Spain’s Music Market Surges in First Half of 2019, With Gains in Digital and Even CDs: Music sales in Spain surged some 27% in the first half of 2019, with subscription streaming services income up 41% over the same period in 2018. According to a new report from Spanish recording industry association Promusicae, Spain’s population spent €140.7 million euros (about $155 million) on music in streaming and physical formats. The increase in music sales from January to June 2019 was the biggest since 2001, when Spain’s piracy-plagued industry took a nosedive, Promusicae reported. What the report calls “the unstoppable rise of streaming,” principally by subscription but also ad-supported, is the main force behind the new figures. …Nevertheless, sales of vinyl and CDs in Spain also increased in the first half of the year. Vinyl record sales increased to €7.7 million (about $8.5 million) over €5.1 million (almost $5.7 million) in the same period in 2018.
Manchester, UK | Wilderness Record Store – Records & Coffee: As long as I can remember, there’s been a record store on Egerton Cresent, just off Withington High Street en route to the post office. But Wilderness Record Store is quite a new development, taking over from it’s predecessor earlier in 2019. I was really surprised the first time I turned the corner and saw the almost tropical exterior of Wilderness, I just had to go in and check it out. The store has been completely revamped since I’d last visited a couple of years ago. They now make a great cup of coffee made with beans from the Manchester coffee brand Grindsmith, so you can sip a cuppa while browsing the records. They also serve toasties, cakes and beer if you’re in the mood for a snack and a drink while you peruse. The vinyl selection is quite varied with lots of new releases as well as second-hand records. They focus on supporting the local music community by hosting small gigs on site and collaborating with other well known Withington and central Manchester venues to host live music events.
Derby, UK | Did you buy your vinyl from Gord’s Record Corner on Derby’s Nottingham Road? Reader Chris Burrows has sent in these great photos of a Derby corner shop which belonged to his grandfather then father. The shop was located at the corner of Nottingham Road and Chequers Lane in Derby. These photos were taken in the late 1960s/early 1970s. The shop was originally a camera shop called Camera Corner, which was run by Chris’s grandad, Harry Burrows. His dad, Gordon, bought the shop off his grandfather and started selling records there. He renamed it Gord’s Record Corner and Chris still has a vinyl record sleeve bearing the shop’s stamp. Chris said: “He used to buy from other record dealers like Dave Surplice/Surplus? on London Road and Richard Felix’s dad. My grandad also used to own a bike shop on London Road.”
Penticton, BC | Styx lead singer Gowan surprises Penticton record store employees: Rocker Gowan dropped in to a Penticton record store for a little shopping. A Penticton record store employee got a surprise on Monday when her favourite childhood pop star stopped in. Gowan, who is the current lead vocalist and keyboardist of the band Styx, was in the Grooveyard in downtown Penticton browsing through the store while employee Stacy Frank was working. Gowan and Styx are performing at the South Okanagan Events Centre on Wednesday with Loverboy. Frank was training a new employee when Gowan came in and Frank said she had a difficult time keeping it together once she realized it was him. “I didn’t know at first because he was just walking around laughing at all the funny T-shirt sayings. He asked about an album we were playing and I was thinking, ‘OK, you have to say something.’ So I said ‘has anyone ever told you that you look like Gowan?’ He said ‘yeah, uh huh’ and I was like oh my god you are Gowan,” said Frank.
JAM Audio Takes Vinyl Beyond Wires With Spun Out Turntable: Break away from messy wires and stream classic vinyl sound through any Bluetooth® speaker. Lifestyle audio maker JAM Audio announced today their anticipated entry into the U.S. turntable market with the release of their Spun Out wireless turntable. Designed to bring analog and digital together, Spun Out features built-in Bluetooth® capability for streaming records to any wireless speaker with the affordability and convenient design for which JAM Audio is known. Merging the warm rich sounds of classic vinyl with the fuss-free technology of today, Spun Out provides the perfect introduction for beginning vinyl listeners or budget-friendly turntable addition for avid collectors. With 30ft connectivity range and ability to pair with JAM Audio’s dual-pairing speakers, you can stream records wirelessly from across the room and from speaker to speaker. Complete with three speed settings, Spun Out operates at 33-⅓, 45 and 78 RPM for a sleek, versatile vinyl solution.
Five Classic Albums Come Together For Motown In Mono Vinyl Series: Motown’s 60th anniversary celebrations continue with a set of landmark Motown albums available as a five-LP set with a with a custom turntable slipmat. The limited edition, multi-artist vinyl series Motown In Mono will be released by Motown/UMe on 8 November. As the legendary record company’s 60th anniversary celebrations continue, the series will offer the chance for collectors and admirers to own some landmark Motown albums as a five-LP set, with a very special extra available with pre-orders. In chronological order, the series opens with the Miracles’ 1963 LP You’ve Really Got A Hold On Me, which is equally well known from its cover art as The Fabulous Miracles. From 1965, there’s The Temptations Sing Smokey, which included the timeless ‘My Girl’ and other Tempts gems such as ‘The Way You Do The Things You Do’ and ‘It’s Growing.’ The Four Tops’ 1967 album Reach Out, featuring another all-time Motown staple in ‘Reach Out I’ll Be There’ as well as ‘Walk Away Renée,’ ‘7 Rooms Of Gloom,’ ‘Bernadette’ and many others, is in the set…
CRASS, Anarcho-Punk collective deliver four remastered albums on vinyl: CRASS, Anarcho-Punk collective are delivering four remastered albums on vinyl. Firstly, Crass were at the forefront of the punk scene in London during the late ’70s and early ’80s. Furthermore, they promoted anarchism as a political ideology and popularised the anarcho-punk movement. Similarly, the band believed in direct action, performing organized squats, spreading anti-fascism messages and encouraged resistance of political authority through DIY leaflets, sound collages, art, poetry, and film. So the British anarcho-punk collective, Crass recently surprised everyone with the release of three remastered original versions of their essential albums. In detail, they are Stations Of The Crass, Feeding Of The Five Thousand (The Second Sitting), and Best Before 1984. Following this, Crass have announced that they have put out four more remastered albums on vinyl. Specifically, Yes Sir, I Will, Penis Envy, Ten Notes On A Summer’s Day, and Christ, The Album. The records will be out via their own Crass Records and distributed via One Little Indian.
New Vinyl Edition For Justin Hayward And John Lodge’s ‘Blue Jays’: The album was released during the group’s five-year hiatus that followed 1972’s Seventh Sojourn and before the reunion that led to Octave in 1978. Blue Jays, the highly successful 1975 collaboration by Justin Hayward and John Lodge of the Moody Blues, will be reissued by UMC in a new black vinyl edition on 4 October. The album was released during the group’s five-year hiatus that followed 1972’s Seventh Sojourn and before the reunion that led to Octave in 1978. It was produced by the Moody Blues’ longtime right-hand-man Tony Clarke and featured ten songs, five credited to Hayward as the writer, three to Lodge and two as collaborations. I Dreamed Last Night Blue JaysThe album was released in March 1975 and soon followed by the single ‘I Dreamed Last Night,’ written by Hayward. That track reached No. 47 on the Billboard Hot 100 and became a top 30 adult contemporary hit. Later that year the non-LP track ‘Blue Guitar’ became a substantial UK hit, reaching No. 8. It was credited to Hayward and Lodge but featured unlisted performances by all the members of 10cc.
