On the Corner Music

Had a chance to finally check this store out. I am glad I did, the selection of older vinyls is great. The shop is small and cozy. Can’t wait to go back and add more to my collection.

Went here with a friend one afternoon. The store is, as other reviews have stated, literally on the corner and looks like a little extension of a woman’s house. I was pretty surprised at the setup but I think that this only adds to the appeal of this cute little store. The store was a lot smaller than I had expected, but again, I think that this makes the browsing experience a little more personal.
The prices are extremely reasonable. From what I remember, the store carries hip hop/​electronic, soul, funk, classic rock, reggae, some world music i.e. Brazilian and Indian, among others. I ended up leaving with a copy of Jefferson Airplane’s «Worst of Jefferson Airplane» album for only $ 4!
I’ll definitely be returning sometime to check out the selection.

Discovered this gem today, befittingly on Record Store Day. Wonderful store with great selection for its size. Every record I bought was in excellent condition, INCLUDING the bargain bin treasures. Knowledgeable and friendly sales person. Thoroughly enjoyable experience. I highly recommend this store.

My third update for this place finds me again with a stack of beauty under my arm. I got two Rolling Stones albums, two Police albums, Elton John’s Honky Château, Queen Hot Spaces, Whitney Houston’s debut album, Wish You Were Here, and other assorted gems. I brought a colleague to the place and he walked out with another original pressing of Dark Side of the Moon, Van Morrison, and John Lennon’s Imagine. All appeared to be in good shape, some ring wear on the DSOTM and the posters were missing from that copy. Jeff had just acquired two copies, so unless it’s gone already there’s one left (but you all know that won’t last).
What’s amazing is the turnover on the stock at the place. Going every few weeks, you still find most of the stock is new. He obviously talks to people continuously who sell him their stuff, and what’s more is the vast majority of what’s there has been cleaned, is in good shape, and isn’t just filler. No warped, scratched to death thrift store stuff.
We both shot the breeze between us for maybe a half hour, he’s never too cool to talk to you. Lots of new vintage analog equipment in there two, stereo amps, turntables, all in ones, speakers…
No blitzes planned for record store day, we were told anything a store buys from the organization has no return policy, so if things don’t sell it’s not their problem. Sounds like he’s willing to take orders from those who would like to buy from him, but also with the limited production runs of new releases, the larger stores will likely get priority, so there’s also no way to know what will actually be shipped.

Stumbled upon On The Corner Music today and amazed at how many records I bought compared to the larger Rasputin’s and StreetLight Record stores. The inventory and the store are both very small, but the quality of the music selection and price made it way too easy to spend $. They have 2 listening stations. Got some great recommendations and will now make a weekly visit to expand my vinyl collection. Damn-​it, I wish this place was not so close to work.
June 2015 — Since my initial review, I have become fully addicted to rebuilding my vinyl collection and due to a lot of travel, I have shopped at record stores in San Francisco, Sacramento, Seattle, Fresno (actually found a very nice store out there by accident), and San Jose.
My music taste ranges from rock (rebuilding my 70s-​90s library: Led Zep, Rolling Stones, Beatles, The Clash, Fleetwood Mac, the Eagles, Pink Floyd, etc.), Jazz (Coltrane, Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, Burt Bacherach, Thelonis Monk), downtempo (Thivery Corporation, DJ Cam, etc.), plus some Reggae.
What I like the best about OtCM and the owner Jeff, is that I can always stop-​by and find at last 6 – 8 albums that I just have to buy on each visit. His inventory is not expansive like the big stores, but he really knows his shit and his customers, so you are guaranteed to find a great selection of vinyl to buy every time you stop-​by.
Now that I have become somewhat of a regular, he always grabs some music for me to spin when I stop-​by, and this is like having your own personal vinyl concierge.
Once in awhile he’s got some vintage stereo equipment for sale too. Follow @33onthecornermusic on Instagram.

