Meet the Brazilian Man Who Wants Every Vinyl Record in the World

He has millions and counting.

Image via Sebastián Liste/Noor for the New York Times

The New York Times Magazine ran a profile on Zero Freitas, a Brazilian man who runs a São Paulo bus line but has a much more fascinating hobby: collecting vinyl. No, he's not your run-of-the-mill crate digger; he keeps the bulk of his collection, estimated to be in the millions, in a 25,000-square-foot warehouse, with a dozen college interns trying to catalog everything. Freitas has amassed a stockpile of LPs and singles by buying out entire collections from aging music executives, critics, and record store owners, with the aid of a buyer who gets stationed all over the world.

For Freitas, the compulsion to buy and store records stems from childhood memories, but is there a higher purpose to this? As he works on digitizing and cataloging the massive collection, he is also starting to sell duplicate records, as he learns to "let go." Ultimately, he is looking to convert the warehouse into a non-profit organization that will serve as a musical library. However, some records he will likely never part with, such as Roberto Carlos' Roberto Carlos Sings to the Children, his first purchase in 1964.

Read the full New York Times Magazine profile here.


 

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