CD Sales Are Not Dying, But They Are Heading Towards Niche Status Like Vinyl: Analysis: …Some publications, including Rolling Stone and a story in Billboard, noted that the CD decline was much larger than the decline in digital download albums, which, according to the RIAA, dropped 26.4 percent both on a unit basis (35.8 million last year to 26.3 million this year) and dollar amount ($360.4 million last year to $265.2 million this year). The key word missing from the first sentence of this story, though, is shipments. The RIAA counts shipments, not sales — and that’s where the observation that the CD is declining faster than downloads falls short of being entirely accurate. A look at actual sales from Nielsen Music tells a different story.
Singapore | White Label merges vinyl music and cocktails: Singaporean music enthusiasts Kurt Loy and Darren Tan have celebrated the renaissance of vinyl records with a bar in a new venture on Ann Siang Road. White Label is a bar and record store in a single space where the duo hope to enthuse a new generation to share their passion for vinyl. Their last venture was record marketplace app #vinyloftheday. “We are very happy to be working with Analog Vault to present to Singapore’s music community and music lovers our labour of love,” said Tan at a media preview. “We aim to provide a unique and all-encompassing experience in music where you can have a drink, discover and buy new music, enjoy live performances and DJ sets.” Loy and Tan hope White Label will become more than a bar, becoming a community space to showcase underground culture and alternative music.
Vinyl Record Sales Expected to Surpass 10 Million Units In 2018 — And That’s Conservative: The latest bullish data is coming from BuzzAngle, whose cofounder Chris Muratore divulged a range of vinyl stats at the Making Vinyl conference in Detroit earlier today. The conference, now in its second year, is yet another green shoot in this once-flatlined business sector. In a morning session, Muratore offered a range of data related to vinyl, specifically for the US market. And by the end of the presentation and associated Q&A, it became apparent that Muratore’s data was pretty conservative — and purposefully so. For starters, BuzzAngle is only counting substantiated point-of-sale (POS) transactions. That includes a range of indie retailers, online accounts, and other reporting outlets. But Muratore was careful to note that not everyone is reporting to BuzzAngle, which means this number is probably lower than what’s actually going on.
Five-Disc Vinyl Edition of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s ‘Unmasked: The Platinum Collection’ Now Available: The new vinyl edition has been half-speed mastered at Abbey Road and includes a detailed 20-page booklet. Following the success of Unmasked: The Platinum Collection, which reached the No. 1 spot in the UK Compilations Chart, Andrew Lloyd Webber continues his 70th birthday celebrations with release of the collection as a five-disc box set, which was released on 28 September…The Orchestral Suites proved such a highlight of the 4CD version of Unmasked: The Platinum Collection that Lloyd Webber requested a special selection of them were gathered together for the exclusive fifth record of the vinyl box set. This will be the first time many of the tracks have ever been released on LP.
Craft Brewing and Distilling News for October 1, 2018: Dogfish Head is set to launch The Best Ever Dark Munich Beer Out of Milton, a new brewery-exclusive release, on October 6. The 5%-abv beer is brewed with Munich, Chilean black, and red rye crystal malt, before roasted corn meal and Abruzzi rye are added. The beer is named for the Mountain Goats song, “The Best Ever Death Metal Band Out of Denton,” and each bottle comes with a two-song vinyl record by Dogfish Head’s Sam Calagione and Bryan Selders. Only 200 bottles of the beer will be available at Dogfish Head’s brewery in Milton, Delaware for $20 a 750-ml.
