Felt nostalgic coming back here. I always love coming here just to walk around and look through all the physical media (DVDs, CDs, vinyls, etc). I particularly like this record store more than Redwood because of the large variety of music genres. I saw how they had some of my dad's favorite bands like REM and carried older albums of my favorite artists. My boyfriend and I were able to score an old Lil Wayne album as well. Love the charm this place has and they are able to cater to everyone's kind of music. Still giving niche, but up to date as well! read more

Streetlight Records - Music & DVDs Near Me - Santa Cruz, California

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What a great experience. I remember the days of vinyl records and I remember the CD store on 41st Ave in Capitola. And I remember Tower Records elsewhere. Pretty good selection there and then. Tower had great selection too. Customer service: so so. Knowledge of staff there and then so so. But I don't think I've ever seen a selection of vinyl and CDs like the one at Streetlight on Pacific. And what a great crew! I was there to trade in my lifetime of Vinyl records and a few CDs as I downsize into old age, but when I got there, I was just astounded by the Customer Service and selection. Hats off to Mike. Highly recommended across the board. read more

Surprisingly more CDs than records at this store. However, the variety was nice and the store is spacious. A lot of brand new albums and used varieties too. Prices were competitive and comparable to online. Especially the newer albums, I was shocked to see that they were more affordable than Amazon even! read more

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Had a cool time visiting this record store! It's definitely vintage with that old smell of records, vinyls, and VHS tapes. They have a great variety of the classics to modern music like Laufey. They even had a Laufey standee! They have a great selection of band shirts decorated across the store. Great experience and highly recommend this store to music lovers! read more

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TONS of selection here in Downtown Santa Cruz. Reminds me of the old Tower music in Hollywood. Huge selection of records, CDs, tapes, DVDs, and even 8 tracks! They have some good deals going on, and you can find some hidden deals when searching through everything. The service was great, and the workers are very knowledgeable! Definitely come check this place out ! read more

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Really nice store to browse, especially if you're into physical media like DVDs, Blu-rays, or CDs. It's refreshing to see places like this still around. Always fun to walk through and see what you can find. read more

Dope spot for records. I was on the hunt for Little Brother and they had it!! The section is cool for everyone.

I sold over a hundred CD's to Streetlight records and they didn't give me any money for them. They gave me about $3 for all of the CD's. They gave me about one cent for a CD total. read more

This is a nice clean record store that sells DVDs, CDs and vinyl as well as t-shirts and other memorabilia. I was shopping for vinyl and was very impressed by how easy it was to shop the selection and find what you're looking for. They do have some really known artists sorted by genre so it might be confusing if you're looking for Metallica in the Rock section, and not realizing they're in the heavy metal section The store was very clean and I would have felt comfortable looking through stuff for hours. I did have one gripe. I purchased a new album by The Black Keys that had a sticker that said "free gift while supplies last". I know that it's a sticker sheet set due to looking online. When I went to purchase the cashier, who was the only cashier there, tried really hard to look for it but after a while seeing how long the line was getting, decided that they no longer had supplies of it. This may be the case but I see this a lot in stores where these things just get hidden, and then the people that actually purchase it are told it's sold out, and then once somebody finds it under a pile they'll just give them away for any purchase. It just doesn't really feel right for people that bought the album in person for that reason. I could have purchased it from my favorite online indie shop and received the stickers, but I was out of town and really wanted to purchase something at the store. Who knows, it could have really been out, but I doubt it. There was tons of copies of the record in the store. Great store with friendly staff, would definitely return UPDATE :: very quickly after post my review, Paige reached out right away and sent me the sticker sheet in the mail. Excellent customer service--really appreciated the follow-through! You can tell Streetlight Records values good customer service and the record buyer. read more

A visit to Downtown Santa Cruz is not complete without a visit to Streetlight Records. Even if you're not looking for anything in particular, just go and enjoy the old record store vibe. I was perusing the used records by the back counter where staff were helping a customer inquiring about an obscure Russian band. Eric is always looking for another used recording of Carmina Burana for his collection. Music, movies, magazines, stickers, posters... and more to fit any budget. If nothing else, get a Streetlight Records sticker for your laptop or water bottle for a little memento of SF/Bay Area record store history. read more

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Great record shop in downtown Santa Cruz! They host listening parties and have cool swag for presales. Knowledgeable staff!

