Nashville, TN | Legendary Ernest Tubb Record Shop on Broadway to be Restored: When Bryan and Jamie Kenney first stepped into the former Ernest Tubb Record Shop space, they were taken aback by the significance of the venue and its longstanding impact on Nashville’s music history. In late 2023, alongside the Tubb family, the brothers embarked on the massive, yet exciting project of rebuilding the landmark, telling Ernest Tubb’s story, and fostering a sense of shared purpose with the Nashville music community. …“We’ve been entrusted with such an important piece of Nashville history, and feel that we’ve become stewards of Ernest Tubb’s story and legacy,” said Jamie Kenney, Co-founder and Operator of Tusk Brothers. “Through the Nashville Music Collective, our intent was to carve a path for members of the community to claim a little piece of it as their own—whether they feel a special kinship with the shop, or simply want to be a part of its ongoing story.”
Berlin, DE | Vinyl hub Sound Metaphors reflects on a decade in Berlin: We spoke to Sound Metaphors founders about a decade of shaping Berlin’s music scene, the challenges of running a record store and the future of the city’s nightlife. …Founders Nemo Ripoll and Castro Moore, both DJs and party promoters, have spent the past decade shaping its identity. It has become an extension of their refined taste and love of good dance music – something that has brought them behind the decks of some of Berlin’s biggest clubs and across the world. As Sound Metaphors marks 10 years, it faces an uncertain future. In a city where cultural spaces are increasingly under pressure, the store’s next chapter is unclear. Fresh off an EMIL Award for being one of Germany’s best record shops, Ripoll and Moore sat down with The Berliner to reflect on their journey and discuss what comes next.
Northamptonshire, UK | Opening date set for new vinyl shop in Northamptonshire village as former Post Office to become ‘shelter’ for vintage music: A sign has gone up in the building formerly the Earls Barton for The Vinyl Shelter’, a new shop tailored to all things vinyl and throwback music. The shop that was once the Post Office was turned into The Vape Store some years ago, and on June 1 it will become The Vinyl Shelter, with a range of used and new vinyl LP’s, and accessories needed to maintain the retro records. Barry Ratcliffe, who will man the shop when it opens in the summer, chose the name ‘The Vinyl Shelter’ as he’s hoping to mimic a dog shelter, taking in old records and giving them a new lease on life. He said: “I came up with the name 10 years ago while selling records online, and it was akin to a dog shelter, I was going to take in unloved vinyl records that needed a new home finding, clean them up, and pass them on.”
Chicago, IL | Spin Me ‘Round like a Record: The Cycling Popularity and Origins of Vinyl Records in the 21st Century. “I’ve been getting interviewed about the resurgence of vinyl for the last 20 years,” says Rick Wojcik, one of two founders of Dusty Groove. Established in April 1996, the record-selling company started as an online Chicago business. Because of its popularity, they opened their business in Hyde Park and Wicker Park and finally opened to their present location in 2001. …Founded in 1996, this record store, founded by Rick Wojcik and JP Schauer, sells CDs and vinyl records. They buy them from individual sellers and record companies locally and nationwide. The store also has a downstairs bargain section with 99-cent deals on records and CDs. They sell all genres of music, from hip-hop to jazz to Latin music. They specialize in Brazilian music, soul, Latin, and jazz genres.
MN | The 14 Best Record Stores in Minneapolis & St. Paul: Check out these Twin Cities hotspots for vinyl, CD and cassette hunters. …it’s no shock that the Twin Cities punches above its weight when it comes to record stores. While a lot of beloved spots have closed over the years, it’s a testament to the city’s thriving music culture that quite a few record stores have stayed open for 30-plus years now, still going strong after weathering the sharp decline in physical media consumption in the era of streaming (a trend that has happily begun to reverse). Even as Minnesota-based chain retailers such as Best Buy and Target have scaled back (or in some cases eliminated) their music offerings, these independent record stores are keeping physical music – CDs, vinyl and cassettes — alive in Minneapolis and St. Paul. Whether you’re visiting and looking for a store to browse, a local collector looking for new crate-digging turf or someone just beginning to put together their physical music collection, these stores all come highly recommended.
Albany, NY | Equal Vision Records opens new downtown Albany headquarters: Equal Vision Records officially opened its new downtown Albany headquarters with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Wednesday, marking a major relocation and expansion for the independent record label and its affiliated companies. Founder Steve Reddy was joined by local officials and Capital Region Chamber President and CEO Mark Eagan at the new facility on South Pearl Street. The move consolidates operations for Equal Vision and its subsidiaries—MerchNow, EVR Promotions and Burlington Record Pressing—into a centralized, modern space designed to support growth in vinyl pressing, merchandise fulfillment and artist promotion. “This is more than just a new building—it’s a new chapter for Equal Vision and a vote of confidence in Albany,” Reddy said. “We’re proud to grow in a way that creates jobs, supports our artists, and brings new energy to the heart of the city.”
Torrance, CA | Crate-digging for gold: Record stores near El Camino College. Music big houses Tower Records, Sam Goody and The Wherehouse may be gone, but the demand and price of vinyl records keep growing. No longer just for DJs and classic rock or jazz collectors, vinyl has reentered the mainstream and fans of all music genres search for limited edition vinyl on Record Store Day, observed this year on Saturday, April 12, and throughout the year. According to Luminate, an online provider of music and entertainment data based in Los Angeles, sales of vinyl in the United States have steadily increased since 2016, with a total of 49.6 million copies of vinyl sold in 2023. For those who enjoy looking at album artwork, reading liner notes and lyrics, and the crackling sound of a diamond-tip needle meeting vinyl, here are the five mom-and-pop record stores closest to El Camino College.
You need to be careful when buying new vinyl—the digital music loudness war can mean they sound worse than second-hand records: Some re-releases can be a downgrade, not an upgrade. Some of the most-wanted vinyl releases aren’t new records; they’re remastered versions of old favorites. But those remasters might not sound as good as you hope even when played on the best turntables – and in some case they might actually sound worse than the originals. Remastering—creating a new master copy of the record that’s then copied to discs and/or digital—is commonplace because it’s a great way for record companies to sell you a record all over again. And it’s catnip for music fans, because it promises to take an album you already adore and make it even more magical. With a lot of old music, remastering really does deliver a massive improvement, so for example it can give you the clarity and low-end thump that’s often lacking from early rock records because not everyone making music or playback kit really knew what they were doing back then.
ZA | DP World ships vinyl from high-tech UK warehouse: DP World has shipped over 10 million vinyl records from its Bicester facility, the UK’s largest distribution warehouse for music and video products, since opening in August 2023. Powered by semi-autonomous ‘picking’ robots, developed by Locus Robotics, the warehouse has become the epicentre of physical music distribution in the UK, playing a key role in the ongoing ‘vinyl revival’. Moving independently across the warehouse following worker input, the robots ensure a seamless blend of automation and manual precision. Handling more than 70% of all physical music and 35% of home entertainment products sold in the UK, the 25 083 m2 facility distributed more than 20 million units across all product lines in its first year. It supplies some of the world’s largest retailers, including Amazon and HMV, as well as more than 400 independent record stores. The facility has also seen significant growth in e-commerce sales, distributing approximately two million units direct to customers in 2024.
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