Record Store Day: Why vinyl gimmicks alone won’t save local shops: …The event was created in 2007 with the aim of celebrating the culture, enthusiasts and community behind record shops, and to drive people into stores during those fallow spring months. To be clear: Record Store Day is also about making money, and as a retailer it’d be pretty disingenuous to make out like I hate the event. It’s the one time of year where people queue up outside our premises and manically shop with seemingly little to no regard to the impending total cost. So why, then, is there such a burgeoning rift between passionate music supporters like me, and this annual delivery of increasingly deranged fetish objects? The big problem with the vinyl resurgence is this bizarre effort to derail its legitimacy with gimmicky releases.
Full circle: Iko’s Music thrives again as millennials discover vinyl: Ten years ago, Paul Hamilton stoically prepared himself for the death of his dream. Compact disc sales, the bedrock of Iko’s Music Trade, a fixture in Springettsbury Township for decades, were vanishing as MP3s upended the music market. Digital music was taking the same toll on CDs that the shiny silver discs had taken on cassette tapes and Hamilton’s beloved records, which were relegated to a backroom at Iko’s. Then something unexpected happened. An ever-growing influx of customers began visiting his store on a quest for black vinyl, only to walk away empty-handed, never noticing the bins in the back. Much to Hamilton’s surprise, the majority weren’t nostalgic baby boomers. These were millennials, born into a digital world but now embracing an analog one.
Vinyl Records go on sale at Tannum Sands: Music lovers can purchase a piece of history this weekend, with a vinyl record sale being held at the Tannum Sands CWA Hall. Phil Brown has put together a collection of 4000 records over the past 46 years. Now he has decided to part ways with some of that collection – mostly albums of which he has multiple copies. The collection spans music from the 1960s, 70s and 80s. Mr Brown said his collection came from this period simply because it comprises the music he likes…The quality of sound from vinyl records also led Mr Brown to amass his collection. He still listens to many of his records. “There is so much more sound in vinyl than there is in CDs or MP3’s,” he said.
HMV on Above Bar Street in Southampton to close after 24 years: IT’S the legendary music shop which has welcomed some of the biggest names in music over the last two-and-a-half decades. Boomtown Rats frontman Sir Bob Geldof even cut the ribbon on Southampton’s HMV store on Above Bar Street when it opened in 1994. But the record shop is set to close, the Echo can reveal. Bosses at HMV say the move is “necessary” to secure the firm’s long term future. However, the company, which originally opened a Southampton store in the Bargate, could still keep a presence in the city. A spokesman for HMV said the chain was “actively looking” at relocating to a new store in Southampton.
Home Rule Records coming to Washington, DC’s Kennedy Street! Well this is awesome – thanks to Emily for passing on word of Home Rule Records: “Home Rule Records is a used vinyl record store located in Washington, DC specializing in quality used and rare records. We focus on jazz, soul and R&B records. Our goal is to share our love of jazz music and the history of jazz with our community. We have for sale: • Jazz (straight-ahead, spiritual, free-jazz, experimental, and private label). • Classic Hip-hop • Soul • R&B • Rock • Gospel • Reggae • World • Classical • Children’s • Comedy • Sealed Records”
Record store crawls are a thing and they’re taking over the US beginning next month: For beer lovers, bar crawls are a fun, adventurous way to try out new brews, patronize local businesses, and explore a city in a different kind of way. For vinyl-collecting audiophiles, there’s a similar activity taking over the US beginning next month. It’s dubbed simply Record Store Crawl, and like its beer counterpart, allows music diehards to frequent record stores in various American cities. The event, the third of its kind, officially kicks off on Record Store Day (April 21st) in both New York and Berlin. Other cities, such as Orlando, Seattle, Los Angeles, Nashville, and Chicago, will have their turn sometime between the months of May and October. A London date will be announced later this year.
Fleetwood Mac releasing alternate ‘Tango In The Night’ LP for Record Store Day: Fleetwood Mac will release Tango In The Night – Alternate for Record Store Day on April 21st. The LP, which was released as part of last year’s deluxe expanded version of the 1987 album, will be limited to 4000 copies on vinyl LP. Tango In The Night – Alternate features 13 unreleased tracks, including the alternate version of “Mystified,” a demo for the album’s title song, plus the rare b-sides: “Down Endless Street” and “Ricky.” Tango In The Night, which is the band’s second biggest selling album, spawned four hit singles “Little Lies” (#4), “Big Love” (#5), “Everywhere” (#14), and “Seven Wonders” (#19).
Record Tokens are coming back to UK independent record shops. The gift card-style initiative is making a return “to cater for a new generation of vinyl collectors. Record Tokens to redeem in independent record shops are making a comeback. A market that was worth millions in the 1990s, the Entertainment Retailers Association (ERA) have announced that the gift card-style initiative will make a return “to cater for a new generation of vinyl collectors.” Record Tokens will be available to purchase online or in-store from May, and can be cashed-in in participating independent record stores to be spent on vinyl, CDs and cassettes. ERA CEO, Kim Bayley said: “There has never been a better time to bring back record tokens and we predict they will be much coveted gifts this year for music fans of all ages. The unstoppable growth in vinyl sales and year on year increase in independent record shop openings show that the UK’s love affair with vinyl is here to stay.”
