record's respective release date in your choice of a FLAC, ALAC, MP3 320, MP3 VBR or AAC 256 download along with an exclusive enamel pin, t-shirt and other subscriber exclusives like a chance at signed posters for every release. You'll also receive a re-usable discount code good for 15% off anything in our store for all of 2017. Your subscriber exclusive items will arrive together in a single shipment. Subscribe to this tier (digital, annual) »
- Digital delivery: $12/month (bandcamp)
Every record we release in 2017 delivered to you digitally on each record's respective release date in your choice of a FLAC, ALAC, MP3 320, MP3 VBR or AAC 256 download. You'll also receive a re-usable discount code good for 15% off anything in our store for all of 2017, a 15% off re-usable code for anything on our bandcamp along with a one-time shipment of subscriber exclusive items. Subscribe to this tier (digital, monthly) »
How do I know I'll like the records you release in 2017?
Y'know, there's really just no way to know! Exciting? Dangerous? I dunno. Since you're here, though, there's a good chance you know what we're about. 2017 sees us building upon the last ten years of releases—and though we're not big on genre-tagging—you can expect a great mix of the indie / emo, math rock, post rock, shoegaze and indie pop we've come to be more known for throughout the years. We see running a record label less as a business and more as curating and elevating meaningful and worthwhile music; this subscription is at the very core of that.
How many records will be part of the subscription?
Dang, two in a row that we can't concisely answer! So, at the time of my writing this in November 2016, we can't say with any certainty how many releases will be part of this subscription in total. We can say there will be at least 12 (one per month, for those keeping score at home). We expect to be releasing 15-18 records in 2017. If you're worried about us not hitting this mark for whatever reason, consider we released 17 records in 2016 (along with 12 more in our companion cassette subscription series) and 24 in 2015, etc. etc. etc.
Which artists will have records included in the subscription?
To expand upon the above question some, again, we don't know for certain all of the records we will be releasing in 2017. That said, we also can't announce just yet some of the records we do know we'll be releasing in 2017. Below is a list of what we can confirm to this point:
- LITE - Cubic LP
- Heat - Overnight LP
- mouse on the keys - Out of Body EP
- Del Paxton - All Day, Every Day, All Night LP
- Slingshot Dakota - Broken 7"
- Tricot - 3 LP
- Special Explosion - TBA LP
- Ratboys - GN LP
- Us and Us Only - Full Flower LP
- No Vacation - Summer Break Singles EP
- People Like You - Verse LP
- Queen Moo - Mean Well LP
- Prawn - Run LP
- Wild Ones - Mirror Touch LP
In addition to these records, you'll also receive an immediate download of the following records:
- Del Paxton / Gulfer - Split
- Diamond Youth - Nothing Matters
- Prawn - Kingfisher
- Ratboys - AOID
- Special Explosion - The Art of Mothering
- Us and Us Only - Bored Crusader
- V/A - 2016 Label Sampler
Okay, I'm interested. What do I get with my vinyl subscription?
In addition to every album we release in 2017 on vinyl (and your choice of a FLAC, ALAC, MP3 320, MP3 VBR or AAC 256 download), you'll receive an exclusive slip mat, enamel pin, crewneck sweater, t-shirt and other subscriber exclusives like a chance at signed vinyl or test presses for every release. You'll also receive a re-usable discount code good for 15% off anything in our store. If enough people subscribe, we will make an exclusive vinyl variant for subscribers for every record we release in 2017.
I'm not doing the vinyl thing—what does my digital subscription come with?
Our digital subscriptions entitle you to every record we release in 2017 in your choice of a FLAC, ALAC, MP3 320, MP3 VBR or AAC 256 download. In addition, you'll also receive a subscriber exclusive enamel pin, t-shirt and other subscriber exclusives like a chance at signed posters for every release. You'll also receive a re-usable discount code good for 15% off anything in our store.
How will you be shipping my records and subscriber exclusive items to me?
All records will be shipped via USPS Media Mail. The subscriber exclusives will be shipped via USPS Priority Mail. If you'd like to arrange for a different shipping method for your subscription, you can email robbie at topshelfrecords dot com and we can potentially work something out for you, but it will cost more.
I live outside the United States—can I still subscribe?
Please email robbie at topshelfrecords dot com and we'll see what we can arrange for you.
Do I really get the most rare variant of each record?
Early bird gets the worm, or whatever. You'll always get the most rare variant available for each release at the time you place your order for the vinyl subscription. That means if there is a variant /150 that has since sold out prior to you subscribing, and a variant /250 is available, you will receive the variant /250. This applies to any records that are currently released or are currently in a pre-order state at the time you place your order. If enough people subscribe initially, we will make an exclusive vinyl variant for subscribers for every record we release in 2017.
I noticed these options allow me to pay more, what's the deal?
We will be donating a fixed percentage from every subscription equally to The Trevor Project, Planned Parenthood, and the NAACP Legal Defense Fund ($6 for our annual subscriptions and $1/month for our monthly subscriptions). We wanted to give people a chance to increase the amount that will get donated. If you decide to pay more than the listed price, 100% of that amount will be donated equally to each respective organization. For example, choosing to pay an extra $30 would yield an extra $10 for each organization.
I'm interested, but I can barely remember what day it even is—a year is a pretty long commitment.
You might be interested in our monthly bandcamp subscription. It comes with it's own set of unique subscriber exclusives and is on a rolling month-to-month subscription—like Hulu or Netflix or Spotify. Cancel whenever you want or just keep enjoying the records we release every month, straight to your bandcamp collection.
This item is a pre-order and will not be available until
it is manufactured and delivered to us.
Topshelf
