Copenhagen and its record shops
Episode 14 of the Vinyl Cities series
Four Sundays a year, Ravnsborggade in Nørrebro fills up with as many as two hundred and fifty stalls. Somebody's parents' record collection goes out on a folding table next to a box of kitchenware and a rail of coats, and by four in the afternoon most of it has a new owner. Then the stalls pack up, the street goes back to being a street, and the records carry on to wherever they were going next.
Copenhagen is a city of second hands. The Danes have a word for it, genbrug, which covers everything from the furniture shop on the corner to the clothes rail at the charity store, and the record trade runs on the same instinct. Most of the city's shops sell used stock. Nearly all of them buy from the public. The country's biggest dealer in second-hand music has been doing exactly that since 1940. And in the warm months, records change hands straight off the pavement at neighbourhood flea markets.
For a digger, that's the most useful thing to know about the place. In a city where records keep circulating, stock turns over constantly. The bargain basement changes every week, the counter at Accord takes in collections every day, and a crawl in May won't find the same records as a crawl in October. Come twice and you'll find two different cities.
There's no single record street. Copenhagen has five small clusters in five neighbourhoods, each worth a morning, linked by a fast metro and by bike lanes that Copenhageners use for absolutely everything, record shopping included.
A Short History: the Jazz That Stayed
Copenhagen's record story starts in a club. In the 1960s Jazzhus Montmartre, in the city centre, became the European home of American jazz musicians. Dexter Gordon arrived in 1962 and stayed fourteen years; Ben Webster moved to the city in 1964; pianist Kenny Drew became something close to the club's resident accompanist. Around them grew Danish players who became names in their own right, starting with bassist Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen, who was gigging with the visiting Americans at eighteen.
In August 1972 a student called Nils Winther took a reel-to-reel recorder to the Montmartre, where Jackie McLean was playing, and asked if he could tape the set. McLean agreed. Winther pressed it as an LP, catalogue number SCS 1001, on a label he called SteepleChase, and went on to release several hundred albums, many by American players who couldn't find a label at home willing to record acoustic jazz any more. The Montmartre has closed and reopened more than once, and today it's running again under its old name.
Jazz is the root, but not the whole tree. Copenhagen has a small, well-regarded electronic scene, and a national habit of treating sound as an object of design that shows everywhere from the hi-fi showrooms in the centre to the cellophane wrapped round records in the racks. Sixty years of all that buying has to go somewhere, and in this city it goes back on a shop counter.
Hours checked in October 2026 from public sources: they can change.
Frederiksberg: Three Shops on One Street
Gammel Kongevej is the city's tightest and most established cluster: three shops along one road, a few minutes' walk apart.
Sound Station (Gammel Kongevej 94, Metro M3 Frederiksberg Allé, Mon-Thu 10-6, Fri 10-7, Sat 10-6, Sun 12-6) has been open since 1991 and is the best-stocked shop on the street: new, used and rare vinyl and CDs, from mainstream pop to musique concrète, plus a wall of memorabilia, signed photos, posters and framed sales awards. It's open seven days, which makes it the natural place to start.
Mint Records (Gammel Kongevej 140A, Metro M3 Frederiksberg Allé, Mon-Fri 10-6, Sat 10-5, Sun 12-6) sells second-hand only, in every genre and format: LPs, singles, CDs and tapes, but also comics, posters and turntables. Head for the basement, where the bargains rotate every week on changing discounts. If you want to see the city's turnover in action, this is the room.
Goldmine Records (Gammel Kongevej 74, Frederiksberg, Mon 10:30-6, Wed-Fri 10:30-6, Sat 10-3, closed Tuesday and Sunday) rounds out the street with new and used vinyl. Mind the days: it's shut on Tuesday and closes early on Saturday.
Vesterbro: the Oldest Counter and the Meatpacking District
Accord Vesterbro (Vesterbrogade 63, Vesterbro, Mon-Thu 10-6, Fri 10-7, Sat 10-5, Sun 12-5) belongs to the chain that has bought, sold and swapped used music since 1940, and calls itself Denmark's largest dealer in second-hand music and film. Collections come over the counter every day and go back on the shelves fast, so it's worth more than one visit on the same trip: Monday's racks are not Thursday's.
CAN (Tullinsgade 5, Vesterbro, Mon-Fri 12-5:30, Sat 11-3) is two minutes away and is Accord's opposite: a small family shop, run by the Aalykke family, that combines records with a gallery of prints and ceramics and its own magazine. Early electronic music, ambient, new wave, disco, rare groove and global sounds, chosen carefully enough that the city's DJs shop here.
BEAT København V (Enghave Plads 13, Metro M3 Enghave Plads, Mon-Fri 11-6, Sat-Sun 11-4) is a kilometre south, near Kødbyen, the old meatpacking district that's now full of bars and restaurants. Over ten thousand records, a shelf of music books, a café next door and a small stage for in-store gigs. It opens at the weekend too, Sunday included.
