Increase in Independent Record Shops

Norman_Conquest

Norman_Conquest

Well-known member
The BBC News are reporting that there has been an increase of 122 new independent record shops in the UK over the last 10 years. Vinyl records increased for the 16th year in a row, with 6.5 million sold, taking overall sales above £170m. It said 2.2 million of those records were sold through independent stores, and £110m of the overall sales were generated by older albums rather than new releases. What shocked me though was that streaming is the way most people are still going and that only 8% of all music sales are now in a physical form.

I know there are one or two on here who deal in vinyl, have you seen an increase in sales?

We've been listening to more vinyl since we got our stove fitted around 2010 and often just turn the lights and tele off and watch the flames jumping whilst listening to our vinyl. I know ThatFragranceGuy previously posted a thread on 'What vinyl have you bought recently / dusting off for a play?' that allowed posters to share what they've bought or dug out again.
 
afcb_acklam said:
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Technics SL-1000R

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That's a thousand pounds more than I paid for my first house. ;)

Edit: I'm looking to pay around £300 - £400 for a turn table and similar for the amp and speakers.
 
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Not directly relevant to your OP, but a lot of people embrace both streaming and physical music.

I for example will use streaming when I'm out and about, on my laptop in the car etc, but also like to physically own my favourite music (hence my collection of 1000 + records with custom build racking in my study which I've always dreamed about since a teenager) and sit down with it and actually listen.
 
Not the person to answer your question at all because I don't own any physical music anymore but it makes sense to me. Most people want their music to be portable, even if that just means different rooms in the same house, so physical media lacks convenience and (nearly) everyone has a music player in their pocket and several different speakers dotted around their house/car/garden. For those that want the physical media it is as much to collect as it is to listen to and a proper, full-size record like a vinyl looks way better than a stack of CDs as does the turntable and if you are going to listen to it the vinyl has a different sound that a CD or streamed song doesn't because they are both digital.

I would like a vinyl collection and a turntable but I'm already prone to starting expensive hobbies so I'm going to avoid it.
 
The_Lizards_Jumpers said:
Not directly relevant to your OP, but a lot of people embrace both streaming and physical music.

I for example will use streaming when I'm out and about, on my laptop in the car etc, but also like to physically own my favourite music (hence my collection of 1000 + records with custom build racking in my study which I've always dreamed about since a teenager) and sit down with it and actually listen.
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Funnily enough, I'm listening to Spotify whilst I type.
 
I find it more of an experience listening to an album on vinyl the way it was originally intended to be heard. The Tim Burgess (Charlatans) listening party also turned it in to a collective experience during lockdown.
 
Norman_Conquest said:
The BBC News are reporting that there has been an increase of 122 new independent record shops in the UK over the last 10 years. Vinyl records increased for the 16th year in a row, with 6.5 million sold, taking overall sales above £170m. It said 2.2 million of those records were sold through independent stores, and £110m of the overall sales were generated by older albums rather than new releases. What shocked me though was that streaming is the way most people are still going and that only 8% of all music sales are now in a physical form.

I know there are one or two on here who deal in vinyl, have you seen an increase in sales?

We've been listening to more vinyl since we got our stove fitted around 2010 and often just turn the lights and tele off and watch the flames jumping whilst listening to our vinyl. I know ThatFragranceGuy previously posted a thread on 'What vinyl have you bought recently / dusting off for a play?' that allowed posters to share what they've bought or dug out again.
Click to expand...
Where can I buy one of these music playing cooking appliances?

We have been buying a lot of vinyl for a few years. Recent stuff has been two older ZAPP albums and a Liam Gallagher bootleg. The independent vinyl store in Weymouth is my go to for stuff.
 
Amp, turntable, speakers - £1000+
Mind you nothing much has changed price wise since I worked for Marantz in the 90’s.
Of course, different formats are now on offer

It’s a lovely thing if you can afford it
Went to buy my lad an album - came out £30 lighter for a relatively new release.

Think I’ll wait for the ‘air turntable’ - it will do your sausages whilst you listen 😂
 
I have an AIWA tower with large speakers - had it over 23 years plays Vinyl, CD, Cassette Tape - it was a present but probably cost £250ish - and is good quality, I had to buy a new band for the turntable (£5) plays all my old stuff with a warmer sound than digital. Do not need to wear headphones or buds all the time. In the last 20 years I have picked up vinyl and CD cheap in charity shops etc. How much is Spotify £120/year without adverts? or £2,400 over 20 years.

I am not too bothered about new music say in the last 20 years. Most music I listen to is in the house or car.
 
I opened a store back in 2015 after 6 years dealing part time on the internet. I had 24,000 45s that I built up in my collection and In 2009 when the banks crashed and I took redundancy I developed a online store www.45rpmdiscs.co.uk and started listing the singles on the site working from a converted double garage in my house in Aycliffe. I never really was a albums buyer (had 2-300 at the time) but 45s became a passion . Hunting out charity shops all over the country on my business travels . Monthly board meetings in a street over from Chelsea docks meant a stop over in the smoke and I always took an empty suitcase and raided Cheapo Cheapo record shop just outside BerwicK Street on the Shaftsbury side. .As said earlier 2009 the money dried up and I took redundancy. Traded online for 6 years full time. Eventually in 2015 I was looking for bigger premises and a shop was available in Wingate so I shuffled my 24k singles into there and started trading as before ... finding I had a canny size of space left in the shop I decided to start selling LPs ... really from nothing . The stock started rolling in from the East Durham areas and numerous trips buying stock from ads in freebie papers and the like . It boomed .... Regulars would spend a decent amount on the stock which I insured was Ex condition as a minimum. Met many many good people and a coffee was always available as were the toilets for the older customers after the 3 or 4 coffees worked through. It was a wonderful and mentally rewarding time and after been salaried working sole trader was a pleasure. I was 56 when I started the shop and I sold up in 2019 and moved to Thailand. The shop is still there as is the single website and I know the new owners have much more stock than I ever had in the shop ... a diggers paradise. I really dont think vinyl ever went away even during the CD boom when collections were given away there was still a market for original near mint LPs ... Its fairly big in Japan and yes I have started selling into Japan as there is a fair bit of US Lps out here ... open a shop? maybe not this time too busy in the hammock .rpmdiscs.jpg
 
