Photo Credit: Fuse Audio

The Fuse Audio GLD is a vertical vinyl player that has surpassed $500,000+ funding on Kickstarter from a collection of more than 2,200 backers. The campaign still has 15 days to go, with Fuse Audio announcing an upgraded tone arm.

Fuse Audio says the milestone in support highlights the demand for the unique record player, a mid-century modern vertical record player designed to appeal to vinyl enthusiasts. The company has been working on improvements for the tone arm, which include improved balance and tracking force, ensuring smoother playback. The refined design also introduces a slightly adjusted headshell angle for the Audio Technica AT3600L cartridge, enhancing needle accuracy.

The Fuse Audio GLD record player features an ashtree wood veneer finish, available in black and gold trims. It also features Bluetooth capabilities, enabling vinyl streaming to Bluetooth-compatible devices. The stylish design displays record vertically while they play, offering high-quality audio with two external 36W speakers—each featuring a 1” tweeter, 4” cone, and a Class D amplifier. The GLD also features versatile playback support for 33, 45, and 78 RPM speeds—offering high-quality sound no matter the format.

The main appeal of a vertical vinyl player is the space-saving footprint. The GLD is just six inches deep, meaning it doesn’t take up a lot of counter space while also displaying the vinyl record as a centerpiece of design. Since the record player is designed with vinyl enthusiasts in mind, it also includes a built-in slot at the back to display cover art of the vinyl currently spinning.

There’s a little more than two weeks left on the Kickstarter campaign, with Fuse Audio telling Digital Music News that the GLD has been in development since July 2023. The company began sourcing materials in September of the same year, with their final sample coming to shape in January 2024. Now the audio company is gathering funding with the expectation that manufacture of the device will happen around December 2024. Fuse Audio has a timeline to ship to backers between December 2024/January 2025.

A pledge of $315 offers Kickstarter backers a 12% discount from MSRP when the device eventually makes its way to the enthusiast market for sale. Early backers were able to snag their GLD players for prices between $199 and $229—though those reward tiers are no longer available. It’s important to note, as with all Kickstarter funding projects, that rewards are not guaranteed.

Where’s Vinyl? Billboard Removes the Format From Its Site (Photo Credit: DMN Screengrab)

What are vinyl record sales like in the US? Don’t ask Billboard, which has now scrubbed its site of vinyl sales figures after reporting an extreme 33.3% year-over-year sales decline.

That shocking decline raised serious questions about the ‘vinyl comeback’ and resulted in an investigatory report by DMN Pro. Unfortunately, the takeaways from that report were hardly upbeat, with Luminate, Billboard, the Vinyl Alliance, and other organizations differing wildly over how many vinyl records are selling in 2024.

Has the Vinyl Comeback Been Greatly Exaggerated? A Closer Look at Some Confusing New Data

After DMN reported the 33.3% decline that appeared on Billboard’s site, angry emails and demands for corrections came next. The Vinyl Alliance called for an immediate correction, while Luminate blasted Billboard’s tallies —  which are ironically based on Luminate data — as ‘inaccurate’ and ‘unauthorized.’

If that isn’t confusing enough, read on.

Strangely, despite the demands by Luminate for corrections on Digital Music News, Billboard wasn’t updating their figures. A few days after DMN’s first report on the extreme decline, Billboard’s ‘Market Watch’ tally of format sales transitioned to a 32.6% year-over-year decline with a new disclaimer. Now, the vinyl sales figures have been removed entirely.

Exactly why Billboard has scrubbed its site of vinyl sales remains unclear, and owner Penske Media Corporation (PMC) declined to issue a statement on the matter.

Lying at the heart of this mess is a significant transition in how Luminate counts vinyl sales. Leading into 2024, Luminate’s updated methodology prompted howls of protests from independent record stores and vinyl groups. The result: indie retailers, led by the Vinyl Record Manufacturing Association (VRMA), branched off and launched their own vinyl chart, with Luminate sticking to their drastically reduced year-over-year figures.

Luminate told DMN that year-over-year comparisons were impossible given the methodological changes created at the beginning of 2024. These are two different counting methods, according to Luminate, though the revised methodology clearly resulted in dramatically lower figures.

Billboard’s ‘Market Watch’ page for ‘Album Consumption Units by Format’ on October 15th, 2024.

But year-over-year comparisons aside, why are the 2024 figures so much lower? Regarding the drastic change, Billboard issued this disclaimer on its site:

“NOTE: As previously reported, Luminate changed the methodology behind its independent retail sales reporting beginning Week 1 of 2024. While the new modeled methodology more accurately represents the independent retail market, there is not available comparable historical data to provide an accurate year-over-year trend regarding physical sales, including vinyl, and therefore any YoY changes reflected here are not a clean comparison and should not be taken as such.”

It should be noted that sales figures from the RIAA, BPI, and IFPI all show continued year-over-year gains in 2024 vinyl shipments.

Those are documented in detail in DMN Pro’s investigatory report on the matter. Indeed, 2024 has witnessed a crush of vinyl releases from Taylor Swift, all variations of The Tortured Poets Department. That seemed like a dousing of lighter fluid on the vinyl bonfire, though it’s unclear how those releases registered on Luminate’s redialed radar.

So what happens next?

At one point, Luminate reversed course and stated that vinyl sales were actually up 6% on the year. A few days later, however, it slipped that this sudden increase was only generated after indie record store tallies were completely removed from the mix. And Billboard never changed its figures to reflect the increase (even though Luminate demanded that DMN change theirs).

Enter Penske Media Corporation, which counts both Billboard and Luminate as properties. It now appears that Billboard and its sibling Luminate are huddling on the next steps, perhaps figuring out which revised dataset to present to the world.

Will a dramatic ‘reversal of a reversal’ result?

Billboard now has a choice: switch to Luminate’s revised single-digit year-over-year gains, or stay consistent with its monstrous year-over-year declines. Or, something in-between.

Either way, more vinyl-counting fireworks are almost certainly ahead. Stay tuned.

Record Levels of Madness: Where Do Vinyl Sales Really Stand In 2024? (Photo Credit: Black Ice, Krivitskiy)

Has the vinyl comeback been wildly overstated? In our latest DMN Pro investigatory research report, we take a closer look at a mess of confusing new data from Luminate.

Conflicting data reports from Luminate are suddenly casting doubt on how many vinyl records are actually being sold in the United States — and how strong the vinyl comeback really is. In this exclusive research report, we take a look at the confusing mass of data hitting the music industry this month and what it might mean for future calculations.

Table of Contents

I. Introduction

II. The Vinyl Resurgence: A 17-Year Upward Trajectory

III. The Sudden Plunge: Luminate’s 2024 Data Raises Serious Concerns

IV. Billboard vs. Luminate: A Simmering Dispute Over the ‘Right’ Vinyl Sales Numbers

V. Making Sense of Luminate’s Data Morass: 3+ Data Sets, 0 Good Explanations

Please note that this note is for DMN Pro subscribers only. Thank you!

Photo Credit: Patrick Perkins

Yesterday, Digital Music News reported on a severe year-over-year drop in US-based vinyl sales, based on data provided to Billboard by Luminate. Now, Luminate has clarified that sales have not dropped 33.3%, but are actually up 6.2%. So what the heck is going on here?

For nearly two decades, the music industry has been witnessing a steady comeback in vinyl record sales. But is that Cinderella story ending? Now, a confusing and conflicting slate of new data from Luminate, a leading music industry data company that powers Billboard’s charts, is throwing matters into doubt.

The fracas started with a weekly Billboard national music consumption report, which pointed to a 33.3% year-over-year drop in US-based vinyl sales, citing data provided by Luminate (formerly known as ‘MRC Data’ and the acquirer of Nielsen Music). The reason for the plunge, according to information shared with DMN by the Vinyl Alliance, is that Luminate has changed how it reports data on physical media sales this year by stripping out indie retailers and dramatically decreasing their resulting sales estimates.

According to the Alliance, the decision to exclude physical indie record retailers makes accurate year-over-year sales comparisons impossible because of the changed models.

The move apparently excludes more than 1,500 independent record stores in the United States, though it appears that Luminate’s estimates are no longer forming an accurate picture of total US-based physical sales.

Luminate isn’t sharing methodology details with DMN, though according to Alliance stats, Luminate tracked 47.3% fewer vinyl sales in January and February 2024 than the same months in 2023. That trend seems to have continued as the year has progressed, with Luminate receiving less actual data from independent retailers protesting the changes.

Here’s where this gets even more confusing: Luminate warned last year that its change in methodology would result in 2024’s vinyl sales numbers appearing to be significantly lower. Independent retailers have also been protesting Luminate’s data collection change, and some are no longer supplying any sales data to Luminate.

Yet despite those warnings, Luminate suddenly reversed its position this morning. Out of the blue, the company told DMN that YTD vinyl sales are actually up more than 6% on the year, though it’s not clear why they’re making the sudden and extreme change.

Are indie retailers back in the mix, or did Luminate mess up their broader sales estimates?

Already, there’s a big rift emerging. The Coalition of Independent Music Stores (CIMS), the Record Store Day board, and the Music Business Association have all launched an alternative chart to measure physical and vinyl sales. But Luminate now seems to be toggling between two different sales totals, with the vinyl ‘comeback’ suddenly in doubt.

Luminate previously extrapolated indie retailers’ physical album sales using a methodology that weighted actual sales by a smaller sample of independent stores. Billboard estimates suggest the previous methodology used weighted sales from around 70 accounts totaling 140 storefronts to represent the 1,500 to 2,000 independent retailers operating in the United States.

In January, Luminate began basing indie physical sales solely on actual retailer sales reports. But it appears that Luminate is no longer getting the big picture from these retailers due to the protest. The company is only receiving reports from around 33 accounts with 70 storefronts, according to Billboard estimates.

But there’s more than potentially bad accounting. “Luminate is penalizing serious, career-building, album-oriented artists on the charts,” Matador Records President Patrick Amory told Billboard earlier this year. “Their sales are not being counted. Their market share is being allotted to the majors. That is a disaster for independent musicians, labels, and retailers.”

The Vinyl Alliance was quick to correct what it calls ‘misinformation’ surrounding the drop in sales. “US vinyl sales through the first three quarters of 2024 are actually up 6.2%—as reported by Luminate’s readjusted model which accounts for the previously mentioned changes,” the Vinyl Alliance says.

Coalition of Independent Music Stores President & Record Store Day Co-Founder Andrea Paschal says retailers tried to work this out with Luminate before the methodology change, but were “ignored and left in the dark, often finding out by word of mouth after the fact about major decisions that affected our stores.”

