Third Eye Music and Video

Third Eye Music and Video is part of the wider Third Eye world in Annapolis, where records, movies, comics, games, and pop culture overlap naturally. The music store benefits from that crossover: comic readers discover records, music customers wander into other parts of the Third Eye universe, and the Annapolis location pulls people from across the Baltimore-DC corridor.

For buyers, the shop leans into discovery with alphabetical bins and plenty of face-out spotlights by genre, artist, and era. For sellers, the clearest advice from Third Eye is that selling directly to another collector usually brings the highest return, even though the shop may buy collections when it is in purchasing mode.

Interview with Third Eye Music and Video

Third Eye Music and Video lives inside a bigger universe of comics and pop culture. How does that crossover change the way people browse music?

We've seen a strong crossover between fans of comics and the other nerdy things we sell and music for a long time. Everyone loves music, but there's an even stronger drive to dive deep into artists, branch out to their side projects, explore new genres, etc -- I think the common thread is that fans of these things love discovery, and finding new things.

Do comic customers stumble into records by accident, or are the music people their own crowd?

Honestly: our customers hit both stores alike and have always had some crossover between the two hobbies. The proximity of our Annapolis stores being right next to each other makes it really easy for someone who's into comics to stop in our Music & Video store and find something they love and vice versa.

Annapolis sits between Baltimore and DC. What does that corridor bring through the door?

The DMV is so cool because you can get just about anywhere in 1 hour, and with Annapolis being so central, and hosting the flagship Third Eye store, we have folks coming from all over with all sorts of tastes, to check us out.

Soundtracks, punk, anime, cult film? which crossovers actually work with your audience?

Honestly all of the above.

We'll see big upticks on popular artists, like Charli XCX, but you'll also see someone coming in and stacking up on Cannibal Corpse reissues. We're lucky to have such a broad customer base, where there's so many different things that appeal to them.

What's an item that surprised you by connecting comic fans and record collectors?

I knew soundtracks were popular, but damn: people LOVE themselves some soundtracks, and it's so cool to see some of the really niche video game ones get so highly requested.

How do you keep the music section feeling curated inside a broader pop-culture shop?

We balance it. We obviously are going to respond to the needs and wants of our audience, as our top priority is to ensure they have that selection they come to us for, and then throughout the store, we build out spotlights based on genre.

We're an anomaly in that we sort the record bins alphabetical by artist, not by genre, because we find that it's very hard to predict what one person considers a genre vs. another: we'd rather them find the artist they're looking for.

The downside of this is that it can hamper discovery, so we compensate for that by having TONS of face-out spotlight displays throughout the store, focused on genre, artists, eras, etc.

If someone wants to sell records, movies, or music media, what should they know first? and does condition work differently across formats?

The #1 rule: you will always do better selling it direct to another collector than selling it to the shop. We're more than happy to buy collections (when we're in purchasing mode), but we can't stress enough that to get the most bang for your buck, selling it via one of the online marketplaces is the way to go.

Our goal is to always ensure everyone has a positive experience with Third Eye, both buying and selling, and being honest and transparent about the above, is part of that.

First visit to Third Eye? what shouldn't people miss?

While the stores are impressive, and the selection is massive: our staff are the all-stars. We pride ourselves on a great customer experience, and a warm, and fun inviting storefront, and that's the thing that will always be the most memorable.

Also: make sure to get your free Third Eye sticker at checkout.:)

Last updated: 2026-07-17