In rotation: 1/27/20

Sunrise Records’ Owner Acquires US Music Chain For $10M: Sunrise Records is expanding into the US. As reported by The Canadian Press, Doug Putman, the owner of Canadian music and entertainment retail chain Sunrise Records, has acquired For Your Entertainment (FYE) for US $10M. The deal is subject to stockholder approval of current FYE ownership Trans World Entertainment Corp. and is expected to be finalized in late March. The move will give the Ancaster, ON-based business an additional 206 locations to conduct business, although Putman, president of Sunrise, indicates that he plans to continue operating the company under its US brand name. Based out of Albany, NY, FYE is a music, film and pop culture outlet that sells vinyl records, DVDs, Blu-rays, CDs, apparel, toys, collectibles and electronics – and also operates the FYE web store and Second Spin, an online retailer that offers second-hand movies and music… In an Oct 21 interview with FYIMusicNews chief David Farrell, Putman claimed that his business had sold 10 million physical albums in 2019.

Columbus, OH | Local record store owners embrace vinyl comeback: “Out with the old, in with the new” doesn’t always ring true in the music industry. Though streaming services still generate the most revenue, vinyl sales are making a comeback, with nearly a 13-percent revenue increase in the first half of 2019, while CD revenue increased by less than 1 percent, according to a 2019 Recording Industry Association of America report. To Columbus-area record stores such as Elizabeth’s Records, Used Kids Records and Magnolia Thunderpussy, this comes as no surprise. “There was a time back in the ’80s, when CDs came out, that we were throwing records in the dumpster to make room for CDs, and now we are doing the same thing. We are throwing CDs in the garbage to make room for records,” Charles Kubat, owner and manager of Magnolia Thunderpussy on High Street, said. Greg Hall, owner of Used Kids Records on Summit Street, said CDs deteriorate over time in a way that vinyl does not. “I think vinyl is going to stay until something radically different comes out. I can’t even envision what that would be,” he said.

Instead of a $1,400 Stereo That ‘Sounds Analog,’ Just Buy a Record Player: …These days, we’re as obsessed with how we listen to our music as much as we are with the music itself. There seems to be a newer, shinier, fancier speaker on the market each day, and thankfully, a couple hundred dollars can get you a pretty decent sound system. If you don’t mind supporting our evil billionaire overlord Jeff Bezos, Amazon’s Alexa speakers start at just $35, and if talking gadgets aren’t your speed—we get it, surveillance states are creepy—other brands like JBL and Bose can elevate your listening experience for around $200, and upward from there. Somehow, $200 is a mere fraction of the price of the latest must-have Bluetooth speaker: iFi’s Aurora. The stereo’s main selling point is its ability to make the music you stream sound analog—yes, a digital device so advanced it’s supposed to sound… not digital—but with its hefty price tag of $1,400, we’re expecting clear skin and a perfect credit score, too. But we have a great idea: Rather than spending a pretty penny on a Bluetooth speaker with the clarity of vinyl, you could always just… buy a record player.

What Jimmy Page thought ‘Physical Graffiti’ lost within the transfer from record to CD: If you solely had one phrase to explain Led Zeppelin’s Physical Graffiti (1975), “overwhelming” may be the best way to go. Between “Custard Pie” at first of Side One and the final moments of “Sick Again” on Side Four, Zep packed 83 minutes of powerhouse music onto its double album. Along the best way, Jimmy Page and Zep dropped a number of the band’s masterpieces. In truth, for those who have a look at the closing songs of the album’s first three sides, you discover three tracks within the Zep canon. After “In My Time of Dying” on the primary facet, listeners received the epic “Kashmir” on the finish of the the second facet. On the third facet, Page closed with one in every of his greatest compositions (and general productions), “Ten Years Gone.” When Physical Graffiti went onto CD, the discharge clearly misplaced the influence of Page’s authentic sequencing. In a 2015 interview, Page acknowledged that the unique four-sided LP was the best way Zep’s sixth album was meant to be heard… “Each side of vinyl was sequenced to showcase whatever was on there, so it wasn’t square pegs in round holes. Any of the four sides could be your favorite side.” When the interviewer requested if the CD sequencing has “unbalanced the album,” Page agreed it did.