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alanmoodysdog said:
I opened a store back in 2015 after 6 years dealing part time on the internet. I had 24,000 45s that I built up in my collection and In 2009 when the banks crashed and I took redundancy I developed a online store www.45rpmdiscs.co.uk and started listing the singles on the site working from a converted double garage in my house in Aycliffe. I never really was a albums buyer (had 2-300 at the time) but 45s became a passion . Hunting out charity shops all over the country on my business travels . Monthly board meetings in a street over from Chelsea docks meant a stop over in the smoke and I always took an empty suitcase and raided Cheapo Cheapo record shop just outside BerwicK Street on the Shaftsbury side. .As said earlier 2009 the money dried up and I took redundancy. Traded online for 6 years full time. Eventually in 2015 I was looking for bigger premises and a shop was available in Wingate so I shuffled my 24k singles into there and started trading as before ... finding I had a canny size of space left in the shop I decided to start selling LPs ... really from nothing . The stock started rolling in from the East Durham areas and numerous trips buying stock from ads in freebie papers and the like . It boomed .... Regulars would spend a decent amount on the stock which I insured was Ex condition as a minimum. Met many many good people and a coffee was always available as were the toilets for the older customers after the 3 or 4 coffees worked through. It was a wonderful and mentally rewarding time and after been salaried working sole trader was a pleasure. I was 56 when I started the shop and I sold up in 2019 and moved to Thailand. The shop is still there as is the single website and I know the new owners have much more stock than I ever had in the shop ... a diggers paradise. I really dont think vinyl ever went away even during the CD boom when collections were given away there was still a market for original near mint LPs ... Its fairly big in Japan and yes I have started selling into Japan as there is a fair bit of US Lps out here ... open a shop? maybe not this time too busy in the hammock .View attachment 73101
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Regular visitor to see Howard now that Sound It Out is sadly no more. What a nice man, knowledgeable and very helpful.
 
1finny said:
Amp, turntable, speakers - £1000+
Mind you nothing much has changed price wise since I worked for Marantz in the 90’s.
Of course, different formats are now on offer

It’s a lovely thing if you can afford it
Went to buy my lad an album - came out £30 lighter for a relatively new release.

Think I’ll wait for the ‘air turntable’ - it will do your sausages whilst you listen
Click to expand...

grumpyoldgit said:
Regular visitor to see Howard now that Sound It Out is sadly no more. What a nice man, knowledgeable and very helpful.
Click to expand...
Great. Howard and Mark know there stuff...
 
alanmoodysdog said:
I opened a store back in 2015 after 6 years dealing part time on the internet. I had 24,000 45s that I built up in my collection and In 2009 when the banks crashed and I took redundancy I developed a online store www.45rpmdiscs.co.uk and started listing the singles on the site working from a converted double garage in my house in Aycliffe. I never really was an albums buyer (had 2-300 at the time) but 45s became a passion . Hunting out charity shops all over the country on my business travels . Monthly board meetings in a street over from Chelsea docks meant a stop over in the smoke and I always took an empty suitcase and raided Cheapo Cheapo record shop just outside BerwicK Street on the Shaftsbury side. .As said earlier 2009 the money dried up and I took redundancy. Traded online for 6 years full time. Eventually in 2015 I was looking for bigger premises and a shop was available in Wingate so I shuffled my 24k singles into there and started trading as before ... finding I had a canny size of space left in the shop I decided to start selling LPs ... really from nothing . The stock started rolling in from the East Durham areas and numerous trips buying stock from ads in freebie papers and the like . It boomed .... Regulars would spend a decent amount on the stock which I insured was Ex condition as a minimum. Met many many good people and a coffee was always available as were the toilets for the older customers after the 3 or 4 coffees worked through. It was a wonderful and mentally rewarding time and after been salaried working sole trader was a pleasure. I was 56 when I started the shop and I sold up in 2019 and moved to Thailand. The shop is still there as is the single website and I know the new owners have much more stock than I ever had in the shop ... a diggers paradise. I really dont think vinyl ever went away even during the CD boom when collections were given away there was still a market for original near mint LPs ... Its fairly big in Japan and yes I have started selling into Japan as there is a fair bit of US Lps out here ... open a shop? maybe not this time too busy in the hammock .View attachment 73101
Click to expand...
Still one of my favourite record shops. Brian always gave me a warm welcome, as do Howard and Mark now. When we don’t talk records, we talk footy. They are Darlo and Pools supporters respectively.

Not the same as chatting MFC with Bri though….😟
 
guisborough_rob said:
Still one of my favourite record shops. Brian always gave me a warm welcome, as do Howard and Mark now. When we don’t talk records, we talk footy. They are Darlo and Pools supporters respectively.

Not the same as chatting MFC with Bri though….😟
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Thanks for the comments Rob ... one of my regulars. Few regular Boro lads came in and a few from FMTTM....The shop has a great catchment area for new stock and I know they have a huge amount of stock to go through and price ... it is a diggers paradise . Still rake through when I go back to the UK for bits and pieces.,,, and yes they do charge me
 
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