Chico, CA | Downtown Chico’s Melody Records celebrates 26 years: An iconic independent music store in downtown Chico just marked 26 years on Main Street. Melody Records has survived shifting economies, demographics and trends without relying on commercials, ads or flashy social media gimmicks. The store sits on the corner of Main Street and 4th Street. Originally opened in 1979, Melody Records uses a business model older than the records they sell. “There’s a chunk of the population, I know there’s all that internet and online buying, but there’s a chunk of the population that likes to go into a store,” said Ray Coppock, owner of Melody Records. Coppock said word-of-mouth and quality customer service are the only marketing Melody Records uses.
Toronto, CA | Brian’s record recollections: Monthly Whig column will recount trials, tribulations, hilarities of running record store. …As for me, well, I opened my store 36 years ago, in April 1980, in an upstairs hole in the wall. Three years later, I opened in my present location on Princess Street near the area now known as the Hub. At the time, I needed an outside sign. A communal cult from Marlbank, which made funky signs, approached me with a few ideas and my first sign was made. Underneath the store name was a dog and a horn, not exactly like the original RCA logo, but similar enough that I received a menacing letter with the threat of a court case without much notice. Initially, I thought ‘Let them sue me.’ With all this attention, I will become famous.
Keller, TX | North Texas record shop gives old vinyl a second spin through recycling program: At County Line Records in Keller, old music is getting another turn. The Main Street record shop is taking part in a pilot program that lets customers drop off damaged, scratched, used, or unused vinyl records so the material can be recycled into new records. For owners Rodney and Lorissa Holder, vinyl has already changed their tune once. “And he acquired a lady’s, I guess, record collection,” Lorissa Holder said. “And it kind of sparked the idea.” That idea became County Line Records three years ago. The business started in Decatur before moving to Keller, where it now sells records, CDs, cassettes, stereo equipment, books, band shirts, and other physical media.
Lapeer, MI | Beloved Michigan record store closing, but its owner isn’t turning off the music: Happy Daze Records has been a place where people could dig through crates, discover an old favorite, find something they’ve never heard of and stay awhile to talk music. This weekend, (9/5) the doors will close for good. Denny Williams and his wife, Laurie Williams, have decided to close the store, but they aren’t walking away from the business—or the music that has been a part of his life for decades.
And how dumb was poor Roy Wood, who split Electric Light Orchestra before they sold like a gazillion records to form Wizzard, who sold like six! No wonder hairy Roy looks like a crazy recluse who’s spent the past 40 years in the wilderness, subsisting on a diet of spotted squirrel and sterno–he has!
Lansing, MI | Put your records on: Accessibility and convenience are generational buzzwords, ‘kids these days’ are finding joy in the tedious. Like everything else, the internet changed the music business. First, it was Napster and iTunes. Pandora and YouTube came later, followed by Spotify, Tidal and Apple Music. Add smartphones to the mix, and the hassle of physical media seems unnecessary when on-demand streaming is available. However, 
Calgary, CA | Gen Z fuels CD comeback at Calgary record stores as Canadian sales rise: Compact discs (CDs) are making a comeback and finding a new generation of buyers and connoisseurs across Canada as teenagers and young adults turn to the once-declining format to find an affordable way to own music. According to Luminate’s 2026 mid-year report, Canadians are consuming more music across the board this year, with all formats seeing a rise compared with 2025. Physical album 
I would not call The Pretenders a great band, per se. A very, very good band, sure. Chrissie Hynde is an excellent songwriter and has one of the most distinctive voices in rock. Unfortunately, like Badfinger, The Pretenders are just as famous for their tragically high mortality rate as they are for their music.
Jez and Martin talked about the new recordings, becoming A Certain Ratio and the early Hacienda days along with Joy Division, plus future plans. And while they came up through Factory Records alongside all the classic acts that emerged in the late ’70s they built a sound out of funk bass, Afrobeat drums, brass, dub, and Latin percussion along with the angular edges of post-punk. This year marks two anniversaries: 45 years since they recorded Sextet, their 1982 third album that hit number one on the UK Independent Chart, and 40 years since Force, their 1986 fifth album and last for Factory.
Boulder, CO | The Vinyl Café moves sound around surround: The Vinyl Café moved sound around the surrounding block, the difference measured in bricks rather than miles, the reason measured in space. Owner Martin Banks moved down the block and around the corner to the extra square footage he needed to boost sales and chip away at towering backstock. “I’ve got 12,000 records at home. Well, it’s down to about nine now. That we couldn’t fit in that previous building. We’d filled the entire thing,” Banks said. “My kids are getting pretty sick of it. My garage, my basement and unfortunately, a lot of my living room is 
Portland, OR | ‘You’re a dead man’: Suspect facing multiple charges after threatening Portland record store. A man was arrested last week after he allegedly tried to burn down a Portland record shop while its owner was inside. Adrian Orange, 40, was arrested Thursday on charges of first-degree attempted arson, first-degree burglary, second-degree burglary, coercion and menacing. Orange visited Vinyl Resting Place in the St. Johns neighborhood in Portland on Aug. 27 and attempted to sell some records, according to charging documents. When the store owner declined, Orange allegedly threatened to kill him and said he was a “dead man.” The record store owner said he feared for his safety so he locked the front door. Orange allegedly returned a short time later and began shoving newspaper under the front door before 
