Vinyl Album Sales Hit Historic High in U.S. After Black Friday 2020: Record Store Day Black Friday festivities help vinyl album sales to best week ever in Nielsen Music/MRC Data era (1991-present). Shopping and promotions on Black Friday (Nov. 27) helped push vinyl album sales to a historic high in the U.S., according to Nielsen Music/MRC Data. In the week of Nov. 27-Dec. 3, 1.253 million vinyl albums were sold (up 56%) — the largest sales week for the format since Nielsen Music/MRC Data began electronically tracking music sales in 1991. It’s only the second time that weekly vinyl album sales surpassed 1 million in the Nielsen Music/MRC Data era. The last time it happened was just under a year ago, when 1.243 million were sold in the week ending Dec. 26, 2019. Bolstering the robust sales week was Record Store Day Black Friday festivities at independent record stores, as indie physical store sales accounted for 542,000 vinyl LPs sold in the week ending Dec. 3 (up 135%). That’s the second-largest week ever for indie store vinyl album sales — runner-up only to Record Store Day 2019’s week (673,000; week ending April 11, 2019). Record Store Day Black Friday traditionally sees the release of an array of limited-edition and exclusive vinyl albums, which assist in driving big sales numbers.
Brisbane, AU | Vinnies Dive Bar expands, opening Vinnies Record Store on the Gold Coast: Launched last night when The Chats headlined their Feedback Festival appearance, Gold Coast venue Vinnies Dive Bar have expanded to offer a 100 per cent independent record store. Situated at the back of the venue, Vinnies Record Store will offer a selection of local, national and international records with punk, rock and hardcore vinyl set to be the store’s bread and butter. “There just aren’t that many record stores left operating along the Coast anymore,” venue manager Glenn Stewart says. “You can still go to JB Hi-Fi and pick up the latest LP releases, but for someone that’s after something a bit more niche, that can be harder to find nowadays. We want to help change that.” Like most great ideas, the initial seed of opening a record store came about by chance. “The record store idea started by me ordering a Private Function record from Disdain Records – who is a mate of mine down in Melbourne,” Glenn says. “He asked if I’d take a few and just sell them at Vinnies, which gave me the idea of the store!”
Staunton, VA | Staunton record store continues to rebuild after flood: Eccohollow Art + Sound was one of the many businesses in Staunton hit by this summer’s flooding. Four months ago — on August 8th — the city of Staunton experienced major flash flooding with several inches of rain falling in just over an hour. Eccohollow Art + Sound, a recording studio in the Queen City, was badly damaged and staff are working toward being fully open to the public. “Got the call from the alarm company in the middle of the night and came out here to find my shop under 3 or 4 feet of water,” store owner, Wavley Groves, said as he reflected on that summer evening. After lots of clean up and help from the community, Eccohollow is thankful to have part of the shop up and running. “I’m so happy to see people and they’re in here getting records and talking about music and that’s really the whole reason we’re here,” Groves said. The front of the store is open for records and repairs, but the recording studio is still in the works and parts of the store are still being dried out. “A lot of it is being salvaged, it’s not as bad. Some of it is going to be uglier than when it came in,” Groves said.
Emma Swift: In a world where digital is king, I released an album on my own label and sold it as a physical-only product: At the beginning of the pandemic, like many musicians all over the world, I lost my job. One minute I was on a tour of the United States, with about 100 shows scheduled for the rest of the year, and the next I was twiddling my thumbs back in Nashville, watching my savings evaporate. With no chance of support from the government and no fallback plan in place, I made a decision that at once seemed logical and also just a little bit crazy: I would release an album on my own label and sell it as a physical only product. Why do this? When everyone streams these days? For the pure and simple reason that most people in the music industry know but few want to admit: for most artists streaming is nothing more than a marketing tool. Unless you are one of the lucky few generating millions of streams, the income generated from these platforms barely covers the cost of making a record, let alone allows for the artist to pay their living expenses. And so began my campaign to release Blonde on the Tracks as though it were 1992. The album would be sold on vinyl, compact disc and cassette.
Russ Andrews offers new accessories for vinyl users: Russ Andrews is expanding its range of accessories for vinyl with the launch of two new cleaning brushes designed to keep records and styli in top condition for the best possible performance – a Christmas gift for vinyl enthusiasts? The Groove Cleaner Brush features ultra-fine high-density bristles to get right into the grooves and remove the unwanted dust and hairs from a record. The 50-micron nylon bristles are thinner than a human hair and chemically inert, making them suitable for use with record cleaning fluids for even better results. The second new product is the Stylus Super Clean brush, which uses extremely densely packed bristles to offer gentle stylus cleaning without creating static that can attract more dust. The nylon brush can be used dry but is more effective when partnered with the Russ Andrews TipTonic stylus cleaning fluid. TipTonic is a specially blended solution that is a good approach for gently removing the hard, baked-on deposits that accumulate on the tip of the stylus. Used regularly it can help restore the sound and prolongs the life of both the stylus and records.
Led Zeppelin: ‘Vinyl: The Essential Collection By Ross Halfin’ Book Due In April: Led Zeppelin released only eight studio albums and no singles over the course of its 12-year career, but to date there are more than 1,000 singles and 2,000 LPs in the market. This definitive volume illustrates in full color some of the rarest and most interesting vinyl releases, including one-of-a-kind rarities, bizarre regional variations, official albums and historic recordings of legendary concerts, sometimes featuring handmade artwork or colored vinyl. All the vinyl, labels and covers have been documented by photographer Ross Halfin in superb detail and are annotated with details of their release. A labour of love, “Led Zeppelin Vinyl” is a must-have for fans of the group as well as for any vinyl enthusiast. Halfin is one of the best-known photographers in the world and has been working in the music industry since 1976. He has a record collection almost as extensive as his photo archive. Ross said: “Collecting vinyl is an addiction. Nothing beats listening to vinyl and pouring over the cover art and inner sleeve. The first album that I ever bought was ‘Led Zeppelin II’ when I was 13. I have at least 40 different versions of it now.”
