UK | HMV puts UK expansion on hold because of budget tax rises: Retailer had hoped to open more stores in Britain in coming year but will do so in Ireland and Belgium instead: HMV has put its UK expansion on hold and is to open stores in Ireland and Belgium instead, because of rising wage costs announced in last autumn’s budget that begin next month. Phil Halliday, the managing director of the entertainment retailer, said it had hoped to open up to 10 more stores in the UK in the coming year but had put that plan on hold as it was “peddling pretty hard” to maintain profits despite strong sales growth. Sales rose 6.5% to £189.6m in the year to 30 May 2024, as the group reopened its Oxford Street store in London and grew online sales amid a resurgence in traditional formats including vinyl and CDs, but pre-tax profit fell more than 6% to £4.9m amid rising costs led by higher wages, according to accounts filed at Companies House this week.
UK | The Vinyl Revival: Why John Lewis and WHSmith Are Selling Records Again. The UK music industry has recently witnessed an unexpected but favorable trend – a 20-year high in physical album sales. In digital streaming societies, traditional formats such as vinyl, CDs, and even cassettes are making a comeback. Major retailers such as John Lewis and WHSmith have responded by restoring the sale of vinyl records after being off the shelves for decades. In 2024, the UK saw a 1.4% growth in the sales of physical albums and this resulted in 17.4 million units being sold, the first increase in sales since 1994 (Official Charts Company, 2024). This growth was mainly due to a 9.1% rise in sales of vinyl which had been reignited and reached a 30-year high of 6.7 million units. Remarkably, only three out of the top 10 best-selling vinyl albums were old records, which means that new artists are equally as relevant to this trend as old-school artists (Official Charts Company, 2024).
Chicago, IL | Flipside Records Remembered: Flip Side owners Carl and Larry Rosenbaum had three choices they were considering at the beginning of their careers. “Hot dog stand, a dry cleaner, or a record store,” Larry confirms. “And fortunately, we chose record store.” That record store became an empire in Chicago (1970s—1990s), a string of stores throughout Chicagoland, soon to be accompanied by a concert promotion arm, Celebration/Flip Side. The two brothers, who had considered opening a dry cleaner, became major players in the rock and roll business. But it didn’t come without defeating some scary crosswinds. “Yeah, the mob came after us,” Larry says. “When you’re approached by a couple of thugs that tell you that they’re going to be partners in your concert business, and you have meetings after that. That indeed was terrifying.”
Reykjavík, IS | Watch Lúpína perform live in session for Best Fit in Smekkleysa records in Reykjavík: Ahead of her US shows this month at SXSW and New Colossus, we’re dropping a session filmed at the Sugarcubes-founded record store Smekkleysa during Iceland Airwaves last year with rising uber-talented Nína Solveig Andersen – better known as lúpina. Under the name Luípina, Oslo-based Andersen kicked off her solo career in 2022 after releasing two records with experimental folk trio Dymbrá. The 21-year-old half-Norwegian, half-Icelandic songwriter and producer wrote most of her 2023 debut album ringluð as part of a school project and followed up with her second album marglytta back in the autumn last year. The record blends complex layers of synths, soundscapes and captivating lyrics, fusing the electronic with a pop sensibility.
Toronto, CA | GTA vinyl pressing plant promises to eat tariff fees for U.S. customers: A vinyl record pressing plant west of Toronto is promising to eat the cost of tariffs for its American customers. Shawn Johnson, the president and CEO of Precision Record Pressing in Burlington, said in an statement on the company’s website this week that he is “committed to ensuring a seamless and cost-effective experience for our customers across North America. “We understand that recent tariff announcements may raise concerns, and we want to assure our U.S.-based customers that any tariffs imposed by the U.S. government on Canadian exports will be paid by and fully absorbed by PRP.” Johnson said customers across the border won’t be burdened with any additional charges, price increases, or hidden fees. “Our priority is to continue providing high-quality vinyl records and packaging solutions without disruption or added financial burden,” he said.
