Questions, answered.
The short version of everything on the About page, plus the questions people actually ask.
What is LoudQuietLoud?
A music discovery experiment for record collectors — browse artists, labels, and vibes, and buy pressings direct from artist stores, label stores, and independent record shops. Built by Softlimit, an ecommerce agency, as a side project.
Do you sell anything?
No. Every buy link goes to the merchant’s own store — checkout, payment, shipping, and returns all happen with them. We never see your order.
How do you make money?
We may earn a commission on qualifying purchases made through links here. It never changes the price you pay.
Are any results sponsored?
No, not currently. If we ever run promoted placements, they’ll carry a visible “Sponsored” label.
Why can’t I buy directly from some artists or labels?
LoudQuietLoud is built on Shopify’s product catalog. When an artist or label runs their own Shopify store, we link you straight to it — that’s always our first choice. Labels and artists who don’t sell on Shopify can’t be linked directly, so for those releases we point to independent record stores and marketplaces that stock them. As more artists and labels open their own stores, more direct links appear automatically.
Something looks wrong — a weird product match, a misfiled artist.
That’ll happen: the connections here are assembled automatically from open music data, and machines have questionable taste. If a product match is off, hit the flag control on the product card. The graph refreshes on a schedule, so corrections and new data roll in over time. You can also reach us at loudquietloud@softlimit.com.
Where does the data come from?
- Artist and label relationships from Last.fm, MusicBrainz, and Discogs.
- Press coverage from outlets like Pitchfork, Stereogum, and Aquarium Drunkard — headline and link out, reading happens at theirs.
- Products from Shopify’s global catalog, favoring a hand-curated set of stores.
Why isn’t [artist] here?
The graph is growing outward from a seed list. If an artist has no live listings, or just hasn’t been reached yet, they won’t show up — check back.
What is “Yesterday’s Hits (Literally)”?
The most-played albums yesterday across six public radio stations — KEXP, KCRW, KRCL, KUTX, The Current, and WXPN — matched to pressings you can actually buy. The stations are credited as the source of the airplay data; they don’t endorse, sponsor, or otherwise vouch for the site or the buy links.