West Palm Beach, FL | West Palm Beach record store owner, former Maui resident, raising money to help victims of Hawaii fires: ‘The place I lived is now no longer there,’ Nick Estrada says. The devastating and deadly wildfires in Hawaii have felt close to the heart for some South Florida residents. Nick Estrada runs Soulmates’ Music record store in the Northwood neighborhood of West Palm Beach. He lived in Maui and the Big Island of Hawaii, working as a boat captain for years. Estrada lived on Front Street in Lahaina, which was destroyed by the fire. “It could have been me,” he said. “The place I lived is now no longer there.” Estrada said he has checked in with his friends who still live there. “I’ve heard from my friends out there, everyone is safe. Their stuff is gone. They are all free spirit people. They go there for a dream, to do good for the ocean, all nice-hearted people, all big-hearted people,” he said. “That’s just kind of the hardest thing about it.”
Loveland, TX | At a record shop in Downtown Loveland, a family is hoping a community rally will help save its business: About a year and a half ago, John and Jennie Jankow had a special opportunity. Tucked a block and a half off the main district in Downtown Loveland, Downtown Sound was for sale. The couple knew it was the perfect place for their family. “I was ecstatic because it’s been his dream since … we met when we were 19 years old. And it’s been his dream since then and since before me, to own a record store,” Jennie Jankow said. “And we’ve talked about it all these years, never, ever, ever dreaming it could ever happen for us.” But it did, and now the Jankows have fully embraced the family-owned-and-operated format: Their two sons and one daughter work with the couple there as well. “We’ve been able to provide them with a really good job and really great job experience and teach them a lot of things about working and being responsible and being dedicated to something as a group and as a team,” she said.
Eau Claire, WI | Local record store reflects on National Vinyl Day: Saturday, Aug. 12, [was] National Vinyl Record Day and fans who prefer an old-school way of enjoying music are celebrating. Local retailer Revival Records opened up in downtown Eau Claire back in 2005. Since then, owner Billy Siegel said they have seen a vinyl revival both in Eau Claire and around the country. “The resurgence of vinyl has been just incredible,” Siegel said. “I didn’t think it was going to go where it’s went, but it’s so great to see. When people stop in and patronize the store, it’s great to see the way that the community has supported the store locally.” According to data from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), record sales grew 17% in 2022, the 16th consecutive year of growth, and outsold CD sales for the first time since 1987. While the reasons for the record resurgence is harder to chart, Eau Claire resident Matthew Mabis said he loves the experience of listening to vinyl.
Querétaro, MX | Vinyl sales, new book in Querétaro: International Vinyl Day has been celebrated around the world since 2002. This celebration emerges from music lovers as a tribute to the longest-running format in history. Despite the fact that vinyl has been on the market since the early 1950s, this product was supplanted by the advent of the compact disc in the 1990s; mainly due to ease of storage and compatibility with cars. However, the last four years have seen an increase in demand for these formats, especially among young audiences. As a result of 2020, the Recording Industry Association of the United States (RIAA) reported an increase in demand for vinyl relative to CD (a phenomenon that has not manifested itself in decades), that year, acetates accounted for 71 percent of the industry’s total physical music format revenue. Vinyl brought in $1.2 billion in revenue last year, according to the RIAA. An event that some vinyl retailers have categorized as the rebirth of this analog medium.
Colorado Springs, CO | Colorado record store closing after 45 years: The last remaining Independent Records store has launched a GoFundMe while it prepares to close after 45 years of operation. A longtime Colorado music and movie store is closing its doors. Independent Records announced it will close its last location in Colorado Springs after 45 years in business. The vinyl music and movie business is having a going-out-of-business sale for its last remaining store at 195 N. Academy Blvd. in Colorado Springs. The sale, with 20% off everything in the store, began July 29. “[Forty five] years this month, Independent Records began its journey here in Colorado Springs!” manager Hollie Sherwood wrote on the store’s Facebook. “Throughout the years, each store came with its own charm and became like a 2nd home to many. As each entity closed-it broke part of our hearts to say goodbye. “Then, after the pandemic, as many small business suffered the same fate—we could not sustain. The remaining stores closed and merged into one location as we tried to keep this icon alive.
Granada, SP | The return of the vinyl that came back to stay and with a varied offer in Granada: If there is anything wrong with the changing world we live in, it is that we are leaving behind an infinite number of ways of living that are eventually forgotten due to the intrusion of others to replace them. Devices, formats, or ways of doing things that remain stagnant in time, and with them their memories and experiences. If we look at the world of music, the clearest example vinyl recordswhich are erased again after many years of storage in a desk drawer. This Saturday [was] celebrated International Day of Vinyl Records, a format that said goodbye in 1995 due to the advent of the CD and the imminent advent of the Internet, though not forever. Many, especially young people, began to bet on a concept that was considered outdated due to its exclusivity, mystery and design. To this we must add the continuity of collectors who have never abandoned the format.
Music labels sue Internet Archive over digitized record collection: Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment and other record labels on Friday sued the nonprofit Internet Archive for copyright infringement over its streaming collection of digitized music from vintage records. The labels’ lawsuit filed in a federal court in Manhattan said the Archive’s “Great 78 Project” functions as an “illegal record store” for songs by musicians including Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Miles Davis and Billie Holiday. They named 2,749 sound-recording copyrights that the Archive allegedly infringed. The labels said their damages in the case could be as high as $412 million. Representatives for the Internet Archive did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the complaint. The San Francisco-based Internet Archive digitally archives websites, books, audio recordings and other materials. It compares itself to a library and says its mission is to “provide universal access to all knowledge.”
Austin, TX | Inside Austin Public Library’s vinyl record collection and the event series showcasing it: Did you know you can check out more than just books from the Austin Public Library? APL’s Carver Branch location houses a vinyl record collection of a few hundred records, spanning from a pressing of the first album from The Jackson 5 to jazz collections from the 60s and 70s. The Carver Branch is the only of Austin Public Library’s system of 20 locations that has vinyl records available for checkout. It recently had to fight to keep the vinyl on the shelves after talks about lower interest in the medium, a staff member of the library told KXAN during a visit to the location. However, there’s been an uptick in interest in vinyl records over the last few years in the U.S., especially in 2022. A report from the Recording Industry Association of America, or RIAA, shows the growth in detail; last year, vinyl record sales surpassed CD sales for the first time since the 80s.