TINY store that is literally ‘on the corner’. It is 95% vinyl with the rest being used stereo equipment, cassettes, posters, and CD’s.
The ‘Bargain Bin’ is worth digging through for playworthy copies of LP’s you remember. The other bins are divided by genre and are mostly alphabetical. Cool to see a new store pop up! I’ll be back for a visit again soon!

Literally on the corner. Of the street. Which made it super easy to find parking. The store is nothing like I expected (ie, normal large scale record stores like Streetlight or Rasputin), but in a good way. They’re a small store that looks like it could’ve been in a conversion of the house next door. Perhaps an old garage that is now enclosed? Either way, great store. The person working was super friendly as we perused the selection of older jazz/​soul/​classic rock vinyls.

The selection in this place is AMAZING!!! It is also aesthetically dope.
The usual crate-​digging experience includes a lot of sifting through MANY unwanted records for the occasional gem, but here, it is quite the opposite. $ 68 for 30 records that I cannot part with?! What a steal.
If you love jazz, soul, funk, classic rock, and r&b– this place will be heaven for you!

Unlike the other record stores that collected almost every vinyl they received from different sellers, Jeff the owner has a careful mind to select the vinyls that his consumers are looking for.
Instead of digging in a messy vinyl store down the street which you usually found the ones that you don’t want to buy, you will find some interesting selections here in the store.
The price is reasonable regarding the vinyl’s quality and condition.
I found Tim Buckley’s «Happy Sad» and Donovan’s «A Gift From a Flower to a Garden» for $ 2 each… great deal and great quality.
Overall, a great vinyl store that you should visit and revisit.

Customer service: The owner (Jeff) is such a cool guy. He is always in the mood to talk about records and you can tell he loves what he does.
Environment: What I love most about this place is the simple, old-​school, and laid-​back atmosphere. The shop is small but there are always so many good finds here. music. He plays music that is appropriate for all ages, and that isn’t too quiet.
Product: every single record I have bought from here, no matter how old, is VG — NM quality. What’s nice is that although the location is small, there aren’t any junk vinyl. It’s like Jeff only carries or puts out records he knows people will buy, unlike Rasputin where I feel I spend a little too much time digging.
In conclusion, this is my favorite record store in San Jose and I would recommend this place to any vinyl-​loving junkie like me!

Gahd, I could stay here for hours. I literally drive all the way from Daly City just because they have sooooooo many good finds.
Environment: Low key and vintagey. You walk right in and the place is adorned with records organized by genre of music and sale/​dollar sections.
Record Quality: Used, majority are in very good-​exceptional wear. Quantity? It’s a hunt, but it’s fun in my opinion to dig up treasures.
Service/​Staff: He’s super nice and is willing to always help you track down an artist or chop up a conversation.
I wish I lived closer, but then I would spend all my money here lol.

I love this place. I came in to buy my first record player last week.
A customer ended up having one in his trunk which was funny. We worked out a transaction and he plugged it in and tested it all out for me.
I will be coming back soon :)

On The Corner is straight up fantastic.
Jeff, the owner, is an amazing guy who genuinely cares about his customers and music, whether you are buying or selling stuff to him. I was honestly surprised when he remembered me on my second trip and told me of some new arrivals that I’d be interested in!
The store has an extremely diverse selection of used LPs. If you’re a fan of classic rock, jazz, electronic, New Wave, hip-​hop, funk, and more, you’ll be very happy with what Jeff has — overall a much more diverse selection then that of Rasputin. In addition, everything in the store is reasonably priced. Great $ 1/​$ 2 section as well!
Listening stations are an awesome feature, of course.

