Dallas, TX | Physical Music Media Sales Are Up Because the Magic Clouds That Deliver Songs Sucks: The millennial generation is starting to reach the age when we sound like grandparents who tell the little ones stories about what life was like in “the before time … in the long, long ago.” Of course, our stories are a little different. Our “five miles to school in the snow with no shoes” tales are more like, “If you wanted to listen to a song, you had to fast forward to it” or “If the CD had the tiniest scratch on it, you’d have to scrub it out with toothpaste or go the record store and buy another copy.” This might be words of an old man rising on the inside, but in many ways those times in the ’80s, ’90s and “naughties” were better compared with our digital age of media convenience. Holding a physical album or movie in your hand and storing it on an actual shelf really made the ol’ days actually good. Don’t be so quick to shout, “OK, boomer.” For starters, I’m not a boomer, and I have the delinquent student loan to prove it. Also, the data on the sales of physical media media show the market is favoring the archaic ancestors of modern streaming services.
Newport, UK | Second-hand record store opens in Newport: A new record store has opened in Newport, with thousands of second-hand singles and albums on offer. Retro Record Shop, in Corporation Road, is a new collaboration between Gwent Radio founder Sean Rafferty and veteran record seller Andrew Young, who for two decades has traded at Abergavenny Market. The store sells records from the 1950s to the present day, across a wide range of genres. There are also thousands of CDs for music lovers to choose from. The new venture comes as people of all ages take a renewed interest in vinyl records. The medium all but died out with the advent of CDs and, later, digital downloads – but 2021 saw vinyl sales grow to their highest level in three decades. “People moved away from vinyl because they thought CDs would be the future,” Mr Rafferty said. “But the thing with a vinyl record is that it’s personal.
24 Hours of Record Browsing and Ranch Dressing With Dylan Minnette: “The day Wallows went skating on Vogue is the day they were never cool again,” intones Dylan Minnette as he and his band make their way gracefully around an indoor rink. We beg to differ, but okay. The 25-year-old actor and musician doesn’t keep to a strict morning routine, but he’s fond of a morning smoothie—blueberries, frozen banana, spinach, some sort of milk—as he introduces his girlfriend Lydia, whom he met at a music festival. (True romance!) After breakfast, it’s time to hit the new location of Amoeba Records, which Minnette describes as “the most iconic record store in Los Angeles.” There, Minnette browses everything from the Talking Heads to the Strokes, explaining how they inspired his own music with his alternative rock band Wallows (which just so happen to stock two of their CDs at Amoeba.)
Chico, CA | Gold City Vintage caters to those with nostalgia: Gold City Vintage store owner Kyle Hayes features merchandise that mostly caters to those who yearn for a simpler time. Hayes said his pop culture merchandise “takes you back in time” and provides nostalgia for people who grew up in the 1980s and 1990s. Some of those nostalgic items are vintage movie posters such as a “The Shawshank Redemption” poster and Wheaties cereal boxes from the 1980s. One of the Wheaties boxes features Olympic gymnast Mary Lou Retton. A friend of Hayes who is the leasing manager of Ethan Conrad Properties reached out to him about opening a second location in the Chico Marketplace. He said they talked and worked out a deal to bring the shop to Chico. “It’s been a blessing,” Hayes said.
Denver, CO | Rocky Mountain Record Show: Rocky Mountain Record Show Is where you can find all the great music you need to add to the soundtrack of your life. A music collector’s daydream come to life, RMRS serves the greater Denver music loving community by bringing together top vinyl sellers from all over to offer their goods. We are focused on vinyl but don’t worry there will be other recorded media on offer, as well as some amazing poster artists. To round out the day we will be bringing out some vinyl-only DJ’s to provide some tunes, and some food trucks to provide some nourishment for the all-day digfest.
