“No joke, I have none other than The Doors to thank for opening the door to the world of vinyl for me.”
“Actually, I should first throw a quick shout out to the video game Need for Speed Underground 2 and its killer soundtrack. Around the age of 10, I would spend countless hours virtually swerving through city streets, mostly to fast-paced songs by bands like Queens of the Stone Age and Rise Against. There was one track, however, that would always make me slow to a cruise. Snoop Dogg and producer Fredwreck collaborated on an exclusive remix of “Riders on the Storm” by The Doors that combined new verses with Jim Morrison’s original chorus over a hip hop beat. I just could not get enough of Snoop’s sly rhymes and the Lizard King’s haunting voice complementing one another as I coasted along in my decked out Audi TT.
Anyway, let’s get to what any of that has to do with vinyl. Cut to a few years later, just before 8th grade. While away at summer camp, I took a writing class taught by one of the “cool” counselors, who was willing to bend some rules. The camp higher-ups stressed that since we were guests on a college campus, we were not to touch anything professors left behind in the facilities. However, upon entering his classroom, Cool Counselor noticed a turntable with a stack of records beside it. He couldn’t resist plugging it in and letting us kids put on music during a free writing session.
This practice became a staple of the class. When it was finally my turn to have a look at the album options, my eyes immediately met those of Jim Morrison gazing through a mop of curls. He had his arms stretched out wide from a shirtless, skeletal torso and his head cocked slightly to the side as if to say, “Want some?” What he was offering was The Best of The Doors and I thought, “Alright, man, let’s see what you got!” I quickly flipped to the back cover hoping to find “Riders on the Storm” on the tracklist as I’d never heard the original version. And there it was; disc 2, side 1, track 4. I had to hear it.
Kent, UK | Kent soft play centres, pubs, book shops and campsites on life after lockdown: Vinylstore Jr. The joy of shopping as a vinyl-lover is flicking through huge stacks of records and hunting for your favourite artists but fears of contamination from customer to customer poses a problem. But Nick Pygott, who owns the pint-sized Vinylstore Jr in Canterbury, has come up with a plan which he hopes will allow him to open safely from Friday, June 19. Since lockdown began, he has spent a lot of time delivering records to customers across the city, whilst keeping his online shop open for customers to purchase music. He said: “The shop actually lends itself quite well to social distancing – although it’s tiny, that helps facilitate a one-in, one-out policy. “There’s a buzzer on the door so I’ll be buzzing people in one at a time.” As a sole trader, Nick has not had to worry about training staff on the new measures and will be open for two days a week at the start to allow his customers back in to 
Oakland, CA | A Look at How Oakland’s Small Businesses Are Surviving: Econo Jam Records. Econo Jam, a record store in Uptown Oakland, has stayed busy despite the fact that customers can’t come inside to dig through records. Instead, the shop is using social media to showcase its eclectic inventory and stay connected with its diverse customer base. “It’s fun finding those gold nuggets and having folks jump at the chance to snatch them up,” says owner Tom O’Shaughnessy. “People stuck at home are finding comfort in listening to records, as well as filling in the gaps in their collections by shopping online.” Now that curbside pickup is allowed, every Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday from 2 to 5 p.m., customers swing by to grab records they picked out from Econo Jam’s Instagram and Discogs page, an online marketplace to buy and sell records, tapes, and CDs. O’Shaughnessy says he misses the camaraderie that working in a record store fosters. “We are just a bunch of music nerds who love sharing our favorite music with folks,” he says. “The hardest part of sheltering in place is missing all of 
UK | Can lockdown save the download? As Music Week’s recent lockdown analysis feature proved, the coronavirus pandemic is having a huge effect on how the UK listens to music. Some elements were relatively predictable: physical sales have dropped significantly since every record shop in the country had to close, while audio streams, particularly ad-funded ones, have risen after an initial dip. But one lockdown trend surely wouldn’t have been predicted by anyone, as it involves a format so moribund Music Week declared it dead way back in 2016: the digital download. For quarter after quarter, sales of both digital singles and albums, dominated in the UK by Apple’s iTunes store, have only gone in one direction: down. But, since the UK lockdown began on March 23 in chart week 13, there have been flickerings of a revival. According to figures from the Official Charts Company, only 437,067 sales of digital singles were recorded in week 12, while digital albums accounted for just 71,824 units. Neither format has sunk so low since, with sales of tracks peaking at 773,336 in week 17 and albums at 124,944 in week 19. And while sales have fallen back since those peaks, they 
Guernsey, UK | Vinyl Vaughan goes back to his business roots: Vaughan Davies has gone full circle in his business career. His current business, record store Vinyl Vaughan’s, reopened last Saturday in the Commercial Arcade. ‘I worked as a travel agent in this building from 1979, so 41 years later I’ve come back round,’ he said. ‘Working in travel taught me that getting to know the customer came first and sales came second. ‘The minute you walk in you get greeted. I get to know the musical tastes of people individually. Recommending music that a regular customer will love is one of the best parts.’ Having signed the lease two weeks before lockdown, an efficient online ordering service kept the business going. Many islanders spent their time at home listening to music, which supported the local business through a quieter launch than expected. ‘Not too many people were in Town on Saturday,’ said Mr Davies. ‘I think many thought it would be heaving, but 
Philadelphia, PA | Record stores are set to reopen in Philly and Jersey. You’ll sanitize before you ‘dig.’ Crate digging will be done with freshly sanitized hands. Masks are mandatory. Plexiglass sneeze guards have been installed at the checkout counter. Socially distanced shopping will be in effect. And that’s all good news for music fans who long to hold a new find in their hands: Record stores are getting ready to open again. Stores like Repo Records on South Street (reopening June 8), Main Street Music in Manayunk (June 5), and the Princeton Record Exchange in New Jersey (June 15) have survived for decades despite multiple transformations of the industry, which now embraces a streaming model in which music is essentially given away for free. Now those stores, as well as Philly shops that have opened in the last decade like Brewerytown Beats (reopened June 5) or Sit & Spin Records (June 13) have been trying to 
Altrincham, UK | Meet the man behind the ‘Caravan of Love’ bringing coffee and grooves to Stamford Square: Independent record label Stutter & Twitch has launched a brand-new coffee caravan concept in Stamford Square in Altrincham town centre. The Stutter & Twitch ‘Caravan of Love’ is now open, selling Grindsmith-roasted coffee, teas, cold brews and cakes from Stockport-based Silver Apples Bakery. There’s also a collection of over a 1,000 vinyl records to browse and buy – with only one customer allowed at a time in accordance with current social distancing restrictions. Stutter & Twitch is also providing disposable gloves and sanitiser. Stutter and Twitch was launched two years ago by Ryan Hayes, who has a background as a musician and producer. Fuelled by a love of coffee and his experiences working in hospitality through various part-time jobs, Hayes bought the caravan on New Year’s Day 2019 and set about a lengthy restoration project. Having postponed his Stamford Quarter debut until it was safe to do so, Hayes hopes his concept is as much 
