Introducing the Indie Vinyl Sales Chart: In partnership with StreetPulse and Record Store Day, HITS is delighted to announce the launch of the weekly Indie Vinyl Sales chart, which will track point-of-sale data from independent retailers—currently 200+, with plenty more on the way. The first #1 on this Top 50 chart belongs to Taylor Swift’s 1989 (Taylor’s Version); Republic retail mastermind Taylor has three titles in the chart’s Top 5. Fleetwood Mac’s indefatigable Rumours (Warner) sits at #2, while troubadour Noah Kahan claims a spot in the Top 5 with Stick Season (Mercury/Republic). All of which is dandy, especially for those of us whose turntables get a lot of action. But why this chart now?
Uxbridge, MA | Retro Records brings vinyl, cassette tapes back to Uxbridge: The small Retro Records store at the back of the second floor at 195 South Main St. in Uxbridge features walls adorned in sherbet pink and green hues that mimic a ‘50s milkshake diner. Hanging on the walls are old vinyl, pictures of family members and memorabilia of the up-and-coming singer and songwriter Alyssa Lincoln, 21, who goes by the stage name La Rocké. Retro Records is an extension of Lincoln’s musical career, showcasing old-school jazz and rock tracks. The store, which is opening Saturday, Jan. 6, is a place for her to display and sell her growing vinyl, cassette and CD collection and will one day become a place to record her music, host jam sessions and promote her label under the same name as the store. “I’ve always wanted to have my own collection,” said Lincoln. “I have my own turntable and all that. I’m super into older music that is on vinyl records. I play them all day, every day.”
Dorchester, UK | Dorchester: Vinyl Van evening of live music in Brewery Sq.: Live music will be performed in Dorchester at a newly expanded record store and venue. Alt-balladeers The Outliers, supported by local legend Ken Watkins, and the up and coming ‘Boots Don’t Fit’ will play three live sets of original music at the Vinyl Van in Brewery Square on Saturday, January 13 from 7pm. The Outliers will headline the night with their unique blend of original song writing styles, from folk to rock, Americana-country and all points in-between, delivered with terrific vocal harmonies and original guitar playing. They are ably supported by local legends Ken and Lucy Watkins – this folk influenced duo have been playing to audiences together for more than 30 years and continue to deliver fantastic performances.The evening will also introduce the up and coming ‘Boots Don’t Fit’—father and son duo Simon and Joe Arthy—their energised sound and engaging storytelling is capturing new fans whenever they play. Entry is free to the venue at 8A Pope Street, Dorchester.
Newcastle, UK | Newcastle record store’s phone line mystery after BT internet switch: Popular Record Store Day shop boss Alan Jordan reckons he’s missing ‘around 30 calls a day’ as landline goes dead. A Newcastle city centre record shop has been left in a spin after a phone mix-up led to the potential loss of “hundreds of pounds worth” of business. Reflex, on Nun Street Newcastle, has been serving music fans since 1999, but customer service ground to a halt between Christmas and New Year, when owner Alan Jordan arranged for his broadband to be switched from PlusNet to BT. The switch went according to plan – but his TalkTalk telephone line mysteriously went dead at the same time, meaning up to 30 calls a day were going unheard. And a week later, the business, which is famous in the city for the long queues forming outside every Record Store Day in April, is still without a phone line as BT and TalkTalk try to get to the bottom of the problem. “…I have just been going round and round in circles with each saying they can’t help and it’s down to the other one to fix it. To be honest, I don’t care how it’s fixed within reason, I just want a working phone line again.”
What’s Going on with Qrates?—Orders Unfulfilled, Ghosted Artists, and Pissed Off Customers: Self-service vinyl platform Qrates seems to have imploded with no word to artists who utilized the service—leaving thousands of customers without vinyl they paid to receive. Qrates promised to offer a one-stop shop for artists who wanted to sell vinyl records on demand directly to their fans. The service was founded by Taishi Fukuyama and is based in Tokyo, but over the course of 2023 the company has ghosted nearly all of its customers. The company promised to handle all production, warehousing, shipping, and customer service for music fans—so artists could focus on making music. Qrates advertised being able to press as few copies as 100 vinyls or 50 cassettes, making it seem like an ideal approach for small indie artists. It advertised the ability to crowdfund production costs, so artists don’t have to front anything financially or buy inventory they risk not selling.
UK | HMV collapsed into administration and closed stores across the country, but Britain’s beloved music business is on a comeback driven by vinyl-loving Gen Zs fed up of streaming—and now plans to expand into Europe and Canada: Music giant HMV is on a comeback just a decade after collapsing into administration as young music lovers give up streaming in favour of vinyl and physical media, one of its bosses has claimed. Phil Halliday, managing director of the firm, says that Generation Z is helping the once-ailing firm recapture its spot as one of the High Street’s most recognisable and dependable shops. There has been a resurgence in the popularity of vinyl – with record sales in that format hitting record numbers for the 21st century last year – which comes as many suffer from ‘streaming fatigue.’ But it is this, combined with more demand for CDs from the ever-growing audience of K-pop and J-pop fans, as well as a surprising surge in cassette sales, that Mr Halliday says has left HMV ‘really optimistic’ about the future.
UK | CDs continue to outsell vinyl in the UK: BPI report on UK ‘music consumption.’ The BPI (British Phonographic Industry) has published its annual report on UK music consumption and, as usual, it makes for interesting reading. As has been reported on SDE before – and occasionally elsewhere – the BPI do have a propensity to talk up the ‘vinyl revival’ and marginalise the ongoing success of CDs and this year isn’t much different. For those who are not aware, the BPI is not an independent organisation, it’s a trade body made up of “music companies”—primarily record labels—including all three major record companies in the UK (Warner Records, Sony Music and Universal Music). So inevitably, the strategies and goals of the record industry at large are reflected in the reporting. The headline for physical music this year is “Double-digit percentage rise of vinyl sales as CD decline signficantly slowed“. The statistics that support this are that vinyl sales grew 11.8 percent to 6.1m units in 2023 and CD sales dropped 6.9% to 10.8m units (the lowest annual rate of decline since 2015).
Blue Note Records Celebrates 85th anniversary: 85 years ago on January 6, 1939, a German-Jewish immigrant and passionate Jazz fan named Alfred Lion produced his first recording session in New York City founding what would go on to become the most iconic and longest-running Jazz label in the world. For 85 years Blue Note Records has represented The Finest In Jazz, tracing the entire history of the music from Hot Jazz, Boogie Woogie, and Swing, through Bebop, Hard Bop, Post-Bop, Soul Jazz, Avant-Garde, and Fusion, and—after being relaunched by Bruce Lundvall in 1984—has remained the leading label dedicated to documenting today’s vibrant and creatively thriving Jazz scene under the leadership of current President Don Was, who took the helm in 2012.
Stockport, UK | Stockport’s Vinyl Record Fair on Sunday 14th January: Don’t miss Stockport’s fantastic vinyl record fair on Sunday 14th January from 10.00am until 4.00pm. For music fans and collectors at Stockport Masonic Guildhall, 169-171 Wellington Road South, Stockport, SK1 3UA £1 per person at the door or £5 per person for early entry from 9am They will be using the building’s 2 large event suites for the fair, with an abundance of vinyl records, CDs and books. Cash machines are available close by. It’s £1 to park on the car park at the back of the building.