Nørrebro: Hip Hop, Jazz and Danish Beat
The city's youngest and most mixed neighbourhood has four shops, three of them a few minutes apart.
Rekords (Bragesgade 1, Metro M3 or S-tog F Nørrebro, Wed-Sat 12-5) sells exactly one thing, hip hop, on vinyl, tape and CD, new and used, and runs its own label. It's closed Monday and Tuesday.
Palmspree Records (Stefansgade 10, Metro M3 Nørrebros Runddel, Tue-Fri 12-5:30, Sat 12-4) has been in a basement here since 2013, working jazz, funk and reggae with books and art alongside. Small, tidy, and obviously chosen one record at a time.
Second Beat Antikvariat (Jagtvej 129, Metro M3 Nørrebros Runddel, Mon-Tue & Thu-Fri 2-5:30, Sat 11-3, closed Wednesday) is where you go for Denmark on vinyl: Danish rock and beat from 1965 to 1972, jazz from 1955 to 1965, prog, on LP, 7-inch and 10-inch, plus comics and vintage odds and ends. It opens after lunch.
Route 66 (Fælledvej 3, Nørrebro, Mon-Fri 12-6, Sat 11-4) sits a little apart, towards Fælledparken. New and used vinyl, no website, only a Facebook page: the kind of shop you find by walking past.
The Latin Quarter and Østerbro
The old university district, next to Nørreport, has three shops within a few hundred metres.
Sound (Fiolstræde 26, Nørreport, Mon-Thu 10-6, Fri 10-7, Sat 10-5, Sun 12-5) opened in 2017 as Accord's younger sibling but does the opposite job: new vinyl and CDs, with a corner of hi-fi. Customers rate its metal and jazz sections in particular.
Beat Bop (Peder Hvitfeldts Stræde 14, Nørreport, Mon-Thu 10-6, Fri 10-6:30, Sat 11-4) is a small rock, soul and jazz shop, new and used, a few doors from Sound.
SEX BEAT RECORDS (Nørre Voldgade 48, Nørreport, Mon-Tue & Thu-Fri 12-6, Sat 11-2, closed Wednesday) is a couple of hundred metres from the station, dealing mostly in metal, special editions and band merchandise. Saturday closes at two.
Ooh Aah Records (Ryesgade 77, Metro M3 Trianglen, Mon-Wed & Fri 3-6, Thu 1-6, Sat 11-3) is across the lakes in Østerbro, down in a basement: second-hand in every genre, on LP, EP and 45, with a counter that buys from the public. Weekday opening is late afternoon, so it makes a good end to a Nørrebro day.
| Shop | Area | Specialty |
|---|---|---|
| Sound Station | Frederiksberg | New, used and rare, memorabilia |
| Mint Records | Frederiksberg | Second-hand only, all genres |
| Goldmine Records | Frederiksberg | New and used |
| Accord Vesterbro | Vesterbro | Second-hand, buys collections |
| CAN | Vesterbro | Electronic, ambient, rare groove |
| BEAT København V | Vesterbro | Generalist, books, café |
| Rekords | Nørrebro | Hip hop |
| Palmspree Records | Nørrebro | Jazz, funk, reggae |
| Second Beat Antikvariat | Nørrebro | Danish rock and beat, jazz, prog |
| Route 66 | Nørrebro | New and used |
| Sound | Indre By | New stock, metal and jazz |
| Beat Bop | Indre By | Rock, soul, jazz |
| SEX BEAT RECORDS | Indre By | Metal, special editions |
| Ooh Aah Records | Østerbro | Second-hand, all genres |
Flea Markets: Mind the Season
Records change hands outdoors too, but only in the warmer months. The Ravnsborggade flea market in Nørrebro runs four Sundays a year, 10am to 4pm, with up to two hundred and fifty stalls; the 2026 season ended on 20 September and next year's dates aren't out yet. The antiques and flea market on Thorvaldsens Plads in the centre runs on Fridays and Saturdays from late April to late October. In winter the markets stop altogether, so between November and March it's the shops or nothing.
What to Look For in Copenhagen
The SteepleChase catalogue. Nils Winther's label is the heart of collecting in this city. Beyond number 1001, the early-70s titles tell the Montmartre story from the inside: Kenny Drew's Duo with Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen (SCS 1002, 1973) and Ben Webster's My Man: Live at Montmartre 1973 (SCS 1008). First pressings are Danish, and the mark to look for is the NCB stamp on the labels, from the Nordic copyright society.
Danish jazz. Alongside the Americans, a generation of local players came up: Ørsted Pedersen, drummer Alex Riel, trumpeter Palle Mikkelborg. This is where their records are easiest to find.
Danish beat and rock. Between 1965 and 1972 Denmark had a lively beat and rock scene that barely registered abroad. Second Beat Antikvariat has made it a specialty, so that's where to ask.
Electronic music now. The city's techno scene is small but closely followed: the Kulør label, founded by DJ Courtesy, and acts who took Copenhagen abroad, like WhoMadeWho and Trentemøller. For new releases, try CAN and the Latin Quarter shops.
