Montreal has held onto a density of independent record shops that most North American cities lost years ago. Two sit barely a hundred metres apart on Avenue du Mont-Royal, three more share the same short stretch of Bernard in Mile End, and La Petite-Patrie has picked up a pair of cafe-and-vinyl hybrids. Some are big rooms with a warehouse out back. Some are one-person counters run by someone who has been collecting their whole life.
Here are the ones worth your afternoon, spread across the Plateau, the Quartier Latin, Mile End, La Petite-Patrie, Little Italy, downtown and NDG, plus one that is worth leaving the island for.
The Plateau and the Quartier Latin
Aux 33 Tours
1373 Avenue du Mont-Royal Est, Plateau Mont-Royal
This is the big one. Pierre Markotanyos opened Aux 33 Tours on Mont-Royal in 2007, and he now keeps around 50,000 records on the floor at any given time, split roughly 45 percent new and 55 percent used, with thousands more held in a warehouse a 15-minute walk away. No genre gets turned away. Markotanyos also runs the reissue label Return to Analog Records, which he founded in 2015 and which has put out more than 170 titles of rare 60s and 70s material.
The shop says it is opening a separate store devoted entirely to CDs, Blu-rays and DVDs, with the doors set to open Saturday, September 5. Come with time and a list. You will still leave with something that was not on it.
Freeson Rock
1477 Avenue du Mont-Royal Est, Plateau Mont-Royal
A hundred metres east of Aux 33 Tours, Freeson Rock has been on the avenue since 1988 and bills itself as a specialist in metal and progressive rock. That is the core, but the racks run wider than the sign suggests: jazz, blues, punk, soul, hip-hop, electronic and world, on new and used vinyl, CD and cassette. It carries shirts and collectibles, keeps the show posters for the coming weeks up front, and buys collections by appointment.
Beatnick Records
3770 rue Saint-Denis, Plateau Mont-Royal
Nick Catalano opened Beatnick on Saint-Denis in December 1998, and more than 25 years of buying shows in a back catalogue that rewards a slow flip: new, used and collector vinyl, CDs and cassettes across every era. It is a first stop for anyone chasing a specific pressing. Catalano listed the shop for sale in January 2024, saying he wanted to pass the torch rather than close and telling Le Devoir he was in no rush and would not sell to just anyone. The doors are still open on Saint-Denis.
L’Oblique
4333 rue Rivard, Plateau Mont-Royal
Luc Bérard has run L’Oblique off Mont-Royal metro since 1987, straight through the CD years and out the other side. It is a small, pointed shop that leans local: Quebec and francophone artists next to underground, indie and rock, on new and used vinyl, CDs and cassettes, with a strong line on Constellation Records and other Montreal labels. They also sell and repair vintage stereo gear. If you want to learn the local scene fast, start here.
Sonik Musique
4050 rue Berri, Plateau Mont-Royal
Sonik is a cramped corner store that punk and hardcore fans treat as a second home. The stock is mostly used and heavy on punk, garage and late-60s and 70s underground, with the rare stuff mounted on the wall racks. The staff know every inch of it and there are usually tickets to the next show behind the counter.
LeBackstore
169 Avenue des Pins Est, Plateau Mont-Royal
This is the shop that spent years as Le Pick Up, and the change of name has not changed what it does best. New and used vinyl covering about fifty years, with the same instincts that built its reputation: obscure soul and French 45s, garage, and Quebec francophone pressings from the 60s through the 80s, alongside current indie from local and international artists. It runs its own label, LeBackstore Records, buys collections, and sits a few minutes from Sherbrooke metro.
Atom Heart
364 rue Sherbrooke Est, Quartier Latin
Atom Heart has been at Sherbrooke and Saint-Denis since 1999, opened by Francis Gosselin and Raymond Trudel, and it remains the city’s most reliable counter for independent and electronic music: rock, folk, ambient, techno, IDM and bass on vinyl, CD and cassette. It supports local independent labels directly, takes consignment from Montreal artists, and runs a special-order service for anything it does not have. Sherbrooke metro is at the door.
Mile End
La Rama Records
77 rue Bernard Ouest, Mile End
Kris Guilty opened La Rama in 2016, and it is the shop Montreal DJs actually buy from: house, disco, balearic, jazz, Latin, Afro and hip-hop, weighted toward 7-inch singles, 12-inch dance releases, white labels and Canadian pressings. Stock is mostly new with select used. It doubles as a label under the same name.
