UK | ‘Physical music is powerful and underleveraged. In 2026 it won’t be a sideshow—it’ll be a core strategic revenue and brand channel.’ Twenty One Pilots achieved something remarkable last year. Their album Breach (Fueled by Ramen/Atlantic) achieved over 200,000 total sales and equivalent streams in its first week – the highest debut for any rock band in six years, and the duo’s first US No.1 album in a decade. Even more striking: nearly 170,000 of those units came from pure album sales—physical product fans chose to purchase rather than stream. Thom Skarzynski, who worked closely with management on the campaign while at Atlantic Music Group, notes that it’s become common to see rock bands with massive touring power, selling hundreds of thousands of tickets, generating just 10,000 to 30,000 in streaming equivalent album sales during release week.
Glasgow, UK | 12 of the best record shops in Glasgow in 2026: These are the best record shops you need to visit in Glasgow. Glasgow is a city that takes its music seriously. Renowned for its rich musical heritage, it boasts a wide range of record shops to explore, no matter what genre you’re searching for. The city has produced some huge acts, including Simple Minds, Franz Ferdinand and Primal Scream, many of whom began their musical journeys browsing the racks of local record stores in their younger days. Although vinyl has enjoyed a well-documented comeback in recent years, the revival came too late for many much-loved shops. …If you’re seeking shelter from the rain or hunting for an album that’s long eluded you, here’s a list of 12 of the best record shops in Glasgow.
Chicago, IL | Beverly Phono Mart Struck By Car Overnight New Year’s Day: At around 2:30 a.m. on Jan. 1, the storefront of Beverly Phono Mart (1808 West 103rd Street), an independently-owned record shop in the Beverly neighborhood, was struck by a speeding vehicle, demolishing a large portion of the facade of the store. Despite the collision, although a significant portion of the store’s merchandise was damaged, the vast majority of it remained untouched. “Luckily, we only lost a few crates of records, which is, you know, a couple hundred records. Similarly, [we also lost] a couple hundred CDs, but the vast majority of our record inventory is still safe and in good shape,” Mallory McClaire, co-owner of Beverly Phono Mart, recounted.
Camarillo, CA | American Pie Record shop revives vinyl culture: Aisles of vinyls, CDs and the smell of cold brew throughout, American Pie Records and coffee house creates a welcoming experience, bringing people together through music, caffeine and baked goods. Located on Ventura Blvd. in Camarillo, it is a small but bright shop fostering both the opportunity for customers to get vinyls to add to their collection and a coffee to fuel their day. Adding to the bright environment of American Pie Records, Dustin Reese, also known as “The Record Guy,” enjoys being able to spread his love of music to other customers, encouraging them to find a passion in vinyl and continue coming back to American Pie Records. “I really love just talking about music with customers. Music that I love and they like. I love, also, recommending something I love, and they take it home and they like it too,” Reese said.
New Haven, CT | “Freedom Songs” Creates A Sonic Roadmap For The Present: Music floated through the lower level of 1020 Chapel St, winding its way around low tables and handmade, wooden bins that housed sleeves and sleeves of vinyl. From a record player, a quartet of steady voices rose through the space, tired but clear. Oh Pritchett! Oh, Kelly! Oh Pritchett, open them cells, they called, unearthing a whole history in under a minute. Atop the collections, photographs of Martin Luther King Jr., James Baldwin, Oscar Micheaux, W.E.B. Du Bois, Malcolm X, and Mary White-Ovington looked back. That sound came to the Chapel Street record store GRAILS last Monday, during the shop’s first ever “Freedom Songs,” a day-long listening session dedicated to the music of the Civil Rights movement. Designed to celebrate the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., the day invited people to explore social justice and Black revolution through songs, speeches, and poetry of freedom, bringing to the present 
Augusta, GA | Vinyl Record Fair goes on without a scratch: Despite the impending arrival of Winter Storm Fern and the dipping temperatures, a Jan. 24 event at the Westobou Gallery on 1129 Broad St. had record numbers. Strike that. Reverse it. But don’t scratch it. They had a number of records—
But then my friend Hank Dittmar who has forgotten more about music than I’ll ever know recommended this 1972 live album by the J. Geils Band, whom I saw at Shippensburg College in the late seventies but can’t really remember seeing at Shippensburg College in the late seventies because I was totally blotto on a combination of Wild Turkey and Placidyl, the latter of which I can only describe as an industrial strength memory dissolvent.
Hong Kong, CN | Vinyl record bar 8055 reopens to bring new beats Lan Kwai Fong’s nightlife scene: Listen, we love a good beat drop or screaming chart-toppers like any other nighttime reveller in the city, but in this era of EDM and throwback pop-heavy party scene, it would be nice to enjoy something authentic that sounds different for once. Well, it looks like we got our wish, because a vinyl record-based bar has just announced they’ll be opening in Lan Kwai Fong. The brainchild of longtime friends Brian and Ah Hei, the 8055 vinyl bar has had previous iterations based in Causeway Bay and Wan Chai, which grew in popularity to welcome even local celebrities and creatives like Eason Chan and Tyson Yoshi as patrons. The pandemic saw the shuttering of the bar—
Queen rereleasing ‘Live Killers’ and ‘The Platinum Collection’ on vinyl: Queen is revisiting their 1979 album, Live Killers. The band is set to reissue the live album on two-LP black vinyl on Jan. 30, marking the first time it’s been available on vinyl in years. The double live album was originally released in June 1979 and featured songs recorded during the European leg of their Jazz Tour, which ran from January 1979 to March 1979. The album includes performances of “We Will Rock You,” “We Are the Champions,” “Bohemian Rhapsody,” “Killer Queen,” “Don’t Stop Me Now” and “You’re My Best Friend.” Live Killers is available for preorder now. But Live Killers isn’t the only Queen album getting a vinyl rerelease. The band also recently announced they will be releasing their box set The Platinum Collection 
Anchored by era-defining songs including The Psychedelic Furs’ Top 5 title track “Pretty in Pink,” OMD’s iconic “If You Leave,” The Smiths’ “Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want,” and Echo & The Bunnymen’s sweeping anthem “Bring on the Dancing Horses,” and INXS fan-favorite deep-cut, “Do Wot You Do,” the Pretty in Pink soundtrack became a defining voice of its time—shaping mood, identity, and belonging in ways few films ever achieve. More than four decades after its theatrical release, Pretty in Pink continues to resonate across generations, its music and themes echoing with each new audience as they navigate the universal challenges of growing up.