Pascal says Luminate has made “decisions that continued to erode and marginalize the efforts and sales taking place in indie stores while also misrepresenting the contributions of these unique retailers to the overall tally of physical goods sold and to the music industry as a whole, because their reporting is based on what you would call a mere data-sample representation of existing independent record stores.”

Meanwhile, DMN is catching wind of a potential conflict between longtime partners Luminate and Billboard.

At press time, Billboard hasn’t adjusted their figures to reflect the 6.2% year-over-year readjustment. Instead, they’ve modified their original year-over-year decline to —32.6%. Both companies are owned by Penske Media Corporation.

Luminate data as recently presented by Billboard.

After more than a decade of rising sales for the vinyl format, sales have fallen off a cliff this year with an estimated plummet of more than 30% year-over-year. What’s going on?

Update, Oct 16th AM: Luminate has confirmed to DMN that their earlier data was completely wrong. Vinyl Alliance GM Ryan Mitrovich first alerted DMN to the problem via email, though it’s currently unclear why Luminate’s data is being readjusted so dramatically. So far, Luminate has not offered any explanation for the change.

Luminate data reveals a 33.3% drop in vinyl sales for the year 2024 compared to 2023. That’s a drop from 34.9 million units in 2023 to just 23.3 million sold in 2024. Luminate data for other formats reveal this isn’t a vinyl-only problem, either. CD sales have fallen 19.5%, while sales of digital albums have dropped 8.3%. Album sales across all formats have dropped 23.8% year-over-year—dropping from 75.5M sold in 2023 to just 57.5M sold in 2024.

While the decline across physical media could be attributed to lack of consumer demand amid wallet tightening, the drop for vinyl is precipitous. While there’s some speculation here on what’s causing the drop, one answer could be higher vinyl prices as the format gained steam among collectors. Cost of living across the United States has soared in recent years, which could make spending $40 to $50 per record an untenable purchase for some consumers. That’s especially true when the same album can be streamed online for the price of a monthly Spotify or Apple Music subscription.

Digital Music News has covered the expansion of vinyl production in recent years, but bottlenecks in the creation process lead to higher prices for consumers. Supply chain issues exacerbated by the pandemic have led to higher manufacturing costs for vinyl producers—which means there’s not a lot of give in the end price consumers pay for a vinyl record. The rising cost of raw materials like PVC is also a contributing factor, with higher production costs passed on to consumers.

The vinyl format benefited from the cultural trend of nostalgia for older formats, with many music lovers seeking out records as the ‘authentic’ listening experience. But the trend of buying vinyls of albums may be starting a downward spiral as casual listeners opt for streaming and music collectors become more selective about the albums they’re purchasing each year as costs rise.

Vinyl fatigue may also be a factor for some consumers. For example, Taylor Swift has released 34 variants of The Tortured Poets Department, each with exclusive tracks, album art, or acoustic versions of songs. The intent there is to get superfans to collect all of these vinyl releases to complete their collection—but fans may be getting burned out on re-purchasing a vinyl album at $50 a pop for a single bonus track. Despite the plummeting vinyl sales across the board, Taylor Swift did come out on top in Luminate’s mid-year report.

The Tortured Poets Department sold 2.474 million copies throughout the first half of 2024. Meanwhile, Billie Eilish’s Hit Me Hard and Soft took second place with around 306,000 copies sold and Beyonce’s Cowboy Carter takes third with 257,000 sales. Luminate data says the trend of physical album variants really kicked off about four years ago—we may be seeing the beginnings of consumer fatigue to these variations. Billie Eilish has notably spoken out against the practice, calling it ‘wasteful’ in an interview with Billboard earlier this year.

Photo Credit: Pexels

In 2023, vinyl sales experienced their 17th consecutive year of growth, reaching an impressive revenue of $1.4 billion. With 43 million vinyl albums sold in the United States alone, surpassing CD sales (37 million), vinyl continues to captivate all generations and represents a significant market.

The following was created in partnership with Diggers Factory.

Vinyl: A Medium with Multiple Benefits for Artists

As these figures show, vinyl is a highly sought-after listening format among fans today. In addition to offering exceptionally high sound quality, it creates a sense of belonging to a real community and provides a special, tangible connection between artists and their audience.

Moreover, vinyl offers significantly higher earnings than streaming. On average, streaming platforms pay artists between $0.003 and $0.005 per stream, while the sale of a single vinyl can earn an artist between $5 and $7. Vinyl is thus the most financially rewarding format for artists. While streaming offers minimal returns, selling physical products, especially vinyl, proves to be a much more lucrative way to earn money!

Additionally, physical vinyl sales have a disproportionate impact on chart rankings compared to streams. For instance, on the Billboard charts in the United States, 1,250 paid streams are often equivalent to one physical album sale, highlighting the advantage of physical sales in the charts.

Despite these various advantages, pressing vinyl often seems out of reach for many independent artists. The costs associated with production, coupled with uncertainties about demand and logistical challenges, tend to deter many talented artists from pursuing this path.

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A Fair and Advantageous Pre-Order System

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We handle every aspect of your campaign, including pressing, printing, shipping (via our warehouses worldwide), distribution, design, customer service, and marketing:

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With Diggers Factory, making your music available on physical formats has never been easier or more accessible.

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Recorded revenue attributable to U.S. vinyl sales improved by 17 percent year over year during H1 2024, per a new report. Photo Credit: Jace & Afsoon

Who says vinyl’s nearly two-decade commercial resurgence is slowing? The format achieved double-digit stateside sales-volume growth during 2024’s opening half after turning in a single-digit expansion in the same category throughout all of 2023.

That data point comes from the RIAA’s newly released mid-year report, which charts the performance of the U.S. recorded music space in H1 2024. As many know, revenue from vinyl sales has improved in the States for 17 consecutive years, besides managing to grow in a number of different markets.

But last year, the RIAA identified relatively modest year-over-year volume growth of 6.6 percent for the format, with 43.2 million units having generated around $1.35 billion (itself up 10.3 percent) at estimated retail value. Importantly, the latter is, as its name spells out, just an estimate – not necessarily the price that the products ultimately fetched when bought by customers.

On the other hand, CDs, which have been surrendering commercial ground for a while now, saw their own U.S. sales volume dip by 1.9 percent last year to 37 million units despite an 11.3 percent rise in revenue to $537.1 million, according to the 2023 report.

Interestingly, however, the stateside boost attributable to vinyl for H1 2024 was also accompanied by a 3.3 percent improvement for CDs in terms of units moved (16.8 million).

Though the exact driving factors behind fans’ heightened interest in CDs is unclear, it should be emphasized that the format’s estimated retail value sales only grew by a modest 0.3 percent to $236.7 million.

Vinyl’s Q1 and Q2 2024 growth was more uniform, at a 10.7 percent hike in units sold (24.3 million) and a 17 percent revenue jump ($739.9 million), the analysis shows. Of course, we’re also unable to say precisely what drove these material increases and whether the factors will fuel purchases consistently moving forward.

But Taylor Swift’s over 34 distinct versions (across all formats) of The Tortured Poets Department, the artist’s first non-rerecorded album since 2022, presumably had something to do with the spikes. After debuting on April 19th, the work managed to sell almost 860,000 vinyl units by the month’s conclusion.

Consequently, with Swift presumably not planning to release another original project this year – the surprise Evermore did, however, drop just a handful of months after Folklore in 2020 – it’ll be interesting to monitor vinyl’s U.S. showing during the back half of the year.

Also worth tracking is the performance of vinyl in different markets, where, as mentioned, it’s also finding an increasingly large number of buyers. The trend extends to nations like Italy, where vinyl posted 16 percent H1 2024 revenue growth, as well as countries with milder vinyl sales buildouts. Germany, for instance, experienced a tamer 5.4 percent rise in domestic vinyl revenue throughout the first half of the year.

Photo Credit: Ajay Suresh / CC by 2.0

Urban Outfitters’ live concert series heads to five college campuses with Gen-Z in mind, featuring Quavo and Towa Bird. The electrifying back-to-school bash kicks off on August 13.

Urban Outfitters has been a major proponent for the ever-increasing popularity of vinyl records, having boasted a decade ago that they were an unexpected leader in vinyl sales. Now, the clothing retailer has announced its back-to-campus live concert tour, featuring performances by Quavo and Towa Bird. UO Live, aimed at Gen-Z audiences, will hit five college campuses starting on August 13.

The traveling campus series captures “one-of-a-kind, can’t-miss experiences designed to foster community/connection for an exciting school year ahead.” As a clothing outlet, the series also aims to “inspire […] fashion through exclusive collabs.” Partners include Birkenstock with UO-exclusive styles, limited-edition drops from BAGGU, new water bottle styles from hydration kings Owala, “cozy collegiate staples” from Champion, and the latest seasonal styles from Urban Outfitters’ in-house denim label BDG.

“These limited-edition collections will be available in 20 speciality campus-adjacent shops, curated for all dorm needs — fashion, stationary, dorm decor, and beauty,” says Urban Outfitters. “Color coordinating for each school will be featured in each store (i.e. orange for Princeton).”

The featured college towns for the concert series include Athens, GA; Georgetown, DC; and Tucson, AZ. Urban Outfitters has also recently partnered with Pinterest to open a series of 20 “Campus Essentials” pop-up stores on campuses including New York University, University of Texas, and Arizona State University.

UO also points out their first store was located on the University of Pennsylvania campus in Philadelphia, so the brand is also making a return to its roots. It’s expected that many of the latest UO pop-up stores will appear at those same campuses.

Though a clothing retailer by trade, Urban Outfitters made headlines back in 2014 after the company’s chief administrative officer Calvin Hollinger claimed to Wall Street analysts that UO was the world’s premier seller of vinyl records. But Billboard analysts were quick to point out that claim simply wasn’t true. Even ten years ago, Amazon was the largest seller of vinyl in the US, with over 12% of the market share; Urban Outfitters tailed with (an admittedly impressive) 8.1% market share.

While Billboard’s data only accounted for the United States, it’s important to recognize that Amazon has maintained a much larger music presence internationally than Urban Outfitters; the clothing retailer only boasted around 50 stores outside the US, compared to the 300-plus stores they have within the country.

Urban Outfitters has still managed to cash in on significant vinyl moments, such as Singles Day (November 11), in which it releases limited-edition vinyl singles for collectors to drool over. Last year, the company dropped 11 vinyl singles from artists like Billie Eilish, Charli XCX, Lil Uzi Vert, Lady Gaga, Sabrina Carpenter, and NSYNC. The UO Music Shop carries over 2,000 vinyl titles, including pressings of newly released albums and classic hits.

