Take a Tour of Fat Beats Records

DJ Eclipse takes you on a tour of the world-renown hip hip vinyl mecca known as Fat Beats in New York City.

[Fat Beats blog]

Salem record store goes back to its roots

Since opening Ranch Records in 1982, Kit Close has been providing the kind of rare, offbeat music and collectibles that you won’t see in the Wal-Mart music section. A self-described “record nerd," who has always had a huge record collection, Close has followed his dreams to a profitable business, opening two other Ranch Records stores in McMinnville and Bend. Close’s wife Lori runs the McMinnville store and his partner John co-owns the Bend store. Even though this might seem like a modest chain, Close says, “Surprisingly, we find ourselves as the largest independent chain of music stores in Oregon. Who saw that coming?”

Ranch Records recently opened in its new Salem location on High Street, the sixth space it’s inhabited, from its most recent spot on Liberty Street. Close says he moved because the old space was larger than he needed and the heating bills were enormous.

“[The] place was a little run-down," Close said. "There was an oil burner in the basement from the '50s. Heating oil got so expensive last year it was costing me $1500 a month to heat it.”

Kit estimates that about 90 percent of his stock is rock and roll, with a little bit of jazz, blues and hip-hop making up the other ten percent.

Music released on vinyl records has had a recent resurgence, Close says. With the move, Ranch Records has cut back on CDs to focus more on records.

"It’s what all music stores are doing these days. If you want digital music, you just download it off the Internet really cheap. We still sell a lot of used CDs, but new CDs are almost going away. I don’t want to pay $16 for a CD. We’re bringing in a lot more records than we used to. Plus, I’ve been stockpiling records for the past 20 years and we’re starting to break into those.”

The appeal of vinyl records, Close thinks, is that it’s like a piece of art.

"It’s like books or anything else. It’s something you can hold. When you play records you’re more connected to the music because you have to get up every 20 minutes and turn the record over! You put CDs on, sometimes they just become background. I have a six-changer CD player and I won’t change the CDs for a week.”

According to Close, records aren’t cheap, and even more expensive than CDs. But he doesn’t think people mind paying the extra money because of the artwork that you get to see on a record.

Some records are being released on extra-thick, 180 gram vinyl that can run from $30-$40, but Close is convinced that the sound quality is “absolutely” better than a standard vinyl record. In the '90s, vinyl was dying out. CDs were hyped as what would make vinyl obsolete. New records were still being made, but the punk and underground music scenes were what kept the medium of vinyl records, especially singles, alive. One of the claims about CDs (espoused by the makers of CDs) was that they were a lot more durable than records. Close agrees.

“When they came out, they said that CDs were indestructible. But that’s absolutely not true.”

Ranch Records doesn’t try and compete with mainstream music stores.

On the future of recorded music, Close says, “the days of selling 20 million records are over. Bands are going to have to rely on touring, T-shirts, and merchandise and stuff to make a living. There’s a lot of other ways for bands to make money these days. Commercials have become huge. Bands come out and do commercials before they’re even known. People come here all the time, ‘what’s that song on that so-and-so commercial?’ There was a day when we looked down on bands for doing that though. We were idealistic; it was the '60s.”

[Willamette Live]

Old Rare New: The Independent Record Shop

There is nothing quite like the feeling of thumbing through LP after LP in a dusty old record shop, only to stumble upon some hidden treasure, new obsession or forgotten love. Old Rare New: The Independent Record Shop is a homage to the holy places of music collecting, complete with their particular anecdotes, peculiar characters, and unique environments.

Emma Pettit, formerly of the Institute of Contemporary Arts, has travelled across the UK and America into these eclectic spaces of musical exchange, interviewing record shop owners, collectors and musicians to provide a rich account of the increasingly rare independent record shop. Featured shops include Other Music (New York), Aquarius Records (San Francisco), Amoeba Records (California) and Jazz Record Mart (Chicago). The first comprehensive look at these important institutions, Old Rare New: The Independent Record Shop is an essential read for the musically inclined.

