Minneapolis–Saint Paul, MN | Twin Cities businesses cash in on K-pop craze: From small businesses to giants like Target, retailers are benefitting from the $10 billion industry for South Korean pop music, including its revival of physical album sales. Tucked into a yellow-brick building in northeast Minneapolis is a gateway to South Korea. There’s no obvious signage to announce OtaKuPop’s location, but once inside, colors pop off the walls. A mounted TV plays bright, catchy music videos, their melodies ringing throughout the small store. Posters cover the windows, and what look like bookcases are actually shelves filled with albums of all K-pop music. OtaKuPop is one of several Twin Cities businesses bringing the $10 billion Korean pop music industry to Minnesota. And somewhat counterintuitively, physical media like magazines, trading cards, figurines, stickers and, yes, CDs make up many of those sales. Streaming services such as Spotify have eroded physical media sales in recent years. But K-pop has found a way to avoid that.
Chicago, IL | Best Place to Go Crate Digging by the Boulevard: Miyagi Records—Washington Park: Imet Maker in the late ’90s at a breakdancing battle, I think. I heard he made dope beats. Later, around 2003, a label I was a part of, Birthwrite Records, put out his album Honestly and my crew did a song for it. I met TREW a little bit later through marketing promotions, and then he booked me to perform at a couple of shows that he helped produce. Two of my favorites were Dre Day and the 2010 Little Brother show at the Double Door. That show was crazy; the audience was so live (Maker and TREW’s names are Marco Jacobo and Nigel Ridgeway, respectively). Fast forward to 2023, and I heard rumors of a new record store coming to Washington Park by the Green Line. Soon after, I found out Miyagi Records was Maker and TREW’s shop—a definite win for the culture.
KR | Vinyl renaissance in Korea holds steady with diverse music tastes: The vinyl revival has led to the development of Korea’s own record-pressing technology. Within just two hours of the opening of the 13th Seoul Record Fair last Saturday, the waitlist for new LP records reached 1,500. There were 20 new releases that day. The vinyl fever at the event dispelled concerns that the pandemic-driven LP renaissance could go bust in the endemic era. Instead, the boom shows no sign of abating in South Korea. The LP revival has even led people to expand their music tastes into diverse genres and to the revival of the vinyl pressing industry in the country. According to Korea’s online bookstore operator Yes24 Co., LP production stood at 3,024 albums in 2023, up 14.6% from the prior year. It was the first time the country’s vinyl production topped 3,000 since Yes24 started compiling the related data three years ago. It was also the fastest yearly gain.
Kansas City, MO | What is Kansas City’s best record store? We have almost too many great shops to choose. How does Kansas City rank as a vinyl town? Avid, long-time local vinyl collector and musician Jonathon Smith feels that, despite the closure of “cherished” stores like Recycled Sounds and The Music Exchange, the local vinyl market has “improved in the past 15 years.” Now, Smith doesn’t want the size of his collection published, but let’s just say the number of LPs, EPs, singles, 45s and CDs in his possession shows a real hardcore passion for music. It’s clear to Smith that Kansas Citians “continue to love music passionately.” Our city is in good company: According to Statista, 43.2 million vinyl records sold across the U.S. in 2023. That’s a far cry from the nearly 350 million records sold per year in the late ‘70s, and still just a fraction of total music revenues. But it shows that vinyl sales continue to be making a strong return.
Newcastle, UK | Massive Newcastle vinyl collection sells for more than £50,000: A retired university professor has sold his wide-ranging collection of 15,000 records. A retired university professor’s collection of 15,000 vinyl records spanning decades and a range of genres has sold at auction for £52,000. The Tyneside music devotee’s lifelong stock of records, many of them rare, featured in a 500-lot sale by Newcastle auctioneers Anderson & Garland. Almost half of the collection of LPs were still sealed and unopened. The collection included original pressings of rare reggae music, through 70’s punk, 80’s electronica, 90’s hip-hop, dub, techno and indie-rock, through to modern doom-metal, trip-hop, soul, folk, ambient, experimental and dubstep, industrial heavy metal, with many others in-between including classic rock, folk, funk and jazz. Highlights include limited edition box sets, including by Newcastle-based ambient band Zoviet France of a 17 LP box set restricted to 400 hand-numbered copies. It sold for £416 including fees.
