Miami, FL | Miami’s ATV Records announces closure: The beloved dance music venue, which acts as a club and record store, will remain open until July 31st. ATV Records is permanently closing after two and a half years of operations. The Miami venue, home to a record store, nightclub and bar, announced the news via Instagram late on Thursday, June 23rd. No official explanation for the decision was given, with the team noting that they came to agreement following a “long and careful assesment.” ATV (short for “addicted to vinyl”) will continue to host parties until July 31st, its last day of operation. The space, launched by former club Electric Pickle, opened its doors in late 2019. ATV’s intimate atmosphere and four-point analog sound system made it a favourite among local and touring artists such as Danny Daze, Jubilee, Mike Servito, Moxie and countless others.

US | Manufacturers Struggle to Keep Pace With Vinyl Record Demand: Demand for record albums continues to soar in the United States, and the manufacturing base is having to reinvent itself to meet demand. The arrival of the compact disc nearly killed off record albums, with vinyl pressing machines sold, scrapped and dismantled by major record labels. Four decades later, with resuscitated record album sales producing double-digit annual growth, manufacturers are rapidly rebuilding an industry to keep pace with sales that reached $1 billion last year. Dozens of record-pressing factories have been built to try to meet demand in North America—and it’s still not enough. The industry “has found a new gear, and is accelerating at a new pace,” said Mark Michaels, CEO and chairman of United Record Pressing, the nation’s largest record producer, in Nashville, Tennessee.

Tewksbury, UK | Music tastes may vary, but vinyl is forever: Spinning favorite LP’s for hours on end with the volume up just a bit too loud has long been a pastime for many teenagers. Vinyl records have been around since the early 1900’s, offering professional sound quality to the average consumer. Those of us who grew up during the prime of the vinyl LP, from the 1950’s through the late 1980’s, re­member spending endless hours at the local record store. Other than the ra­dio, a teen’s record collection was the only access to popular music and worth the investment of an entire week’s allow­ance. That is not to say that the vinyl record did not go without competition from other music mediums. In the early 1960’s, cassette tapes made their way into the music listening industry. The cassette pro­mised portability with the ease to rewind forwards or backwards. Unfortunately, cassettes also came with the problem of jamming in the cassette player, kinking or breaking the cassette tape, usually from overplay.

Rowsley, UK | ‘Irreplaceable’ vinyl records sold at Rowsley car boot by mistake: A woman has said she is “horrified” after a relative accidentally sold 16 of her sentimental vinyl records for less than £1 each at a car boot sale. Rohan Mellor said the albums she had inherited were being stored by a relative while she moved house. They were sold in Rowsley, Derbyshire, on Sunday, the day after she and her husband got back from their honeymoon. Mrs Mellor said they were first press albums from the early 1960s to late 1970s, and were “irreplaceable”. They included albums by The Rolling Stones, The Beatles, David Bowie, AC/DC, The Clash, and The Who. The 26-year-old said the relative storing them had recently had a bereavement and accidentally mixed her records up with items she was clearing out. The vinyl records had been collected by Mrs Mellor’s father and uncle, and after her uncle died a few years ago her father gave them to her and her sister. She said she was “utterly shocked and horrified” that they were gone.

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St. Louis, MO | Jean Haffner’s Record Exchange Is a Haven for St. Louis Audiophiles: In a building of a former library, bins of records, shelves of CDs and boxes of products tower almost as high as the ceiling. Only the sound of customers peeling through plastic-covered records can be heard over classic rock playing over a loudspeaker. This is the Record Exchange (5320 Hampton Avenue, 314-832-2249), where owner Jean Haffner, 76, has built a literal library of records and music paraphernalia in the former Buder Branch of St. Louis Public Library in St. Louis Hills. It’s the largest record store in St. Louis (and possibly the country, Haffner claims). Haffner’s overwhelming inventory of vinyl records, cassettes, laserdiscs, 45s, VHS tapes, CDs and more, is the combined behemoth of nine record stores and two antique shops. He opened the first record shop in 1976 but closed all but one of the 11 stores about 15 years ago after he “got tired of traveling.”

Asheville, NC | Local record-shop entrepreneurs discuss the wild world of vinyl: Like a good Shakespearean drama, vinyl records have gone from royalty to pariah and back to the throne over the past half-century. According to the Record Industry Association of America, vinyl sales have grown for 15 consecutive years, with 2021 revenues increasing by 61% to $1 billion. In a music-rich city like Asheville, it’s only fitting that multiple businesses specializing in wax have become fixtures around town. Since 2004, Harvest Records in West Asheville has set the standard for record stores, carrying vinyl from its inception, despite CDs initially carrying the bulk of its sales. “I’m honestly not sure how much thoughtful intention was put into it,” says co-owner Mark Capon, who notes that he and co-owner Matt Schnable simply followed their instincts and interest. “We’ve always just passively fostered it, I suppose. We never sat in an office and thought, ‘How can we create vinyl addicts?’ We just kept it as available, interesting and affordable as we could.”