Superb little joint. I hit Streetlight and Rasputin beforehand and came away with three records total; from OTC I bought eight. I’m still shaking my head at the great stuff I found, too: Pink Floyd «Great Dance Songs» for $ 2, Ray Charles Greatest and sealed K-​Tel for $ 1 each, rare Break Dancing comp for $ 4 (Buffalo Gals, Rockit, etc.), Beach Boys Party! mono in great shape with complete photo cards for $ 5, Grandmixer D. ST Megamix II «Why Is It Fresh?» 12″ for $ 5.
Listening station has broken pitch control and no volume control – but bitchen EQ/​filter knobs to make your music sound all weird.
Jeff is young, smart, friendly, and loves music. There’s a spirit of generosity I’ve noticed amongst folks who run my favorite record shops (Atomic in Burbank, for instance), and Jeff definitely has it: it’s an attitude of, «yeah, I could probably get more for this record, but I really want to share it asap.»
There’s not a lot of vinyl here – you could flip through every record in the store in all genres in about 20 minutes – but it’s really curated, all killer no filler. A great little find.

This place is awesome!
I’ve only been here twice. I’m not from the area but when I’m in Campbell or passing by I’ll try to stop at On the Corner Music. A small little record shop, but it seems as if I can find something here that piques my interest.
One cool thing is that they have listening stations with a turntable and headphones. Another cool thing is that the owner is pretty well versed with his music and generally cares about music and vinyl in general. I also like the low key, old school vibe where time doesn’t seem so rushed.
Prices are decent and from what I’ve seen and the vinyl generally is a good shape.
I would recommended this place to shop, especially if you’re in the area! Or make a day of it since the shop is only a couple of blocks from downtown Campbell!

This is THE record to go to in the South Bay. The Streetlight and Rasputin’s down the street have nowhere the selection that this place does. Prices are very reasonable and the owner is very knowledgeable and friendly. It may be a tiny place but it is packed with gems and I have found so many essential classic rock albums here. I highly recommend this place if you are vinyl enthusiast!

The South Bay apparently has good record stores. If I owned a record store, it’d be a lot like this one. My friend invited me to an event where they had snacks, drinks and a vinyl sale. Talk about my kind of night — geeking out with fellow music nerds over music, food and drinks. It doesn’t get better than that. There’s no other way I’d want to spend my Friday night. No, seriously.
It’s a real shame they’re in Campbell though because then I have to drive over there and it takes some effort.
I had a fun time browsing the shelves and I even scored the Plimsouls record for only $ 5!!! Remember that song, «A Million Miles Away»? Well, now I just need to find me a good quality record player. I saw a lot of people walking out with stacks of albums.
I will definitely stop in if I’m in the area and frankly, you should too, especially if you’re a fan of vinyl. There’s also some pretty cool art in there. The vibe is super friendly and I didn’t see any sort of pretension like you do at other record stores.

Great vinyl selection — mostly used, and some new with listening stations available to use. Vintage and artwork inside as well. Jeff is nice and helpful. Will definitely be back.

Phenomenal, in a dusty, nostalgic kind of way. You won’t find any new releases, but there’s a carefully-​curated collection of eclectic albums from a lot of genres, and they’re all reasonably priced and in great condition.
The owner is fantastic, knowledgeable, and totally into talking to you about pretty much anything.
Go here. Support local. Be happy.

This shop is one of the best shops in San Jose, and certainly up there for the entire Bay Area. When I go to a record shop, I look for prices, selection, and quality, but most importantly a knowledgeable owner. On The Corner Music has all four of these qualities.
First and foremost, Jeff personally goes through all of the records before they hit the shelves, so the quality is the best I have seen for a used record shop. Because of this, the shelves aren’t full of 99¢ records, but the prices are very reasonable, if not cheap, considering the quality. I haven’t found a record there that had any sort of blemish or warp that affected the quality of playback, and if it did, it was marked on the outside of the records sleeve.
There’s a fairly wide range of music to choose from. I personally have only really dug through the electronic and jazz sections, and while I wouldn’t say there is any particularly «deep» collection of any genre, I have always found something to buy and Jeff has always been able to hand me a stack of recently added records to listen too.
I don’t think there are any new records in the shop, and if you are really picky, this may not be the place for you. As an electronic music DJ, I end up purchasing all of my contemporary music from online vendors, but when I am searching for music in different genres and different sounds from different eras, On The Corner Music is my first stop.