Record collecting is the hobby of collecting sound recordings, usually of music, but sometimes poetry, reading, historical speeches, and ambient noises. Although the typical focus is on vinyl records, all formats of recorded music can be collected.

The scope of a record collection may include a focus on any of the following categories:

One collectible record format is known as a test pressing. Five to 10 initial copies are often pressed for the purpose of checking the mix or levels on a record, or to ensure that the die is cutting properly. Though usually meant for the artist, producer, pressing plant, or record label to keep as reference, they are sometimes placed in special packaging (such as a photocopy of the real record sleeve) and given out to friends or devoted fans. First pressings of original commercial releases usually have higher values among collectors than later pressings. Also collectible are 45s with picture sleeves, and original editions of LPs (and other formats) which often have inserts and other features not on subsequent editions, or tracks or cover art later withdrawn or altered. Subsequent pressings often have the same label and catalog number but can be differentiated from the first pressings by the cover, colour of the label, matrix numbers on the disc itself, etc.

Records that have been Mispressed and have incorrect content or have Misprinted labels or covers may be more valuable, especially if a very limited number was released to the public.

Promotional or "promo" copies are free records, cassettes or CDs sent to radio stations, music journalists, and music critics to announce a new release coming soon from the record company. They are identified by the label, which typically takes the form of plain text listing the name of the recording and its associated credits, as well as markings specifying it as "Promotional", "Audition," "Demonstration" and/or "Not for Sale." Record and cassette promo copies typically come in the form of white label records and clear cassettes, respectively, while CD copies typically come in the form of CD-Rs with black-on-transparent labels. Because many commercial cassette releases use identical clear plastic and white print, promo copies are oftentimes distinguished solely by text on the J-card specifying them as such. Promo copies of best-selling records can have a slightly lower or higher value than "stock" first pressings. Occasionally promo copies were pressed for records that were never released; include other songs or features not found on the official commercial release (e.g. Talking Heads' 1988 album Naked).

Reissues of popular records can be released by the same label many years later with the same catalog number and cover art, but are often undertaken by a different label, some of which (such as Rhino Records) specialize in reissues and have access to certain labels' catalogs and "vaults" of unreleased master recordings.

"Bootlegs" are illegitimate releases. They vary in value and in sound and pressing quality, and come in several categories. Bootleg LPs, tapes and CDs often feature recordings from live performances or tracks not commercially released (including those never intended for release that were stolen or illegitimately acquired). Some bootleg 45s are re-releases of rare or valuable singles – exact copies of rare records, with the original label graphics and numbers - known in the industry as "counterfeits."

Record collecting has been around probably nearly as long as recorded sound. In its earliest years, phonographs and the recordings that were played on them (first wax phonograph cylinders, and later flat shellac discs) were mostly owned by the rich, out of the reach of the middle or lower classes. By the 1920s, improvements in the manufacturing processes, both in players and recordings, allowed prices for the machines to drop. While entertainment options in a middle to upper-class home in the 1890s would likely consist of a piano, smaller instruments, and a library of sheet music, by the 1910s and later these options expanded to include a radio and a library of recorded sound.