As a fan of old school records this shop is the truth, and I'm so happy to see it thriving and still in business. This place is doing it right even with the small space they have. Lots of variety with well labeled shelves, with plenty of formats. Moving right along here; I am a HUGE fan of the beastie boys and they have one of the MOST impressive selections of beastie boys vinyl I have seen. I called to see if they could hold a record for me and once again we're willing to help. When I went the next day to pick up my record, the cashier was also a beastie boys fan and we had a cool conversation about the band and their discography. Thank you very much!! and I will continue to support this establishment. read more

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When I was a Chico State college student back in the 90s, (my Chico State friend then) during a break from school, would have me visit his hometown of San Jose. While there, we stopped at Streetlight Records on his recommendation just to check out the selection. Well, Santa Cruz has a Streetlight Records too. Same small chain. So today I took a quick perusal at their wares. Well organized sections of cds, lps and dvds. They have a tiny metal cd section and a bigger one for metal vinyls. A plus right there! Prices are quite a bit higher than Berkeley and Sacramento record stores. They are a decent sized, decent selection store. They sell record players too. All in all, a better than your tiny record stores that don't stock much new. You can find a lot of the newer vinyl releases here including a handful of record store day releases leftover. Used lps and used cds have a small selection. They concentrate more on new and sealed cds and lps. I could have spent more time in there looking but had to run cause I had my folks waiting on me. Iam sure they serve a lot of UC Santa Cruz students. This is a store that is worth a look. Not big, not small. You might find something here.... read more

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Large collection of vinyl and CD. I was specifically interested in vinyl and they had both new and used. The used vinyl that I bought (12 albums) were in excellent condition free of scratches and pops for a very reasonable price. This is one of those places where, after I get a pile under my arm thats hard to carry, I have to force myself to leave. A very chill place to spend a Sunday read more

Streetlight Records - Music & DVDs Near Me - Santa Cruz, California

I took a stack of 32 DVD's the majority were unopened Disney, Stutdio Ghibili movies and relevant anime seasons. The wanted to buy 20 of the DVD's. 12 were unopened. They took all the hot titles and offered me $18.00 in cash. They sell the exact same titles for $24.99 in some cases. The cheapest I could find one on the shelf for that was a duplicate of what they bought from me was 12.99. They have no competition in Santa Cruz. There is no excuse for ripping people off like that. I'll never bring them anything again. Gas is $6.00 a gallon. You're selling something you bought for a dollar for $25.00 shame on you. Bullshibit. I promise if there's a response it's about the depreciation of the dvd market due to streaming. Blah blah blah. You tried to rip me off. read more

Great selection. Professional and friendly service. Reasonable prices. Inviting decor

Visited SC for a couple days, had to find a good record shop and this was the top of the list. Got some great finds! Friendly employees! read more

Streetlight Records - Music & DVDs Near Me - Santa Cruz, California

Better than the San Jose one. Still over priced. Snobby workers that pay Pennie's on the dollar.

Like the San Jose store, a lot of the vinyl tends to be overpriced. There's no structure to the store and most of the employees couldn't answer basic questions about their merchandise. Lots of genres and artists. However, I found 6 to 8 selections for Bob Dylan and like 5 for Miles Davis. Really? Even huge sellers like Pink Floyd, Zeppelin and the Rolling Stones were shockingly understocked. How do they stay in business? Also what is it with selling stuff you'd find at Goodwill for $2 for $5 to $15 each? I think $29.95 seems to be the average price for stuff they deem popular and desirable. Think I'll just stick with Amoeba and occasionally Rasputin. More selection and lower prices there. The cashier was nice to me though but I think this'll be my last visit. read more