Photo Credit: Samuel Regan-Asante

When streaming became the dominant form of music consumption for the industry, the concept album was cast to the wayside. Eminem has picked the mantle back up with the release of The Death of Slim Shady—and he wants you to know it.

Concept albums from the 60s and 70s rock bands who released them still receive millions of streaming plays, but modern releases have tossed the practice to mostly focus on singles. A good concept album tells a story that requires all of the music to be listened to in a specific order—which usually doesn’t vibe with music streaming where people love to have different music on shuffle.

Eminem is warning those who plan to listen to The Death of Slim Shady that the release “won’t make sense” if you listen to the songs out of order. The rapper took to social media to express a ‘public service announcement’ about the album. ‘The Death of Slim Shady’ is a conceptual album, therefore, if you listen to songs out of order they might not make sense,” he told fans.

Eminem’s single “Houdini” from the album became his second most-viewed video in the first 20 hours after its release, garnering 13.5 million views. The song features a sample from Steve Miller Band’s 1982 hit “Abracadabra” and has received praise from Steve Miller himself.

“There aren’t many artists who take the time or make the effort to stand up for themselves and credit and respect their influencers at the same time,” Miller said on social media. “Marshall Mathers you are an exception and on my short list of people who respect the art. To be included in your process feels good while I’m still singing and playing the music I love.”

Here’s a peek at the tracklist titles (in order of course).

1. “Renaissance”
2. “Habits” ft. White Gold
3. “Trouble”
4. “Brand New Dance”
5. “Evil” ft. Royce Da 5’9
6. “All You Got” (skit)
7. “Lucifer”
8. “Antichrist”
9. “Fuel” ft. JID & Denzel Curry
10. “Road Rage” ft. Juice WRLD & Sly Piper
11. “Houdini”
12. “Breaking News” (skit)
13. “Guilty Conscience 2” ft. Dr. Dre
14. “Head Honco” ft. Kendrick Lamar
15. “Temporary” ft. Skylar Grey
16. “Bad One” ft. Anderson .Paak
17. “Tobey” ft. Big Sean & BabyTron
18. “Guess Who’s Back” (skit)

BONUS TRACKS

1. “Close Call” ft. Billie Eilish
2. “Shady 3.0 Boys” ft. Westside Boogie, Grip & EZ Mil

Photo Credit: Xavier Badosa / CC by 2.0

Bob Dylan fans’ dreams come true this fall with a 27-CD boxed set of his 1974 tour and live recordings, with 417 previously unreleased tracks.

Long have Bob Dylan aficionados begged for a more complete record of his historic 1974 tour with the Band as his backing group, dubbing his live double album from that year, “Before the Flood,” as insufficient. So how much do you love Bob Dylan? How about 400+ tracks’ worth?

This fall, Sony Music releases “Bob Dylan — The 1974 Live Recordings,” a boxed set across 27 CDs of Dylan’s live performances from the tour, releasing on September 20 via Columbia/Legacy. The set features 417 previously unreleased tracks, plus a dozen tracks from L.A.’s Forum that were already included on “Before the Flood.”

Interestingly, there will not be a full release of the collection in vinyl form — such a release would entail at least 50 vinyl records. But Jack White’s Third Man Records will be issuing a condensed vinyl version, a three-LP set augmented by a 7-inch single, which will contain one specially selected version of each song performed on the tour that was not previously included on “Before the Flood.”

That version, a green-vinyl companion volume, will be called “The 1974 Live Recordings — The Missing Songs From Before the Flood.” Fans looking to secure a copy will need to sign up for Third Man’s quarterly Vault subscription service before July 31.

It’s worth noting that the 1974 live recordings CD set is not being marketed as part of the ongoing “Bootleg Series” Bob Dylan collections. These offer a “more selective overview” of his work during a certain period. Instead, the 27-CD collection is best compared to the 14-CD “Bob Dylan — The Rolling Thunder Revue: The 1975 Live Recordings,” which came out in 2019. That release was also not part of the “Bootleg Series.”

The new 27-disc set, though a massive collection, still pales in comparison to “The 1966 Live Recordings,” the 36-disc set released in 2016. Needless to say, diehard fans of Bob Dylan will have plenty of music to sate their appetite in the coming months.

Photo Credit: The Ocean Cleanup

Coldplay has partnered with The Ocean Cleanup to release a limited ‘Notebook Edition LP’ release of the band’s album Moon Music. This album will be pressed using reclaimed plastic intercepted by The Ocean Cleanup from Rio Las Vacas, Guatemala.

The Ocean Cleanup project aims to rid the world’s oceans of plastic. Achieving this goal involved a two-pronged approach—cleaning the oceans and installing interceptors at river mouths that empty into the ocean. Interceptors capture trash in rivers to prevent it from entering the ocean.

The partnership with Coldplay’s Notebook Edition LP is an innovative approach that answers the question of what to do with all of the reclaimed plastic. It is one of many product partnerships the company engages in to create new sustainable and durable products. The plastic from this project comes directly from Interceptor 006, which is deployed in the Rio Las Vacas mouth since 2023 to prevent plastic emissions into the Gulf of Honduras.

Interceptor 006 made significant impact and captured large quantities of plastic—which has now been sorted, blended, and tested. This plastic will be used to manufacture Coldplay’s limited edition physical release, using 70% of river plastic and 30% recycled waste plastic bottles from other sources. Coldplay provides financial support for the non-profit organization’s cleaning operations. It also sponsors Interceptor 005 in the Klang River, Malaysia.

Coldplay and The Ocean Cleanup Project collaborated closely during the intensive testing and quality control process. Processing and manufacturing partners Biosfera GT, Compuestos y Derivados S.A., Morssinkhof and Sonopress also contributed to the process of creating this recycled materials vinyl LP.

“Coldplay is an incredible partner for us and I’m thrilled that our plastic catch has helped bring Moon Music to life,” adds Boyan Slat, Founder & CEO of The Ocean Cleanup. “Ensuring the plastic we watch never re-renters the marine environment is essential to our mission, and I’m excited to see how we’ll continue innovating with Coldplay and our other partners to rid the oceans of plastic together.”

As of June 2024, the non-profit organization has collected over 26.4 million pounds of plastic from aquatic ecosystems around the world. The Ocean Cleanup was founded by Boyan Slat in 2013 and no employs a team of around 140 people, with headquarters in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. It opened its first regional office in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in 2023.

Photo Credit: Clem Onojeghuo

The explosive years of vinyl’s recent growth trend have drawn down—is now the time for more sustainable vinyl to take center stage? A new survey reveals consumer interest in sustainable vinyl is at an all-time high. Here’s the latest.

Between 2019 and 2020 (before the pandemic) vinyl sales grew 46.2% according to data collected by Luminate. From 2021 and 2022, vinyl’s growth rate exploded to 51.4% as new and old collectors alike rediscovered their love for the format. But vinyl sales from 2021 to 2022 grew only 4.2%—signifying a slowdown in interest. Could this slowdown be the time to explore more sustainable vinyl production?

Vinyl media made up 43.4% of all physical media sales in 2022—so it’s still quite popular among those who collect physical media. 48% of all vinyl sold in the United States is sold through independent record stores, while 32.8% of records are bought online—usually from artist stores. Vinyl sales hit a high in the week ending in December 22, with 2.232 million records bought. That breaks a previous weekly sales record for December 23, 2021 when 2.115 million records were sold.

A recent survey conducted by Key Production—the UKs largest broker for physical music production—says it sees increased demand for environmentally friendly vinyl among music consumers. Two-thirds (69%) of respondents to a recent survey said they would buy more records if they were made with reduced environmental impact. 77% of those respondents said they would be willing to pay a premium for reduced environmental impact products—a significant shift in demand for eco-friendly vinyl products.

What’s even more interesting is that general respondents (83%) said they don’t perceive or can’t tell a difference between 180g heavyweight vinyl and other alternatives. Among vinyl buyers, that number is still as high as 70% who don’t believe there’s any difference between standard and heavyweight vinyl.

“As consumer awareness of environmental issues continues to grow, it is evident that there is a substantial market opportunity for eco-friendly vinyl records,” says Karen Emanuel, CEO of Key Production Group. “Regarding 180g records—while this is often seen by the industry as a more sought after product, this survey shows that the industry is actually getting it wrong. Customers aren’t valuing the weight as they think.”

“High quality records can be made at 140g and this slightly lower weight can have a hugely positive impact across the whole supply chain.”

Vinyl record sustainability conversations in the industry have increased since 2020. Most recently Billie Eilish released her latest record with a sustainability plan in place. Vinyl copies of Hit Me Hard and Soft were pressed to either reground or bio-attributed vinyl and all the packaging was made from recycled materials.

While the years of explosive vinyl sales may be flattening out, vinyl sales are still reaching all-time highs. Recent data from ERA shows the combination of Record Store Day (April 20) and Taylor Swift’s latest album—The Tortured Poets Department— has delivered the highest weekly sales of vinyl albums in 30 years. As demand for new vinyl grows, producing it sustainably becomes something consumers want the industry to focus on.

“What we’re seeing is a consumer shift towards a demand for physical music made with a reduced [environmental] impact,” adds John Service, Strategy and Sustainability Director at Key Production Group. “Vinyl can be made more sustainably with new compounds which replaces the fossil-fuel ingredients, and packaging can be made with completely recycled materials.”

“With the increasing demand, we’re here to work with artists, labels, and other stakeholders to ensure we are creating high-quality physical music that is produced as sustainably as possible and meets the needs and values of today’s music consumers.”

Photo Credit: Materia Music

Materia Music acquires Ship to Shore PhonoCo’s video game music inventory and catalog, further expanding Materia’s US market leadership of video game music soundtracks.

Materia Music, the Seattle-based independent record label and distributor, publisher, and rights administrator of video game music, has announced the acquisition of New York indie label Ship to Shore PhonoCo’s video game music inventory and catalog, further expanding their US market leadership of video game music soundtracks as both a label and a storefront.

The acquisition sees Materia gaining licensed properties with video game publishers including Capcom, Konami, Nintendo, Sega, Sunsoft, and Taito.

“Materia’s core strength exists as a music tech, music rights, and royalty platform. This independence has allowed us to grow and excel in areas that other labels in our space cannot,” said Sebastian Wolff, Founder and CEO of Materia Music.