The basement habit. More than any single record, what pays in Copenhagen is a habit: hit Mint's bargain basement and Accord's racks at the start of your trip and again at the end. Stock turns over within days, and the second visit often turns up what the first one didn't.
Recommended Itineraries
A Frederiksberg morning. Sound Station, Goldmine and Mint along Gammel Kongevej, all on foot. Avoid Tuesday, when Goldmine is shut.
A Vesterbro afternoon. Accord and CAN, two minutes apart, then a fifteen-minute walk down to Enghave Plads for BEAT and a coffee among the racks.
Nørrebro to Østerbro. Rekords, Palmspree and Second Beat, then across the lakes to Ooh Aah. Go Thursday to Saturday, when all four are open.
The centre in an hour. Sound, Beat Bop and SEX BEAT around Nørreport, a few minutes apart, with Jazzhus Montmartre a ten-minute walk away for the evening.
Practicalities
No common closing day. Copenhagen's shops each take a different day off. Rekords and Palmspree close on Monday; Goldmine and Rekords on Tuesday; Second Beat and SEX BEAT on Wednesday. Sunday, on the other hand, is good: Sound Station, Mint, Accord, Sound and BEAT are all open.
Metro and bike. The metro runs four lines, every few minutes. The M3 circle line stops at Frederiksberg Allé, Enghave Plads, Nørrebro, Nørrebros Runddel and Trianglen, which covers almost every neighbourhood in this guide. Nørreport serves the Latin Quarter, with the M1, M2 and S-tog trains. Or ride: the city is flat and the bike lanes go everywhere.
From the airport. The M2 runs from the airport station into the centre, Kongens Nytorv and Nørreport, in about a quarter of an hour.
The cellophane. Plenty of shops sell records still sealed in cellophane, so you can't judge condition by eye. If a purchase matters, ask whether you can open the sleeve; it isn't always possible.
Cards. Denmark pays by card for almost everything, even small amounts. Flea markets are the exception: bring Danish kroner in cash.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where can I buy vinyl in Copenhagen? There are four main clusters: Gammel Kongevej in Frederiksberg (Sound Station, Mint Records, Goldmine), Vesterbro (Accord, CAN, BEAT København V), Nørrebro (Rekords, Palmspree, Second Beat) and the Latin Quarter by Nørreport (Sound, Beat Bop, SEX BEAT RECORDS).
Where can I find second-hand records in Copenhagen? Accord Vesterbro has bought and sold used music since 1940 and restocks every day; Mint Records sells second-hand only and has a bargain basement with weekly discounts. Second Beat Antikvariat and Ooh Aah Records are the other two used-record addresses.
Where can I buy jazz on vinyl in Copenhagen? Palmspree Records in Nørrebro specialises in jazz, funk and reggae; Second Beat Antikvariat has a 1955-65 jazz section. Sound, in the Latin Quarter, carries new jazz releases.
Are Copenhagen record shops open on Sunday? Some are: Sound Station, Mint Records, Accord Vesterbro, Sound and BEAT København V open on Sundays with shorter hours. Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday are trickier, because several shops each close on a different one of those days.
Are there flea markets with records in Copenhagen? Yes, but only in season: the Ravnsborggade market in Nørrebro runs four Sundays a year (the 2026 season ended on 20 September), and Thorvaldsens Plads runs on Fridays and Saturdays from late April to late October.
How do I get around Copenhagen's record shops? By metro and by bike. The M3 line stops near almost every area in this guide (Frederiksberg Allé, Enghave Plads, Nørrebro, Nørrebros Runddel, Trianglen); Nørreport, served by metro and S-tog, is the stop for the Latin Quarter.
A Record to Hunt for in Copenhagen
Live at Montmartre is SteepleChase's first release, catalogue 1001: Jackie McLean at Jazzhus Montmartre in August 1972, taped by a student with a reel-to-reel. It suits this guide for a second reason too. It's American jazz played in Copenhagen, recorded by a Dane, pressed in Denmark, and then passed from collector to collector and counter to counter for half a century, all the way to today's used racks.
Four details identify a first pressing. The labels carry the NCB stamp of the Danish rights society. The labels read "Live in Montmartre", while the cover says "Live at Montmartre". The sleeve is a flipback, with the front flaps folded over and glued on the back. And the inner sleeve carries a København address.
In town, ask at Palmspree for the jazz and at Accord, where more used stock passes through than anywhere else. The Copenhagen entry in The Grail Hunt has the identification details and links to search for a copy.
The Copenhagen chapter of The Grail Hunt: Europe goes further: fourteen shops and three SteepleChase records, with the details you need to recognise a first pressing at the rack.
The Vinyl Cities series continues. Subscribe to the Groov-illa newsletter so you don't miss the next episode.
If you live in Copenhagen and have corrections, tips or a shop that deserves a mention, write to hello@groovilla.com. We update the guide regularly.
