Published in Issue 1 of Motion Magazine
Is The Record Shop Still a 'Thing'?
The record shop used to be part and parcel of every high street, a gathering spot for music enthusiasts and record collectors. Despite this it seems that record shops have been in rapid recline in recent years and with the arrival of the Internet and record shop giants like HMV, the future of independent shops looks bleak.
But does it really?
Record shops have become iconic in the past for their association with nurturing specific genres. Take Big Apple Records for example, placed in Croydon, it was the hub for artists like Skream, Benga, Mala and Hatcha even worked behind the till. The shop became a meeting ground for great minds to gather and could be said to have aided the development of the early days of Dubstep. The shop has closed since but its legacy certainly lives on.
More than one million vinyl records were sold last year, but although there has been a vinyl revival it doesn’t mean to say that our little record shops are making any money from it whatsoever. The current trend in buying vinyl’s can only show that there is a new breed of person that sees the vinyl as the epitome of ‘cool’. Research by ICM backs this up as it found that 53% of people that brought vinyl records had no intention of listening to it, all for show then. Those people are most probably the type to buy their records along with their offensive clothing from Urban Outfitters, which is probably why the hipster haven claims to be ‘the
world’s number one vinyl seller’. If that doesn’t show that the record shops are in trouble, I don’t know what does.
Another blow to indie record stores came in the recent news of BM Soho closing its D'arblay Street doors. Not even London’s longest running record store is safe from the almighty powers of gentrification in Soho. BM Soho wrote on their Facebook page, “Unfortunately due to a contractual dispute over the building that has been home of BM Soho for the past 25 years we have been forced to temporarily close. Our landlord has been certain that our address will join the massive gentrification of Soho and regrettably we could no longer afford to fight the legal battle to stop that happening anymore”. Although they did put a stop to our fears when they announced that BM Soho would be back ‘bigger and stronger than ever very soon in central London.’
With a lack of shops on the ground, and more variety at our finger tips on the internet there’s no surprise that people are choosing to purchase their vinyl and CD’s online. Music lover and frequent clubber James Johnson said “I buy records quite regularly usually every couple of weeks, online most the time nowadays as most of the good record shops in Birmingham have gone. Online record shops like Red Eye, Boomkat, Juno & Discogs is where I often buy from as they always have good stock to pick from.”
One day set to save record shops up and down the UK is ‘Record Store Day’ on the 28th April. It started in 2007 in America to showcase their record stores and the UK soon latched onto the idea and following soon after. The day gives a round of applause to some of the hard working record shops that battle to survive in such a brutal market. And gives them opportunity to welcome new customers and put on performances and other events in store, reigniting that much needed buzz about record shops again. The day also encourages limited edition products to launch, items that would make any music fanatic smile with glee.
Perhaps it just the high street that is changing around us, although there have been many record shops that have closed, the online market is growing showing that this is maybe the most modern way to buy vinyl’s now rather than getting that record store experience.
Student and vinyl buyer Natalie Adams says that, “I feel that the future of record stores is that they are going to have to find other selling points. Like how Rough Trade, although already being a well-known and respected brand, they keep current by having frequent in store performances and BM Soho who despite being shut down at the moment continued to do well through not only selling records but also by having Beat Control residing in the downstairs selling DJ equipment.”
Just like how people do their food shopping online, clothes shopping online and everything online. It doesn’t mean to say that every shop will disappear; more like the ones that survive on the high street have a difference and have meaning and importance in the customer’s eyes.