JP | Japan’s vinyl resurgence makes room for international releases: It’s a familiar story. In a decade where streaming dominated the news cycle, one angle would be propped up as an anomaly in an evolving music industry: the reigning popularity of CDs in Japan. The common angle was that while the rest of the world dumped their discs and took on subscription services, Japan continued to embrace the format. The basis wasn’t simply nostalgia — it’s commonplace for fans to support artists by buying their music on a physical format, and CDs remained the defacto format. CNN reported that physical media, including CDs and DVDs, made up 80% of all music sales by value in 2012, compared to a low 34% in the United States. But it looks like the narrative has now changed. Just last year, The Japan Times reported that CD production in Japan fell below 100 million for the first time in 2018. It’s still a large number, but it’s a sign that their domestic market has now shifted towards other ways of listening to music. Streaming is the obvious choice, as more mainstream J-pop acts begin to appear on platforms.

The Who Announce Double Vinyl Reissue Of Classic Albums: The Who will release deluxe double vinyl reissues of a pair of soundtrack albums – 1979’s “The Kids Are Alright” and “Quadrophenia” – on March 6. “The Kids Are Alright” is the companion soundtrack record to the UK band’s classic documentary film of the same name, which famously featured the 1967 Smothers Brothers TV show version of “My Generation” that included an exploding drum-kit finale. The album delivers rare, live versions of “I Can’t Explain”, “I Can See For Miles”, “Baba O’Riley”, and many others, including three performances from Woodstock, classic 1960s TV performances of “Magic Bus” and “Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere”, and the definitive performance of “A Quick One, While He’s Away”, as played at The Rolling Stones’ Rock & Roll Circus. The deluxe reissue of “Quadrophenia” presents the soundtrack from the classic and influential 1979 film, which was adapted by director Franc Roddam from The Who’s 1973 rock opera that gave rise to the self-styled mod revival in the UK.

Albums that are worth owning on vinyl (or buying a record player for): I’ve been around vinyl records my whole life because my grandmother owned so many. However, I have grown to have my own love for them. We have a collection of my grandmother’s “oldy” records, but my brother and I are working on collecting our own. All music sounds better on vinyl. It is vitally important, though, to listen to specific albums on vinyl. Adele’s 25 was the first major album I got on vinyl. It was all I listened to for about a year. Her voice is already so full and rich that you wouldn’t think it could get better. She manages to sound even better on vinyl. Aside from the improved tone, vinyl art is also incredible. In 25, there are a lot of photos of Adele recording, along with a sweet note from her. 25, an amazing album, is only improved by the scratches. When Joanne by Lady Gaga came out, I knew I had to get it on vinyl. Joanne is one of my favorite albums of all time. Lady Gaga fused so many wonderful genres of music into one work of art. The songs are placed together in a way that makes it the perfect album. Like in Adele’s case, Lady Gaga’s album art is beautiful. It features photos of her as a young girl all the way up to her young adulthood, along with scans of her first lyric sheets. Her country debut is best listened to on vinyl.

Sam Cooke vinyl records are released to celebrate birthday: ABKCO Music & Records launches a year-long celebration leading up to the 90th anniversary of Sam Cooke’s birth with the January 24 release of The Complete Keen Years (1957 – 1960) CD Box Set and announces today, a series of eight vinyl editions, including several Tracey Limited titles back in print on vinyl restored with original artwork. The release date was chosen because it is the closest Friday to Cooke’s actual January 22 birthdate. Following the expiration of his RCA Victor contract in 1963, Sam Cooke established Tracey Limited, his own label, which assigned distribution rights to RCA for a finite period of time. Tracey was Cooke’s way to assert both artistic commercial control over his own recordings and to better realize his far-reaching musical ambitions. He was one of the first recording stars, black or white, to command this kind of control, the most noteworthy other example at the time being Frank Sinatra. The first album released through Tracey were Sam Cooke At The Copa and Ain’t That Good News.

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