Vinyl sales increase by 108% on first half of 2021: On-demand audio streaming is also up 15%. 19.2 million vinyl albums were sold in the US in the first six months of 2021, a 108% increase on the same period of last year. The figure is significantly higher than the 9.2 million vinyl LPs that were sold in the first six months of 2020, and part of an ongoing trend that has seen vinyl make a huge resurgence in recent years. Vinyl album sales also just outedged the sale of CD albums, which sat at 18.9 million for the first six months of 2021, according to MRC Data, an analytics firm that specialises in collecting data from the entertainment and music industries. It follows on from vinyl surpassing the annual revenue of CDs in the US last year for the first time in 34 years, which was the first time that had happened in 34 years. The increase in music consumption isn’t just limited to physical sales, with audio streaming up by 15% in the first half of this year.
Penfolds Designs Rare Record Player To Mark Anniversary of Grange Wine: Only seven of them have been produced globally. Australian winery Penfolds has created a limited-edition record player in celebration of the upcoming 70th anniversary of their flagship wine, Grange. Each record player is individually hand-crafted by Symbol Audio, with only seven pieces produced globally. The record player takes on the classic “all in one” console design from the 1950s, the same decade in which Penfolds’ pioneer Max Schubert made the first vintage of Grange while experimenting with wine-making techniques he observed in Bordeaux. In addition to featuring luxury accessories from Riedel, Chateau Laguiole and Monopole, including a hand-blown glass decanter, the record player comes with a hidden wine compartment that houses two rare investment ‘White Capsule’ Grange magnums from 2010 and 2017, intended to be aged and consumed no earlier than around 2030. The record player’s cabinet design also reserves room for storing eight wine glasses and a vinyl record collection, backlit by automatic interior lighting.
Seventies Cameroonian Afrofunk collected on new Analog Africa compilation: Recorded in a DIY church studio on a single microphone. Analog Africa is releasing a new compilation, titled Cameroon Garage Funk, this September. During the 1970s Yaoundé — the capital of Cameroon — suffered from a serious lack of established recording studios. With artists unable to afford to book through the national broadcasting company, many turned to alternative spaces. Seizing on this opportunity, church engineer Monsieur Awono began to organise recording sessions in a church, with artists often only having an hour or two to record, and only access to a single microphone. Cameroon Garage Funk compiles a selection of tracks recorded in this manner, offering insight into the underground sounds of ’70s Yaoundé. It follows the label’s compilation of eighties Edo funk, titled Edo Funk Explosion Vol.1. Pre-order Cameroon Garage Funk here in advance of its 3rd September release,
Smashing Pumpkins announce new vinyl release, ‘Live At The Viper Room 1998.’ The band’s second archival release comes from a Billy Corgan acoustic set. Smashing Pumpkins have announced the release of a new vinyl, ‘Live At The Viper Room 1998’, available to pre-order next week. The band’s second archival release was recorded at The Viper Room in West Hollywood, California, on January 15, 1998. The 13-song set saw Corgan perform Smashing Pumpkins songs in acoustic form. “The thing you hear in the Viper Room show is you’re really sort of being allowed into the studio where the songs don’t have the accouterment of all the bells and whistles,” Corgan said in an Instagram clip announcing the vinyl. “There’s a certain innocence before songs are released to the world.” ‘Live At The Viper Room 1998’ will be available to pre-order exclusively through Madame ZuZu’s site (Corgan’s plant-based tea shop) on July 31.
Röyksopp Melody A.M. vinyl sells for $8,450 on Discogs: The limited release version features a cover by Banksy, with only 100 pressings in existence. A vinyl copy of Röyksopp’s seminal album, ‘Melody A.M.’, has sold for $8,450 on Discogs. Only 100 copies exist of the limited release version, which features cover art by Banksy and has consistently topped the official Discogs list of most expensive records bought on the marketplace, with a previous pressing bringing in $11,000, one of the most expensive purchases ever made on the platform. The album is the only electronic title to appear in the latest Top 30, for May 2021, which is dominated by rock, soul, and pop titles, including bands and artists such as Led Zeppelin, The Velvet Underground, Vondells, Motley Crue, and Metallica. Discogs reached a milestone earlier this year, with more than 500 million releases catalogued on the database. Back in 2019, DJ Mag investigated the growing culture of ‘flipping’ records, where unscrupulous sellers use the website to inflate the cost of rare records.
