Musicians’ Union welcomes vinyl sales figures: The Musicians’ Union has welcomed the latest vinyl sales figures, which indicate more and more young people are buying physical music products. Nielsen’s mid-year report shows that vinyl sales are up 11% this year so far, with David Bowie’s Blackstar at the top of list with 57,000 copies sold on vinyl…Coupled with last week’s news that young people in America pay for music more than their parents, it offers a ray of light for an industry that is still suffering falls in sales of physical music products other than vinyl.
Pseudo echo of music past: In July 2016, Perth artist Chris Cobilis has created a facsimile of a record store. Ghost of a Record Store, supported by the Perth Public Art Foundation, is located in a former store in Forest Chase. It plays a similar trick on shoppers by occupying a slippery position between a contemporary art installation and a record store. With the current fad for pop-up stores, it is easy to be fooled into thinking this is some kind of concept store, trying to grab our attention by doing things differently. Instead it is conceptual art and unlike Warhol’s exhibit, try as you might, what is on display is not for sale.
Blacktop Records releases 500 Lisa Loeb vinyls: Blacktop Records’ Ben Andress jumped when he had the chance to produce a 7-inch vinyl with two Lisa Loeb singles. Loeb, who rose to fame in 1994 with the release of platinum-selling No. 1 hit song ‘Stay (I Missed You),’ used in the movie Reality Bites, toured Ontario this weeks with stops in Oakville and Stratford. “She’s touring a lot, still making music that’s relevant,” said Andress. “And in movies. Seems like out of a lot of those 90s artists, she’s kind of one who kept afloat over the years. I’m a big fan of her music since I first saw her video on MTV, and even in college I listened to her records non-stop. Really, really great pop records.” (Published as a reminder that “vinyls” is not a word. —Ed.)
The world’s best record shops #028: Side One, Warsaw: Located in a small backyard in central Warsaw and run by Wojtek Żdanuk aka DJ WWW, Side One has been supplying Poland’s DJs with new and used material for over a decade now. Like all the best record stores, it’s also an important meeting point: the musical town centre where artists, promoters and collectors come together to exchange ideas and collaborate. As Groh of U Know Me Records put it, “Side One turns out to be a witness of all the evolutions and revolutions in all the labels I’m running.”
Wormhole’s World: art of selling vinyl: Selling records should be easy. In an uncertain world where the sterling in your account can plummet in value at the reckless whim of a foppish old Etonian, the reassurance of owning music on a physical format is as pragmatic as it is alluring. No physical format can compete with the trusty vinyl record. Recent global sales figures reinforce this and anyone acquainted with the big black discs rarely picks up a MiniDisk player or eight-track cartridge ever again. Despite the superiority of vinyl, and inspired by my anticipation of another new record store opening in the town, I thought it would be sporting to share a few tips on purveying records.
Caring For Vinyl: How To Look After Your Music Collection: Vinyl records are a big deal nowadays. They were extremely popular until CDs came and took the limelight. But in recent years, vinyl has come back with a vengeance as many music collectors now prefer to have all their albums on this vintage classic. But vinyl is a lot more fragile than any other type of music format. You will need to give your collection a lot of care and attention. Not sure how to look after a collection of vinyl records? Here’s how.
