Biloxi, MS | Report: Vinyl records outselling CDs for first time in 35 years: “…It’s really astounding to me, the rate of growth we have had in a comparatively short amount of time,” said Marley Roberts, owner of Marley’s Music in downtown Biloxi. “The growth of vinyl record sales is something that has taken several years to get to this point.” The last time vinyl records were this popular was 1987. “If you think back to the late 1980s to the 2000s, vinyl production was at an all time low,” said Roberts. “One of the main reasons I think that things have really exploded in the past few years is that newer artists would have a vinyl version of their current releases. People like Lady Gaga, Post Malone, Taylor Swift – these people that have very successful records would actually release records. So, the whole vinyl market was opened to all these people that weren’t in on it in the first place or maybe had been turned off it by CDs or streaming or anything.”
Pueblo, CO | Could it be the ‘end of an era’? Future of Pueblo’s Independent Records up in the air: Independent Records is up for sale and faces an uncertain future in Pueblo with the store set to either close its doors or be sold to a new owner. If the store is forced to close, it’d mark the end of an iconic record store that has served Pueblo for more than four decades and created countless memories for Pueblo music lovers. The image of hundreds of rock ‘n’ roll fans lining the street outside Independent Records is forever etched in many Puebloans’ minds. As far back as 1980, the record stores were the only places concertgoers could get tickets to many of their favorite artists’ shows, so Pueblo’s Independent Records was often hopping when new concerts were announced. Puebloan Lisa Brown is among those who recall the bustling scene at the record store. She shared that memory with the Chieftain after learning Independent Records might soon close its doors if a buyer cannot be found.
Seattle, WA | Hey Gen X, your Pike/Pine record store is now a Joybird furniture showroom for millennials: Pike/Pine has grown and put away its childish things. The old Everyday Music is now a furniture store. Joybird, a Toledo Pewter, Essence Ash, and Bentley Daisey-colored, online-focused furniture wing of La-Z-Boy, opened up last month in the 10th Ave space the music and record store exited in 2021. CHS reported a year ago on Joybird’s selection of Capitol Hill for its Seattle showroom and its plans for the 6,200-square-foot auto row-era commercial space on a 10th Ave that has continued to grow its retail offerings centered around its Elliott Bay Book Company core. The street has also been powered by new energy. In the summer of 2021, cosmetics and beauty retailer Glossier reignited its revival of global brick and mortar retail ambitions after a pandemic-forced hibernation with a new Capitol Hill store joining new stores in Los Angeles, London, and New York City.
AXS TV’s Vinyl Obsession Follows Members Of Styx, ZZ Top, N Sync And More Browsing Through Record Stores: There’s nothing quite like walking through a record store with money in your pocket and nowhere else to be. I could spend hours just wandering through the aisles, looking at album covers and deciding, re-evaluating, deciding, re-evaluating and deciding again what to buy. It’s a fantastic way to spend an afternoon, and I’m clearly not the only one who feels that way, as that’s the premise behind AXS TV’s new series Vinyl Obsession. Each episode of the debuting series will follow two famous faces from the music world who hit up a record store and pick out their own personal top five vinyl. But as most of us who love this sorta thing know, picking out records to buy is never as simple as walking over to a specific section, finding your album and then leaving. So, the show follows the celebrities as they hunt through the store and records them telling stories and reminiscing about various albums they love and/ or grew up listening to.
UK | BC Camplight announces instore/outstore tour of record shops For May 2023: The consummate songwriter is hitting the road to promote his new record The Last Rotation Of Earth. BC Camplight has announced an instore/outstore tour of record stores. Tickets for the tour are available now from all participating record stores. The tour comes in support of the American-born songwriter’s forthcoming album The Last Rotation Of Earth, set for release on Friday 12 May via Bella Union Records. BC Camplight, real name Brian Christinzio, describes the album as ‘a document created in the shadow of incredible darkness. One from which the creator hadn’t planned on escaping, and still doesn’t. Hence the title of the album. It is the result of an illness that I’ve battled my whole life. It isn’t something that the world has done to me. It’s the world I live in and it’s no one’s fault.’
Kenmore, NY | 90 minutes in Kenmore: Vinyl deep-dives, healthy shakes and craft cocktails: t’s been 10 years since the American Planning Association, through its “Great Spaces in America” program, named the Village of Kenmore one of the top 10 neighborhoods in America. But in the time since, Kenmore’s cultural and entertainment offerings have grown even more robust. The APA praised Kenmore for its “tree-lined streets and exceptional views of the Queen City’s skyline,” as well as the wide sidewalks lining both sides of its main thoroughfare, Delaware Avenue, which make the quaint village, in the APA’s view, “a pedestrian’s delight.” …I eased into my Kenmore afternoon with a stop at Apples & Oranges, an indie record store owned and operated by Buffalo guitarist George Puleo (Gamalon, The Need, The Damone Jackson Outcome). His store’s vibe will be familiar to serious record collectors. Vibrant colors, tapestries, posters of Jimi Hendrix and vinyl records cover the walls while incense burns and music plays at a healthy but considerate volume. Puleo is eager to discuss music with his patrons, too, and just as eager to throw record after record on the turntable and ask “Have you heard this yet? It’s awesome.”
MA | Editorial: LPs become next big thing once again: …To be sure, most folks listening to music today subscribe to some streaming service, with physical media making up only a fraction of the industry’s overall income. But still, the resurgence of vinyl has been something quite astonishing. And turntables are selling, too. Some of them for a song, but others at prices fit for a king. Because people need some way to play all those records, and some folks like only the finest things, no matter the price. There are some audiophiles who never bought into the CD craze, preferring the warmer, more natural sound of vinyl. Though they once seemed a small group of Luddites, their persistence has paid off. Mainstream stores such as Best Buy no longer stock compact discs, but many do carry vinyl records. Yes, in 2023.