The news comes less than six months after the company announced its acquisition of Australian gaming record label Boss Battle Records. Boss Battle is home to the work of composers like Kevin Penkin, known for his work on entries in the Star Wars and Pokemon video game franchises. The two entities had been in acquisition talks since 2019.

“The acquisition is not just a benefit to our artists, but a critical step toward the future of the ANZ (Australia & New Zealand) video game music industry,” Wolff said at the time.

Materia’s diverse roster of composers, recording artists, and game companies includes billions of streams across the most impactful and most listened to video game music in history.

As a record label, Materia has released nearly 1,000 albums digitally, on vinyl, CD, and cassette tape, representing nearly 10,000 recordings. The company’s storefront, Materia Store, lists nearly 1,500 unique products and distributes thousands of products to international fans of video game music.

Sheet music and vinyl records of soundtracks from the games UNDERTALE, Celeste, and Hollow Knight consistently out perform other products and IP. Materia’s catalog boasts approximately 15 billion annual streams and views across platforms.

Photo Credit: Jamakassi

Following an outcry of how Luminate gathers physical sales data from record stores, the data analytics body will now work with independent partners to gather that data.

The Coalition of Independent Music Stores (CIMS), Alliance of Independent Media Stores (AIMS), and Department of Record Stores (DORS), who work together as Record Store Day, The Music Business Association, and Luminate have announced a new partnership for physical music sales reporting across the independent retail sector in the United States.

The new partnership went into effect on April 19 and will see Luminate collecting independent physical music sales, inclusive of CDs, vinyls, and cassettes, from StreetPulse. StreetPulse is a music industry data provider that receives daily metrics directly from stores. This data will be incorporated into the physical sales data that Luminate is already collecting from other retailers.

Billboard, which receives streaming, sales, and airplay data from Luminate to full its music charts, has also announced a rebrand of its Tastemaker Albums chart to Indie Store Album Sales—to reflect the weekly top-selling titles across independent stores in the United States.

“I’d like to thank the coalitions, the retail stores, and Luminate for taking this issue seriously and working together to reach a deal,” adds Music Business Association President, Portia Sabin. “Sometimes it takes a pinch to bring people together, and the industry response to the unweighting of physical data was perhaps necessary to highlight the importance of data to our industry.”

“I’d also like to thank so many people at the labels, distributors, and even individual artists for speaking gout and helping us to reach an agreement, because whenever our industry comes together to achieve a common goal it is inspiring for our future.”

“Luminate is always working towards the goal of providing quality and accurate data to the industry,” says Chris Muratore, Director of Partnerships at Luminate. “We always strive to be a good partner to those across the many sectors of the music and entertainment industries, and we are happy to announce this new partnership in alignment with that mission and our values.”

Photo Credit: Amanda Bemis

Audiodrome Record Pressing, the first entirely in-house solar-powered vinyl pressing plant in the US, opens its doors in Gainesville, Florida.

Audiodrome is the project of Dave Newell and Betsy Bemis, with a holistic focus on mitigating the environmental impact of pressing records while meeting the growing demand of vinyl. The rapid regrowth of vinyl has forced production to ramp up at an accelerated rate, which has led to struggles to meet the demand coupled with costly complications associated with pressing vinyl — a process that is notoriously impactful on the environment.

“Creativity is an essential part of our humanity and there is something about vinyl records that people find meaningful,” says Bemis. “They allow us to physically participate in the experience and build a tangible connection between the artist and the listener in a way that no other format does. It can be a beautiful thing, but the environmental cost of communion doesn’t have to be so high.”

To counter the negative environmental impact of pressing vinyl, Audiodrome will utilize resources and practices, including a fully solar-powered facility with steamless record presses featuring closed-loop chiller systems. The facility will burn no fossil fuels, and will generate no boiler chemicals or runoff, with minimal water usage. The company will also make use of recycled PVC to make new records, as well as offering a “Bio-Vinyl” option that will be fully available by May 2024.

“A big part of why I wanted to start this business is to have the opportunity to work with independent artists from all over and help them bring their projects to life,” says Newell. “It can be a daunting task as an artist to get your product out into the world; not only do you have to get your music recorded, but then you need to navigate mastering, artwork, retail, and a whole host of other considerations. A lot of bands and artists don’t even know where to start.”

“On top of that, it can be hard to get smaller runs of records pressed,” Newell explains. “We are committed to making the whole process an easy, transparent, and enjoyable experience that prioritizes our independent customers and their projects.”

Audiodrome has worked with packaging companies to develop new recyclable, biodegradable, and compostable exterior packaging. They continue to research new initiatives to find more ways to further minimize their impact.

“Real change will require a willingness to evolve on everyone’s part: suppliers, presses, artists, and customers,” says Bemis. “New materials might sound, look, and feel different, but ethically we have no choice.”

Photo Credit: WMG

The first Record Store Crawl events since the pandemic will happen this year across the United States. The Warner Music Group event is presented by Audio-Technica this year—with a fan-voted city in the mix.

The seventh crawl location will be chosen by vinyl collectors across the United States through voting, in a partnership with non-profit HeadCount. Participants are encouraged to check their voter registration status ahead of the 2024 election.

For the 2024 Record Store Crawl, attendees will experience exclusive performances, special edition vinyl releases, and unique giveaways on the Record Store Crawl bus. The event will start in New York City on May 18 before wrapping up in October in Los Angeles. Each date will offer a music-filled day complemented by delicious food, refreshing drinks, and more. See below for official dates.

The crawl will also include the launch of exclusive, limited-edition vinyl releases, including the first-ever vinyl release of Portraits by Quarters of Change. Also included this year are re-issues of the Twilight Saga soundtracks. Record Store Crawl exclusive LPs will be available at independent record stores nationwide and on the Record Store Crawl website.

Kicking off at Tower Records’ Brooklyn outpost, Tower Labs, the New York City Crawl will feature stops at prominent stores such as Generation Records, Rough Trade, and Crawlers which will have a first look at Audio-Technica’s turntable store coming soon to SoHo.

Record Store Crawl Dates

• 5/18 | New York, NY ft. Quarters of Change
• 6/15 | Seattle, WA ft. Joe P
• 7/20 | Austin, TX ft. Joe P
• 8/10 | Nashville, TN ft. Knox
• 9/7 | Headcount VOTE Crawl (TBD) ft. Joe P
• 10/19 | Los Angeles, CA ft. Alicia Creti

Tickets for each date go on sale April 9 at the official Record Store Crawl website. Vinyl enthusiasts who want to participate in choosing the city can vote now on the website to choose the location for the September 7 date.

Photo Credit: Hybe Labels

IFPI releases three more Global Charts for 2023, celebrating the biggest albums of the year across different formats — Taylor Swift, SEVENTEEN, and Morgan Wallen come out on top.

IFPI, the organization representing the recorded music industry worldwide, has announced three additional Global Album Charts to highlight the biggest releases of 2023 by sales and the top selling vinyl and streaming albums of the year.

The announcement follows last week’s launch of the IFPI Global Music Report, which announced annual growth in recorded music revenues of 10.2% globally, including an increase in subscription streaming revenues and double-digit growth across physical formats.

Leading the Global Album Sales Chart is Korean group SEVENTEEN (pictured), hot off the heels of their IFPI Global Album Chart success. Their album FML sold 6.4 million units globally in 2023, breaking the record for the most pre-orders ever for an album in South Korea.

An unprecedented 19 of the Top 20 albums on the IFPI Global Album Sales Chart came from South Korean acts, demonstrating the global dominance of their physical album format.

The only non-Korean artist to reach the Top 20 was IFPI Global Recording Artist of the Year, Taylor Swift — her album 1989 (Taylor’s Version) also topped the IFPI Global Vinyl Album Chart. Swift held each of the top three spots in the IFPI Global Vinyl Album Chart, with an impressive seven albums reaching the Top 20 of that chart overall.

Fellow American artist Morgan Wallen achieved his first IFPI Global Chart No. 1 with the IFPI Global Streaming Album Chart. That chart counts global streams from both ad-supported and subscription platforms, calculating a weighted global unit number that accounts for differing economics across regions.

Morgan Wallen’s 2023 album, One Thing at a Time, was the biggest streaming album of the year on that basis, with Wallen also clocking in at No. 9 with Dangerous: The Double Album.

“Congratulations to SEVENTEEN and Taylor Swift for their second IFPI Global Charts awards of 2023, and to Morgan Wallen for his first ever global number one,” said Lewis Morrison, Director of Global Charts & Certifications at IFPI.

“Each of these artists created (or in the case of Taylor, reimagined) incredible music which found a global audience and achieved enormous commercial success in 2023, and the charts themselves highlight the multitude of ways in which music fans are engaging with their favorite albums all over the world.”

“As highlighted in IFPI’s Global Music Report, revenues from both digital and physical music formats continue to see healthy growth, and the combination of fantastic artistry, format variety, and the tireless work of record labels is the foundation on which this growth is built. Well done to everyone who featured in each of the album charts, which are a great summary of a fantastic year for global recorded music.”

IFPI Global Album Sales Chart 2023

IFPI Global Vinyl Album Chart 2023

IFPI Global Streaming Album Chart 2023

Photo Credit: Sonopress / WMG

Sonopress produced the world’s first EcoRecord for Warner Music Group for an exclusive release of Liam Gallagher and John Squire’s new joint album.

Storage media producer Sonopress has produced and delivered the first EcoRecord order for Warner Music Group (WMG) — sustainable LPs in orange manufactured for an exclusive release of the eponymous joint album from Liam Gallagher and John Squire. The EcoRecord is available now through Amazon worldwide, and as JB Hi-Fi in Australia.

The EcoRecord is a new long-playing record that uses recyclable polyethylene terephthalate (PET) rather than polyvinyl chloride (PVC) as its base material. The production process involves no natural gas or steam, meaning the environmental impact of the manufacturing process is reduced by up to 85% compared to conventional vinyl.

“We’re delighted that rock legends Liam Gallagher and John Squire have chosen to release an edition of their first joint album as an environmentally friendly EcoRecord.”

“We’ve used the past few weeks to meticulously check every production detail, refine all production parameters, and optimize the quality of the finished product, so we could go into regular production at the beginning of the year with complete confidence,” says Sven Deutschmann, Managing Director of Sonopress. “It’s great to be able to finally talk about the project after many months of hard work; the team at Sonopress have smashed it.”

