Broken Melody Records

Broken Melody Records in Urbana is a young shop with a personal origin story, local roots, and a careful approach to what makes the shelves. Kevin and Melissa's answers cover the name, the small-town scene, buying collections, condition, and why discovery still matters.

Interview with Broken Melody Records

How did Broken Melody Records get started in Urbana, and what's the story behind the name?

We moved to Urbana in 2021 after looking for a town where we could get involved, get to know people, and that was just a nice place for our kids to grow up. Starting some kind of business came later over margaritas. Melissa and I are both musicians, and outside of Toxic Beauty in Yellow Springs, there wasn't a shop nearby, and we felt like a physical media store would be a perfect addition to the town, as well as being a great fit for both of our interests and personalities.

The long form of the story behind the name is on our website (brokenmelodyrecords.com), but the abridged version comes from a line in a song by my band, Saint Bernard. I used to name my songs after quotes from books I was reading at the time. That one was "Everything Was Beautiful, and Nothing Hurt." Melissa happened to have that line stuck in her head and googled it, discovered my song, and really enjoyed it. So she messaged me to ask if we had any CDs, and then we just started talking from there, and now we've been married for almost 11 years.

What does the shop lean into — what would a regular tell a newcomer you're known for?

We're only a year and some change old, so the early stage was trying to figure that out, but I'd say a lot of people come to us for used jazz, soul, and indie rock. Because we're so small, we try to curate based on the tastes of our customers, so we're also known for tracking down and ordering things that people are looking for or suggesting, and stock accordingly.

Urbana's a small west-central Ohio town; who comes through, and how's the local scene?

We get a lot of people coming in from the surrounding area, but we also have a lot of people making the trek from all over Ohio. Urbana doesn't have a huge live music scene yet or anything, but people here love the arts and there is a huge demand for physical media especially. We're hoping to grow enough to eventually work on establishing a venue or some live musical presence.

What should a first-time visitor head straight for?

Pinback's album "Summer in Abaddon." It's great for all seasons, all occasions, all moods.

But really, I always just suggest starting with our "New Arrivals" bin. One side is used, one is new and a lot of the time, that's stuff that people have been suggesting we carry or they're things we've been excited to bring in, and it rotates out pretty frequently.

What's the most valuable or surprising record that's come through the door?

We had an original, sealed copy of Frank Ocean's "Endless" that was pretty impressive. It sold within 20 minutes of hitting the shelf. Outside of that, we've had a few Taylor Swift albums worth a bit, some original or early reissue Blue Note stuff. The most valuable album (sentimentally) to me was a signed copy of The Mountain Goat's "All Hail West Texas" that Merge Records specifically sent me. Does that count? I think it counts.

Do you buy records from the public, and how do you approach valuing a collection?

We do buy records. We have a bit of a backlog currently, but generally, we just ask people schedule a time to drop them off or if it's a lot, we can come out and get them. Then, we hand clean each record, check and log condition, go through and look at sales trends via Discogs/eBay/other shops around us, and typically offer 50% of our selling price (we can offer more for relevant stuff or stuff that's guaranteed to sell well that has been taken care of).

Roughly what does a common record fetch versus something you're excited to buy?

I try to keep prices down so a lot of used stuff for us is <$10, newer stuff goes for like $30ish depending on what it is. We're probably a solid 50/50 of new and used. The funny thing is: the things that Melissa and I get excited about buying are the super weird albums that come through, and they're almost always valued at like $5. I love finding small or local bands, or things that just make you scratch your head, and I think record stores have always been the perfect place for discovery.

Do you buy 45s and 78s, or is it LP-focused?

Mostly LP focused. We don't have a lot of people who are coming in and looking for 45s or 78s, but there are a few who get really excited whenever we get stuff like that in.

Should sellers clean records before bringing them, and what condition problems hurt value most?

I always feel better (and I'm in a better mood) when I get records and they're clean and organized, but I also get that everyone has their circumstances, so I'm happy to do it. The biggest thing that hurts value to me is when it's clear they just haven't been taken care of. Melissa and I are both try to have really high standards for what hits the shelf, so if something plays without skipping, but is covered in scratches and sounds like TV static, or even some records with big gashes that pop, I often try not to even put it out in the shelves.

What do people most often get wrong about what their records are worth?

Some people look on discogs and say, "my record is at least worth the median" but there are a lot of times that the median is dictated almost entirely by NM/VG+ copies, and a lot of the time, their record is no where near NM. I had someone come in with a rare record that VG+ would've easily cleared $400, but his copy skipped frequently and on the most popular tracks. He looked at the median and figured that's his price, but I can't (and frankly don't want to) sell that.

The other thing: just because a record is an original, even if it's sealed, it doesn't mean it's valuable. I'm always happy to show anyone how I price records, and teach them how to value their own.

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Last updated: 2026-08-21

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