New vinyl pressing plant to open in California: The new plant will be equipped with eight presses from Nashville’s Record Pressing Machines. A new vinyl pressing plant is set to open in southern California. Californian reissue label Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab (MoFi), which is owned by online audio accessories retailer Music Direct, is behind the venture, as Billboard reports. The plant, which has designs on becoming America’s “premier vinyl production facility,” will install eight presses from Nashville’s Record Pressing Machines and will initially aim to press two million records drawing on “quality—not quantity.” The new plant is a commercial team-up between MoFi, Music Direct’s Jim Davis, and vinyl engineers Rick and Edward Hashimoto. “The biggest opportunity is the increased capacity for our related record label, Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab,” Davis told Billboard. “It’s been frustrating watching demand far outpace our ability to deliver records to our customers. The expanded capacity will enable us to issue records that aren’t just the standard classic rock and jazz…”

TikTok releases first album of viral hits: Some of the biggest viral hits on TikTok have been given the full orchestral treatment and will get a traditional release on CD and vinyl this summer, the platform announced Friday. The tie-up with Warner Classics is the first time TikTok has ventured into the traditional music market and will see the 18 songs released on streaming platforms as well as in record stores. Anyone who has spent any significant time on the video streaming platform will recognise songs such as “No Roots” by Alice Merton which has been used on 1.3 million videos. Or pleasant piano ditty “Pieces” by Danilo Stankovic, used by some 3.4 million TikTokkers. All have been given a full work-over by Germany’s Babelsberg Film Orchestra. “Listening to No Roots in a new musical context is inspiring,” Merton said in a statement. “I’m excited about the project and I’m looking forward to seeing how it comes to life.”

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Miami, FL | Best Record Store: Found Sound Records. As we enter year 17 of the great vinyl comeback, it makes sense that actual brick-and-mortar record stores are seeing a parallel resurgence. If listeners want their music to occupy a physical form, it makes sense they’d also want their shopping experience to be nondigital. North Miami’s Found Sound Records hearkens back to a day when independent record shops were grounds for new discoveries and downloading wasn’t even a word. Every Tuesday through Saturday, from 1 to 7 p.m., owner Ralph Pichardo sits behind the counter spinning vinyl, ready to answer customers’ questions about everything from Father’s Day gifts to why you might want to steer clear of that Legendary Stardust Cowboy album. The inventory of new and used records hovers around 8,000, including original pressings and other rarities but also crates filled with LPs priced as low as two bucks.

Brooklyn, NY | A new record shop is opening in Brooklyn: Stocking both new and used records, alongside movies, books, and more. Brooklyn Record Exchange is opening its second outpost, in NYC’s Greenpoint neighbourhood. Brooklyn Record Exchange, a collaboration between NYC label Mexican Summer, Mike Hunchback, and Ben Steidel, opened its first shop in 2019. The new Greenpoint outpost will feature a dedicated selection of Mexican Summer and Anthology releases, as well as both new and second hand records, movies, and books. The team also plan to host in-store events, with DJs Lauren Murada, Alyssa Stowers and Timo Lee playing the opening party. Brooklyn Record Exchange will open on the 24th June at 87 Guernsey St., Brooklyn, New York.

Bristol, UK | Bristol record store makes debut appearance at Glastonbury Festival: “Lots of people have already come by to say hi.” Bristol record shop Longwell Records has made its debut appearance at Glastonbury Festival, two years after first securing a place. A little slice of Bristol currently sits between West Holts and Left Field with shop owner Iain Aitchison delighting passers-by with his extensive mix of records – there is of course a Glastonbury specials box – merchandise and Bristol-themed artwork. Southmead born Iain hasn’t been to Worthy Farm in 25 years, and this year is slightly different to the 1997 “Year of Mud”, with festival goers enjoying glorious sunshine so far. He was also a punter back then when acts included The Prodigy, Radiohead, Massive Attack, Ray Davies and Sting. It’s safe to say he’ll be a bit busier this year manning his pop-up shop, and despite being almost an hour from Keynsham that hasn’t stopped his regular customers also at the festival from stopping in to say ‘hi’.

Bristol, UK | Bristol’s Idle Hands puts out final release “for time being.” The imprint first began in 2009 with releases from Peverelist, Kahn, and Shanti Celeste. Bristol-beloved imprint and record store Idle Hands has announced its movement on to pastures new over a decade after its launch. Announced alongside the release of the label’s final compilation “for the time being”, Idle Hands told fans: “This is the end of a chapter. The shop continues and new projects beckon.” “The last Idle Hands release for the time being,” they added. The label’s final release pulls in four artists “with close ties” to the imprint – K-LONE, Glances, Bruce, and Rhythmic Theory. “Bruce with a contemplative dancefloor dub in tribute to Alex T. K-LONE delivers a subtle and subby house roller. Rhythmic Theory with a bumpy and bassy techno track. Glances bring a deft funkiness to the broken techno sound…”

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