Breakaway Records

Great place to load up on records. even a record player. My daughter wanted to tap into her vintage self for her 12^th birthday. She walked out with a record player, & Johnny Cash. She might ditch the itunes. She cant wait for the next visit.

Be warned… especially parents, watch out — upon entering, you’ll likely be greeted with explicit, vulgar, and extremely disturbing music (lyrics) playing in the store.
I am a long-​time customer of Breakaway and up until this past year I’ve had good shopping experiences but my last few visits were very disappointing. During my most recent visits the guy working the counter subjected customers to the most vulgar, offensive and disturbing lyrics that I’ve ever heard. I had hoped that the 1^st two times I encountered this that it was a just an occasional poor choice made by a new employee; clearly now this is not the case.
When this happened yesterday evening, I thought that the clerk would at least change the music when he saw me (a woman) enter to shop — nope, not only did he not change it but he even turned it over to play the other equally offensive side! After all the other shoppers left, I approached the counter to make my purchase and I told the guy «Given the thousands of music albums you have to chose from, I’m baffled as to why you would play one that’s so vulgar» — the guy just looks at me and snaps off «I happen to like it!». Shocked by his response, I then stated «So your customer’s feelings don’t matter?» — his reply «You’re entitled to your opinion»…oh, ok great so the message I got was: Too bad lady, so somewhere else.
Then, a moment later my husband (who is equally unhappy about the music playing in the store) approached the counter next to me and then this same jerk told me, in a completely different tone, «If you ever have an issue with the music playing in the store, all you have to do is tell us at the counter and we’ll try to accommodate you»…really? I told him I did just that a second ago and his attitude and response was too bad, I like it.
Common sense should dictate that if you don’t want me to speak to you using the terms Mother F***er, B*tch, a$$, P*ss*, or the N-​word — DON“T PLAY IT IN YOUR STORE.
I called the store this morning and spoke to «one of the owners», Josh and he told me that «they all grew up with that type of music» but typically try to change it if a woman or child walks in. However, now they may consider changing their policy to not playing in the store at all. For the sake of their unsuspecting customers, I hope they eliminate it completely.

Slip back in time in this great vintage shopping center with the 3 best things; records, coffee, and vintage clothing! This little gem record store has some great vinyl in all genres at great prices! Several listening stations and a small throw back seating area to boot! Perfect place to bring friends visiting from out of town!

Me encantó esta tienda! Me sorprendió el excelente material de funk y jazz que tiene. Buen clima, buena distribución de discos y muchísimo material usado en excelente estado y precio. Sin dudas una visita fija en cada viaje a Austin.

This is my home away from home. I live in San Antonio and drive all the way up here on Sunday’s just to stop in this place and shop. I love it here so much it’s a record heaven !!!

a charming and very well curated (i know, it’s an awful word but it works here) record store with the absolute best r&b/soul section i’ve ever seen.
good prices, friendly and knowledgeable staff, nice and tidy– it’s an all around great record store for soul, r&b, jazz, and rock.

First off, let me start by saying in terms of the actual store (selection, quality, price) I’d rate this a 4. I’ve been in this store many times prior and have done a good amount of business with them but after the experience I had with the staff today I felt the need to say something. A few days ago I purchased a copy of Rumors by Fleetwood Mac. It was in the new arrivals section priced for 14.99. Because I’ve done enough business with them to know their price vs quality scale and I knew that record sells new for about 20 I felt comfortable just purchasing it without checking it in the store. Not a mistake I’ll be making again. When I returned home I found scratches all over the record and attempted to play it to find all the wear did in fact effect the playback significantly. So today I brought the vinyl and receipt back to them. The first employee I spoke with was surprised to see the damage on the vinyl as well and stated that it seemed like someone probably switched out a cheap copy for the one they believe must have been in the cover prior. And with that he told me I was good for an exchange and I started shopping. I’d been in there about 15 minutes and had 4 other vinyls in my hand when another staff member (owner maybe?) approached me and asked me to come speak with him. I walked to the register and he stated that there was NO WAY they priced this vinyl for that much and it must have been swapped out. I agreed with him and then he proceeded to tell me that they wouldn’t be taking the record back leaving me to read between the lines of «this is your fault and we’re not falling for your scam». I told him I’m not going to make a big deal of it. I understand it’s an independent business and they do what they have to do but I didn’t swap the record. He asked if I checked the record before purchase and I told him that I didn’t because I also know they wouldn’t sell a badly damaged vinyl for 14.99 so didn’t feel the need to inspect it in store. He then went on to give me a speech about how I should check every record to avoid any more awkward conversations and then checked me out for the exchange on top of a few additional purchases. And if I had to make a bet I’d say those guys are still convinced that I was somehow being dishonest.
So if anyone from the store reads this: Considering the fact you had to have an accusatory conversation with a customer over a 14.99 purchase maybe your employees should start checking the vinyls themselves when the customer purchases the album rather than pointing the finger at your customers to spot check your inventory.