Daughter I got into Vinyl during the pandemic. Collection included two memberships to a record club. The records which arrived monthly were supposed to be tailored to our Spotify trends, they never really were. mostly new major label pop and rock releases but also duplicates. I let that subscription run for far too long. Long story short I bring in 10 like new (3 still unopened w/plastic) Pop records Bob Marleys Greateat Hits. Purple Rain Beat it Amy Winehouse Metallica Black Album etc. Popular music. Of which they had zero of my records in stock on the shelves as they priced my records out. Sweet I'm in great shape. These records were brand new with liner notes posters freebies etc. vinyl is streetlights #1 moneymaker and growing. So for 10 records. $28.00. Less than $3.00 a piece. Streetlight has equivalent albums priced as high as $49.00. nothing less than $29.99 One employee followed me out and apologizes after I politely passed. He stated the buyer notoriously undervalued new r&b rock and popular music. He prefers jazz and art house Indy jams. And if I'd bring them tom he would do the buy and could guarantee am at least $10.00 each and a quick turnaround. Don't waste your time walk 100 yards to Redwood records and get a thoughtful fair offer. The ten records at their shop were purchased for $115.00. read more

Excellent in every way! Selection, customer service was very good and the store itself it truly one of a kind!

Who knew how much time I would spend here?! My son, hubby and air started collecting vinyl, cd's and cassette tapes. What a selection! We can come twice in a week, and there will be new items to choose from. I have been collecting movies and t.v. Shows and I seem to always find something when I look. The employees are kind, helpful when needed, and always play something interesting while we shop. I appreciate the cleanliness of the store. Fun place to hang out. read more

Downtown Santa Cruz is a bit of a mess in my opinion, but not because of this place! I've recently been rebuying a lot of movies to blu-ray and thankfully Streetlight Records exists because they do have quite a few good deals! I've been to their San Jose location a few times, but never hit this location before. They have an extension record set here, as well as plenty of movies! Staff here is a bit friendlier than their San Jose counterpart. Also, the entrance to this place will make Alien fans pleased! Overall, check this place out if you're a movie/music fan as you will find a lot of great deals. Unless you have gone completely digital, then I have no words for you. read more

Really like this store. Great selection and fair prices. Super pretty 20ish year old girl with black hair rung me up. Didn't say a word to me and seemed really pissed that she had to do work. That's how it should feel to go to a record store. read more

girl at the checkout had the worst attitude without reason all we did was buy records. store is chill but that last interaction left a sour taste for this place. read more

Screw this place. Dude at the front was a jerk. I'm not from town, I walk in and he says we're closing in two minutes. If you don't plan on allowing people who come in to your store two minutes before you close do some shopping then close the doors two minutes early. I can get records on line, I shop at small record stores to support the businesses. You should really treat people trying to give you their money better. read more

Hey thanks fir the terrible experience. More enjoyable to buy online less attitude from the sales and I don't have to endure thier crappy music. read more

My family and I enjoy browsing and shopping at this store. I appreciate that there is a separate entrance and exit now, and that masks are required. We always find cool CDs, DVDs, and even posters when we visit. Streetlight Records is a regular stop for us every time we visit downtown Santa Cruz. read more

Streetlight Records - Window Display - Music & DVDs Near Me - Santa Cruz, California

Definitely better than the one in Campbell. The staff here is very helpful when looking for particular items. And what was nice to see is no worker standing around doing nothing. Someone was always cleaning or talking with the customers. Really good customer service. While they dont have the largest selection I know I will always find something new and worth listening to. read more

Streetlight Records - Music & DVDs Near Me - Santa Cruz, California

It's hard not to compare other record stores to Amoeba. I do it instinctively. Streetlight Records - though no Amoeba - does have a great CD selection and some vinyl lovelies. With the sun cascading through the windows and one of the coolest art galleries just around the corner from it - it can be easy to lose yourself amongst the bins of record and CD art here. If you're a music lover - Streetlight Records is well worth perusing. I walked out with a killer Wendy Rene CD and a decent 70's record. Trust. read more

How good is the selection here? I found RBL Posse's Hitman - H20 casstte here in 2003. I had no idea that thing even existed!!! I've found many an obscure release here in the hardcore/punk genre as well. This place is 2nd to Rasputin's in terms of indie music shopping greatness. I like the staff at Rasputin's better though. Still selection is so superb, no need to give anything but 5 star-a-ronis. read more

