Paris, FR | Vinyl digs its new groove: …”The enthusiasm of the French for vinyl is undeniable, they are always more likely to buy”, said Tuesday Alexandre Lasch, director general of Snep during the presentation of the results of the French music market for 2019. Either 4.1 million groove cakes sold in 2019 compared to 3.9 million in 2018. In 2015, only 900,000 vinyl records had sold. Alban Lecourt, manager of the specialized store Ground Zero, in the 10th arrondissement of Paris, does not hide however that it is a “niche market, with few practitioners”. What Snep does not hide either: vinyl represents 20% of physical sales, still dominated by the CD. But the independent record store stresses that “almost all of the music offer is released on vinyl” now, which was no longer the case. “We did rock, indie rock, but there are also artists of variety who had abandoned this medium and are coming back to it.” Large brands also take care of the format. “The space dedicated to vinyl has also greatly expanded over time that the product has taken off year after year, “comments a spokesperson for Fnac interviewed by AFP.
Petaluma, CA | Vital Vinyl: Where to get your groove back. It’s early afternoon on a Tuesday and Kirk Heydt, proprietor of 2-year-old, Petaluma-based Spin Records (1020 Petaluma Blvd. N.), is gently placing a record needle to vinyl while he explains to a customer that, “in the beginning of this ballad by the Ohio Players, the drummer just breaks into a drum solo. In a ballad! You never hear that and it actually got airplay!” It’s the kind of infectious, in-person enthusiasm that all but disappeared with the advent of illegal music downloading, which rebranded to corporate “streaming services” which, for the most part, killed record (and video) stores while also managing to devalue the very thing corporations were trying to exploit for money: music. Yet record stores aren’t down for the count quite yet. “I make enough to stay here and where I am; there’s no foot traffic, so it’s a destination,” Heydt says. “I have really loyal customers who are into all the way-obscure stuff—some very ‘not cheap’ records—and they really keep me going. It seems like a lot of people are getting more into records, too, which is cool.”
The Rega System One is an easy all-in-one vinyl solution: The Rega System One will cost £999 for a turntable, amplifier, speakers and even cables. Rega quietly announced a smattering of interesting new products at the Bristol Hi-Fi Show over the weekend. Front and centre is a brand new record player system, comprising a turntable, amplifier and speakers: the Rega System One, yours for £999, and due “late spring”. The System One uses one product with which we’re very familiar, the Planar One turntable, and two new products, the io amplifier and a pair of Kyte speakers. The Rega io (£379, when bought separately, due March/April) is a new integrated amplifier complete with an MM phono stage, 30 watts per channel, two line inputs and a high-quality headphone socket. This is a new line for the company, though we do remember a high-end Rega io DAC. The Rega Kyte speakers (£429, when bought separately) are an update, in name at least, on a classic pair of Rega speakers, which date back longer than we care to remember. They’ve clearly had a thorough design overhaul and look very smart…
UK | The Big Moon announced as Record Store Day UK ambassadors for 2020: “Support your local record store!” The Big Moon have been announced as the UK’s Record Store Day ambassadors for 2020. The ‘Walking Like We Do’ band follow in the esteemed steps of Sir Elton John, Kate Tempest, Rag n Bone Man and The Mighty Boosh – who have all been ambassadors in the past. To celebrate their new role, the London group will record their own Record Store Day release live in front of an audience at London’s Metropolis Studios on March 5. It’s thought to be the first time that an artist will have recorded three tracks in one take with a live audience in the studio with them. Discussing the honour, The Big Moon’s Celia Archer said: “We’re so excited to be ambassadors for Record Store Day! “When I was a kid music was still a really tribal thing and if you were into alternative music the record store was a really important space to hang out and spend weekends browsing through things with mates, discovering whole new sounds and genres just because you liked the art work, picking up music magazines and finding out about gigs.
Red dead Redemption 2: Original Score coming to vinyl and CD in April. A one-time-only limited release of the Red dead Redemption 2: Original Score is coming to CD and vinyl in April. As a guy with a very modest vinyl collection who is quite proud of his turntable, I couldn’t be more excited about the news that the Red Dead Redemption 2: Original Score is coming to vinyl in the very near future. The Red Dead Redemption 2: Original Score will be coming to CD and vinyl as a one-time-only limited release on April 10, 2020. It will be available through the end of the year, but pre-order details have yet to be announced. For fans of the game like myself, this is the kind of good news you hope for. With nearly 300 hours between PS4 and PC, it’s safe to say this is one of my go-to games and will remain as such for years to come. Being able to step away from the game, relax in my living room with an adult beverage, and listen to the original score? Yeah, sign me up for that.
Frank Ocean to share new track via upcoming vinyl release: A special 7″ record is coming. Frank Ocean is set to share a new, unreleased track via an upcoming vinyl collection. The US singer-songwriter and producer, who is due to headline Coachella this April, unveiled an Arca remix of his Skepta collaboration ‘Little Demon’ back in November 2019. Upon its arrival, a pre-order for a special 7″ of the track also went live. However, a new email from Ocean’s Blonded.co website has now explained that the record will instead contain “a new, unreleased Frank Ocean song”. The message was sent out to fans who had pre-ordered the vinyl earlier today (February 25) and has since been shared across social media. It’s not yet been confirmed as to when the new song will be available to fans, but new music is likely to emerge ahead of Ocean’s Coachella headline performance. Back in December 2018, Ocean signed a new record deal with Warner Chappell Music. Earlier last year, he revealed that he’d become interested in “toying with [the] format” of how he’d release material in the future.