“We’re proud to launch this stunning sounding, vibrant EcoRecord alongside Warner Records, Liam and John, and Sonopress,” adds Miriam Lessar, VP of Global Release Management at Warner Music International. “We’re huge advocates of sustainability at Warner Music Group — it’s vitally important for its artists and employees, and we hope to continue to lead by example in the industry. This is just the beginning of our journey, with exciting innovations to come as we advance more climate conscious products aligned with our climate goals.”

The first EcoRecords were produced on a new injection molding machine with nozzle contact pressure of up to 300 tons. The production line was completed at the end of last year, along with other required special tools and additional equipment, also developed entirely by Sonopress. It used the same injection molding process that has been used for decades to produce laser discs, CDs, DVDs, and other digital storage media.

The EcoRecord’s launch comes as the global vinyl market continues to experience growth; the IFPI reports revenues rose by over 17% in 2022, the third consecutive year of double-digit growth.

Photo Credit: Dalibor Bosnjakovic

The vinyl resurgence has brought a new trend to the surface for music lovers—cremation vinyls as an act of remembrance. This trend is catching on—meet the bespoke vinyl pressing outlet behind it.

Vinyl purchases rose for the 16th consecutive year in the UK in 2023, rising 11.7% compared to 2022 data compiled by BPI. More than 80% of music consumption in the UK is streaming music, but sales of vinyls in the last few years have been the highest since the ‘90s. With so much interest in vinyls, their collection, and the nostalgia attached to playing them, it’s no surprise that a new trend has emerged.

Crematoriums are partnering with And Vinyly to offer bespoke vinyl creation services to the bereaved, pressing the ashes of a lost loved one into a record that can be played. And Vinyly has established a partnership with Westerleigh Group, the UK’s largest owners and operators of crematoria and cemeteries—with 40 sites spread across England, Scotland, and Wales.

Some of the options for cremation vinyls include a 7” or 12” record available for a price similar to a single vinyl—allowing for a unique memorial for family members.

“The record may include a personal message, someone’s own soundtrack, or just the sound of silence with the unmistakable background of the pops and crackles of a vinyl record,” writes And Vinyly. The service offers a unique way for family members to remember their loved one—especially if they loved music.

“We are always looking to expand the range of memorial options available to the bereaved in order to give them the widest possible choice and help them create uniquely personal memorials for their loved ones,” adds Wessex Vale Crematorium Manager Lisa Johnson. “What you receive is a real, playable vinyl record containing around 18 minutes of audio on each side—along with a small amount of the ashes.”

While music is a popular choice to include, Johnson shares that many people choose to include “recordings of special occasions or conversations with their loved ones on the vinyl.”

Through And Vinyly, people can design their own vinyl sleeve and label artwork using templates provided by the company. And Vinyly was established in 2006 by music producer Jason Leach. “We have developed a unique additional process that enables us to press a small amount of a loved one’s ashes into real vinyl records,” creating an audio-visual memento,” Leach shares.

“The first step is the collation of the content. This can be collaborative and is, we have learned, often a cathartic experience with friends and family contributing photographs, words, voicemails, answering machine messages, and recordings from special times.”

Vinyl groups are pushing the ‘Indie Sales Chart’ in response to calculation changes at Luminate. Photo Credit: Andrea Cipriani

One month ago, Digital Music News reported that vinyl groups were prepping an alternative sales-calculation model following controversial changes from Luminate. Now, the Vinyl Record Manufacturing Association (VRMA) and others are rallying behind a newly launched “Indie Sales Chart.”

The VRMA emphasized its support for the Indie Sales Chart via a formal release, about five weeks after Luminate doubled down on plans for a revamped approach to calculating physical sales at the retail level. Already in effect, these changes have, in brief, seen the Billboard chart-data provider cease estimating physical music sales figures for the whole indie sector based upon samples.

Instead, Luminate is now factoring solely for vinyl sales reported to it directly by indie retailers in the U.S.; according to the mentioned Billboard, the data company says its present reporting encompasses 95 percent of “U.S. independent retail stores that reach over 1,000 sales per week.”

But the VRMA and an objective analysis of pertinent sales stats suggest that a significant number of retailers have been left behind under the new system.

Enter the aforesaid Indie Sales Chart, which is being billed as a joint initiative from Record Store Day, StreetPulse (which had already powered the latter’s existing chart), and HITS.

Per the VRMA, this alternative chart “will track point-of-sale data from independent retailers” – over 200 of which are said to be enrolled at present, “with more on the way.” The organization also took the opportunity to reiterate vinyl’s long-running sales resurgence in the U.S. and other nations.

“The 2023 numbers have indicated that the demand of vinyl is continuing to grow,” VRMA president (and Hand Drawn Pressing chief creative officer) Dustin Blocker communicated in part. “Luminate’s new reporting, with such a small percentage of indie retailers onboard, is an inaccurate representation of the strength of the record pressing industry, with the potential to have a negative ripple effect on pressing plants and the vinyl supply chain.”

As 2024 progresses, it’ll be worth monitoring the number of additional retailers that begin submitting data for the Indie Sales Chart. Bigger picture, time will tell whether the just-established chart can draw substantial attention away from its Luminate counterpart and/or prompt fresh changes in the calculation methodology at hand.

Regarding vinyl’s previously noted comeback in countries besides the U.S., trade-body breakdowns likewise point to strong showings in Italy, Spain, Japan, and the U.K., to name a few.

Photo Credit: Dzmitry Tselabionak

Self-service vinyl platform Qrates seems to have imploded with no word to artists who utilized the service—leaving thousands of customers without vinyl they paid to receive.

Qrates promised to offer a one-stop shop for artists who wanted to sell vinyl records on demand directly to their fans. The service was founded by Taishi Fukuyama and is based in Tokyo, but over the course of 2023 the company has ghosted nearly all of its customers.

The company promised to handle all production, warehousing, shipping, and customer service for music fans—so artists could focus on making music. Qrates advertised being able to press as few copies as 100 vinyls or 50 cassettes, making it seem like an ideal approach for small indie artists. It advertised the ability to crowdfund production costs, so artists don’t have to front anything financially or buy inventory they risk not selling.

Around July 2023, Qrates reported a cybersecurity incident with their shipping company. As a result, the company stopped shipping vinyls, despite telling customers that the incident would have no impact on their ability to ship goods. Artist Jade Cicada has revealed around 200 people who purchased a vinyl from them received their record around July/August 2022. Since then, Qrates has ceased shipping for all orders.

“Qrates works off of pre-orders, long pre-orders,” one frustrated artist writes on Reddit. I put my order in January 2023 and I can no longer dispute the order with my credit card provider or PayPal.” Meanwhile, Qrates promises fans who order on the service: “Records and cassettes purchased from Qrates are carefully packed one by one in our affiliated warehouses in the U.S., U.K., and Japan in special packaging and shipped to our customers worldwide.”

The only update from Qrates is an orange banner at the top of their website that states, “We are currently suspending the acceptance of new project starts, due to maintenance work to stabilize the service.” So Qrates is not accepting new projects, but it also is not shipping products that were pre-ordered more than six months ago.

A help article from their website that was published at the beginning of December 2023 says that “orders will start shipping soon.” It notes that operations will resume in a limited shipping capacity, but there’s been no indication that people are receiving records they’ve purchased despite this notification.

Another artist has detailed their troubles in getting Qrates orders to customers. “I’m a relatively small artist who has several projects through [Qrates] and I have fans/customers that have been waiting way too long to receive their orders. The oldest order is pending from July 2022,” the artist writes.

“I have talked to other artists and they are in the same position. Customer support has been unhelpful and has blamed the warehouse for the delay and then later changed it to a ‘hacker breach’ excuse. I don’t know what’s going on, but it’s hard to believe their reasoning, as it has changed over the last few months.”

American funk band Vulfpeck was left with customers wondering where their vinyls are to the point that the band switched to a different vinyl producer. “Trying to get in touch with support. No one is responding. Please check email,” the band wrote on Qrates’ official Instagram more than three months ago.

“I ordered two other Vulf records through Qrates and none of them ever came with tracking. They only took six months to ship though and I’m never ordering with them again after this experience. Glad Vulf has already moved to another company,” one frustrated user wrote on social media.

So What’s Going on with Qrates?

At this point, it’s unclear if the vinyl producer will ship all of the record orders it received in 2022. Several artists have moved their production elsewhere, while rumors abound about why the company has been so slow to fulfill orders. One rumor suggests it may be an issue with Qrates vinyl pressing partner.

“Qrates uses GZ Media as their pressing plant. GZ was well known for being a safe plant for sample-based music. Lots of vaporware artists got their stuff pressed there, for instance. Around June 2022, GZ started using AI technology to identify samples and require clearance documentation. A LOT of Qrates’ projects were sample-based music, and around the middle of this year, a lot of projects had to be mass refunded.”

While that is speculation, it could explain why Qrates seems to be having trouble shipping records for so many smaller projects.

Photo Credit: Julio Rionaldo

U.S. vinyl record sales topped 2 million in the week before Christmas (ending 12/21) according to data firm Luminate. The format’s sales continue to grow, but proposed changes to how Luminate calculates these sales in 2024 have some vinyl groups seeking data from the source.

According to Billboard, this past week in vinyl sales was the third-largest week of the modern era, since Luminate began tracking sales data in 1991. Holiday shopping and promotions likely contributed to the massive sales week, with Taylor Swift’s 1989 coming out on top with 57,000 copies sold. Swift’s re-release of her albums gave her the top four spots of best-selling vinyls. Taylor Swift’s total vinyl sales were 194,000—accounting for 9.5% of all vinyl albums sold in the U.S. for that week.

Luminate says it has plans to direct report sales from indie record stores, rather than offering a weighted average as it currently does. Vinyl organizations have opposed the change, including The Vinyl Alliance and the Vinyl Record Manufacturers Association (VRMA).

“With less than 5% of independent physical retailers currently reporting directly to Luminate, the data collected will be a grossly inaccurate representation of the sales of physical products,” the VRMA told Digital Music News earlier this month.

Since Luminate plans to go forward with its data reporting changes on December 29, VRMA says it is actively engaging with alternative third-party reporting source to “collect and report quarterly data at the record-pressing plant level to ensure we have a counter-balance to Luminate’s reporting.” It’s unclear who that third-party partner may be, but it will be interesting to see the data compared to what Luminate reports as these changes take effect.

Luminate claims it receives 93.3% reporting coverage for sales data, but industry sources claim that’s a gross overstatement. According to Forbes, who spoke to a major label source, around 600 indie stores sell meaningful amounts of records and of that number, only 12% report data to Luminate. The VRMA estimates that the changes could impact vinyl reporting by as much as 40%.