Featuring contributions by Byron Coley (Ecstatic Yod), James Dean Bradfield (Manic Street Preachers), Simon Reynolds, Devendra Banhart, Billy Childish, Bob Stanley (Saint Etienne), Sean Bidder (Vinyl Factory), Rob Da Bank (Bestival) and Bonnie 'Prince' Billy.

From the Back Cover
'There is nothing quite like walking into a strange little record store in a town far from home and finding a record you've been after for so long, you didnt even remember you wanted it until you flipped through the bin and saw it. There is no similar charge available online, and it can't be gotten from a CD. It is something unique to vinyl and little stores and the people who live to breathe their air.' - Byron Coley from Ecstatic Yod

A Record Store that Closed Earlier this Year is Reopening Because of the Demand for VINYL

PAWTUCKET, R.I.—Before compact discs, before the music file sharing Web site Napster and before the iPod came along—the main way the world listened to music at home was with a diamond stylus on a vinyl record.

“Technology had a major impact in sales. Sales decreased incredibly, and I thought it was all done. I thought it was over,” said Luke Renchan, of Luke’s Record Exchange.

Luke’s, in business since 1979, with more than 1 million different records in stock spanning 50 years, was able to weather the storms of cassette tapes and CDs. But then the computer killed his business with online fire sharing.

“First year, we saw a 50 percent decline. I probably saw a 10 to 25 percent decline over the next three to four years, and then it bottomed out,” Renchan said. “I tried everything I could and nothing seemed to work.”

But then something happened when he was getting ready to close the doors for good in May.

“The final week was such a huge week in sales, and I already started getting that feeling that maybe it’s not over,” Renchan said. “My language changed from ‘closing’ at the beginning of the last week to ‘I’m not sure what I’m doing.’ So, I left it as a question mark.”

In those six months, with vinyl record sales—in the analog format—booming and CD sales—in the digital format—slumping, Luke decided to give the old store one more try.

“The customers came forth and spoke, and they’ve changed my mind. They brought me back,” Renchan said. “Analog sound is a much better sound than digital is. When you ‘digital’ something, you’re losing something in the process.”

Renchan said part of the reason behind the resurgence in vinyl: You can’t find the music anywhere else.

On Saturday, Luke’s will be back in business, with all the old stuff and a lot of the new stuff stocked by the record manufacturers, too.

“They’re going to be producing more vinyl. They’re bringing titles back that have been out of print for many years. They’re bringing titles in that have never been in print,” Renchan said. “I want it to work. I feel it’s going to work.”

Renchan hopes to prove you can go back in time and that the old does become new again.

Sales of vinyl records doubled from 3 million to 6 million copies between 2006 and 2007, according to the music technology Web site future10.com. Sales of turntables increased 80 percent in the same time period.

CLICK HERE TO WATCH A COOL VIDEO ...
[TurnTo10]

Fresh spin on record sales wins EBay award

They’re the type of guys you’d expect to see in a store that sells rare vinyl records — young, hip and shaggy music lovers.

But Pat McNally, 25, and Matt Oehmen, 23, don’t work in a conventional record store. The pair sells records through an online store on EBay, and business is good.

So good, in fact, that the owners of Honest Red’s Records were named EBay Canada’s young entrepreneurs of the year.

A year ago, Oehmen came to Ottawa with a truckload of old records and no job. He had been doing online sales for a record store in Halifax, so to make some money, he began auctioning off his records.

His first sale, the Beatles’ Abbey Road, sold for $1,000, and the business grew from there. Now, they’re averaging 100 records per month to buyers around the world.

“It’s actually a lot of work,” said McNally. “We spend a lot of time looking around for records.”

“You have to be willing to just buy a whole stack and hope there’s something good in it,” Oehmen added. “It’s a lot like gambling.”

Their recent award netted the duo $2,000 in prize money, which Oehmen said they will use to augment their stock of 1,500 records and 1,000 45s.

Despite their success – or maybe because of it – they have no plans to open a real store.

“Online is definitely the way to go. You don’t have to pay rent. We store all our stuff in the basement. It’s just way easier,” Oehmen said.

[Metro News]

"I Need That Record" documentary trailer

"I Need That Record" documentary trailer

I Need That Record:

“I Need That Record” is a documentary feature examining why over 3000 independent record stores have closed across the U.S. in the past decade. Are they going to die off? Will they survive?

