US | Vinyl sales growth outperformed by CDs in the US during first half of 2026: Electronic music also experienced the biggest growth among genres in the US. The growth of CD sales overtook that of vinyl records during the first half of 2026. According to Luminate’s 2026 Midyear Report: Trends in Music, Television & Film, CD sales in the US rose 16%, with 16.3 million units sold between January and June this year. For comparison, vinyl sales grew by just 2.3%. Interestingly, much of the surge is attributed to the rise in collectable culture among younger consumers, according to the report, which also found that around half of the Gen Z and millennials who purchase CDs do not actually own a CD player. The report suggested that “price accessibility” could be a factor behind the trend…
Baltimore, MD | Celebrated Summer Records Has Been Ready for People to Go Analog for 20 Years: For two decades, owner Tony Pence was told the future of music would be online, with the final blow drawn by Gen Z. But those 14-to-29 year-olds are now the ones turning vinyl records into a billion-dollar industry. It’s a few minutes before Tony Pence’s record store opens on a Friday morning in Hampden, and before the clock strikes noon, a few young men are already milling outside, waiting to get in. “It’s wild to see,” says the 53-year-old owner of Celebrated Summer Records. For the last two decades, he’s been told that the future of music would be online, with the final blow drawn by Gen Z. Yet those 14-to-29 year-olds are now driving a rapidly growing “analog economy,” turning vinyl records like those stacked all around this Falls Road shop…
Ogletown, DE | New store offers a space for record collectors to connect: Hot Wax Records opens in the Shops at Red Mill. Alex Rash has been collecting records since high school, often spending hours in record stores with his friends discovering new music. “Me and several of my friends would hang out at record stores and gunk up right in front of the register until we became a problem,” Rash said. Record stores gave him a place to connect with other music enthusiasts and develop his hobby of collecting records. Now he hopes to create the same inviting atmosphere for the next generation of record collectors with his own record store, Hot Wax Records, which opened July 1 in the Shops at Red Mill in Ogletown. Hot Wax Records carries a lot of used classic rock records, cassettes, CDs and 45s.
Richmond, VA | Nine’s Lives: Celebrating 45 years, Plan 9 Music listens back at Hardywood. The number 45 is very meaningful to Jim Bland. “We treat 45 as a pretty big one,” says the co-founder and owner of Plan 9, the venerable Carytown music store celebrating four decades and a half of business this year. “That’s because it resonates with what we do and how this started.” Bland and his staff will commemorate the store’s birthday on Saturday with an all-day anniversary concert at Hardywood Park Craft Brewery. …The store, which has been housed in five different locations of various sizes within the same two blocks of Carytown, never gave up on vinyl, and withstood music industry attempts to kill it off in favor of compact discs and, later, streaming. “Records eventually came back, and now CDs are doing the same. People are now buying both.”
New York, NY | Chicago’s Signal Records expands to New York: The store will open a branch in Brooklyn later this year. Signal Records is opening a store in New York City later this year, its first outside of Chicago. In a post today, July 20th, the team said it signed a lease in Bushwick, Brooklyn. While the new location, expected to open in September or October this year, will cater to DJs, it will also carry Japanese, African and Brazilian imports in additon to punk, jazz and “a stash of collectors records,” the post said. The store is currently looking for used records ahead of opening. Signal opened its first location in Chicago in 2022 and quickly became a hotspot for local diggers thanks to its focus on used 12-inch Chicago house and techno releases as well as its selections of rare punk, and experimental electronics.
Chicago, IL | Reckless Records launches vinyl recycling program in Chicago: Reckless Records has joined a new nationwide vinyl take-back program that aims to give broken and unwanted records a second life. Why it matters: The iconic Chicago record store, with locations in Lakeview, Wicker Park and the Loop, is one of 12 independent record shops nationwide participating in the pilot, which launched June 25. The big picture: Vinyl has enjoyed a massive resurgence over the past decade, but there’s been little focus on what happens when records become damaged beyond repair or owners no longer want them. How it works: Music fans can return damaged or unplayable vinyl records regardless of the artist, label or condition.
London, UK | Old St. Records Opens In-House Record Store With Cigarette Records: Old St. Records is taking its love of music beyond the stage, with the opening of a new in-house record store, curated and run by London record dealer, DJ and promoter Cigarette Records. Giving music fans another way to spend time in the space inside the Shoreditch music venue, the new store brings together around 5,000 records from launch, with plans to grow the collection to 10,000 titles spanning disco, funk, soul, reggae, house, garage, jungle, rock and beyond. The collection has been shaped by Cigarette Records founder Owain Jones, whose approach is rooted in what he calls “music with feeling.”
Lawrence, KS | Lawrence vinyl fans gather for record swap night: A few tables of records and a room full of music set the scene Monday night at Lucia as East Lawrence Record Collectors hosted their monthly gathering, drawing club regulars and curious newcomers. Founder Amanda McDowell said the club grew out of her longtime love of records and a desire to create a space where people could share music and gather casually, even if turnout varied from month to month. “I just wanted to be a nerd with my friends, and also I get excited about it,” she said. …She said there can sometimes be a “culture of pretentiousness” around collecting, but that is not the spirit she wanted for the group. “We are not that at all,” McDowell said. “You don’t even have to collect records if you just want to come and sit and listen to physical media.”
Philadelphia, PA | Defunct Philly vinyl pressing plant Softwax gets new life thanks to Pittsburgh’s Hellbender Vinyl: The former Softwax pressing plant in Northeast Philly is now the Philly branch of Pittsburgh-based Hellbender Vinyl and is pressing albums in all kinds of colors for all kinds of artists. Philly-area bands and artists have a new resource for getting their music pressed on vinyl with Hellbender Vinyl’s recent acquisition of the now-closed Softwax Record Pressing. Softwax, founded by Federico “Kiko” Casanova in 2020, unfortunately filed for bankruptcy after a major record label pulled out of a deal with the company, putting the company into dire financial straits. But thanks to Pittsburgh’s Hellbender Vinyl, the pressing plant in Northeast Philly is up and running again and cranking out vinyl for local and national acts under the Western PA company’s name. …Co-owned by Matt Dowling and Jeff Betten, Hellbender is now the largest record manufacturer in Pennsylvania with its expansion to Philly after opening in just 2023.
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