Stream Dischord Records’ entire discography for free on Bandcamp

You probably can’t go to the record store at the moment, but you can listen to 40 years’ worth of punk and hardcore music from Dischord Records, which has its entire discography available to stream for free on Bandcamp. The independent label was founded by Ian MacKye and Jeff Nelson of Minor Threat in 1980, and ever since has released influential records. If you hear something you like, you can pay for a download with higher audio quality -- which could help artists more than if you were to listen on Spotify. MacKaye popularized the idea of $5 concerts and insisted on selling Dischord’s music at a low price, so this move is in line with the label’s DIY ethos.

Dischord has been a major provider of independent music, ranging from punk to emo -- before the genre was associated with makeup and tight leather pants, it was an offshoot of hardcore. Many of punk and hardcore’s most prominent artists either had music published on the label or were directly influenced by its output. Aggressive music certainly isn’t for everyone, but if you're curious, some stand-out albums include Rites of Spring's self-titled record, 13 Songs by Fugazi, Shudder to Think's Funeral at the Movies and No Kill No Beep Beep by Q and Not U. Hopefully new listeners will find something surprising, and longtime fans can go deeper down the Dischord rabbit hole.