What it’s like to attend a Cue the Record vinyl listening session is tap your feet, close your eyes, nod your head to the beat, and sing and dance like no one’s watching. For everyone there, it’s more than just an event, it’s an experience.
According to its site, Cue the Record creates a space for people to bond over a “shared love of music and analog sound.” The New York-based collective was founded by Mustafa Ali-Smith and Semaj “Sem” Davis, both 28, Midwesterners from Chicago and Detroit, respectively.
The biggest attraction is the vinyl listening session that this group holds once a month. On Sunday nights, at 4:30 p.m., music lovers gather to listen to vinyl albums in full and discuss their personal significance to individuals and their cultural contribution to music in general.
“Cue the Record is basically a book club for music lovers,” says Davis, who freelances in production and works in real estate.
As a team, Ali Smith and Davis have created a “third space,” a place people frequent beyond work and home to find community and connect around common interests. Originally called “third place,” the term was defined by sociologist Ray Oldenburg in 1989.
A big draw of this creative space are the record listening sessions, where the community listens to albums in full on vinyl.
Courtesy of Joshua Hemmings.
Cue the Record’s listening session structure allows you to dig deeper into artists and their work. The order usually follows:
Time to socialize: Some people attend listening sessions regularly, but most attendees are meeting people for the first time. Participants will receive complimentary sparkling water or wine. There are also carefully selected DJ sets or playlists. Introducing the album and artist: A quick historical or cultural background, and a breakdown of the ground rules The listening session begins (Side A) Short intermission The second half of the album plays (Side B) Discussion: “Ask some questions to the audience, pass the microphone around the room, (and) ask people to share their personal experiences and thoughts,” Ali-Smith says. The raffle is free for 2 people. A copy of the spotlighted session record
Cue the Record has hosted listening sessions for albums such as Frank Ocean’s “Channel Orange” and Missy Elliott’s “Super Dupa Fly.” Their album selection spans eras and genres, platforming a variety of musical interests.
“Sometimes the albums we choose reflect the times we’re in,” says Ali Smith, who also does social justice work. “Roy Ayers passed away and we wanted to pay tribute to him, so we chose albums that were relevant to his work and his legacy.”
CNBC Make It spoke with Ali-Smith and Davis about creating Cue the Record and why they feel it’s important to have this unique space.
“There was no space for really intentional listening.”
Ali-Smith contacted Davis on Instagram one Saturday in August 2024, pitching him the idea of collaborating on a project. Ali-Smith decided to talk to Davis in person, and the following Tuesday, the two met over coffee at Brooklyn’s Lips Café to discuss what would become Cue the Record.
They wanted to create the kind of space they had both longed for but had never been able to find. “Especially when it came to listening to albums (and) the whole thing, there wasn’t really a space for intentional listening,” Davis says.
In December of the same year, they held their first event at Commune NYC, a cafe and wine bar in Brooklyn.
Between Ali-Smith’s passion for collecting records and mixing them live as a DJ, and Sem’s vast record collection, the two bring both their vast knowledge and deep love for all things analog to an informative yet lively listening session experience.
Eventually, the pair expanded their team to accommodate the growing number of guests. CFO Ross Thompson and the team’s event support leader Motunrayo Olusa.
A year after its launch, the collective has grown into a community of returning players and newcomers looking forward to seeing what the team does next. Cue the Records currently operates a mobile record store where people can source vinyl records for their collections, and hosts Extended Play DJ sets performed exclusively using vinyl.
“Cue the Record is basically a book club for music lovers,” Davis says.
Courtesy of Vincent Osei.
“The term ‘third space’ is being thrown around a lot at the moment, and people really want it,” Arismith said.
“There are a lot of strangers walking into this room, and one of the factors is that they were all interested in this record. They were all interested in the album that we picked. So I think that alone is a pretty powerful thing that brings people together.”
Davis realized that being in a “heavy digital space” left many people craving in-person events where they could connect with like-minded people. “Not only young people, but some people bring their aunts and grandmothers. I think it’s very beautiful,” she says.
While record listening sessions aren’t free, general admission tickets are currently $22.99, and Davis and Alice Smith want to make it as accessible as economically possible, taking into account venue, technology and beverage costs.
“We don’t think of Cue the Record as a one-off event where people come together, but like a really strong community that we’re creating so that people come back to us. They’re part of something,” says Ali Smith.
“We don’t want people to have to pay into the community, if that makes sense. Yes, we have these ticketed events (but) if there’s an instance where someone reaches out and says, ‘Oh, I want to go to this, but the ticket prices are a little high,’ well, you’re still OK to come.”
“I needed something like this.”
I attended a recent record listening session for Cue the Records, which releases Marvin Gaye’s album I Want You on October 5th, and I could tell that their community is growing and that people are really enjoying the space that Ali-Smith and Davis have created.
“This is my third Cue the Record event and they’ve all been great,” Kurt Sanders, 33, told me as he waited in line for the event to start. “They cover albums that I really enjoy.”
After hearing about the collective from a friend and watching videos of their events online, Sanders realized that Cue the Record offered something he had been missing. “I needed something like this,” he said.
Sanders said it was easy to bond with friends over music, but it was difficult to find a curated space to explore the creative process of making an album. “I’m usually very introverted, so it was nice to be able to engage with music in a way that felt socially acceptable.”
We are here to bring together like-minded people, people who love music, and people who love timeless music.
Cue the Records’ October record listening session was a first for Kyla Moore, 28, and Courtney Webb, 27. The two friends, from St. Louis and Kansas City, had traveled to New York over the weekend to celebrate Moore’s birthday.
Moore discovered the space on Instagram and subscribed to a newsletter that shares information about upcoming sessions. Finding a space like Cue the Record in Kansas City was difficult for the couple, Moore said.
“We’re here for like-minded people, people who love music, people who love timeless music to come together,” Moore says.
“Music is like a time capsule. It’s like an ephemeral art form. And I think the people who appreciate it are like-minded people.”
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