Streetlight has an awesome selection of records. The uswd 7" selection is always huge with fresh additions, not to mention the deals. $2 each, 3 for $5 or 10 $10. I can almost always find 10. The store also takes part in record store day, they have a fairly good selection. It's hard to find a record store that has as great a selection. I've been coming here for years and I live the place. read more

This was a pretty cool place... a lot of real estate is donated to used CD's though. They still keep the CDs in the plastic traps aka anti-theft devices that I remember from the 90's while working at CD shops! But seriously, their selection of used CDs was pretty deep and they are very well priced. I picked up 3 for $5.00 that I actually had been looking for over the years so that was pretty cool. As for vinyl, they had an outstanding collection of re-issue Rap. One of the best I've seen... everything from NAS to Gang Star to Snoop. Even some Kanye for whomever actually listens to his music. Also worth noting was the R&B, Soul and Jazz sections were well stocked with new records. The rock section of LP's was fairly small in relatively to the rest of the shop, but what they lacked in stock they may it up in variety. Like the Rap section they had a good bit of re-issues and the pricing was about average from what I've seen on the West Coast. What I thought separated them from others in NorCal was the the dudes working the area. Super chill and definitely interested in talking shop with people. You can tell these guys love what they are doing... I didn't get any records here but I would definitely check back to see what's in the "new arrival " bins... read more

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Look for cheap vinyl album covers to use as artwork up on the wall. They're under the normal shelves for $2 They make great gifts to if you frame them. Have a friend who's into musicals or eye Middler or something like that? There's your birthday present. read more

This record store rocks! It is stellar! It has a great selection of vinyl at decent prices. So much to browse. A lot of punk, some classical, indie, folk. Not really for people who aren't into subcultural music. Rock music aficionados would be happy here. Free posters in bin. Lots of variety. If I lived in SC I would visit this record store a lot. read more

I've been in twice now, once for two hours and the other for 45 mins. Streetlight has a great, large selection and very friendly staff. I was even able to find some records at a good price that I havent been able to find online! read more

I love finding small record stores when I travel. My family and I were in town for vacation and driving through downtown when I saw "records" on a sign out of the corner of my eye. I did the California thing and turned before I threw on my blinker and told my wife and kids "who wants to go to a record store?" Like it was anything more than a statement to begin with. We put our masks on and walked in and I was immediately greeted by the smell of dust jackets and pressed vinyl. I was looking at the shit on the walls when my wife pointed out the metal and punk sections of the vinyl selection. So I start looking through seeing if I can find any hidden gems. They have a very decent selection here. Not a whole lot of new super rare stuff but still just about what anyone would be looking for in those categories. I did however find this 2008 pressing of Pelican / These arms are snakes collaborations of their songs "mammoth" now titled "pink mammoth" with these arms are snakes. And "digging through ditches" now titled "gold diggers" with pelican. What a fucking score man. So happy I saw this place and darted in when I saw it. Will definitely be back when I am back in the area. read more

Streetlight Records - These arms are snakes - pink mammoth - Music & DVDs Near Me - Santa Cruz, California

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the size isn't comparable to Amoeba or Rasputin, but the selection is still very wide and varied. I've been here a couple times and there's always something that would catch my eye. However, the prices can be an eye sore :[ The staff is super nice! If you need any recommendations or need to find anything specific, they'll find it. I came here the day Lady Gaga's CD came out, and while the guy had no idea who she was, he still found the [only] cd he had in stock of her, and it was reasonable priced. Needless to say, I left a happy girl and my excitement probably made his day. :] read more

Great selections, but the prices are kind of high. The wife and I spent the weekend in Santa Cruz and wanted to grab a movie to watch. We decided to check this spot out because the had used copies for sale. I think we could have gotten a new copy for cheaper, but didn't know the area and didn't have the time. 4 stars for selection 2 stars for crazy prices read more

Visited this store for the first time recently and was really impressed by their selection of vinyl. The back right corner of the store has a semi-enclosed ring of bins with rock/pop records. There are some other genres as you move to the left of the store, including a good-sized selection of 7"s. Not quite as many records as Amoeba in SF, but not too far from it. If you have time to look through it all, you'll come out with a lot less cash but lots of cool records to listen to later. read more