We had fun looking at all the old records and cassettes, saw some artists we hadn’t thought of in quite a while.

Very cool place and the staff was laid back. Large selection of LP’S and 45’s. You could spend a long time looking through their selections. It had a cool vibe that made you relaxed too.

Great store with great staff. Asked for a few recommendations and they were more than willing to go out of their way to help. Also was able to find some good albums in their bargain bin for $ 1!

Great store and really helpful staff. I went in to get help with changing the needle on a crappy record player.

Great selection of old and new records. Gotta love a store with a good dollar bin! And listening stations – so nice. Pricing was on point.

Great selection. Good Prices.
Great selection of both new and used vinyl. Found a good copy of something I had been seeking for years (only $ 2.99!). Plentiful listening stations with decent equipment.

Went in after stopping by at Epoch… Was very surprised at how hidden this great little place is… Everything is organized carefully and the staff was more than willing to help me with anything I needed. The selection was huge and was supposed when I saw they also had tapes for sale as well. Picked up a great conditioned Bridge over Troubled water record for $ 5. Going back every time I visit Austin now !

Pretty nice joint, super nice staff and a pretty good selection of vinyl. Records are moderately priced there are some gems but there are some that are a little pricey for me anyway. Would definitely come back to the store very neat, very clean and very well organized probably one of the best I’ve visited in this town.

I think I found my new favorite place to spoil myself!
This store has a great selection of records.
Everything is very well organized in a variety of genres.
The prices are super low plus there’s even a sale bin.
There’s always a cool record playing, and a number of record players (for sale) lining the store also add to the ambiance.
The clerk was helpful but not intrusive.
Though they didn’t have the new record that I was looking for, that wasn’t enough to bump off a star.
If you love records, you’ll agree that this is a beautiful store to peruse through.
And it feels so clean for vinyl store.
I definitely plan to return to add more to my collection.

One of the best (if not, THEE best) record shop in all of Austin. The store mostly focuses on soul music but they have a nice spread of various types of rock music, hip hop, reggae, etc. Their prices are great! The staff is friendly and helpful and free of lame attitudes that many shops are plagued by. The new arrivals section is updated fairly often and it’s always worth digging through.

This is definitely the best record store in Austin. It’s not perfect, but it is leaps and bounds above anything else.
The stock is rotated fairly frequently, and usually they’ll get in a lot of good stuff. Sometimes the price won’t be exactly what you want, but you can agree that the quality of the records are top notch. The experience in the store is all around pleasant, so I don’t mind a bit of a price increase on some great records. Prepare yourself for the dollar bins, because you will have an achy back after going through all of them

Probably my favorite vinyl shop in town. I don’t know what it is about this place, but I always come home with something really good, usually something I’ve never heard before (thanks to their staff picks).
Breakaway also doesn’t feel as dirty as most other vinyl shops in town. They seem to want to keep the place pretty clean, which is very appreciated. It’s small but everything is laid out very nicely, with some great categories as well (staff picks, guilty pleasures). I high recommend going through their staff picks. Find a couple records you think look interesting and give them a listen. I always find something really cool and interesting that I usually end up buying.
Their playing stations are great too. High quality Technics turntables, also very much appreciated (compared to End of an Ear, which uses the worst/​cheapest turntables possible).
Staff is friendly and always greets when you walk in the door, and always helpful if you have any questions. Epoch is also right next door, which is fantastic.

I went to Breakaway on the recommendation of a friend and fellow vinyl junkie.
The Good: really nicely laid out collection. Great sections. Very organized. Fair pricing. Big 45 section.
The Bad: the owner (I think he was the owner). Moody. Not engaging. As a collector, I go to record stores to shop and talk records! I am not sure if he was hungover, sick, or just moody but he have off the vibe that I was bothering him by asking questions. I was his only customer when I was there. After returning home I talked with the friend who sent me there. He said that he had a different experience. Hopefully the guy just was having a bad day.
I will go back sometime. Maybe second time is a charm. After all, we all have rough days.

Breakaway Records had never been on my radar until we recently got a turntable. I pass by it a million times to go to Epoch but had never set foot in here.
I like the plethora of used records more than I can appreciate new records. On a recent Saturday, we went all over town to almost all the record shops in Austin (there aren’t too many) and this one was by far my favorite. The reason being is that they aren’t super obnoxious about prices like some other places. I was looking for some old crooner records and that’s exactly what I got here! There’s something just so exciting about finding a record for $ 2.99…I can’t explain it. Surely that is the thrift shopper in me that gets excited for cheap stuff. I bought my first record here (the Urban Cowboy soundtrack… for you guessed it $ 2.99) and I will forever be grateful for this!
They also have listening stations throughout the store, and FYI most record stores have these so I get that it isn’t unique. But their selection is good, the prices are right, the location is superb. I’ll definitely be back when I’m in need of some new tunes for the turntable.