Salina, KS | The Wizard of Vinyl Is in Kansas: Chad Kassem is on a mission—saving listeners “from bad sound”—at the rural factory where he pores over LPs from some of music’s most important artists. Hydraulic machines whooshed in a sprawling Kansas factory as melted vinyl squeezed through molded stampers like pancake batter, turning out fresh new albums about once a minute. Workers inspected the grooves for imperfections, fed album jackets into a shrink-wrapper and stacked the finished products on tall dollies for shipping. Acoustic Sounds occupies a hodgepodge of squat industrial buildings in Salina, a city of about 50,000 near the geographic center of the 48 contiguous states, where grain elevators and a gigantic frozen pizza plant jut out from the flat plains landscape. Over the last 15 years, this unassuming complex has become a leading manufacturer of the music industry’s most surprising hot format: vinyl LPs.
Bang & Olufsen has given its iconic Beogram 4000 Series turntable a stylish rebirth—but good luck getting one! Bang & Olufsen has teamed up with iconic fashion house Saint Laurent to create a new spin on one of its most established turntables. Unveiled as an exclusive new release to mark the fifth collaboration between the two powerhouse brands, the Beogram 4000c Series Saint Laurent Rive Droit Edition reimagines the established Beogram 4000 Series spinner for a contemporary audience. The deck made its debut in the 1970s, with Bang & Olufsen describing the original belt-driven Beogram 4000 Series player as a “design classic”. For this reimagined and exclusive version, B&O and Saint Laurent have restored 10 original Beogram 4000C turntables and transformed them into new Beogram 4000c Rive Droit Edition decks, making for a modernised twist for collectors and connoisseurs alike.
Dwarves’ Sunshine, Lollipops & Rainbows LP for Record Store Day: Legendary punk band the Dwarves are set to release a long-awaited collector’s gem for Record Store Day 2025 (April 12)—an exclusive, limited edition picture disc of Sunshine, Lollipops & Rainbows, a never-before-released live studio recording from 1989. Limited to just 2500 copies, this release features newly mixed and mastered tracks, full color gatefold packaging, and an assortment of never-before-seen photographs from two of the most iconic photographers in punk rock history. The album captures the raw energy and chaos of the Dwarves at the height of their career during their Blood, Guts and Pussy era. Fans will enjoy dozens of never-before-seen images by Michael Lavine, the photographer responsible for the infamous Blood, Guts and Pussy album cover shoot, and live shots by Charles Peterson, who documented the band on stage during the same era.
Long Beach, CA | Recordkeeping of the heart: Why we love collecting physical forms of music: Pulso Plástico, 22West’s all vinyl radio show, hosts a night of spinning vinyl that emphasized to me the importance of physical media in music and the relationship we have to music we own. Record/vinyl collecting in recent years has become a trend that competes with streams as being Gen Z’s preferred way of consuming music. What exactly is attracting this surge in desire for physical media? Visiting my family means going through all my old CDs at home, reminiscing on the era of my life where I got the “Yearbook Edition” of the newest One Direction CD each year for Christmas or the Usher, Lauryn Hill and Cranberries CDs that were passed down to me from my mom when I got old enough to work the boombox we had on my own. Being gifted these CDs is not only something I look back on now as a privilege, but it was homework for little me to study these albums and develop my taste through them.
Washington, DC | Cocktails & Vinyl: Why Press Club is Washington DC’s Coolest New Bar: A record-themed lounge in the nation’s capital seduces with smooth sounds and cocktails. A brainchild of two extraordinary bar veterans Will Patton, the beverage director behind D.C.’s Michelin-starred duo, Bresca and Jônt, and Devin Kennedy, who shook up NYC’s hip Pouring Ribbons and the Panorama Room—the dreamy and relaxing Press Club is an intimate subterranean lounge located in the epicenter of the capital’s Dupont Circle neighborhood. This new record bar, similar to a “listening room,” the Tokyo-ignited trend that lately has infiltrated New York nightlife, features a considerable collection of vinyl records and well-curated mixes of vintage disco, jazz and Brazilian spins. Press Club worked with a consultant for its music program, but Kennedy is often found manning the vinyl station. Most days of the week are dedicated to a different genre, with the flexibility to change the track to meet the moment.
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