The Vinyl Industry Has a Trade Group — Introducing the Vinyl Alliance: After nearly 15 years of consecutive recovery, vinyl is becoming an industry again. The freshly-unwrapped trade group, which aims to cover all aspects of vinyl record mastering, manufacturing, hardware, software, distribution and retail, was just announced to Digital Music News this morning. The group, dubbed the ‘Vinyl Alliance,’ had their inaugural meeting at the Making Vinyl Conference at the W Hotel in Hollywood, a crowded pow-wow that attracted major and indie labels, worldwide manufacturers, mastering engineers, and a variety of technology players…Those are some pretty heavy-hitters, with GZ Media and MPO representing two of the largest pressing plants in Europe (if not the world). Ortofon and Pro-Ject are also well-established names on the hardware side, and Rebeat Innovation is the company behind the next-generation ‘HD Vinyl’ concept. The eleven founding members will pool their resources to collaborate in such activities as research, quality assurance, and marketing. The Vinyl Alliance expects to announce other members soon, which will include record companies, manufacturers, dealers and pressing plants.
Forbes: HMV Bucks The Trend With The Opening Of Europe’s Largest Record Store: Make no mistake, the good folk of Birmingham are a lucky lot. Earlier this year, they welcomed the world’s largest Primark store which opened in the city center, and now HMV are set to follow suit with the opening of Europe’s largest entertainment store. And for entertainment, read not just CDs but vinyl records. Now, for those reading this who are of the so-called Z persuasion, perhaps I should explain. Because, before iTunes and Spotify, records were once popular, very popular. They came in a circular design and were played on a record player, or for the audiophiles, a turntable. Oh—and whisper it—the sound quality was far better than the sanitized, digital sounds we are subjected to today. But despite this, music went online didn’t it? Today, and for many years, we’ve no longer bought physical, old fashioned analogue. Don’t know about you but I can’t be doing with pulling a record out of its sleeve, placing it on a turntable and then gently, very gently, lowering the stylus into place only to receive a symphony of snap, crackle and pop.
HK | Where to buy vinyl records in Hong Kong: We are huge fans of vinyl. There’s something about slipping a record out of its sleeve, feeling its grooves, and knowing you’re holding a little piece of history that is just so nostalgically romantic. Analog format music has really had a renaissance in the past decade, with many eschewing the streaming-led digital format and reverting back to an older age of tangible experiences. For lovers of analog, nothing sounds quite as clear and warm as it does on vinyl, digital revolution be damned! Some may scoff and write the whole thing off as yet another pretentious hipsterism, valid only for a moustachioed crowd who subsists solely on almond milk flat whites and kale crisps, but hey, consider all those thousands of records due to be carted off to the landfill. It’s mainly small establishments keeping this market afloat, and you know what they say about supporting your friendly local businesses and taking care of the environment! Here are our favourite spots to flip through crates of pre-loved tracks in hunting for vinyl records.
Lincoln, NE | Freedom Rock Records off to solid start after recent opening: Listening to music on vinyl records is a pastime that could seem out of date in the internet-driven world of 2019. Serving as the primary source of at-home music throughout the 20th century, vinyl saw a sharp decline in the 1980s with the advent of the compact disc. It was considered dead when the 2000s hit because mp3 players became all the rage. However, over the past decade, vinyl has seen a reemergence in the homes of both audiophiles and casual listeners. It’s a trend that doesn’t appear to be slowing down — Rolling Stone reports that, in 2019, vinyl records are on track to outsell CDs for the first time since 1986. Music fans seem to yearn for both the physicality and crisp sound of music on vinyl. This trend has resulted in a rebirth of record stores across the country. Here in Lincoln, there are now four record stores competing for business.
New York, NY | New York Hi-Fi bar Public Records opens record store: Brooklyn hi-fi bar Public Records has opened an in-house record shop. Known simply as The Store, the shop is based in the cafe area of the venue and officially opened two years ago. It’s being run by DJ Tal Silberstein who also owns the Tel Aviv-based record shop bvrly. It will stock a wide range of music including brand new releases by a number of labels that the venue has partnered with such as Incienso, RVNG Intl., Pacific Rhythm and Sound Metaphors. In addition to records, the shop will sell audio equipment, label merchandise and prints. It will be open at the venue between 10am and 7pm from Tuesdays to Sundays. Public Records originally opened in March of this year. Last month, New York record shop Halcyon opened a new location in Brooklyn. LCD Soundsystem’s James Murphy also opened a new cafe in the area called Daymoves over the summer.
