Mehr Raum für die Vinyl-Kultur: Tia Korpe und Ladies Love Vinyl

“I had my first rodeo in the music industry around the early 2000s when I recorded and released music,” Korpe says. Learning the realities of labels, licensing, and distribution first-hand shaped her understanding of how music moves through the world, while platforms like MySpace and CDBaby taught her how to market independently. It wasn’t until she began booking international work that everything fell into place. “It all sort of clicked for me. The fact that one could travel through music work was just so appealing to me.”

Travel would become a defining thread - performing and curating across Stockholm, Amman, Paris, London, and beyond. But another constant remained just as present: vinyl. She has been collecting records for over 20 years, and her home setup has barely changed. “I have always had the Technics 1210s along with the Ortofon cartridges - the only thing that’s changed throughout the years is the mixer,” she says. Even with the introduction of Serato, she stayed rooted in turntables while embracing hybrid setups, recently adding an Omnitronic TRM-222 for full analog mixing.

Her relationship with vinyl is also entwined with one of her proudest moments as a DJ. In 2013, she and DJ KCL became the first women from Europe to advance to the DMC World Finals - an achievement that took years of preparation, patience, and self-teaching. “We started working from scratch - she learned technical skills so fast, and the next thing we knew we had a 6-minute routine ready,” she remembers. It still took three years before they won DMC Denmark and headed to the world finals in London. “Support for female turntablists has been next to non-existent in Denmark, so we just had to do it ourselves.” Seeing the landscape now, she feels a shift. “It makes me so happy to see someone like DJ Michelle represent the new generation of highly skilled femme turntablists.” The future, she believes, lies in involving younger DJs in decision-making and creating safer spaces where they can grow and excel.

It was this same desire- to open spaces that didn’t yet exist - that led to Ladies Love Vinyl. After founding Future Female Sounds in 2017, a global community for aspiring female and non-binary DJs working primarily digitally, she later rediscovered her passion for records while working at Discogs. But something stood out: “Dealing with hundreds of record sellers, I realized I rarely saw any women in there,” she says. That absence became the spark. Ladies Love Vinyl was created to make record stores feel accessible for women, to introduce vinyl culture in a welcoming way, and to spotlight the many women who are already playing, collecting, and digging.

LLV partners with independent record shops in cities across Europe, hosting events, free workshops, and showcases that highlight local talent. Each edition becomes a community in itself. “So far we have traveled through London, Paris and Copenhagen,” she shares. “The vision is for LLV to be able to travel often to more cities and countries, helping to grow and support local talent.” She runs the project pro bono, relying on supportive partners such as A1 Records, Rook Records, Vinyl.EU, and brands including Ortofon, Technics, Allen & Heath, and Omnitronic. “Many of our former DJs now perform regularly as vinyl DJs and form collectives. This is the goal of LLV - and it’s already happening.”

The timing couldn’t be better. Vinyl is experiencing a renaissance, but she believes DJs are returning to it for reasons beyond trend cycles. “AI works when it’s a tool, less so when it’s about developing taste. It is only through discovering and listening to thousands of records that a DJ acquires a certain taste,” she says. For her, vinyl is sensory, emotional, even spiritual. “DJs are returning to vinyl because it’s an analog format that can be felt… and it’s inspiring DJs to become better.”

Younger generations are discovering this too. She sees more Gen Z and even Gen Alpha DJs showing interest in analog formats, drawn in by both curiosity and the mystery that surrounds digging culture. “Demystifying the sometimes ‘difficult’ things around mixing on vinyl or finding music helps give the younger generation a little push,” she explains. And the way they discover music shifts completely once vinyl is part of the picture. “You’re not very likely to have a Donald Byrd track running over a reel on socials unless it’s trending on TikTok, but you’re likely to hear it in one of our DJs’ sets.” That spark of discovery often leads them deeper - into subgenres, similar artists, and the kind of musical exploration that no algorithm can replicate.

For anyone hoping to start their own vinyl journey, her guidance is simple: “Just start collecting. Don’t worry about having all the fancy records. Go to record stores and ask for the 5 Euro bin.” Most shop owners, she notes, love helping beginners find their sound.

And when imagining the future of LLV, one dream rises above the rest: Tokyo. “The ultimate Ladies Love Vinyl would be a Tokyo-edition held in a kissa/hi-fi listening bar with only female Japanese vinyl selectors - starting off as a coffee or matcha hangout in the day and progressing to a sweaty bar at night.” It's a vision rooted in admiration for Japanese listening culture - and a belief that vinyl deserves spaces where listening is an art form in itself.

As supporters of analog culture, craftsmanship, and community, Ortofon is proud to highlight and uplift projects like Ladies Love Vinyl - initiatives that not only preserve the legacy of vinyl but expand who feels welcome in the world of music on wax. LLV is reshaping scenes city by city, turntable by turntable, conversation by conversation. And from what we’ve seen, it is only the beginning.

To follow her journey and the ongoing story of Ladies Love Vinyl, find Tia on Instagram @tiaturntables_

Tia’s preferred cartridge is the Concorde MKII Club, trusted for its clarity, durability, and consistent performance in vinyl-focused DJ sets.