Author Archives: TVD HQ

Vinyl sales increased in the United States by 30% throughout 2020: Despite streaming’s market dominance, the vinyl revival just keeps raging on. This week, the RIAA released their annual year-end music industry revenue report for 2020, offering an intriguing snapshot of the state of America’s recording industry during the height of the pandemic. Despite the devastating impacts of the virus upon the country, the US recorded music industry’s revenue grew by 9.2%, accounting to $12.2 billion in 2020. Revenues from recorded music at wholesale value increased by 8.9% totalling to $8 billion. While COVID-19 restrictions and retail store closures made an impact on trade, total revenues from physical products decreased by a slim 0.5% in 2020, earning $1.1 billion. Vinyl sales increased by 28.7% to account for a total of $626 million, and for the first time since 1986, revenues from vinyls were greater than CDs. It’s not surprising vinyl sales have increased, considering some albums have limited multiple releases through via records. Meanwhile, revenue continue to drop for CDs, with sales declining by 23% this year to equal $483 million in 2020.

Evanston, IL | A new record store somehow opens in Evanston: On February 20, Michael Dedmon opened Evanston’s newest music store, Black Squirrel Records. Dedmon is a dedicated record fiend who began buying up entire collections a decade ago, and so far all of Black Squirrel’s stock has come directly from his personal holdings. The store’s inventory includes rock, reggae, electronic music, jazz, soul, country, blues, and world music. Dedmon says a neighbor of his owns the 450-square-foot storefront at 1620 Greenleaf Street, and he’s wanted to open a record store there for a few years. When it became available about a month ago, he secured a short-term rental with the hope of transforming it into a long-term endeavor. For now he mostly runs the place himself, with a little help from a friend and his friend’s daughter. “Everyone who walks in has a smile on their face,” Dedmon says. “Or I think they do, because they have masks on.”

Hoboken, NJ | Musical Nostalgia: Vinyl record sales boom at this New Jersey shop: Vinyl records may seem like a thing of the past, but the surge in sales, even through the pandemic, has proven otherwise. At Tunes Hoboken, an independent record store running strong since 1995, the evolution of music and the revival of vinyl records has been witnessed firsthand. “We’ve seen a lot of changes over the years. But by being smaller and independent, we’ve always been able to adapt. We’ve sold more record players and speaker setups since reopening from the pandemic than ever before,” said Chip Heuisle, owner of Tunes Hoboken. According to Heuisle, vinyl’s account for approximately 70 percent of his sales, which can be purchased in-store or online. “When we first had to shut down in March, I remember thinking I can handle a month of being closed. When it turned out to be three months, I was a little nervous, but selling online was part of our business so I knew that I was lucky,” said Heuisle.

Winston-Salem, NC | Earshot Music in Winston-Salem purchased by owner of Hippo Records in Greensboro: Earshot Music in Winston-Salem will reopen on Saturday as Hippo Records, said owner Patrick Lemons. The store has been closed since last Sunday for some remodeling and restocking. Lemons, the owner of the Hippo Records store at 2823 Spring Garden St. in Greensboro, bought the Earshot Music store at 3254 Silas Creek Parkway in Silas Creek Crossing shopping center on March 1. This will be Lemons’ second Hippo Records location. Alan “Phred” Rainey, the previous owner of Earshot Music, died in January after a long battle with leukemia. “I was really sad to hear the news of Phred’s passing,” Lemons said. Lemons, who lived in Winston-Salem from 2008 through 2009, said he had known Rainey since the early 2000s and would shop in Earshot Music, which once went under the name the Record Exchange. Lemons said Rainey approached him about buying the store prior to his death. “In the circumstances, I am definitely honored that he had an interest to want me to come in and continue on the legacy of the store…”

Read More »

Miami, FL | Ingenuity, Customer Loyalty Keeps Local Records Store Afloat During COVID-19 Pandemic: A local records store has had to rely solely on ingenuity and customer loyalty to stay afloat during the coronavirus pandemic. Believe it or not, a national trend of nostalgia for vinyl records has helped a local store that counts on customers digging through the stacks to find that long-ago memory. Nationwide, in 2020, the sale of vinyl records increased almost 30% over 2019. The sale of CDs declined, the same for music downloads, like many small businesses, the key during the pandemic has been ingenuity and customer loyalty. Technique Records reopened in June, with five employees back to work, wearing masks and social distancing was just part of the rules of the house. “It wasn’t until we were ordered to shut down when every non-essential business had to close was when I said to everyone, well, that’s it!” said shop owner Mikey Ramirez. Ramirez said he took to his couch, thinking of his employees, his family, his home. “I am not sure what to do, to be honest, I’m lost like everyone else was,” Ramirez said.

