Shocker: A lot of LP buyers never listen to their LPs. What’s up with that? The LP sales surge continues year after year, and Amazon’s turntable numbers are ramping up, so I was taken aback by stories of new LP buyers not listening to their new tunes. According to the BBC, nearly half of LPs sold aren’t listened to! That number seems absurdly high, but even if the actual percentage is lower, it’s still disconcerting. I’ve heard some new-to-vinyl buyers don’t even own a turntable, but I’m hoping one might be in their future.
Liquid Filled Vinyl Records Exist, and Some of Them Are Super Gross: Vinyl nerds love limited editions, and one of the rarest subsets of gimmick records are the liquid-filled variety. You read that right—liquid-filled vinyl. The concept isn’t all that new, and was first (abortively) attempted by Disney in the ’70s, but it’s only become popular and viable in more recent years.
A record year, Newburyport music store celebrates its 40th anniversary: The year was 1976. Boston’s debut album was soaring on the charts, and Peter Frampton had just become “Alive.” And Richard Osborne first opened the doors to Dyno Records in downtown Newburyport. Today, Osborne is celebrating his 40th anniversary of selling records, CDs, musical instruments, turntables and other musical things from his Middle Street store. He is also looking forward to more years doing what he loves doing — even though it’s hard for him to pinpoint what has kept him in business for so long. “I don’t know, I must be doing something right,” Osborne said.
Lottery millionaire opens record store: A Cambridge man who scooped £148million on the Euromillions lottery has opened a record store in his home town. Adrian Bayford, 45, and his then wife won the prize in 2012 and the rock fan has used some of his cash to launch Black Barn Records in Cambridge’s Burleigh Street. As well as vinyl, the store sells rock and pop memorabilia and aims to offer customers an alternative to online shopping.
Star Wars fans, check out this BB-8 picture disc: Two tracks from the 2015 blockbuster Star Wars: The Force Awakens are now available as a die-cut picture disc of adorable newbie droid BB-8. The tracks are: ‘March of the Resistance’ and ‘Rey’s Theme’. First showcased at WonderCon in March, the BB-8 record is now available from Disney Music Emporium. It’s limited to 1,500 copies with the individual number stamped on the packaging. $34.98 each.
