Prompted by a question about technology obsolescence in one of his courses, Jon puts some thought to how a vinyl record shop could succeed. He grudgingly comes to the conclusion that the market for vinyl is bleak. Sadly, I have to agree. I’ve prided myself on being ‘strictly digital’ for many years now, but I still have love for turntablism, not that newfangled CD turntable stuff. I remember seeing Biz Markie spinning at a party several months ago and remarking that I never saw him bend over to grab a new record. Then I realized that he was spinning CDs. I felt cheated somehow. In fact, I suspected that he was just playing prerecorded mixes from CDs and was playing ‘air turntable/mixer’. (I know, I’m just a cynical MF.) Anyway, back to the point… I hope that at the very least club/party DJs will continue to use vinyl records, but I fear that won’t last much longer.
haha. BizMarkie playing Air turntables. That reminds me of the digital bugle the armed forces are using for funerals now 🙂 hahahaha hilarious.
Digital bugle??? That’s weak!
i’ll tell you w/ absolute certainty that NO a vinyl record store couldn’t succeed.
The city my alma mater is located in had a vinyl store. Granted, they didn’t advertise much, but they were affiliated with a CD record store down the street.
3 or 4 people a day must have came thru that place.
There is nothing like that crackling of an old jazz album. You know, that sound like somebody is frying chicken. I hold onto my old vinyl like its an well worn security blanket. Of course, I own more music on disc but I will never part with my vinyl. While it may not be as popular, vinyl will be around.
Sure a vinyl store can succeed. It depends on what you mean by “succeed.” Keep in mind that vinyl is a very niche market, so a store would have to pattern themselves after Apple rather than Microsoft.
Plus DJ’s are kings of word-of-mouth in hip-hop. So if you serve the DJ’s they will make you popular in a heartbeat.
Hm. Does it have to be a pure Vynil store? Academy Records in NYC does plenty of business in vynil.
8 Ball Records in NYC on 9th street between 3rd and 4th aves (I don’t think they have a website) is also holding strong. I think they are pure vinyl, though I could be wrong, and are all about the DJs, club, and dance music.
there are vinyl stores all over the place. infact, there are two exclusively vinyl stores right down the street from one another in the neighborhood of St. Johns in the outskirts of Portland, Ore, and many more specializing in selling vinyl downtown. every Hot Topic I’ve ever been to in any mall has a new vinyl section in the back corner made up usually of three shelves low to the ground, carrying new sealed copies by artists such as Tool, Nine Inch Nails & even Britney Spears. even the Waves location in the mall here sells new factory sealed vinyl by current artists. it’s all about the organic analogue sound versus the plastic digital sound which music aficionados of decerning ears like every now and then to change from and liven up how the sounds hit the ear as coming from the medium. the large sleeve they’re stored in puts more focus on the cover art as actually being art, and the vinyl itself is actually more of a trophy to have for your favorite artist than a handy way to listen to it. putting a favorite record album on by a recent / contemporary artist that you went out of your way to track down and get is like getting out the fine china musically, and that’s why records keep producing vinyl well past the year 2000. it’s an elitist thing in the music community, and I don’t mean just among those who regress to the classics