Korean music fans turn to vinyl for vintage listening experience: Although Korea still lags behind in vinyl record sales compared to other countries, with no official figures tracking the sales yet, the people behind Machang Music & Pictures thought it was important for Korea to have its own pressing plant. “Many asked me that question,” said Park Jong-myung, marketing director of the company. “We are living in such a digital world where almost everyone consumes music through streaming on their mobile phones. But we started it because we wanted to emphasize the value of listening to music, whereas these days, many people are simply consuming music.”
Record Lounge in REO Town is vinyl lover’s dream: “I think this was what I was supposed to do in life,” Frarey said. “Every other week my mom would go grocery shopping at Meijer, and I’d come home from school and there would be five or six 45’s lying on my bed.” The Record Lounge, an all-vinyl spot owned by Frarey, moved into REO Town about four months ago, after relocating from East Lansing. She started her brick and mortar business in 2008 in East Lansing, where she remained until April of this year. Record Lounge gets in new vinyl every day from its distributors. They buy, sell and trade. “It’s pretty wild how much vinyl they’re putting out,” Frarey said. “They’re doing all these reissues of things that you never would have thought were going to be on vinyl.”
Why Vinyl Records and Vintage Gaming Consoles Are Popular Again: Sales of vinyl are contributing to a resurgence of interest in turntables. Several new models were unveiled at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show, held in Las Vegas. Clearaudio, Crosley, Harman, Technics, and VPI were among the companies that showed off their products…“For older collectors, there’s a serious nostalgia factor” when it comes to vinyl and other physical formats, Stephen Young, owner of Record Wonderland, outside Chicago, told the Tribune. “But we have people who are 16, 17, and 18 years old coming in, fascinated by the idea of tangible music, because they’ve all grown up with only digital files.”
Merle’s Record Rack hits 55: Michael J. Papa, owner of Merle’s Record Rack, is known to record-collectors as the “King of Vinyl.” But as Papa is getting ready to celebrate Merle’s 55th anniversary on Aug. 26, he said the business is as much about customers sharing and experiencing memories as about the extensive vinyl and collectible inventory. “These things have a million memories,” Papa said, extending his arm to the store filled with LPs, 45s, CDs and vintage stereo equipment. Music is “like a smell — it triggers something. … It brings them happiness. It helps them feel young again.” The celebration will be 10 a.m.-5 p.m. in the store at 307 Racebrook Road, with a disc jockey, sales and “good vibes,” as he put on postcards publicizing the event.
Mid-Week Mugging: Every record is a gem to somebody: “I love being able to go into a store and not knowing what’s behind the next record,” he said. “So, finding things that I didn’t know that I wanted, interesting or unique. Every record you find is a gem in some way or another.” And it’s that experience he’s been bringing to North Bay through Waxman Records for nearly four years now since occupying his current location downtown the night of a Christmas Walk. Before that, he had been selling mostly online—on the side—and setting up pop-up booths in places like Music City once a month.
Introducing ‘Making Vinyl,’ a Conference Dedicated Exclusively to Vinyl Records: The conference is called ‘Making Vinyl,’ and its aim is to congregate the smartest industry minds around one topic: vinyl records. The action is happening this November in Detroit, and the luminaries are already been penciled in. In fact, Third Man Pressing is understood to be a major sponsor behind this conference, which is slated for November 6-7. Third Man Pressing is a manufacturing offshoot of White’s Third Man Records, all housed in hometown Detroit. And there’s another vinyl bulwark backing this confab: Record Store Day. Indeed, Making Vinyl will feature heavy RSD tie-ins. That includes the very distinct possibility of a buying exchange, much like now-fossilized buying marketplaces that defined events like France’s MIDEM.
