Prattville, AL | Ribbon Cutting for Classic Audio and Records in Prattville is Monday: The anticipation for the opening is finally over. The doors opened Saturday with customers already waiting. The official ribbon cutting will be Monday. Classic Audio and Records, formerly known as Classic Wireless, has relocated to 2048 Fairview Avenue Prattville, AL. The Prattville Area Chamber of Commerce invites the public to the ribbon cutting of Classic Audio and Records at 10 a.m. Monday, August 22, 2022. Owner Stephen Rich, Store Manager, Denise Baker, Store Security Diva along side Rich’s family were there for the grand opening. Stephen Rich an artist himself, long dreamed of a store where people could come share in his passion of music, purchase audio systems and learn about the audio era, and much more. Saturday his dream turned into reality.
Macon, GA | From Depop flipper to business owner: A Mercer first-year’s entrepreneurial journey: Across the United States and the southeast, people just like Noah Silver ‘26 have fallen for the retro-vinyl craze. Whether it be young teens itching for nostalgia, or die-hard phonogram fans, original, reprinted, and brand new vinyl records are flying off the shelves. Silver, a young entrepreneur out of Middle Georgia, has recently opened a physical storefront for his TikTok-famous Depop shop, Vertigo Vinyl, but he has big dreams to open into the live music scene of Macon and Mercer University, as well as expand his already booming internet business. “Gosh, it’s such a mess in here, everything’s kind of frantic,” Silver said. “All this mess, I hate it honestly, I just need more space.” Silver’s current storefront is between the GPB Macon office and the old Indigo Spa, which he wants to convert into part shipping center and part live music venue.
Duluth, MN | Pop-Up Record Shop: Northlanders buy music in retro fashion: Some Northlanders gathered at Wussow’s Concert Cafe Sunday to pick up some tunes the old fashioned way. Round Here Records Duluth held a pop up record shop at the Concert Cafe. According to owner Evan Tepler, he holds events like this at different venues around the Twin Ports.. including Bent Paddle Brewing and Earth Rider. He said despite the increased interest in streaming music, many people enjoy listening to music on vinyl. “There’s a lot of people that love it, the nostalgia of it. There’s a lot of people that have been collecting for years, and then there’s the newer people that are just discovering it and finding out what it’s all about,” said Tepler. Tepler said the Northland is a very musical community, and people in the area are supportive of the arts.
Vankleek Hill, ON | Local vinyl record collectors enthusiastic about the hobby: Local vinyl record enthusiasts will have a chance to add to their collections – and pass on some of their extras – when Beau’s Brewery presents Vankleek Hill’s fourth annual Vinyl Sale and Swap Meet at Windsor Tavern on September 10. Organizers are hoping local collectors will turn out with their doubles and other items for trade at the swap. Its also a great way for enthusiasts to meet each other and talk about a hobby that grows in popularity by leaps and bounds each year – almost 30 years after vinyl records were left for dead. “Vinyl never really went away,” insists Rob Carr, who is organizing the event, with local brewery Beau’s providing sponsorship. Carr went from normal audiophile to a fanatical collector of vinyl in the early 1990s, when he lived near Finnegan’s Market in Hudson, Québec. There he discovered a virtual treasure trove of old vinyl records being sold off in the wake of the growing popularity of compact discs (CDs).
Eindhoven, NL | Vinyl records backlog set to get green makeover: The demand for vinyl records has led to year-long pressing delays for even major label artists, as the few dozen vinyl production plants in operation worldwide race to fill a backlog of orders. The demand for vinyl is the biggest it has been since the 1990s, but the infrastructure is simply not in place to deal with such order. The production of vinyl is still a manual, expensive and time-consuming process. Green Vinyl Records, in Eindhoven, is aiming to plug the gap by manufacturing vinyl records without the actual vinyl. Harm Theunisse, owner of Green Vinyl Records, believes his new large-scale pressing machine which uses 90 per cent less energy, and a more durable, recyclable plastic rather than vinyl, will be a “new standard” for the industry. “This machine can do almost 40% more capacity than the traditional plants, too…”
Rebeat Innovation Hits Pause on ‘HD Vinyl’ Initiative After Disappointing Initial Sound Quality Tests: Austrian music company founder Guenter Loibl has been forced to suspend his ambitious ‘HD Vinyl’ research initiative due to disappointing audio fidelity tests, according to the company and filings with the Austrian government. The HD Vinyl project was first hatched as a separately-funded R&D initiative within Rebeat Innovation GmBH in 2018, with Rebeat founder and CEO Guenter Loibl personally investing the most substantial tranche of funds into the project. Rebeat, which started as a physical recording distributor in the early 2000s, has since expanded into a diversified portfolio of music technology services and companies. That includes a suite of digital distribution services, royalty accounting solutions, a company focused on verifying data from streaming platforms, and development initiatives like HD Vinyl. The company remains a stronghold in the Eastern European music industry, with substantial expansions into broader Europe, the United States, and portions of Asia.
I tried vinyl for the first time — what I love and hate: My first experience with a record player was (mostly) smooth. Over the past few years, I’ve amassed a small collection of vinyl records, but I’d never given any of them a spin owing to the fact that I didn’t own a record player until a couple of weeks ago. Previously, I was using my records as display pieces or buying them as a way to support some of my favorite artists, but when I was given the chance to go hands-on with a Lenco record player, I jumped at the opportunity to finally see what all the fuss was about. And I’m clearly not the only music fan that is curious about vinyl right now. The format has been making a major comeback over the last decade. In 2021 sales of vinyl doubled year-over-year to 41.7 million records shifted in the US alone. Last year marked 16 consecutive years of increased growth without any signs of slowing down. In fact, the demand for vinyl is growing so much that manufacturing plants are struggling to keep up. I’ve noticed multiple artists opting to delay new music until they can print enough discs to satisfy demand.
