Monthly Archives: January 2022

Bella Union’s Simon Raymonde On The Vinyl Landscape: The on-going vinyl resurgence is one of modern music’s most remarked-upon phenomenons. A format condemned to the bargain bins during the 90s, the rise of the CD – you can famously smear jam on ’em and they’ll still play – seemed to demolish all in its path. Yet the warm audio glow vinyl offers, and its sense of heritage, brought the format back from the brink, with a new generation of fans re-claiming it. The past decade or so has brought a vast percentage increase in vinyl sales, with catalogues re-booted and fresh artists requesting that their music appear on black wax. Yesterday – December 29th – saw the BPI unveil a new round of eye-watering percentage marks, with vinyl enjoying its best year in British music since 1988. For those on the ground, however, it hasn’t been quite simple. The architecture for pressing vinyl is now being far out-stripped by demand, meaning that small labels – who initially brought the vinyl resurgence into being – were pushed to the sidelines, experiencing lengthy delays on manufacture.

Sayville, NY | Better Nature Records shop brings music, fashion and ‘chill’ to Sayville: Michael Gippetti believes every community needs a record shop. “Every community has a barber shop, a gas station, a hardware store, a liquor store — got to have our liquor — but you don’t see enough record shops,” said the 37-year-old Oakdale resident who opened his Better Nature Records shop in downtown Sayville this fall. “Record shops promote the local festivals and bands. There’s so much to do.” Located at 56 S. Main St., Better Nature Records offers more than just music. Gippetti sells everything required to dive into rock culture. Used vinyl records fill bins throughout the shop, rock band tees lay on shelves and guitars hang from the ceiling. Clothing racks throughout the store boast black jackets, Eleven Paris sweaters and hoodies and All Saints boots. The store also carries new vinyl. Shrink-wrapped classics like “Led Zeppelin” and “Are You Experienced?” join newer albums like St. Vincent’s “Daddy’s Home” and The Black Keys’ “Let’s Rock.”

Here Are Some Black-Owned Record Stores That Are Helping Vinyl Have Its Biggest Year In Decades: …There are plenty of reasons for this jump in vinyl sales, with most having to do with consumers increasing interest in the novelty and vintage item that’s still connected to today’s music. This interest is catered to by record stores all over the country as well as the annual Record Store Day campaign. While big artists like Adele, Taylor Swift, Billie Eilish, Olivia Rodrigo, and more are responsible for a heavy percentage of vinyl sales, the companies that go above and beyond with their consumers also played a large part in this. Stores that seek to do more than sell vinyl, and instead, build themselves as staples in their communities will always have old customers coming back while piquing the interest of new ones. Plenty of stores across the country do this, but there’s a specific uniqueness and communal aspect that’s present in Black-owned record stores. So here are six Black-owned record stores across the country that helped to give vinyl sales its biggest year in decades.

UAE | A UAE beginner’s guide to buying and listening to vinyl records: Vinyl sales are the highest they’ve been in three decades, so if you’re thinking about diving into the hobby, here’s a crash course on what you need. Vinyl sales are booming. In the era of Spotify and Apple Music, where millions of songs are only a thumb flick away, vinyl records may seem like a perplexing, if not antiquated, form of consuming music. In fact, less than two decades ago the medium was almost obsolete, but was saved by a few dedicated enthusiasts. But things seem to have come around for records. According to an annual report by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI), purchases for vinyl LPs in the UK made up for 23 per cent of album sales in 2021. The figure is impressive, especially considering it’s the highest it’s been since 1990. So what has inspired many to get back in the groove?

Read More »

Vinyl record sales in 2021 at highest level for 30 years: 23 percent of all albums bought this year were on vinyl, with ABBA’s ‘Voyage’ the biggest seller. Vinyl record sales in 2021 were the highest they’ve been in 30 years, despite widely publicised issues with backlogs and delays. According to new figures from the British Phonographic Industry (BPI), more than five million vinyl records were sold this year, an 8 per cent increase on 2020. It marks the 14th year in a row that the format has increased sales, with vinyl records making up 23 per cent of all albums sold this year. The biggest-selling vinyl album of 2021 so far is ABBA‘s comeback record ‘Voyage’, while Adele‘s huge ’30’ and Sam Fender‘s ‘Seventeen Going Under’ – NME’s Album Of The Year – also sold big on wax. Reflecting on the stats, Geoff Taylor, chief executive of the BPI, Brit Awards & Mercury Prize, said: “It’s a great time to be a music fan, with wider choice on offer than ever before supported by great value…”

Christmas week vinyl sales top 2 million: The 2.11 million vinyl records sold from December 17-23 mark the highest single-week total in the modern era. Americans bought 2.11 million vinyl records last week, Billboard reports. The figure marks the first time the single-week total has topped 2 million since MRC Data (formerly SoundScan) started tracking music sales in 1991. Sales clearly benefited from last-minute Christmas shopping — the number was up 45 percent from the previous week, when 1.46 million units were sold — but the new high also demonstrates a trend of significant growth on a broader scale: 2020’s Christmas week total was 1.84 million. According to Billboard, U.S. vinyl sales have topped 1 million six weeks in a row; there have only been 14 instances of million-unit weeks in the MRC Data years, eight of them occurring in 2021. And, for the past 23 weeks, more vinyl records have been sold than CDs; this only happened in five weeks last year, and never before 2020.

Colorado Springs, CO | Independent Records moving to new digs in Colorado Springs: Independent Records & Video is lifting the needle on its long-playing Platte Avenue home and moving to Academy Boulevard. The Colorado Springs business, one of the city’s last independently owned and operated music retailers, will relocate starting Monday to 195 N. Academy Blvd., southeast of Academy and Bijou Street, from its main building and next-door annex at 3030 and 3020 E. Platte. Independent Records had opened 43 years ago on Platte. …The move involves transporting merchandise and other items from the main building on Platte to the Academy site about a mile away. The annex was closed several months ago. Launched by Lambert and his brother, Lewis, in 1978, Independent Records sells music on CDs, vinyl albums and cassettes; it also sells DVDs, video games, books, and apparel.

Newtown, PA | Owner Of Newtown Book & Record Exchange Reflects After 1 Year: “I knew I needed the shop to always be here,” said Chelsea Mitchell, who bought the State Street store last December. “It’s my second home.” Last December, an employee who had worked at Newtown Book & Record Exchange for most of the prior 15 years took over ownership of the beloved local shop. Since then the store has celebrated its 40th birthday, and Chelsea Mitchell has been hard at work to ensure the record shop will stay in business. “I feel so supported by longtime customers and by the community for continuing Bobbie Lewis’s legacy,” she wrote in an email to Patch. “It hasn’t been without challenges, of course — but the work is too fun and rewarding to complain.” Lewis opened the shop in 1981, and the small store has since weathered the struggles of retailers like Amazon taking over much of the industry. Mitchell thinks local shops like the book and record exchange help people unplug. “Not to get too philosophical but it’s important that we stop relying so heavily on screens and get back to basics now and then,” she said.

Read More »