Inverness, UK | Kind donations from a city centre record shop will provide 300 displaced families with safe drinking water: Union Vinyl, based on Market Brae Steps in Inverness, posted a message on its social media to say vinyl records they had passed to Oxfam had raised £3407 for the charity’s work. Saying the team behind the shop were staggered by the amount raised said it was delighted the vinyl records that it could not use could be recycled to support the charity’s work. Owner Nigel Graham wrote: “Just to let you all know, I got confirmation by email today of Union Vinyl contribution to Oxfam. “We often get collections in which through sorting fall below our standard for resale, or are artists that are not so sell able for us, so we set them aside in a box for Oxfam in Inverness. “We phone them to collect when it’s full, and some of you know that I recently moved house so a lot of stock needed to be shifted so Oxfam kindly picked them up. And some people randomly drop bags off to us to dispose of for them, they always go into the box. “The total raised by Oxfam through our donations at present is a staggeringly £3,407.00 wow.”

Evansville, IN | Vinyl records make a comeback: Despite the effects of the pandemic, vinyl record sales are jamming on both nationally and locally. This resurgence is shaking up the music industry. “Two years ago, pre-COVID, vinyl sales out sold CD sales in the first time in probably 20 years and not only are older people going back to collecting vinyl, but there’s a lot of teenagers and younger people collecting vinyl as well,” explained Jeff Osborne. He’s the owner of Secret Headquarters who started carrying vinyl records over the summer. “Any record enthusiast that has ever dropped a needle on that record, there’s just something magical about the sound, the highs, the lows,” described Patrick Holl, owner of Space Monkey Records. Holl said the way his customers became interested in vinyl is just as diverse and unique as the age range of the frequent shoppers. “It’s an interesting phenomena with vinyl because I’ve quite a few businesses over the years and I can honestly say that this is the only business where the demographic spans from the youngest people, 12-13 years old all the way to very elderly people.”

Austin, TX | Through Vinyl, Keeled Scales is Defying the Odds: Owner Tony Presley found new life at his indie record label thanks to records and other physical media. “The sky was falling,” says Tony Presley, owner of Austin indie record label Keeled Scales. Following national shutdowns last spring, the company’s monthly financial reports showed album sales down by two-thirds, and with people glued to the news, streaming numbers tanked. In those precarious first months of the pandemic, Presley pondered whether or not the label even had a future. But then the unexpected happened. In June, Presley started to process an inordinate amount of album orders, mainly of vinyl records. Comments were often attached, where purchasers left encouraging notes to the artists (Wish we were seeing you live this year, but this will have to do! said one to Will Johnson). “In the absence of artists touring, their fans and listeners wanted to actually hold the physical record while they’re listening to it,” says Presley.

Read More »

Tarentum, PA | Former Jerry’s Records owner now selling vinyl from Swissvale spot: Jerry “Vinylman” Weber owns hundreds of thousands of records. He’s not a fan of acquiring music on digital platforms. “I have never downloaded a song,” Weber said. “I have a flip phone. I am what you call ‘eccentric.’” Weber loves to help others acquire music. He owned Jerry’s Records in Squirrel Hill for 40 years, retiring in 2017 and selling it to employee Chris Grauzer. Weber, 72, an Oakland native, needed two knee replacements. He took a few years to mend. In 2019, he started selling records from his warehouse in Swissvale, Vinyl-Man’s Clubhouse. The space is a former car dealership and light fixture store. He has 250,000 records stored in the large building where 50,000 are for sale, most for $5 in every genre from rock to jazz to country-western. He decided to open more hours to give customers additional shopping time. The record store on Washington Avenue will be open from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Friday and Saturday.

Atascadero, CA | Traffic Records Moves Twenty Feet to a Larger Location: Those searching for records in Atascadero will be pleased to hear the Traffic Records has recently relocated to a larger space only twenty feet from where it sat before. Traffic Records and Bland Solar Company and Show Room saw their leases come time for renewal and decided it would be mutually beneficial to switch as the record store needed more sales space and Bland Solar was open to a smaller location. During the first week of February, the two businesses made the change, and now Traffic Records sits at 5850 Traffic Way while Bland is at 5870. Due to the tight restrictions placed on businesses based on square footage, Traffic Records owner Manuel Barba was forced to make a decision. “The max number of occupancy that I could have of shoppers at any one time was two to three with people waiting outside. As the store got increasingly more successful and busier, I found myself setting up a lounge area outside in the hopes that people might stick around and wait…”

Marquette, MI | Buy or trade your favorite vinyl records: The Emporium featuring Vintage Vinyl in Marquette is open by appointment. Make an appointment to buy or trade vinyl records. To schedule a visit to The Emporium featuring Vintage Vinyl in Marquette, call or text owner Jon Teichman. The shop holds thousands of records, as well as vintage toys, books and homeware. Teichman constantly adds to the collection, but special orders are available if you don’t find the album you’re looking for. “Everyone’s welcome, all tastes are welcome. And if people have records that they’re not listening to and they’d like to trade them in, and have them looked at by us, they should definitely contact us,” says Teichman. “We love to look at people’s collections. We can come to you or you can bring the records to us, but we’re really interested in people’s records.” The Emporium is located at 317 W Washington St. in Marquette. The shop is currently open by appointment only.

