About Us

Who We Are

Drowned World Records is an independent, LGBTQI+ and BIPOC-owned record store based in Seattle, Washington. We run mostly online, with the occasional pop-up or warehouse sale, but the heart of what we do is bringing music to life for a community that cares.

We currently list over 35,000 titles—do we have all of them sitting in our little shop? Obviously not. We’re a small but mighty operation, connected to 10+ distribution partners and labels worldwide. Some titles are quick and easy to source, others take weeks—or even months—to hunt down for you. That’s the trade-off: you’re not buying from a faceless megastore; you’re buying from real people who chase the records you want because they matter.

We’re growing fast thanks to the incredible support of our customers. We’re hiring, improving our systems, and learning as we go. That means there may be bumps and delays along the way, but know this: your money won’t fuel corporations that bankroll bad politics, culture wars, or worse. Instead, every purchase helps independent music culture thrive.

In 2024, we joined the new wave of indie record shops reporting directly to Luminate (Billboard’s official chart source). That means your orders don’t just support us—they count toward the charts, telling labels and artists that our community moves music. The more we chart, the more leverage we have to secure exclusives, rare variants, and early drops for you.

Want to see what we’re all about? Dig into the full collection at drownedworldrecords.com—and keep an eye out for special in-person events where you can crate-dig IRL.