UK | Nina Nesbitt releases new album ‘Mountain Music’ & starts record store tour: Nina Nesbitt’s career has been marked by incredible achievements, from surpassing a billion streams to earning praise from Taylor Swift and performing alongside icons like Coldplay and Stevie Nicks. Today, she reaches a new milestone with the release of her highly anticipated album ‘Mountain Music.’ Not only does it showcase a captivating new sound rooted in Americana and folk influences, but it’s also her first release under her newly founded independent label, Apple Tree Records. ‘Mountain Music’ was born out of a moment of reflection for Nesbitt, who realised that constant social media engagement was distracting her from her true passion—songwriting. Taking a step back, she reconnected with the music that first inspired her, resulting in a collection of deeply personal tracks. The album reflects her journey from growing up in a small Scottish village to her rise in the bustling London music scene, and now, a more tranquil life in the countryside.
Denver, CO | Record lovers: Huge vinyl show returns to Colorado this fall: When digital downloads and mp3s slowly began to spell the end of the widespread love of CDs, another “outdated” format made an unprecedented comeback and has been making waves in a big way ever since. Things like Record Store Day and the numerous Colorado brick-and-mortar record stores like Triple Play Records in Grand Junction, Angelo’s and Wax Trax in Denver, and many more, have secured not only vinyl’s comeback but its relevance and perceived longevity as well. While Record Store Day typically takes place around Thanksgiving and 4/20 each year, Colorado will see the return of a massive gathering for vinyl enthusiasts even sooner in the form of the Rocky Mountain Record Show. This year, the Rocky Mountain Record Show will take place over the weekend of Saturday, October 12, and Sunday, October 13 at the Sports Castle located at 1000 N. Broadway in Denver. The show will feature a wide array of vinyl vendors as well as food trucks, live DJ entertainment, a bar for attendees 21 years of age or older, multiple other vendors, and more.
Vernon, BC | Vinyl record enthusiasts gather for Vernon collector show: Record collector sale sat Elks Hall in Vernon on Oct. 5. The inaugural Vinyl in the Valley Collector Show is coming to Vernon on Oct. 5. More than 12,000 record albums, CDs and cassettes along with stereo equipment will be available. Collector show organizers John Gowland, from Kelowna, and Rob Scarfe, from Vernon, promise there will something for everyone from a music perspective – jazz, country, blues and rock. With the growing revival of playing music on vinyl in recent years, record shows like the one coming up in Vernon have proven to be the best place to acquire new and used albums at reasonable prices. Similar collector shows take place annually in Kelowna and Penticton. Scarfe thought it was time for Vernon to have a collector show of its own, which will attract record buyers from across the Okanagan Valley. The event will take place at the Elks Lodge, 3103 30th St., from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Admission is $3.
Neil Young celebrating 50th anniversary of ‘On The Beach’ with clear vinyl release: Neil Young is celebrating the 50th anniversary of his fifth studio album, On The Beach. The milestone will be marked with the release of a limited-edition clear vinyl pressing of the album, which will feature “50” on the front cover. Originally released in July 1974 following the huge success of 1972’s #1 album Harvest, On The Beach features Young backed by Crazy Horse members Billy Talbot on bass and Ralph Molina on drums. It also features contributions from The Band’s Levon Helm and Rick Danko, David Crosby and Graham Nash, and Ben Keith, Rusty Kershaw, Tim Drummond and George Whitsell. On The Beach 50th Anniversary Edition will be available at the Greedy Hand Store at Neil Young Archives, as well as at music retailers.