Phonopolis
207 Avenue Bernard Ouest, Mile End
Phonopolis sits next to Drawn & Quarterly on Bernard, and it has been staffed by local musicians since Nathan Gage opened it in October 2007. Jordan Robson-Cramer has run it since April 2015 and kept the selection pointed at the adventurous end: experimental and local releases next to jazz, soul, hip-hop, folk and electronic, with a strong 12-inch section for the neighbourhood’s DJs. If you want a record you did not know existed, start here. There is also an offshoot, Phonopolis West, in Pointe-Claire for anyone in the West Island.
Sonorama
260 Avenue Bernard Ouest, Mile End
A few doors down from Phonopolis, Sonorama runs deep on vinyl and cassettes across rock, jazz, soul, funk, disco, francophone and world, mixing recent reissues with rare originals, and keeps a large collection of vintage music magazines to match. Hand over a want list through their special orders form and they will actually chase it. Small room, big reach.
La Petite-Patrie and Little Italy
Le Vacarme
6250 rue Saint-Hubert, La Petite-Patrie
On Plaza Saint-Hubert near Beaubien metro, Le Vacarme has been a labour of love since Jean-François Rioux opened it in September 2017, after thirteen years working behind other people’s counters. The focus is modern rock, deep cuts and curated classics, sold by someone happy to steer you toward the right record and not the priciest one. Its full inventory is listed online, it doubles as a pickup point for web orders, and the in-store pop-ups are worth timing a visit around.
180g
5866 Avenue De Lorimier, La Petite-Patrie
Part cafe, part record shop, 180g keeps a tight, well-chosen crate of funk, jazz, hip-hop, electronic and indie next to the espresso machine, with DJs on some afternoons. Co-owners Charles-Étienne “Rambo” Brassard and Christophe Bundock De Muri have also turned it into a stop for visiting artists: The Alchemist held a vinyl pop-up there on June 30, 2026, selling rare copies and signing for more than a hundred people hours before his DJ set at Club Soda for the Jazz Festival. It is built for a slow morning, not a deep dig.
Victor Victor Victor
6658 Avenue Papineau, La Petite-Patrie
A weekend-only cafe and boutique, open Saturdays and Sundays from 8am to 5pm. New vinyl weighted toward folk, jazz, ambient and lo-fi, plus cassettes, graphic novels and manga, and a serious shelf of boutique-label films from Criterion, Arrow, Shout! Factory and Kino Lorber. Italian espresso while you browse.
Death of Vinyl
6442 boulevard Saint-Laurent, Little Italy
Death of Vinyl, or La Fin du Vinyle, trades almost entirely in used records, and the stock runs into the tens of thousands. The new-arrivals lists on their site include everything from German synth soundtracks to jazz staples, and the 12-inch singles are priced to move, covering big hits and forgotten b-sides. They buy and exchange, sell equipment, and keep listening stations so you can check a record before you commit. Budget more time than you think you need.
Downtown and the West End
Cheap Thrills
2044 rue Metcalfe, Downtown
Up a steep set of stairs downtown, Cheap Thrills has been selling used records and used books since 1971, and both the shop and Tourisme Montreal call it the city’s oldest running record store. What it lacks in floor space it makes up for in selection, and in staff who can find a title faster than you can describe it. Records, CDs, tapes and books, alphabetized within an inch of their lives, with a mail-order catalogue of more than 10,000 titles behind it.
Encore Books & Records
5670 rue Sherbrooke Ouest, Notre-Dame-de-Grâce
The only entry on this list west of downtown, and the reason to make the trip: Sean Madden’s family-run shop pairs one of the better used record selections in the city with thousands of second-hand books in English and French, plus CDs, DVDs, cassettes, comics, first editions and its own line of art prints and minimalist movie posters. Open since 2004, always buying, and it hosts small concerts, poetry nights and jazz sets.
Off the island
Le Noise
228A rue Richelieu, Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, and 874 rue Saint-Laurent Ouest, Longueuil
Le Noise is the reason to point the car south. The Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu store is about 40 kilometres southeast of downtown, with a second shop in Longueuil just across the river. Both carry new and used vinyl, CDs, cassettes, turntables and accessories, and a serious wall of band tees, and both lean hard into new releases and pre-orders, from Queens of the Stone Age and King Gizzard to Fontaines D.C. They also keep a proper francophone section, with Loco Locass, Les Louanges, Klo Pelgag, Pierre Lapointe and Roxane Bruneau on the shelves. If you have been meaning to make a day of it off the island, this is the stop that justifies the drive.
Planning the day
Most of this list sits on the orange line. Four shops are within a ten-minute walk of each other in the Plateau, and Phonopolis, Sonorama and La Rama are all on the same short stretch of Bernard, with Phonopolis and Sonorama a few doors apart. Hours vary more than you would expect, several places keep shorter Sunday schedules, and Victor Victor Victor opens on weekends only, so check before you go. Start in the Plateau and let the afternoon go where it wants.
Happy digging!
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