German recorded-music revenues fell slightly in 2018: In lots of countries around the world, the recorded-music industry has bounced back to growth. Last week, for example, the RIAA announced that US revenues grew by 12% in 2018. In the UK, the growth last year was 8.9% according to the BPI and ERA. The story in these countries is that the growth in record labels’ revenues from streaming – and particularly streaming subscriptions – is more than making up for the continued sharp decline in sales of CDs and downloads. What about countries where CDs are still the main source of revenues for labels? It’s not quite as rosy a picture, as figures published this morning by German industry body BVMI show. Revenues in Germany from CDs, downloads, vinyl and streaming fell by 0.4% in 2018 to €1.58bn. The message from BVMI is that this isn’t necessarily bad news, though, as the German market reorients itself around streaming.
San Francisco, CA | Old Time San Francisco Record Store to Close: When you step into 101 Music in San Francisco’s North Beach, it’s as if time peeked in the door and bolted the other direction. Stacked everywhere are a cacophony of vintage stereo equipment, 8-track tapes and old guitars. Make your way through the warren of vintage hi-fis, down the stairs into the basement and you’ll encounter 50,000 records divided into categories, but otherwise not in any particular order. “It’s a little overwhelming for a lot of people,” admitted store manager Christian Jung. But these days, the banner above the front door of the Green Street shop’s iconic crumpled sousaphone breaks the bad news for record collectors who’ve made pilgrimages to this funky neighborhood shop for the last 24 years — “Store Closing; Everything Must Be Sold.”
Brighton, UK | Sister Sledge to headline Crate Diggers music festival and record fair: Sister Sledge will close Crate Diggers, which comes to the Brighton Centre on Saturday, May 11. The American girl group, who rose to fame in the Seventies with hits such as We Are Family and He’s The Greatest Dancer, have continued to perform across the world…Alongside the music festival, a record fair will take over the Brighton Centre on the same day. Record sellers from Sussex and beyond will be in attendance, along with collectors and general vinyl fans. There will be more than 100 tables of LPs to look through, with all kinds of genres represented. The entire event is sponsored by Discogs, which claims to be the third largest online music website after YouTube and Spotify and the biggest seller of vinyl in the world.
Manawatū, NZ | Palmerston North’s Black Plates record fair spins up once again: Music enthusiasts from around the country are heading to Manawatū to make new discoveries and expand their collections at a Palmerston North vinyl record fair. The Black Plates record fair is returning for its sixth instalment at Brewers Apprentice on Saturday. Organiser and DJ Matt Davies, aka Mr Dirty Hairy, created the event four years ago to give Manawatū vinyl enthusiasts a chance to meet and trade for rare records, or simply round out their collections. Collectors and dealers from around the country are coming to town for the fair – including Brian Wafer, who is responsible for organising 90 per cent of New Zealand’s record fairs and swap-meets, Davies said. The fair grew out of Davies’ passion for vinyl, which he picked up along with a broad and eclectic taste in music from his audiophile parents growing up in England…
Sheffield, UK | The Vinyl Revival: Record Collector Sheffield book extract: Barry Everard is the music man of Sheffield, responsible for giving many bands a helping hand in the early days of their fledgling careers. Def Leppard, ABC, Human League, Pulp, Richard Hawley, Comsat Angels and Gomez are just some of them. Music suggested by Barry was used in Sheffield’s most famous film, The Full Monty. Barry has had his ups and downs over the last few years. He has found it increasingly difficult to make a reasonable profit, and many times, has felt it is time to call it a day. Then he gets a regular customer coming up, giving him a big hug, saying how much he loves the shop and making him promise never to close it. Moments like that have persuaded him to carry on serving the good people of Sheffield.
Cleveland International Records Relaunching: Forty-two years after Meat Loaf’s epic, multi-platinum global smash Bat Out of Hell put Cleveland International Records in our collective musical consciousness, the legendary indie label is back in business and re-launching with a CD and LP re-release of its mid-90’s all-star compilation on April 5th called Cleveland Rocks, the first time ever digital releases of up to 15 of its catalog albums, and a mission to start signing and championing artists. The third incarnation of the label that gave us everyone from Ronnie Spector & The E Street Band to Meat Loaf to America’s Polka king Frank Yankovic is being guided by Steve Popovich, Jr. a veteran satellite radio and industry executive whose father, the late famed record industry exec Steve Popovich, founded the label in the mid-70s. Prior to launching Cleveland International, the elder Popovich rose through the ranks at CBS Records, becoming their youngest ever VP of Promotion and later VP of A&R.