Audiophile Music Direct and Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab (MFSL) have officially settled a class-action complaint centering on the latter’s mastering process. Photo Credit: Jace & Afsoon

A federal court has officially signed off on a settlement agreement as part of a much-publicized class-action lawsuit centering on Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab’s unadvertised incorporation of digital mastering.

The court just recently granted the plaintiffs’ motion for final approval of the settlement, besides dismissing the complaint (which had named as defendants MFSL as well as its Audiophile Music Direct parent, the operator of the namesake Music Direct) with prejudice. The signed decision by the US District Court for the Western District of Washington at Seattle, was shared with Digital Music News earlier this morning.

One of several suits levied against MFSL over the “Ultradisc One Step” and “Original Master Recording” descriptors and adjacent claims made about certain products, this particular complaint was filed by customers Stephen Tuttle and Dustin Collman back in August of 2022.

In the interest of relative brevity – DMN has already covered the largely overlapping cases’ pertinent details – the plaintiffs maintained that they’d paid a premium for MFSL products because the records were meant to have been created via an all-analog process.

But it came out last year that Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab had for some time been incorporating digital into its mastering process. Pushback promptly followed the alleged misrepresentation’s entrance into the spotlight, and apologies as well as other media initiatives from MFSL were evidently unable to convince ticked-off consumers to forgo legal action.

Though the litigating audiophiles’ arguments revolved around the same main points, as mentioned, the parties proved less united in their position as to how the matter should be resolved.

In May of this year, the presiding judge granted a motion for preliminary approval of a settlement for the complaint that Tuttle and Collman had submitted.

However, multiple individuals behind similar suits in different venues had formally opposed the estimated $25 million settlement, including $10,000 apiece for the two plaintiffs, as much as $290,000 in attorneys’ fees, and a combination of refunds and coupons for class members, DMN reported.

Notwithstanding these qualms, the settlement has been finalized, as noted at the outset. Different legal documents show that related cases, which will presumably be shelved now that a nationwide settlement’s come to fruition, had been stayed pending the settlement outcome.

On the 5th, the court overseeing another suit, filed in Illinois by an individual named Adam Stiles, set a late-January deadline for the “next status report on the Tuttle litigation,” per a docket entry. This judge is also overseeing a complaint against Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab from one Gregory Bitterman and established an identical status-report cutoff.

Lastly, a California federal judge in late February stayed a different suit yet, from a plaintiff called Thomas Molinari, pending a determination on the settlement that just wrapped.

Photo Credit: Sander Crombach

Vinyl LP sales in the UK increase for a 16th consecutive year as the physical music market enjoys a robust 12 months, according to analysis from the BPI.

Vinyl album purchases in the UK have risen for the 16th consecutive year in 2023, growing at their fastest rate this decade, according to analysis of Official Charts data by the BPI. With just a few more days left in the year, the vinyl market in 2023 has increased over four times as fast as the year previous — with an 11.7% rise to 5.9 million units, up from a 2.9% improvement in 2022.

New releases from artists including Ed Sheeran, Lana Del Rey, Lewis Capaldi, Taylor Swift, and The Rolling Stones have led the increase, with the ever-rising demand for vinyl albums and other physical format releases reflecting a thriving market. In the UK, this is further exemplified through the popularity of independent record stores, paired with the success of specialist music and entertainment chain HMV, which re-opened its original flagship store on London’s Oxford Street this November after a four-year absence.

More than four-fifths of recorded music consumption in the UK is now made up of streaming, but demand for vinyl LPs continues to surge; the market is at its highest annual level since 1990. Over a quarter of a million vinyl albums have sold in the UK just last week alone — the highest sales week for the format this century.

Meanwhile, the CD market has sustained its smallest annual decline in nearly a decade this year, as it moves closer to a plateau. Nearly 11 million CDs were sold across 2023, while sales of cassettes topped 100,000 units in a calendar year for the fourth consecutive year.

“Led by vinyl, the resurgence of physical product underlines the resilience of the UK music market at a time when streaming consumption continues to hit record levels,” says Dr. Jo Twist, OBE, BPI Chief Executive. “Whilst LP sales have now been on an upward path for the past 16 years, it is encouraging to see a stabilization in demand for CD, as well as new generations of music fans falling in love with the cassette. It is giving people more choice than ever in how they enjoy their favorite music.”

Seven of the 10 biggest vinyl LP sellers this year are 2023 new releases, led by Taylor Swift’s “1989 (Taylor’s Version)” and “Speak Now (Taylor’s Version),” Lana Del Rey’s “Did You Know There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd,” Lewis Capaldi’s “Broken By Desire to Be Heavenly Sent,” Kylie Minogue’s “Tension,” Blur’s “The Ballad of Darren,” and The Rolling Stones’ “Hackney Diamonds.”

Over 40% of the 100 most-purchased vinyl LPs of 2023 were released in the past two years, including releases by UK artists such as The 1975, Depeche Mode, Ed Sheeran, Gorillaz, Liam Gallagher, and Noel Gallagher. This is alongside big-selling vinyl releases from international artists including Blink-182, boygenius, Olivia Rodrigo, Paramore, Queens of the Stone Age, and the soundtracks to the films “Barbie” and “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.”

Vinyl for sale at Vinyl Solution Records’ San Mateo location. Photo Credit: Mick Haupt

Last week, Luminate confirmed plans to move forward with changes in the way it calculates physical music sales attributable to indie retailers. Now, having opposed the pivot from the outset, vinyl organizations are in talks to begin collecting data directly from record-pressing plants.

The Vinyl Alliance and the Vinyl Record Manufacturers Association (VRMA) reached out to DMN with a formal response to Luminate’s changes, which are expected to go into effect on the 29th. Formerly P-MRC Data, Luminate provides sales information for Billboard’s charts and, in brief, is poised to cease estimating the commercial particulars of the entire U.S. and Canadian indie-physical markets based upon a collection of samples.

Instead, the entity intends to account only for indie sales reported directly to it by retailers. And while Luminate has identified a purported “consensus that the current weighted modeling should be retired,” the aforementioned Vinyl Alliance and the VRMA have made clear their position that the switch would effectively box out the vast majority of indie record stores.

“With less than 5% of independent physical retailers currently reporting directly to Luminate, the data collected will be a grossly inaccurate representation of the sales of physical products,” the VRMA and the Vinyl Alliance maintained last week.

As the changes are set to roll out in 10 days in any event, the VRMA and the Vinyl Alliance have underscored their belief that “the data collected will be a grossly inaccurate representation of the sales of physical products in general and vinyl specifically.”

To minimize this anticipated inaccuracy, the organizations are calling on “Luminate to expedite its efforts to onboard sufficient numbers of independent music retail locations to offset the removal of their current weighting calculation.”

“Anything short of this is an abdication of their responsibility to measure and publish accurate and accountable results,” the Vinyl Alliance and the VRMA communicated. “The public has the right to know that all sectors of the retail music business are represented accurately when Billboard announces its weekly charts. Without sufficient representation, this change will erode confidence in both Luminate’s market measurement and Billboard as the publisher of the weekly charts.”

Time will reveal the extent of Luminate’s onboarding efforts, but evidence suggests that the company may not be in a hurry to connect with the soon-to-be-excluded retailers.

Per Billboard, which is tied to Luminate via Penske Media, the data-focused business said its coverage extended to 93 percent of “the total U.S. physical market” as of mid-November, with sales figures collected from 95 percent “of U.S. independent retail stores that reach over 1,000 sales per week.”

Of course, touting the percentages doesn’t exactly imply an eagerness to develop an all-encompassing network of reporting indie retailers. Moving more than 1,000 non-secondhand units (with most of the sales presumably involving the long-surging vinyl) per week implies an average of at least 143 or so products sold each day.

According to the RIAA, 23.4 million vinyl units were shipped (not necessarily sold) in the States during 2023’s opening half. Needless to say, a sizable portion of the total is attributable to mega-retailers like Walmart, Target, and Amazon.

Assuming for argument’s sake that all the units had been forwarded to the approximately 1,400 stateside indie record stores identified by Record Store Day, though, the establishments would have received about 16,700 products apiece.

Spread out across the six-month stretch, those products, if completely sold off, would represent an average of only 93 units moved per store daily and 650 units moved weekly. That’s not to say indie record stores’ new-product sales are insignificant; instead, the top-level stats provide a rough idea of how very many retailers and cumulative sales may be left behind and underrepresented by Luminate’s new system.

Bearing in mind the points, the VRMA says it’s “actively engaging with an alternative third-party reporting source,” which would “collect and report quarterly data at the record-pressing plant level to ensure that we have a counter-balance to Luminate’s reporting.”

The VRMA didn’t elaborate upon these talks, but it’s worth noting that Record Store Day’s indie-store chart is powered by StreetPulse. The latter’s website says the company “provides daily sales data updated in realtime built on a powerful filterset producing millions of data combinations.”

Jerry’s Records in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Photo Credit: Joshua Olsen

Despite pushback from organizations including the Vinyl Alliance, Luminate is moving full steam ahead with major changes to the way it reports indie vinyl sales.

Luminate’s intention to proceed with the pivots, about which we reported earlier in December, entered the media spotlight in a recent piece from Billboard. Besides providing chart data to the latter, Luminate (formerly P-MRC Data) is tied to the publication via Penske Media.

Beyond these multifaceted ownership specifics, Luminate previously communicated that it would cease extrapolating physical sales data (for the still-surging vinyl and, less significantly, CDs and cassettes) for indie retailers in the US and Canada.

Abandoning this longstanding practice of estimating overall commercial volume based upon a limited supply of sales figures, Luminate explained in more words that it would instead begin counting only the sales reported directly to it by indie businesses.

As initially mentioned, the likes of the Vinyl Record Manufacturers Association (VRMA) and the Vinyl Alliance quickly expressed their opposition – including because of the small number of record stores that feed sales stats to Luminate.

“With less than 5% of independent physical retailers currently reporting directly to Luminate, the data collected will be a grossly inaccurate representation of the sales of physical products,” the organizations spelled out in a to-the-point joint statement.

Notwithstanding this and other concerns, though, Luminate is poised to implement the changes in just over two weeks, when its 2024 calendar year kicks off, per Billboard.

In explaining the decision to stick to the plan amid the aforementioned opposition, Luminate drew attention to a purported “‘consensus that the current weighted modeling should be retired.’”