Record Store day and Vans new vinyl supports Black-owned record shops: Vans and Record Store Day 2021 are teaming up to support Black-owned record shops across the country. Together, the two companies are putting out the dual vinyl Songs for You, Vols. 1 & 2 that will specifically benefit Black-owned independent record shops in the United States. Late last year, the United States saw a massive spike in vinyl record sales over the holidays. In fact, Record Store Day’s Black Friday event and Taylor Swift‘s folklore helped the industry sell over 1.445 million vinyl on the weekend before Christmas. Now, Record Store Day hopes to keep the momentum surrounding physical album sales going this year. On June 12, Record Store Day is officially holding its 2021 event. This time around, however, RSD is teaming up with Vans for a special collaboration. Together, the companies are releasing the dual vinyl Songs for You, Vols. 1 & 2. The new compilations feature nineteen tracks from prolific Black artists including Curtis Mayfield, H.E.R., Run The Jewels, Summer Walker, Common, Pop Smoke and Freddie Gibbs among others. Roberta Flack’s recent cover of Marvin Gaye’s “What’s Going On” is also included.

Medicine Hat, CA | Round Again Records sees generations of music lovers come together: At Round Again Records on Third street, the music doesn’t stop playing. From the Rolling Stones to The Beatles, to ABBA. Music is everywhere. Old-fashioned records, CD’s and even cassettes each blanketing the walls of the store. Their colorful covers, a catch to those itching for a musical escape. “I get a lot of people who come down here and it is a trip down memory lane.’Oh I had this or oh I had this and it kind of takes them back,” said owner Pete Rose. That feeling of nostalgia during a period of uncertainty is what some people say keeps them coming back. …But the lure of the store is not exclusive to those wanting to return to the good old days of their childhood or teenage years. “A lot of my customers I would say are between 17 and 25 and some are even younger coming in with their parents you know and It’s not the parents buying the record it’s the kids, or the parents buying the record for the kid,” said Rose.

Vinyl Record Sales Increased Almost 30% in 2020, RIAA Says: Streaming expectedly continued to grow throughout the pandemic while downloads and CD sales continued to decline. The RIAA has released its annual year-end revenue report, surveying the state of the recorded music industry at the end of 2020. Despite the coronavirus pandemic, trends across the past several years carried on: Streaming is up 13.4%, generating $10.1 billion last year compared to $8.9 billion in 2019, accounting for 83% of the total revenue of the industry. Vinyl sales have continued to rise, too, increasing a whopping 29.2% to $619.6 million, compared to $479.5 million in 2019. The rise in vinyl sales made up for the continued decline in CD sales, leading to a marginal 0.5% decrease in revenue across all physical media from to 2019 to 2020. Music downloads continue to trend downwards, too, decreasing by 18% to $674.4 million last year as compared to $822.8 million in 2019. The RIAA report concludes that streaming has driven the industry to grow for the fifth consecutive year, with revenues increasing 9.2% in 2020, generating $12.2 billion in total.

Medicine Hat, CA | Hatter fulfils lifelong dream with downtown record store: Hatter Pete Rose has worked just about every job imaginable. He spent time with law enforcement, worked as a painter and served in the military for years — to name a few. During all the time, his love for music stayed with him, which has fueled his latest venture: Round Again Records. Rose opened his record store in October in downtown’s Arcade Plaza, and he has already had to move to a bigger space in the building to keep up with demand. “It’s really good so far,” said Rose. “Every week seems to get a little busier and we keep seeing new faces.” Rose’s store specializes in used records, which people can sell to him or trade for different material. He carries vinyl, CD, cassettes and even has 8-tracks. He also sells turntables and speakers. “We’re always buying, trading and selling,” he said. “We post a lot on our Facebook page and in different groups to let people know what we have down here.

San Angelo, TX | San Angelo now has a vinyl records and more store: When you think about Vinyl Records, chances are most of you think back to 45 singles and albums on vinyl from back when. That’s not necessarily the case as you would see with a visit to San Angelo’s new Sonny Records and More store. Vinyl Records never completely went away and numerous artist continue to record their music on vinyl in addition to all of the current formats. There has also been a popular resurged interest in buying and collecting Vinyl Records for quite some time now. Sonny Records and More actually opened back in late January of 2021 and are located at 1504 W. Beauregard Ave. Not only do they sell new and used vinyl records, but you’ll also find T-shirts, stickers, buttons, posters and more. Sonny Records and More was envisioned by owner and operator Sonny Gammill. He would love for you to drop by and browse his store from noon-8 pm Tuesday through Saturday and noon-5 on Sunday.

