Several Artists Push Back Release Dates Due to Coronavirus Uncertainty: HAIM, Jarvis Cocker, Hinds, Willie Nelson, and more reschedule their album releases for more certain time. The effects of the coronavirus on the music industry have generally led to more immediacy—albums have been surprise-released, demos have been pushed live, live streams have been a plenty—though this week things have shifted a bit in the opposite direction. Both yesterday and today we’ve been hearing news of artists pushing back the release dates for their forthcoming records so as not to coincide with the anxieties we’re all facing—and instead, ideally, to coincide with a tour. You know, like, with an audience in attendance. Among these anticipated releases are new records from HAIM, Jarvis Cocker, Kelly Lee Owens, Willie Nelson, Hinds, DMA’s, and Grey Daze, and the posthumous revitalization of Linkin Park’s Chester Bennington’s ’90s post-grunge band.
High profile coronavirus initiative #LoveRecordStores hits social media: The music community has rallied together to support independent record stores amidst this time of concern. Record stores have seen some uncertainty in the wake of COVID-19; Bristol-based Idle Hands issued a plea to music fans and the annual celebration of vinyl, Record Store Day, was forced to postpone this year. #LoveRecordStores is a new initiative supported by the likes of Paul Weller to help independent record stores through this time of uncertainty. More than just a hashtag, #LoveRecordStores is encouraging artists, companies and labels to coordinate new ideas and resources to support record stores using all forms of social media. Musicians, artists, actors and celebrities across the world are filming short video clips of themselves talking about their passion for record stores. This might be discussing topics like what independent record stores mean to them, what stores have helped them discover new music, and, most importantly, reasons why fans should continue to use them to get their vinyl fix.
Nederland, CO | Boogie Records Celebrates One Year Anniversary: Elisabeth Grove, Nederland. Boogie Records is celebrating its first anniversary with a month long, storewide sale. Everything in the store, including over 3,000 new and used vinyl records, turntables, and hundreds of CDs, will be 10% off the entire month of April. “My first year in business was better than I expected and I’ve met some incredibly interesting people this past year” says owner Ryan Blackwell. Blackwell continues, “with vinyl records now outselling CDs for the first time since 1986 and Record Store Day, a national “holiday” celebrating independent record stores, taking place on Saturday, April 18, now is the perfect time to get back into vinyl. It just sounds better.” Boogie Records is located in downtown Nederland at 34 E. 1st Street, #3. He is temporarily closed because of the COVID-19 virus. They hope to reopen soon. In the meantime, they are still able to take payments through email and/or over the phone and mail records via USPS.
Spokane, WA | The owner of Resurrection Records talks about the challenges of closing a storefront amidst a pandemic: t was only a couple weeks ago that Resurrection Records, the small vinyl shop on Northwest Boulevard, was packed all weekend, both with local customers and out-of-towners who were here for Tool’s nearly sold-out Arena show. Now the city’s musical landscape looks totally different. Music venues have closed and concerts have been canceled, and it’s possible that brick-and-mortar music stores could be next. Resurrection owner Mike House had planned on business continuing as usual, but now he’s wondering if he should close the doors completely. (On Monday, when Gov. Jay Inslee announced a stay-at-home order, that debate became moot.) “I’m kind of reconsidering what I should do,” he says. “I’ve been really careful about sanitizing every surface after someone leaves. I sanitize the whole counter and the pens I touch and the phone people use to sign for their credit card transactions.”
The 40 best albums to listen to while you’re self-isolating, from Madonna’s ‘Like a Prayer’ to Pink Floyd’s ‘Dark Side of the Moon’: When was the last time you listened to an old album from start to finish? With our ears set to shuffle since the death of the CD, only the vinyl fetishists seem to do it any more. Consequently we can end up believing we have solid opinions on records we may never have given our honest and sustained attention. I didn’t want to include Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon. Then I played it to my nine-year-old son, who doesn’t share any of my cultural baggage. Watching it blow his mind, I changed mine. So. This list is designed for anybody interested in extending their aural attention span and genuinely challenging their preconceptions. We’ve included classics and curveballs, because “to list” can also mean to tilt. Most of our personal favourites aren’t here, because we’ve tried to pick the records that broke new ground…
Niagara Falls, NY | Triumph still looking to the future: Canadian band reunited late last year for short set. …Late last year Triumph reissued its 1989 compilation titled “Classics” as a two-album set on silver vinyl, so that was our starting point. “It’s amazing how people have gravitated toward vinyl. I certainly understand it. You get a fatter sound on analog… It’s been interesting to see the resurgence, especially amongst young people,” Moore said. “We have a school that teaches music production and music business that has a vinyl record library of over 10,000 records.” Some of those records likely include early versions of albums whose master tapes were lost in the 2008 Universal fire that destroyed more than 100,000 masters of classic albums. Moore didn’t have to worry about Triumph’s master tapes. “Triumph was really lucky; we were on Universal for a long time, so all of our masters were kept at Metalworks.”
Coronavirus: Music Streaming Numbers Are Down: The Coronavirus pandemic is causing millions of people to quarantine and self isolate in their homes. You would assume since more people are spending time inside, they would be listening to more music. However, streaming music has decreased in the United States. According to analytics provider Alpha Data, NME says streams in the United States dropped 7.6 percent during the week of March 13 to March 19, which is around the time self-isolation became a national battle cry to combat the Coronavirus. Meanwhile, digital song sales dropped 10.7 percent, digital album sales fell by 12.4 percent, and physical album sales dropped to 27.6 percent. The physical album sales drop is not too surprising as many record stores shut down, and Amazon has put selling vinyl records on hiatus.
The 4 Best Apps to Record Your Vinyl Mix: The traditional art of vinyl DJing looked like it was in decline, what with the advent of the CDJ and various USB control interfaces. But in recent years, the vinyl format and vinyl DJing has seen a resurgence. Maybe you’re one of them! If you’re a bedroom DJ using vinyl, you likely want to get your sound out there… eventually. What apps should you be using to record your vinyl mixes? Here are the best Windows and macOS apps for committing your mix to a recording.
