Spalding, UK | Stars come out at Spalding record shop: Spalding’s Uptown Vinyl Records hosted a star-studded BBC Radio Lincolnshire broadcast of Melvyn in the Morning. BBC presenter Melyyn Prior interviewed special guests, including former Radio Caroline broadcaster Tom Edwards, Ray Fenwick, who played with The Spencer Davis Group, and South Holland poet Benjamin Zephaniah. Singing live were Pavanotti (Jeff Woods) and ex Spalding town centre manager Dennis Hannant. It was the third time that Uptown boss Alan Barnsdale had welcomed Radio Lincolnshire to Spalding Lifestyle Centre. All of the music played for the festive special came from Alan’s extensive stock of vinyl … and he came up trumps with every request from listeners and guests alike, including a 1950s recording of Eartha Kitt’s Santa Baby. Alan said: “We tried to play Christmas records that you don’t normally hear.”
Liverpool, UK | Dig this! Liverpool’s Dig Vinyl record shop to expand in Bold Street move – exclusive: Dig Vinyl is to relocate to a new premises on Bold Street, Getintothis’ Peter Guy reflects on a positive move for the Liverpool independent record shop. Liverpool record shop Dig Vinyl is expanding and moving to new Bold Street premises. Dig, the independent second hand record specialist, will move to a new home above Resurrection clothing shop in the heart of Bold Street. Having been established in March 2014, Dig Vinyl is currently hidden away beneath the hustle and bustle of Bold Street, and through the staff’s passion for music it has become a firm favourite for tourists and Scousers alike. Dig is the inevitable product of decades worth of record dealing, DJing, band managing, record label running, and music making by founders, Anthony Nyland and Carl Emery.
Sony announces new wireless LX310BT turntable: A new affordable, entry-level deck. Sony has unveiled a new wireless turntable called the LX310BT at CES 2019, an update on the company’s PS LX310 model. The LX310BT features an aluminium tonearm that can automatically find the beginning of a record and raise once the record ends, a built-in phono stage, aluminium platter, bluetooth connectivity and USB output. Available in an all-black variant and weighing 3.5 kg with dimensions of 430 mm x 108 mm x 367 mm, the LX310 BT is expected to go on-sale this Spring, with a retail price of £200. Check out our coverage of CES 2019, including Technics’ announcement that a new SL-1200 MK7 is on the way here.
Rare Sex Pistols Record Fetches Over $15,000. The price tag is a fraction of what Jack White paid for an Elvis Presley recording from 1948. A rare Sex Pistols 7-inch vinyl record became the most expensive single ever sold on Discogs, the most prominent online marketplace for music rarities. A “God Save The Queen” single on the A&M label, from a batch that was supposed to have been destroyed after the group left the label, sold for $15,882 in November 2018. Previously, the highest-valued single sold on Discogs was the Beatles’ “Love Me Do,” which was bought for $14,757 in March 2018. While the “God Save the Queen” sale set a new bar for 7-inch singles on Discogs, the high mark for any record sold on the site remains the $27,500 paid for an original copy of Prince’s “The Black Album” in June 2018. That album, like the Sex Pistols’ single, was rescued from a printing that was ordered to be completely destroyed before reaching stores.
Vinyl Record Sales Show No Signs of Slowing in 2019: The vinyl revival has been breathing new life into phonographic records for more than a decade. And it shows no signs of slowing. Albums sold on vinyl records saw double-digit sales growth in the US last year, according to a new report by BuzzAngle Music. (The same goes for the compact audio cassette—which has been dead to me since I received my first Ace of Base CD at age nine.) Counting a 16.2 percent increase in total album consumption, 2018 was a banner year for on-demand streaming services. But individual song and album sales suffered, falling 28.8 percent and 18.2 percent, respectively. With the advent of pay-to-play services like Spotify Premium and Apple Music, it’s no wonder digital and physical album sales are dropping like flies. I mean, when was the last time you actually bought a CD?
