UK | Vinyl’s revival keeps music sales spinning: It scratches and no algorithm will guide you to your next favourite track, but Britain just can’t get enough vinyl. Sales of LPs in the UK rose to nearly five million this year, the highest figure in three decades and the 13th consecutive year of growth since 2007, as younger customers as well as baby boomers help to fuel the demand. Vinyl now accounts for 18 per cent of albums sold in Britain, according to the BPI, the umbrella group for UK record labels. The format is also a boon to artists and record labels, generating almost twice as much in revenues as music video streaming platforms such as YouTube.
Washington, MO | Vinyl Spins Again: Music Lovers Relish Resurgence of Bygone Medium: On Wednesday, the words of Tom Petty’s album “Wildflowers & All the Rest” permeated the air of Mark Kriebaum’s Washington home. The works of this late rock ‘n’ roll crooner — who is heralded as one of the most iconic voices of his generation — are just some of the hundreds of records in Kriebaum’s self-described “Vinyl Room.” Visitors to this personal collection are likely to find a variety of music genres represented. The vinyl records range from albums produced by The Clash to Bruce Springsteen to Hot Tuna, an American blues band. Kriebaum is one of several Washington area residents who are delighted with the resurgence of a music medium that was once thought to be nearly extinct. …Chris Brough, owner of River City Music in Washington, said he’s seen all these trends reflected in his store since it started selling vinyl in 2017. He usually keeps 400 to 500 albums stocked and said he sells some every day year round.
Valletta, MLT | Anthony D’Amato, Co-Owner Of Beloved Valletta Record Store Dies: ‘You Leave Behind A Legacy Of Kindness.’ Anthony D’Amato, the third-generation co-owner of the beloved D’Amato record store in Valletta, has passed away at the age of 75. “Today marks a very sad day for our family. You were taken away from us too fast too soon,” his son Anthony, the store’s fourth-generation owner, said through the store’s Facebook page. Not even three weeks have passed since you were giving us a hand in Valletta. You leave behind a legacy of kindness, love and respect to anyone that you crossed path with.” “A pillar of the family business for which you dedicated over 60 years of life to. Rest in peace dad.” Set up by Giovanni D’Amato in 1885, the small shop in St John’s Street has often been described as the oldest record store in the world and it has survived World War II bombings, the Spanish Flu and several recessions.
Lacey, NJ | New Music Store ‘For The Record’ Opens In Lacey: The store offers a trove of music memorabilia from t-shirts and posters to rare collectibles and books. The arrival of a new vinyl record store in Lacey sparked curiosity among the town. People who drove past the purple storefront posed questions online about when the store would open, and some even knocked on the door to ask the owner themselves. Since the owner began setting up the store in October, she drafted a hand-written list of people to call when the store would be stocked with vinyl records and ready to open. Well the day has arrived, and For the Record will officially open its doors on Friday. The store offers a trove of music memorabilia from t-shirts and posters to rare collectibles and books. “Music is a big passion of mine. I’m always out and about going to see bands,” said the store owner, Mary Spilabotte. A few pieces of merchandise in the store were collected at concerts she attended throughout the 1980s and ’90s.
Aspen, CO | Inside DJ Dylan’s all-vinyl listening room at Aspen’s Little Nell: Local DJ creates a COVID-safe listening lounge at the Nell. If you’re a DJ in a ski town, it’s traditionally been your job to make a 4 p.m. après-ski scene feel like 1 a.m. in a dance club. The more crowded the better, you might measure your success by the number of strangers up and dancing together. And, if you’re Aspen’s DJ Dylan, you’ve soundtracked countless afternoons of decadent dance parties with revelers on tables in ski boots spraying and sharing champagne before sundown. The novel coronavirus pandemic abruptly put those scenes to rest last spring, and made those après-ski DJ skills obsolete until the health crisis is over. Devastating as that has been to musicians and DJs, it also provided an unexpected opportunity for DJ Dylan – full name Dylan Regan – to realize a professional dream. He was charged with safely reimagining the slopeside après-ski experience at The Little Nell for this winter of COVID-19.
Questlove Says He Found the Woman Who Started His Record Collection at 5: ‘She Planted the Seed.’ “You can change the trajectory of someone’s life in one full swoop without even knowing it,” he tells PEOPLE. Questlove is getting close to reconnecting with the woman who gifted him his first turntable and three vinyl records back in 1976 when he was just 5 years old. While talking to PEOPLE about his upcoming appearance as Curley in Disney+’s Pixar film Soul, The Roots drummer and co-frontman (born Ahmir Khalib Thompson) revealed that his team has located the woman who “planted the seed” for his music career — and massive vinyl record collection. “We’re waiting for the right moment to do a connection because I want to see her and thank her in person,” the 49-year-old tells PEOPLE. “‘You have this beautiful soul.'” Questlove says he met this “total stranger” following one of his dad’s Lee Andrews & the Hearts shows, where a woman struck up a conversation and asked him if he also wanted to be a musician like his father. Naturally, Questlove said yes and named “random artists” as his favorites: Neil Sedaka, Chaka Kahn and the Jackson Five.
How My Record Player Helped Me Feel the Music: If streaming can’t cure your stay-at-home blues, a spinning platter just might do the trick. Before the pandemic began, I had one record. It sat atop my red Ikea bookshelf, collecting dust. The Great Ray Charles. I picked it up at an event I attended a little more than a year ago, in the Before Times. I figured I’d find a way to play it at some point. But then, in mid-August, a turntable arrived at my doorstep. My colleague and WIRED audio nerd extraordinaire, Parker Hall, recoiling after hearing I use a pair of decade-old, $30 computer speakers for my TV’s audio output, loaned me a pair of Klipsch speakers and a Fluance turntable. And just like that, four months later, my once pathetic record collection has swiftly grown to 16 pieces. I don’t think I can forget the day I finally peeled the shrink-wrap from the Ray Charles album, choking from the mist of dust that sloughed off it. I had just finished setting up the Fluance RT80, which, by the way, was very easy. That surprised me. I always had this idea that turntables had a complicated and involved setup process, but I had it up and running in 10 minutes.