Meanwhile, per Billboard’s description, the data company has indicated that it boasted as of mid-November 93 percent coverage for “the total U.S. physical market” as well as data inputs from 95 percent “of U.S. independent retail stores that reach over 1,000 sales per week.”

Behind the 95 percent figure, which may appear positive at a glance, logic suggests that more than a few record stores fail to hit the implied average of 143 non-secondhand products moved each day of the week – meaning that the percentage, in keeping with the vinyl organizations’ remarks, could potentially be far lower for all indie retail businesses.

Longer term, one needn’t stretch the imagination to grasp how the development may impact chart data in favor of certain super-popular projects.

In any event, Luminate is reportedly working with retailers to streamline reporting, including via support “resources,” with indie-specific bestseller stats expected to be forwarded to participating stores weekly once the retooled system is up and running.

Vinyl Group’s CEO, Josh Simons. Photo Credit: Vinyl Group

Credits database Jaxsta has officially changed its name to Vinyl Group and outlined an ambitious goal of establishing itself as “the heartbeat of an equitable music world.”

Jaxsta formally announced the pivot to Vinyl Group (ASX: VNL) today, with shareholders including Songtradr having approved the new name at an annual meeting towards November’s end. For additional background, February saw the Vinyl.com parent Jaxsta unveil a deal to acquire industry-focused social network Vampr, and the latter’s founder, Josh Simons, then became CEO of Jaxsta in June.

Now, Vampr, Vinyl.com, and Jaxsta itself are jointly operating as Vinyl Group, which intends to aid “creators from bedroom to turntable.” On this front, Jaxsta remains “committed to solving the industry’s metadata problem,” while Vampr is poised to continue assisting its 1.3 million musician users on the promotion and monetization sides, Vinyl Group indicated.

Amid ongoing commercial growth for the namesake format, Vinyl.com, for its part, will keep on working “to replicate the sensory experience of ‘crate-digging’ that all treasure-hunting record collectors crave,” the renamed company relayed.

Addressing the fresh name and objectives, Vinyl Group’s aforementioned head, Josh Simons, highlighted his broader goals for the “suite of transformative products” at hand.

“This new identity is more than just a name change,” Simons communicated in part. “It represents a unified vision for our future – a future where our technology and products are more interconnected, offering an enriched experience for our clients and users.

“Through e-commerce, social network platforms and a proprietary database of official credits, Vinyl Group’s suite of transformative products will continue to connect and empower all participants of the music ecosystem. Our unwavering commitment to support artists, power the industry, and engage fans is the driving force behind our efforts,” he concluded.

And in comments of her own, Vinyl Group chair Linda Jenkinson highlighted the board’s perception of the revamped operation.

“The Board has backed this new evolution for the Company, which sees Vinyl Group launch as a new, global brand dedicated to making, enjoying and monetising music,” said the veteran business professional Jenkinson. “We are confident that this exciting new era will see three businesses working together to celebrate music, foster relationships and enhance value for Jaxsta, Vampr and Vinyl.com.”

Also part of the team behind Vinyl Group, which has rolled out a new website as well, are CFO Jorge Nigaglioni, CMO Alli Galloway (previously part of Warner Music Australia), CPO Jessy Trengove, and tech lead Chris Lowe.

Photo Credit: Konstantinos Hasandras

A change to how Luminate reports indie vinyl sales has the Vinyl Record Manufacturing Association (VRMA) and the Vinyl Alliance bristling. Here’s the latest.

In Autumn 2023, Luminate announced a change to how it reports physical sales (vinyl, CD, cassette), relying on a direct representation of sales reported from indie retailers in the U.S. and Canada who have agreed to participate in Luminate data reporting. Historically and currently, indie sales are algorithmically determined due to the small number of record stores contributing to weekly sales activity.

Both the VRMA and the Vinyl Alliance believe this shift will unfairly minimize numbers, creating a change in the true insight of indie sales at physical retail stores. “With less than 5% of independent physical retailers currently reporting directly to Luminate, the data collected will be a grossly inaccurate representation of the sales of physical products,” the group believes.

“There will be an immediate break between the market reporting by the RIAA and the IFPI, both important and globally recognized industry organizations. Reviewing current data, the overall U.S. physical market reporting could be reduced by as much as 40% in units and 35% in value in retail dollars,” the Vinyl Alliance estimates.

“This break from the historic measurement process will have many consequences, most notably the decimation of market share currently held by independent retail. This reduction will have an immediate effect, and the downward perception of the value of the market will reverberate around the globe.”

“We agree that accuracy is the goal and with the proper amount of time dedicated to onboarding an expansive list of new independent retail reporters, we will arrive at the desired destination—an accurate measure of the market confirming the most popular artists in any given chart week.”

In 2022, vinyl record sales surpassed CDs for the first time in 30 years, marking a huge comeback for the physical format. Luminate reported vinyl sales YTD for 2023 are up 18.4% in the U.S. with fifty-two pressing plants in the U.S. producing around 200,000,000 record discs per year. That capacity is expanding, with close to 200 plants targeted to be online by 2024.

“The continued growth of vinyl sales was the impetus for starting the Association,” adds VRMA President and Chief Creative Officer of Hand Drawn Pressing’s Dustin Blocker. “This new reporting would be a widely imprecise reflection of the popularity of physical products and the strength of the industry as a whole, with the potential to have a large ripple effect on not just pressing plants but the entire vinyl value chain.”

“We have over 50 members from across the industry which include half the pressing plants in the United States, but also audio companies, plating, mastering print, packing, technology, record labels, and of course, record stores, all of whom would be affected.”

Photo Credit: Wiltshire Museum

The mystery of the Led Zeppelin IV album cover has been solved over 50 years on after a researcher in the UK unearthed the original photo.

The image features a man with a bundle of sticks on his back, hunched over in a field. A researcher at the Wiltshire Museum uncovered the original source for the image while flipping through the pages of a Victorian photograph album. According to a report, Brian Edwards was conducting research for the Wiltshire Museum’s 2021 exhibition, ‘Ways of Seeing Wiltshire.’ Edwards came across the iconic photograph in an album dated 1892 and titled ‘Reminiscences of a Visit to Shaftesbury.’

The photograph is titled in the album, ‘A Wiltshire Thatcher.’ But Edwards is a long-time Led Zeppelin fan and instantly recognized the man. “I instantly recognized the man with the sticks. He’s often called the stick man. It was quite a revelation,” Edwards told BBC Wiltshire after making the discovery. Following the discovery, handwriting analysis done on the photograph’s caption suggests the photographer to be Ernest Howard Farmer.

The man in the photograph was also identified as a man named Lot Long (1823-1893), a widower who lived in a small cottage in Shaftesbury. To create the album cover, the band had the black and white image hand-colored and then framed against a wall of peeling papers. The album features the band’s hit, “Stairway to Heaven” and was immortalized in the UK on a Royal Mail postage stamp in 2010.

“Led Zeppelin created the soundtrack that has accompanied me since my teenage years,” Edwards said in a statement. “So I really hope the discovery of this Victorian photograph pleases and entertains Robert, Jimmy, and John Paul.” With the identity of the farmer and the photograph now known, the Wiltshire Museum plans to include the images in an exhibition. ‘The Wiltshire Thatcher: A Photographic Journey through Victorian Wessex’ will showcase the farmer’s life set in the landscape of Wiltshire and Dorset.

“It is fascinating to see how this theme of rural and urban contrasts was developed by Led Zeppelin and became the focus for this iconic album cover 50 years later,” David Dawson, Director of the Wiltshire Museum told the BBC.

Photo Credit: UMG

Universal Music Japan opens a UMG retail destination in Tokyo, dedicated to serving music superfans.

Universal Music Japan has announced the grand opening of a concept UMG retail store dedicated to supporting music superfans. The four-story superstore opened to the public on Friday, October 20, in the heart of Harajuku, Tokyo — a world-famous destination for fashion, culture, and fandom.

Locate on Takeshita Street, Universal Music Store Harajuku will serve as a hub for UMG artists and fans from around the world to connect in person. Spanning four curated floors, the store will feature dedicated fan experiences, product launches, and retail pop-up shops, while also serving as a platform for artists to express their creative visions and share them with their fans through exciting, unique events.

“We are excited to welcome the new Universal Music Harajuku concept store to Tokyo’s world-famous Harajuku district, a gathering point for people, styles, and culture from all over the world,” said Naoshi Fujikura, President and CEO of Universal Music Japan.

“This store represents an exciting new venture for UMG and celebrates the incredible impact and role that fans play in supporting their favorite artists. In the coming months, the store will offer unique fan experiences for our artists, both domestic and international, creating new commercial opportunities for our artists and business.”

“Like Harajuku as a district, Japanese music fans are globally known for their dedicated fandom, and this store will only help to strengthen the connection between our artists and their fans, while becoming the go-to destination in Tokyo for all fashion, culture, and music lovers.”

The new music store features the launch of the RS No. 9 Harajuku flagship store — a brand born in London, now opening its second global location. In 2020, RS No. 9 opened a street-level store on London’s Carnaby Street, gaining widespread attention from fans of the Rolling Stones for its apparel, merch, and exclusive collaborations, both online and in-store.

The Harajuku RS No. 9 location features the Stones’ globally recognized lips and tongue logo and offers a variety of unique items on display and for sale. The shop also offers exclusive Japanese-only merchandise to coincide with the release of the Rolling Stones’ new studio album, Hackney Diamonds.

“We’re thrilled to bring the RS No. 9 brand to Japan to support our new album,” said the band. “We hope our fans are excited to experience everything the store has to offer.”

UMG will announce additional artist and fan experiences to feature across the four floors of the Harajuku store in the coming months. IFPI notes Japan is the world’s second-largest music market and leads the world in physical music sales.

Photo Credit: Courtesy Interscope Geffen A&M Records

The Rolling Stones partner with Major League Baseball to release limited edition team-customized vinyl pressings of their new album, ‘Hackney Diamonds.’

Major League Baseball has teamed up with The Rolling Stones to release a limited edition vinyl collection of the band’s upcoming album, Hackney Diamonds, dropping on October 20. Available exclusively on The Stones’ website, the collectors’ item features custom art for each of the 30 MLB Clubs in pocket jackets containing a single disc baseball-white vinyl.

The connection between the two might not be obvious to the uninitiated, but The Rolling Stones have had a long history with MLB. During the band’s Steel Wheels Tour in 1989, the Stones played half of their North American dates at homes (or previous homes) to Major League Baseball teams. In 1997, their Bridges to Babylon Tour saw the band play at Dodger Stadium, while their A Bigger Bang Tour in 2005 started off with two shows at Boston’s Fenway Park.

