Santa Ana, CA | Turning the Tables: Rising vinyl scene in Santa Ana: In this era of Soundcloud, Spotify and other digital streaming services, music has become more accessible and disposable than ever. One physical form of music remains prominent and growing in the industry. It is not cassettes and it’s definitely not CDs, but it does start with a crackle — vinyl. Vinyl sales are visibly growing, record sales are booming while other physical forms of music, like CDs, are plummeting. According to the Recording Industry Association of America’s (RIAA) 2019 mid-year report, vinyl is a $224 million industry, with a 12.9% increase in sales in just 2019 alone, making records more profitable than all other forms of physical music and even digital downloads. Streaming still accounts for 80% of music’s grand revenue, while physical forms of music render 9%, vinyl is still doing significantly well.
Edinburgh, UK | National Library of Scotland receives donation of over 10,000 records from life-long collector of Scottish music: A record collector based in the West Midlands, Mr Dean-Myatt amassed his collection of Scottish music over a 70-year period – he is now donating them to the nation. His special interest in 78s of Scottish music stemmed from the music played by his relatives in Scotland. His research resulted in his book, The Scottish Vernacular Discography 1888-1960. Any flat disc record, made between about 1898 and the late 1950s and playing at a speed around 78 revolutions per minute is called a “78” by collectors. Mr Dean-Myatt said: “I have always been bemused as to why Scotland did not have a sound archive that recorded the commercial vernacular music of Scotland, rather than high art music. “I want the collection to be heard and used by people to listen and learn about historic Scottish music…”
Concord Acquires Legendary Punk Label Victory Records: Growing indie powerhouse Concord continues to gobble up independent music labels with its acquisition of Victory Records, the Chicago-based punk and emo label founded by Tony Brummel in 1989. As part of the deal, Concord has also acquired Brummel’s Another Victory Publishing catalog too. Terms of the deal weren’t disclosed, but Billboard estimates that the Victory company had $4.5 million-$5 million a year in revenue and further estimates that Concord paid somewhere in the range of $27 million-$34 million for the Victory company. “Concord is a market leader across rock genres in both new releases and catalog,” Concord”s chief business development officer Steve Salm said in a statement. “Tony’s dedication to Victory and the development of talent within these rock genres of metal, emo and hardcore as a true independent operator is incredibly admirable and he’s made a very significant impact …”
The Beatles’ Abbey Road on course to return to Number 1 on its 50th anniversary: The Beatles are heading for Number 1 on this week’s Official Albums Chart. The Fab Four’s historic Abbey Road album is on course to return to the top spot 50 years after it first ruled the Official Chart in October 1969. During its original run, the album spent 17 weeks at Number 1, 11 of which were consecutive. Read our chart fact rundown on Abbey Road. As of today’s Official Chart Update, Abbey Road has a lead of 12,000 chart sales over last week’s chart-topper Why Me? Why Not. from Liam Gallagher (2). A newly released 50th anniversary edition of the album on CD and vinyl, featuring previously unheard material from the recording sessions, are driving its sales this week. Meanwhile, Lewis Capaldi’s former Number 1 album Divinely Uninspired to a Hellish Extent is climbing again this week following his recent BBC Radio 1 Live Lounge Symphony, currently back up four places to Number 3.
Robert Plant vinyl singles box set arrives in time for Christmas: Robert Plant is celebrating the second season of his hugely popular podcast, Digging Deep with Robert Plant, with the release of a very special limited edition 7’’ singles boxed set. DIGGING DEEP includes 16 A-sides and rare B-sides spanning three decades, remastered versions available on vinyl for the first time. The eight-disc collection also features restored artwork from the original 7’’ releases, packaged in a bespoke hardback book. DIGGING DEEP will be available worldwide via Plant’s own EsParanza label on Friday, December 13; pre-orders are available now. DIGGING DEEP collects two songs from each of Plant’s eight acclaimed solo albums, highlighted by 10 iconic tracks which reached the top 10 on Billboard’s Rock Songs chart, including the #1 classics, “Little By Little,” “Tall Cool One,” and “Hurting Kind.” The boxed set also includes a number of songs featured on Digging Deep with Robert Plant, including “Big Log” and “Tin Pan Valley,” both of which are discussed at length in the podcast’s second season.
