Forbes: Vinyl and Cassette Sales Continued to Grow Last Year: Albums sold on vinyl and cassette both saw a growth in sales according to BuzzAngle Music’s End-Year Report profiling U.S. music industry consumption for 2018. Vinyl sales grew by just shy of 12% from 8.6 to 9.7 million sales, while cassette sales grew by almost 19% from 99,400 to 118,200 copies sold in the US, The Verge reported. Sixty-six percent of those vinyl sales were of albums that are more than three years old and feature classic bands like The Beatles, Fleetwood Mac, and Pink Floyd, reported BuzzAngle. Cassettes saw popularity in newer releases. CDs on the other hand have declined by 18.5% in popularity leading to a total decline in physical album sales of over 15%, reported The Verge. Meanwhile, audio streaming saw an increase of 41.8%, the largest of all music consumption.
UK | Crisis-hit HMV ‘lucky to last’ for this long, says Stirling trader: A Stirling record store boss said music giant HMV had only itself to blame for again facing financial collapse. Europa Music owner Ewen Duncan was speaking after it was announced HMV had called in the administrators for the second time in five years. The retailer has 10 shops in Scotland, including one in the Thistles Shopping Centre in Stirling. HMV confirmed its 125 UK stores will stay open as talks continue with suppliers and potential buyers. A notice of intention to appoint administrators has been filed by the group amid a cash crisis at the firm. Dutch auditing firm KPMG are waiting in the wings as an administrator is set to be announced. Hilco Capital acquired the company in 2013 in the midst of administration troubles. Retailers have been battling high business rates, low consumer confidence and the rise of online shopping, as well as the uncertainty to business as the result of Brexit.
Manila, PH | Pinoy vinyl-record sellers believe 2019 will be bigger, better: Just a few days into 2019, the new year already promises to be an exciting one for music lovers, besides the always huge Record Store Day scheduled on April 13, with the local version to be held in a venue that has yet to be named. There are heavyweight stars with new albums. The Cure’s first album since 2008 will drop. Shoegazers My Bloody Valentine will release a new album. Avril Lavigne is said to have a new effort with songs written about a personal crisis. There is going to be new product from Lana Del Rey, the Raconteurs, and Weezer to name but a few international artists. And all these will be available on vinyl. On local shores, the re-mastered “Ultraelectromagneticpop” album by the Eraserheads will go on sale and on vinyl for the first time too. Up Dharma Down’s fourth album is also due for release (also on vinyl).
Green Bay, WI | Streetwise: Bay Vinyl buys Appleton’s Top Spins, plans expansion in Sturgeon Bay: Steve Allen and Alan Kassien find themselves in an odd spot right now. Their record store, Bay Vinyl, 920 Egg Harbor Road, in Sturgeon Bay, is open, but hard to find. Bay Vinyl’s new location, 325 Kentucky St., isn’t open yet, but pedestrians have taken note of the work happening in the space, located just behind Poh’s Corner Pub. “Ironically, everything’s set up in the old place, but no one knows it’s there,” Allen said. “The new place, people are knocking and asking when we’re open. We’re just off downtown and there’s a lot of foot traffic here. We’re near the bell tower and the theater and the bank and a public parking lot. It should be a good spot for us.” The answer to “when,” fellow record fans, is February. The shop’s timing couldn’t be better as vinyl enjoys a new resurgence in popularity. “Vinyl never really went away, but it got clobbered by CDs and then MP3s, but the last three years have seen growing sales of records in the U.S. and UK,” Allen said.
Peterborough, UK | Hoping the music doesn’t stop for HMV’s staff in Peterborough: Video might not have killed the radio star but the internet is inflicting serious damage on record stores. The sad news that, for the second time in a few years, music chain HMV has gone into administration has highlighted the difficulties facing the traditional high street stores. It means an unsettling and worrying time for thousands of staff, including those at the store in Queensgate. A big part of the problem is that music streaming services offer an alternative format to the physical product and, crucially, is often available free. Modern music may have no price but sadly it’s value has diminished too. Streaming is not only killing jobs, it’s also killing music. As B.B.King sang ‘the thrill is gone’.
Singapore | A passion for collecting vinyl records: As one of the Guinness World Record holder in 2014 for the largest DJ club session relay with 132 other Singaporean DJs, DJ Rico is not only a master-mixer of digital sound; he is a zealous collector of the past. This producer in fact has secured a hidden achievement that is also worthy of recognition – his vinyl record collection. Records have always been part of DJ Rico’s life since he was young. His brothers have been loyal record collectors of the 70s, and he himself would save up his pocket money at school just to buy his favourite bands on vinyl in the 80s, such as The Police, Depeche Mode, Michael Jackson, Duran Duran and many more. Weekend talked to DJ Rico during a visit to his house in Singapore organised by Singapore International Foundation. Cabinets on the wall of a room of Rico’s flat are filled with around 4500 records. Being a DJ, he collects records of all sorts of genre, from rock, disco, new wave to pop. “It all starts from the love of music,” said DJ Rico, whose real name is Zulfiqar Ali.