Since the 1890s the record store was THE place to go for prerecorded music, but today the way we access and consume music has been redefined by technology. Ecommerce, iTunes, the iPod, P2P networks, music blogs, and social networking sites have all had a profound impact on the way we access music and on the state of the independent record store. Downloading and pirating seem to be the easy answers to the chaotic state of the music industry, but higher powers like major labels, big box stores (Wal-Mart, Target, Best Buy etc.), and corporate owned FM radio are also shaking things up.

The music industry has always been a unique marriage of art and commerce, but today commerce has proved to be the ultimate influence. Rather than develop great acts, embrace new technology, offer affordable products; the major labels are more concerned with turning the clocks back to preserve old business models- with only one thing in mind- THE BOTTOM LINE.

Keep the full paid expense accounts and 7 figure incomes. Keep suing fans. Keep shoving bland music down people’s throats that will sell x amounts. Keep producing homogenized radio programs that play the same 50 songs. Keep supporting big box businesses that could care less about music; businesses that sell music below list price. Keep screwing the consumers and retailers who love and care about good captivating music. Squash new ideas, new innovations, and new possibilities as the future of recorded music, a commodity that supports the artist, vanishes.

While it would appear that the internet is the new force for musical discovery and delivery independent record stores have been, and still are a strong force on the musical experience.

Record stores serve as important community spaces that provide foundations for new musical and artistic scenes and movements, a place where unique under the radar bands have been continuously supported, a place where the underground can thrive, a place where independent thought is encouraged and challenged, a place where people of different ages, races, and taste can mix and mingle face to face.

Unlike the internet, physical stores are a real place, with real people, where community is formed and supported. Not just record stores, but original mom and pop main street stores are all in a fight to stay alive. Independent businesses are hubs for new jobs, new innovations, and creative thought.

Over the past ten years it has become increasingly harder to compete with big chain businesses that have big money and Congress protecting them. The rich and powerful in business and government have thrown a wrench in the wheels of progress. American culture has become more isolated and atomized as a result of homogenous culture and thought. Businesses and establishments that make different parts of America distinct from one another are disappearing. In order to save community, ourselves, and our world what we need are independent creative places where new ideas and thought can be nurtured. Not more of the same…

Through found footage, expository voice over, talking head interviews with artists, musicians, retail owners, and animation “I Need That Record” will tell the story of our connection to independent record stores and the importance of independent thought and culture. What happened to the stores and what will the future bring…

Some interviews include- Ian Mackaye of Dischord Records Fugazi/Minor Threat/Teen Idles, Chris Frantz of the Talking Heads, Pat Carney of the Black Keys, Mike Watt of the Minutemen/reunited Stooges, Noam Chomsky, guitar composer Glenn Branca, punk author Legs McNeil, rock photographer Bob Gruen, Bryan Poole guitarist of Of Montreal, Numero Records, Rhino Records, Bloodshot Records, United Record Press (the largest vinyl plant in the U.S.), and many many many indie stores across the U.S. (NYC, Boston, DC, Cleveland, Detroit, Ann Arbor, Chicago, Minneapolis, Memphis, Nashville, L.A.).

Source [TDS]

R.I.P. Schoolkids

College-Town Record Stores Shuttering

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) — You need a college, of course, but that's not the only ingredient in a good college town. You need quirky bookstores. Coffee shops — preferably not all chains. A diner. An artsy cinema. A dive bar.

There's one other thing you need, and it's getting harder to find: a local record store. The kind of place with poster-covered walls, tattoo-covered customers, and an indie-rock aficionado at the cash register, somebody in a retro T-shirt who helps you navigate the store's eclectic inventory.

A few years ago on just one block of Chapel Hill's Franklin Street, the main drag in what's been called America's ideal college town, four or five such places catered both to locals and University of North Carolina students.

But with the demise of Schoolkids Records, the last one is gone. Schoolkids had planned to gut it out through March, but couldn't even make through its final week and shut down Saturday. It's just the latest victim in an industry hit by rising college-town rents, big-box retailers, high CD prices, and — most importantly — a new generation of college students for whom music has become an entirely online, intangible hobby they often don't have to pay for.

