Reading, PA | Rock Music Menu: Final edition of Record Store Day 2020 takes place this weekend: Strange times call for inventive ideas. Such is the case with this year’s Record Store Day being spread out into three separate days over the course of as many months to encourage social distancing during the current coronavirus pandemic. Dubbed “Record Store Day Drops,” the third and final one takes place this Saturday at independent outlets. Like the inaugural edition in September and follow up last month, whether you hit up Creep Records in West Chester, The Rock Shop in Plymouth Meeting, Sit and Spin Records in South Philly or a dozen other regional locations who are participating, the event will vary between in-store shopping, curbside pickup or placing an order online and having it shipped out. The full list of local record stores taking part can be found at recordstoreday.com, along with a handy chart detailing the restrictions each spot will be instituting. All will require masks and ask customers to adhere to the CDC instructions to keep a minimum distance of six feet apart from one another. And for those who have gotten used to a vinyl-centric holiday each month, don’t fret; the Record Store Day sponsored Black Friday event is still scheduled for late November.
Sheffield, UK | Sheffield shop Spinning Discs is ready to welcome you for Record Store Day: This year has been tough for the music industry, but Martin Black, of Sheffield store Spinning Discs, is still upbeat about Saturday’s Record Store Day. This year, the event has been split into three new ‘drops’ of special releases on vinyl created exclusively for the initiative by companies such as Sheffield’s Breed Media, rather than the usual one, to maximise the support for independent record stores. There are now more than 200 independently-owned record stories in the UK and the music retail sector employs 11,688 people in the UK across physical and digital music sales, contributing £402 million to the economy. Martin actually pressed ahead during lockdown to increase the size of his business on Chesterfield Road, Meersbrook, relocating along the road from his original store. He says: “We opened in April 2015, then in the lockdown in March we were closed and we opened up here in June. We took the decision to move from a smaller place to a bigger place which helped with reopening. “We can do social distancing more easily in this space – it’s more than twice the size of the original one. I can get more selection in and more titles in.
Record Store Day 2020: the art of half-speed vinyl mastering: Miles Showell began his career in 1984, learning the art of disc cutting and tape copying. He joined Abbey Road Studios in 2013 and, as an expert in half-speed mastering, has remastered many of the world’s biggest artists, including The Who, The Beatles, Disclosure, Queen, Eric Clapton, The Rolling Stones and, recently, Brian Eno. When Showell wanted advice on getting half-speed vinyl mastering going again, he turned to Stan Ricker, the engineer who pretty much wrote the book on the craft. Ricker, for his part, was astounded that anyone would want to try it again. Cutting a disc at half speed not only takes twice as long, but requires a new method of working, with highly modified equipment. But, essentially, the non-stressing of any component in the process means half-speed mastering is the most accurate way to cut a record. And when we travelled to Abbey Road Studios to listen to Showell’s recent work, remastering four of Brian Eno’s solo records at half speed, we understood it was all worth his efforts. Here, he explains the whole process and how he helped it start again.
Wolverhampton, UK | Limited releases up for grabs on third Record Store Day of 2020: Limited edition records from a diverse collection of artists are up for grabs as part of a special records event. The third day of Record Store Day, a chance for independent record shops to celebrate their unique culture, will see music fans flock to Vinyl and Vintage in Wolverhampton in search of exclusive releases. Some of the releases tomorrow will come from artists such as the Rolling Stones, Thin Lizzy, Eminem, Menswear and David Gray, as well as soundtrack albums by the likes of Mark Knopfler and Frank Zappa. Record Store Day was split into three days in 2020 because of the coronavirus pandemic to try and help independent stores pull sales in, and Vinyl and Vintage owner Clare Howell said it had made the annual event feel very different. She said: “I can appreciate why they have decided to split it, but having it on one day is so much better because you get more of an atmosphere in the store. “In the circumstances, however, I’m just glad it was able to go ahead, although I do look forward to only having to do one order, rather than three, and get a decent crowd in.”
Norfolk, UK | Virus has vinyl stores in a spin – but owners prove they’ve survived worse: Record stores survived the greatly exaggerated ‘death of vinyl’ – but now these beloved independents face another existential crisis. Norfolk has always had a thriving music scene and much-loved record shops – many of which have been running for decades. But with the rise of streaming record stores were always in for a tough ride – with LP sales falling from 1.4m sold in the UK in 1995 to just 200,000 in 2007. Even then, these figures are vastly smaller than those of old – comparably when the Beatles released Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band it sold more than 250,000 copies in the UK in its first week of release in 1967. But vinyl is back in vogue. Entertainment Retailers Association research shows that August saw vinyl sales rise 3pc year-on-year. The Record Store in King’s Lynn never bowed to the pressure, with owner Tony Winfield only opening in 1996 when sales of vinyl were already plummeting and online music sharing site was Napster looming on the digital horizon. “Everyone thought I was mad when I opened a record shop. But decades on and I’m still here and we still have a loyal customer base,” he said.
UK | The story of Hassle Records, an indie label surviving a pandemic: It’s been a rough old year, that’s for sure, and independent music is in jeopardy as the industry reckons with coronavirus. James McMahon tells the tale of an imprint remaining above water. 2020 was supposed to be a year-long victory lap for the London-based Hassle Records, a celebration of 15 years of punk rock fury and hardcore skill; a 12-month birthday party for one of Britain’s most consistent and cool independent labels. It hasn’t been a year anything like what label co-boss Ian ‘Wez’ Westley envisioned that it might be. We’re sure you’ll know the reason why. “It’s been a very tough year,” says Wez, who founded the label with Nigel Adams in 2005. “Hassle still sells a lot of physical records. Retailers were shut for three months. Most of our acts are very active on the live side of things. There’s been nowhere for them to play. Some of our bands are really struggling. Their world has stopped. No touring. Fewer merch sales. It’s been tough to record as well with different restrictions in place across the world…”
Cincinnati, OH | Ten albums from 1980: The Year of The Post-Punk Debuts: I recently retrieved records from my Dads attic and was helped by my 15-year-old niece. She carried the boxes of singles to my car with a pondering look on her face, “what was the point of one song on a record?” she asked. Oh, how technology has changed not only how we purchase and listen to our music but how we receive it in the first place. You had to physically own the vinyl if you wanted to hear it, otherwise, it was a case of waiting for it come onto the radio—I mean imagine! Yes, I am of the generation who listened to the Chart Show on the radio on a Sunday night with fingers primed on the record button and shouting at the DJ if they spoke over the end of your favourite song. The single was, of course, a precursor to the album, which if bought you listened to all the way through, from start to finish. The success of Tim’s Twitter Listening Parties during lockdown demonstrate how music lovers have loved reconnecting with this way of listening to the album.
