Dr. Disc

General information

Dr. Disc first opened its doors to music lovers in downtown Hamilton in 1991 -- 24 years ago this year!

The store’s formula was a unique one: concentrating on selling both new and second-hand music (especially hard to find imports as well as music from independent, local artists) while placing an emphasis on excellent customer service and community involvement. One of the hallmarks of Dr. Disc has always been vinyl records and that continues to this day. The resurgence in popularity of record albums has been a popular headline recently, but for Dr. Disc records are part of the store’s DNA and always will be. These things have enabled Dr. Disc to survive two decades in a tough music retail market which has seen the rise and fall of large chains like Sam the Record Man, Tower Records and HMV. In fact, Dr. Disc was one of seven record stores downtown back in 1991. Now it is one of only three that still remain.

Over the years, Dr. Disc has added sales and rentals of DJ equipment to the mix in order to fill a growing demand, and has continued to support, sponsor and participate in local events such as the Festival of Friends and Supercrawl. The store has also presented and showcased such notable and eclectic artists in Hamilton as the Juno Award-winning Barenaked Ladies; famed author and visual artist Douglas Coupland; ex-Dead Kennedy member and current social activist Jello Biafra; DJ Premier, Brooklyn, New York’s internationally recognized music producer and DJ; and many others too numerous to mention.

Dr. Disc has also received such accolades as being named Hamilton’s favourite music store in the Hamilton Spectator’s Reader’s Choice (Platinum Award); View Magazine’s Best of Hamilton; and Hamilton's Best Record Store in the Hamilton Music Awards polls.