Chapel Hill is hardly alone. In recent years, perhaps hundreds of independent and small-chain record stores in college towns have shut down or consolidated as music downloading all but eliminated the demand for them.

In State College, Pa., Arboria and Vibes have closed. Iowa City, Iowa, used to have BJ's, Sal's Music Emporium and Real Records.

Boulder, Colo., has lost at least a half dozen — Cheapo Discs, All the Rage, Rocky Mountain Records and Tapes, and others. Albums on the Hill, a holdout across from the University of Colorado's campus, is down from 18 full-time employees to three part-timers.

"I'm just trying to decide when I'm going to go online and close my brick and mortar," said Greg Gabbard, owner of City Lights Records in State College, near Penn State's campus. "I'm trying to stay here as long as I can because I love the people. We're all teachers."

Big record chains aren't doing much better. But somehow, customers never seem to miss them as much when they close down.

"You walk down the hall of the dorm and hear everything possible, and you will be influenced by all these people," said Ric Culross, who managed Schoolkids and has been in the business 35 years. "They've come to a store such as ours to feed off of that, just like they go into a bookstore."

But these days, most just go online. Culross said he'd hoped this year's freshmen might arrive with a revived passion for CDs and even vinyl albums, which have experienced a minor resurgence. It turns out many have never even bought a single non-digital one.

College students are the perfect market for music downloads. They have low incomes, small living quarters and endless bandwidth.

The change may be an economic inevitability, but still a loss. Colleges talk a lot about diversity, but you often find more of it browsing record stores near campus than in the cafeteria. Customers are black and white, well off and poor. You'll find cool high school kids next to older collectors, professors and students ranging from straight-laced pre-professionals to punk rockers.

"This is one of the few places I can consistently find things I'm interested in," David Crotts said as he flipped through CDs at Schoolkids' going-out-of-business sale recently. An MBA student at UNC, he first shopped at Schoolkids when he was a teenager in nearby Burlington. He has about 500 CDs, but most people he knows just download music.

"It's not surprising, but it's disappointing," he said. "You can't come into a place like this that has atmosphere anymore."

Nearby, as his wife thumbed a CD by a group called Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks, Timothy Shelly, who works for a catering company, complained about his recent shopping experience in one of the big chain stores.

"Even in their specialty heavy metal section, they didn't even have Black Sabbath," he said disgustedly.

In a town like Chapel Hill, with a good music scene, record stores also have been venues. Over the years, several bands played on a tiny stage behind Schoolkids' front window, including Tom Tom Club, a Talking Heads offshoot, and John Mayer, before he moved up the ladder to clubs and now arenas.

Like most such places, Schoolkids' walls were lined with posters — Nirvana, James Dean, Led Zeppelin, the Breeders. The rock shelves ran from Aberdeen City to Neil Young. Biggest sellers over the years ranged from groups such as Pink Floyd and Pixies to jazz musicians like Miles Davis and Latin albums including "Buena Vista Social Club," Culross said.

At their peak, around 2000, the five or so stores on the block did around $250,000 worth of business each month, he said. By the end, it was under $50,000. U.S. album sales have plummeted, declining 15 percent in 2007, while digital album sales rose more than 50 percent, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

Some independent record stores are surviving, though mostly ones that don't depend so much on college students.

There is still one independent record store in Chapel Hill, called CD Alley, though it's much smaller than Schoolkids and farther from the center of town. Owner Ryan Richardson, a 1998 UNC grad, says he has an older clientele and cheaper rent. But he's trying to drum up new business, selling turntables and hoping to get more students into vinyl records. The local college radio stations are a big help.

"We can carry all this obscure stuff because there's a good chance people will hear it on the radio," he said. "I'm hoping there's enough of a difference in what we do to keep us going a little while longer."

Schoolkids' owner, Mike Phillips, once owned eight stores, and will now be down to two — in Athens, Ga. (home of the University of Georgia) and nearby Raleigh, near North Carolina State. He said he's been getting lots of e-mails about the store closing, some of them from angry customers.

"If everybody was so damned concerned," he responds, "they should have come in and bought a CD every once in a while."

Source [AP]