Richmond, CA | Richmond resident finds vinyl album he sold as a child in Maple Ridge garage sale 16 years ago: Jeffrey Liu found the album while sifting through 3 Dawgs Vinyl in Richmond recently. Jeffrey Liu was surprised when he found a copy of a prized vinyl album in a Richmond retro record store that he’d given up 16 years ago for 50 cents at a garage sale in Maple Ridge as a young boy. However, Liu – who moved to Richmond, age 12, just after that garage sale – was about to get an even bigger shock when he took the album home from 3Dawgs Vinyl on No. 5 Road. For as soon as he started playing Frankie Laine’s Greatest Hits he realized, due to the position of a couple of scratches on the vinyl, that it was actually his record from 16 years ago. “Regrettably, I made markings on it as a kid and got scolded by my grandparents for doing so. I recognized it as soon as I got it home,” said a stunned Liu, who moved back to his native Richmond from Maple Ridge with his grandparents in Grade 8. …Liu, now 27, said, instantly, a ton of memories came flooding back of him growing up with his grandparents in their Maple Ridge ranch and acreage.

Read More »

New Brunswick, NJ | Arts and Music Space, “Chamber 43,” Moves to Hub City: A one of a kind interactive music space and coffee bar opened in downtown New Brunswick on February 26. Chamber 43, a vinyl record store, coffee bar, event space and recording studio, has relocated to 356 George Street from Highland Park four months after closing amid the uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic. On October 5, Chamber 43 founder and owner David L. Martins announced the store’s closing on its Instagram page, writing that he was “uncertain of any timely re-opening.” “It wasn’t looking like I was going to re-open for another year,” Martins told New Brunswick Today on December 7. “I was going to take some time off, and come back to it with a clean slate next year.” But things started looking up when Martins’ October post drew in a new business partner.

Chichester, UK | Owner of Chichester vinyl record shop looks forward to welcoming back customers: The owner of a vinyl record shop in Chichester city centre is looking forward to welcoming back his loyal customers in April. Craig Crane, the man behind Analogue October Records in South Street, said he was ‘pleasantly surprised’ at the Prime Minister’s announcement that non-essential businesses could potentially open as early as April 12, as he had feared the lockdown could drag on much longer. He said of the shop: “We’ve built up a massive loyal following who basically support the shop throughout the year. We really look forward to welcoming them back in April.” Mr Crane is particularly looking forward to being able to chat with customers again. “People come in here just to talk and share ideas,” he said. “That’s the biggest thing that I’ve missed during lockdown, people coming in and just chewing the fat for an hour. The shop is a social hub for people.” When the shop was forced to close last March, he launched a website for the business which ‘took off really well.’

Nyack, NY | Get lost in a world of music, art, books, and coffee in downtown Nyack: An unbeatable combination of music, art, books and coffee make for a great Road Trip: Close to Home in downtown Nyack. Soothe your soul with soundtracks at Main Street Beat, a vinyl record store with an eclectic collection. “We carry rock, jazz, R&B, hip-hop – ranging from the ’50s to current music today,” says co-owners Amy Bezunartea and Jennifer O’Connor. Next, fuel up at a unique Nyack staple – The Art Café. This 19th century building-turned-cafe captivates an aesthetic aura with help from local artists. Not only do baristas brew beautiful cups of coffee, but they also serve Mediterranean meals named after famous artist, such as the Picasso Salad. It’s just the right boost of energy to take you on our next adventure at the Pickwick Book Shop, where books are literally stacked from floor to ceiling. But how many books are we looking at here? “Quite a few…thousands! Thousands upon thousands,” says owner John Dunnigan.

San Marcos, TX | Texas’s Legendary Sundance Records Is Back With a Massive Memorabilia Collection—For Sale: Nicknamed the Michelangelo of the Staple Gun, Bobby Barnard turned his San Marcos record store into a work of art. Now you can own a piece of it. How many music posters can fit in a forty-by-sixty-foot barn in Hill Country? It’s a problem that Nancy Barnard, the former co-owner of San Marcos’s Sundance Records, is struggling to solve. “Fifteen hundred [posters]? Two thousand? We were reaching hoarder levels of stuff, if I’m being honest,” she says. And posters are just one part of her massive collection, which includes thousands of items of music memorabilia. Barnard owned the beloved record store until 2012 with her late husband, Bobby Barnard, who died last August after thirty years as a fixture in the local music scene. Now Nancy has tasked herself and a former employee, Parker Wright, with getting Bobby’s archive of music posters, records, vintage T-shirts, and other memorabilia online—and, in news music lovers were thrilled to learn, available for purchase.

Read More »