UK | Love Record Stores event delivers £1 million boost to music retail: The Love Record Stores event delivered a big boost to music retailers, according to figures release by campaign organisers. The event was a day of online shopping for vinyl exclusives at indie retailers and HMV, with a range of strictly limited-edition releases being made available to music fans. Love Record Stores ambassador Tim Burgess was a Music Week cover star this month, alongside interviews with organisers. The aim of the initiative was to provide participating stores with a significant spike in custom and revenues in the absence of Record Store Day, which has been postponed until later this year. Alongside the retail activity the event was supported by a virtual in-store, with performances by a number of artists and exclusive DJs sets broadcast throughout the day.
UK | Who Needs RSD? British Music Retailers Surpass £1m In One-Day Sales: Though the first of three planned Record Store Day 2020 legs won’t arrive for two months yet, UK-based music retailers enjoyed more than $1.24 million (£1 million) in one-day sales on Saturday, June 20th. The substantial sum derived from the Love Record Stores event, during which fans were encouraged to purchase limited-edition (and vinyl-exclusive) albums from their favorite British music retailers. Importantly, June 20th was the original date of Record Store Day 2020, which organizers have now split into three weekends (across August, September, and October). As part of the Love Record Stores initiative, labels and artists (including Elton John, Tom Walker, and The Rolling Stones, among others) shipped approximately 50,000 vinyl units, encompassing 83 new and reissued records, to retailers ahead of 6/20.
Grass Valley, CA | Clock Tower Records up for sale: After almost nine years of owning Clock Tower Records in downtown Grass Valley, Curt Smith is putting the business up for sale. He said he’s making the decision not because of COVID-19 or the subsequent orders stemming from the pandemic, but, rather, because of his current health condition, and because he wants to spend more time with family. Smith said he got into the record business because he enjoys listening to entire albums, and interacting with others about their musical interests. “When you pick (an album) up, you actually listen to the whole record,” he said, adding that many great songs from albums were never played on the radio, meaning music lovers may have otherwise missed out on a certain song if not for records. In addition to his store, Smith sells his inventory online. He noted that for decades records have been growing in popularity and in 2019, for the first time since the early 1980s, records were on track to actually outsell CDs.
US | 19 awesome Black-owned record stores: Racism, racial inequality, and racial injustice have plagued America for centuries, but long overdue conversations on these topics have been happening on a major, mainstream level ever since the murder of George Floyd at the hands of police led to nationwide protests, all of which happened during a worldwide pandemic that especially impacts black and brown communities. Because of this, we’ve seen a recent increase in activism, fundraisers, and the promotion of art/literature that benefit the fight for racial justice. Even beyond that, there are more ways to get involved, including directly uplifting and supporting Black people (those you know and those you don’t) in regard to their ideas and their endeavors, in your everyday life. One of the most direct and sustainable ways to support the Black community is to shop at and support Black-owned businesses as often as possible, especially now that the pandemic has taken its toll on small, independent businesses in general. …We’ve compiled a list of 19 Black-owned record stores all across the US.
12 record shops unite on 24-hour Move The Record streaming event: Vinyl outlets in Europe, the US and South America will participate in the event on July 3rd and 4th. 12 record shops from around the world will take part in a two-day, 24-hour streaming event called Move The Record. The two 12-hour broadcasts will take place on July 3rd and 4th, with DJs like Bradley Zero, Steffi, Prins Thomas and Fred P playing sets. There will be a discounts in place at all the shops for 48 hours, with a sweepstake competition offering prizes including vinyl, hardware, studio sessions, production courses and merchandise. All of the proceeds will be distributed among the participating record shops. “We all—artists, clubs, labels, distribution, pressing plants—are facing uncertain times as a direct result of the Covid crisis,” said Dana Ruh, who will DJ from Berlin’s KMA60, which she runs with Jamie Fry. “Our industry is all connected, and many people have already lost their jobs. Clubs are closed; performing artists have lost their primary source of income; record stores—our cultural hubs of community and discovery—are struggling to stay afloat. So on July 3rd and 4th, myself and 11 other stores around the world will come together to support one another. It’s all connected. We are all connected.”
