New Orleans, LA | Indie Record Store Camp Coming in July: Hotel Monteleone will be busy July 28-Aug. 1 hosting Record Store Day Camp, a conference for indie record stores and those who keep them spinning. 33 1/2 Record Distribution, AudioTechnica, Rhino Records, Sub Pop and Victrola are just some of the companies confirmed to attend. Record stores including Amoeba Records (Los Angeles), Criminal Records (Atlanta), Epitaph (Los Angeles) and locally loved Euclid Records will be attending, as well. The indie record store event will kick off at The Black Penny on 700 North Rampart. Special rates will be available at The Hotel Monteleone. The conference is organized by Redeye Distribution which aims to “connect independent artists and labels to an expanding global marketplace through sales and marketing expertise along with impactful customer relationships.”
New York, NY | ‘Vinyl NYC: 33 1/3 of the Best Record Stores Across All Five Boroughs’ Celebrates the Soul of Music Shops. Perhaps there is nothing so modern as the vinyl record, its streamline design elegantly enclosed in a dazzling 12” cardboard sleeve that promises untold pleasures. For record collectors like the husband and wife photography team of James T. and Karla L. Murray, it all begins with the thrill of the hunt: a trip to the local record store. Following the success of Store Front NYC and Great Bars of New York, the Murrays now team up with music journalist and critic Hattie Lindert for Vinyl NYC: 33 1/3 of the Best Record Stores Across All Five Boroughs (Prestel, September 9, 2025), the newest volume by husband-and-wife photography team James T. and Karla L. Murray devoted to the indelible Mom & Pop shops that form the heart and soul of New York.
Munich, DE | Munich’s Riviera Records raising funds to cover costs of relocation: The record shop hosted a farewell in-store event earlier this month. Riviera Records is raising money to cover the costs of relocating to a new space. The Munich record shop has launched a crowdfunder, aiming to raise €10,000 “to create a financially viable foundation for the future,” the team shared. “It strengthens our ties to the community, increases Riviera’s visibility and ensures we can get off to a great start in the new location.” A farewell in-store event at the current Rosental space took place on June 13th. Launched in 2020, Riviera Records stocks a wide range of first and second-hand vinyl. Some of its equipment and records were damaged during a warehouse flood last May. The shop’s new location is yet to be revealed.
Philadelphia, PA | The Free Library of Philadelphia is Launching a New Vinyl Record Listening Club With a New Theme Each Month: There’s no doubt that streaming platforms have made listening to music easy and accessible. However, there’s just something about holding a physical copy of an album that just hits different. For those that enjoy listening sessions, especially with vinyl there is now a club that meets monthly. The Free Library of Philadelphia just launched their Vinyl Record Listening Club that will gather once-a-month starting on June 25th at the Parkway Central Library (1901 Vine Street). Headed by the Music Department, the club is “for folks to listen to and discuss vinyl records. We welcome music lovers of all levels, whether you are brand new to vinyl records or an old hat at crate digging,” states Jane Lippman of the Music Department.
Rapid City, SD | Vinyl records demand boom reaches the Black Hills: According to the U.S. Music Revenue Database, revenue from vinyl records sales surpassed revenue from CD sales in 2021, and the gap has widened each year since. Vinyl record sales totaled $1.4 billion in 2024. Black Hills Vinyl Owner Jennifer Calabrese says she’s seeing the trend locally. “There’s a bigger demand here in town,” Calabrese said. “I saw one article where the owner was stating how he sees more new customers than regulars, and I feel like that’s becoming the case for us as well.” Calabrese also mentioned tourist traffic is big for sales, and out-of-towners generally purchase different records than locals. Not only are classic records seeing higher sales, modern artists are commonly re-releasing their music on vinyl. “There has become a collector’s quality to vinyl, and with that, a lot of artists are taking the opportunity to create more special releases,” Calabrese said.
What was the first-ever single released by Columbia Records? …As far as established record labels go, one of the first to begin releasing these cylinders was Columbia Records, a titan that still remains standing today despite having first formed as an entity in 1889. Set up by New Jersey businessman and lawyer Edward D Easton, the company quickly struck a monopoly on the East Coast of America when it came to the manufacturing and sale of phonograph cylinders and the players that inventor Thomas Edison had patented. But considering this was an entirely new medium, what demand was there to own physical recordings, and what were the first singles released on the fledgling label if so few people were able to purchase them?
Birmingham, UK | Brindleyplace Vinyl Record Fair: Jul 5 at 9:00AM – 4:00PM. Marking the debut vinyl record fair in Brindleyplace Central Square, (Birmingham city center), hosted by Midlands Record Fairs, we are excited to announce a plethora of 10ft stalls stacked out with vinyl records, ranging from: Classic Rock / Brit Pop / 90s & 00s Genres / Metal / Punk / Psych / Blues / Progressive Rock / Dance / 80s classics & Dance 12s , plus 2000+ £5 albums ranging from Rock to Blues, Folk, Soul & many other genres. FREE ENTRY ALL DAY.
In favour of 4K Blu-ray: I’ve streamed hundreds of movies and shows, but you still can’t beat physical media: There’s quality and then there’s quality—and the difference is night and day. It was just the other day that I was writing about the original Utopia series coming to Amazon Prime Video. But only in the US, not to its home in the UK. Good job I’ve got the Blu-ray version, then, which was only produced in Germany of all places—because physical media is dying somewhat. It shouldn’t be at end of life, though, because Blu-ray or, preferably, the higher-resolution 4K Blu-ray, clearly remains the better format. The best streaming services have their convenience factor and their giant content libraries, of course, but they just don’t have guaranteed quality—or permanence.
5 mistakes to avoid when setting up your record player: A little knowledge goes a long way. I can remember the first time I set up a record player, and it wasn’t pretty. There was a belt drive to attach, I needed to set the tracking weight and maybe figure out what that actually meant at the same time, all the while making sure not to damage the stylus or any other aspect of the turntable. Thankfully, once I joined What Hi-Fi?, some twenty years ago, there was far more experienced people on hand to teach me how to do things properly (thanks, Ketan). Plenty of turntables, especially the best budget record players, have also become a fair bit more “plug and play” in recent years. But it’s still easy to feel unsure if you’re new to this world. And even if you’ve been playing vinyl for many years, there are some key things you should get right in order to hear your record collection at its best.
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