Hackney Diamonds is The Rolling Stones’ first studio album of brand-new material since 2005. Earlier this month, the band launched a globally livestreamed event from Hackney Empire in East London to promote the upcoming release. The premiere of the music video for “Angry” immediately followed the livestream, which has enjoyed over 15 million views.

The 12-track album includes two songs featuring the late drummer Charlie Watts: “Mess It Up” and “Live By the Sword.” Additionally, “Live By the Sword” features former Stones bassist Bill Wyman and piano from Elton John, who also plays on “Get Close.” “Sweet Sounds of Heaven” includes vocals from Lady Gaga with piano from Stevie Wonder, and Paul McCartney’s bass can be heard in “Bite My Head Off.”

Although The Stones hadn’t released an album of new material since 2005, the band has continued to smash records with a series of global sell-out tours. Their 2016 release, Blue & Lonesome, featured their versions of many of the blues tracks that helped shape their sound. Last year, they delighted European audiences on their 60th-anniversary Sixty Tour.

Photo Credit: Sam Jones

Warner Records releases ‘Extra Mojo Version,’ a digital re-release of Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers’ 2010 blues album ‘Mojo,’ featuring two previously unreleased tracks.

On October 20 — the late Tom Petty’s birthday — Warner Records will release Extra Mojo Version, a digital re-release of Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers’ 2010 album, Mojo, featuring two unreleased tracks. The first, “Help Me,” a Sonny Boy Williamson II cover, is out today with an accompanying video featuring newly discovered footage of Petty and the band.

The band’s most blues-influenced record, Mojo features a collection of guitar-driven rock songs beloved by Petty fans worldwide. With such strong blues inspiration throughout the album, “Help Me” fits in perfectly among the expanded version. Tom Petty often played blues-heavy music on his radio show, “Buried Treasure,” including Sonny Boy Williamson II’s discography; Petty & The Heartbreakers performed a cover of the song during the recording sessions for the album.

Extra Mojo Version will also include “Mystery of Love,” a second previously unreleased track. The rare outtakes will be featured exclusively on the forthcoming digital version, also available in Dolby Atmos. The album’s other highlights include the hit “I Should Have Known It,” a driving rock track written by Petty and lead guitarist Mike Campbell, along with fan favorites “Good Enough,” “First Flash of Freedom,” and “Something Good Coming.”

The special vinyl reissue of Mojo will also release on October 20, now available for pre-order. The highly requested reissue will be available in a limited-edition translucent ruby red double vinyl LP pressing, also in Dolby Atmos and Spatial formats.

Recorded live in the band’s Los Angeles rehearsal space, The Clubhouse, Mojo was released in June 2010, debuting at No. 2 on the Billboard Top 200 chart. “With this album, I want to show other people what I hear with the band,” said Petty. “Mojo is where the band lives when it’s playing for itself.”

Photo Credit: Sonospress

Sonospress is unveiling a new form of vinyl LP made from recycled plastic to drastically reduce the environmental impact of manufacturing vinyl. Here’s the latest.

Sonospress says the new LP is being launched in collaboration with Warner Music and uses polyethylene terephthalate (PET) as its base material. Traditional vinyl LPs are manufactured using polyvinyl chloride (PVC), which uses massive amounts of chlorine. PVC production accounts for 40% of use in the United States and releases chlorine—a building block of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs).

Sonospress says pressing the new vinyl LP made from PET plastic requires neither natural gas nor steam and a test operation saw an energy savings of up to 85% compared to the traditional process. The first production line of EcoRecord vinyls has gone into operation today at its plant in Gütersloh, Germany following a series of tests last year.

“The tests were so encouraging that we gave the green light for extensive investment in the construction of a pilot line in the twelve-inch LP format,” adds Sven Deutschmann, Managing Director of Sonospress. “Life cycle analyses by independent third-party labs proved that we can significantly reduce emissions of climate-changing CO2 with our new process.”

“We’ve used the past weeks to check every production detail a hundred times over, comprehensively refine all production parameters, and optimize the quality of the manufactured products so that we can now move into regular production with complete confidence.”

“From the beginning of development, we set out with the ambition that the quality of the EcoRecord should match that of a conventionally produced vinyl LP in terms of sound quality. It should not only convince the experts, but above all offer the music lover an excellent feel and a great listening experience.”

The EcoRecord is produced and assembled by a new injection molding machine with a contact pressure of up to 300 tons. Alongside other necessary special tools and supplementary equipment also developed by Sonospress, the production line was completed in just a few months. It harnesses the same injection molding process that has been used for decades to create LaserDiscs, CDs, DVDs, and other digital storage media.

Sonospress says the EcoRecord line was launched as the global vinyl market continues to surge. A recent IFPI reported vinyl revenues increased 17.2% in 2022—marking a third year of consecutive double-digit growth for the format.

“We’re pleased to work closely with Sonospress in the development of this sustainable vinyl format,” adds Salvatore Monteleone, Executive Vice President Global Operations at Warner Music. “It’s one of several green innovation initiatives we’re developing with partners to help reduce our industry’s environmental impact. Our goal with this project is to provide fans with the high-quality sound of vinyl, while minimizing carbon emissions in production and eliminating the use of PVC.”

Photo Credit: Travis Yewell

Travis Scott offered a discount code to longtime fans to drop the price of the vinyl version of Utopia from $50 to just $5. The strategy helped the album chart—but should it?

Fans of the rapper quickly latched onto a reddit post advertising a discount code for the vinyl titled, “$5 VINYL GO!” in August. Following that post, Luminate data reveals Scott sold 88,500 vinyl copies of the album, four week after release. Between July 28 and September 7, fans have purchased an estimated 331,000 double LPs.

Photo Credit: Statista

The growth of vinyl as a format has exploded in recent years. It is in its 17th year of straight growth, with 2022 seeing 41.7 million units sold—for 50% growth over the 27.5 million sold in 2019. Just a peek at this graph of vinyl sales from 1993 until now highlights how much the format has grown since 2006. Scott’s offering of $5 vinyls came through discount codes and bundled add-ons when fans bought merchandise from his web store.

But Billboard estimates the rapper did not make a profit on any of the albums sold for $5. “One manager who spoke on the condition of anonymity says he was recently quoted around $7 a unit to manufacture an order of double vinyl,” the report reads. So, if it costs $7 for a double LP, then offering it up for sale for $5 means Travis Scott can’t be making anything at all. This cost doesn’t even consider the mechanical royalties paid out by the song (around 12 cents per song).

Scott moves plenty of merch at sky-high prices, so taking a loss on an order of vinyl to help an album chart isn’t a surprising strategy. But is it one that should catch on? Billboard’s data collected by Luminate cannot distinguish between a vinyl LP sold for $5 at a loss or one sold at $50 to generate a profit. In its books (and charts), a sale is a sale.

Scott’s strategy is very similar to one employed by many authors to wind up on the New York Times best-seller list—simply because appearing on that list can generate additional sales. A 2004 study found that appearing on the NYT best-seller list helped increase debut authors’ sales by 57%. On average for non-debut authors, it helped increase sales around 14%.

So Scott is taking a loss on the backend by moving merch at a massive discount simply for the visibility it provides by remaining in Billboard’s charts from the physical sales boost.

Photo Credit: Warner Music Group

Newly remastered ‘The Dark Side of the Moon’ album released on vinyl, CD, and Blu-Ray, celebrating the 50th anniversary of the original Pink Floyd release.

Pink Floyd and Warner Music, alongside Sony Music outside Europe, have announced the upcoming standalone release of the newly remastered “The Dark Side of the Moon” on CD, vinyl, and Blu-Ray, to be released on October 13.

Initially released as part of “The Dark Side of the Moon” 50th Anniversary Box Set, the new remaster of the classic album will be available for the first time on its own. The Blu-Ray contains the Dolby Atmos, a 5.1 Surround mix, and the remastered Stereo version. The package comes with commemorative postcards, stickers, and a 24-page booklet.

Since its debut in 1973, the album has become one of the most iconic and influential releases ever, continually finding new global audiences. “The Dark Side of the Moon” has sold over 50 million copies worldwide. The famous sleeve depicting a prism spectrum was designed by Storm Thorgerson of Hipgnosis and drawn by George Hardie.

The 50th Anniversary celebration continues as Pink Floyd invited a new generation of animators to enter a competition to create animated music videos for any of the album’s ten songs. Pink Floyd has enjoyed a rich history of collaborating with animators from the band’s early days. In some cases, the visuals accompanying the songs have become synonymous with the music itself.

Animators can enter up to ten videos, one per song on the album. A winner will be selected from a panel of experts, including Pink Floyd’s Nick Mason and the band’s creative consultant, Aubrey “Po” Powell. The deadline for submissions is November 30. The event will take place on September 6 at Noon ET on YouTube.

In recognition of the album, a fully immersive experience with visuals of the solar system played alongside “The Dark Side of the Moon” in planetariums worldwide. The show is presented with a different theme for each track, all relating to a time and space experience with all-encompassing surround sound. Check your local planetarium for any screening details.

(l to r) 12on12 founder Claudia Moross, Swizz Beatz, and Nas, the former two of whom have welcomed Timbaland as a partner in the company. Photo Credit: Andy Keilen/12on12

In February of 2022, Swizz Beatz invested in self-described “exclusive lifestyle and vinyl brand” 12on12. Now, his fellow Verzuz creator, Timbaland, has likewise backed the Claudia Moross-founded and Cutting Edge-owned company.

12on12 reached out to DMN with word of Timbaland’s support today, disclosing the deal’s general details in a release but opting not to respond when asked about the investment’s precise size. In any event, 51-year-old Timbaland has secured “a strategic stake” in the London-headquartered business and is in the process of developing a project.

In keeping with its name, eight-year-old 12on12 puts out limited-edition 12-track curations on 12-inch vinyl; Timbaland’s custom project (along with related merch and artwork) “will look to be released in the beginning of 2024,” per higher-ups.

Besides this forthcoming release, the Norfolk, Virginia-born artist and entrepreneur is poised to “highlight the unique relationship between music and art, bringing the two mediums together to create a truly transcendental experience,” 12on12 indicated.

Addressing the investment, Anthem Entertainment-partnered Timbaland made clear his plans to assist 12on12 in “working with iconic artists who will collaborate with incredible visual artists.” Meanwhile, founder and creative director Claudia Moross underscored the far-reaching impact of Swizz Beatz’s own involvement during the past 18 or so months.

“Swizz Beatz’s involvement over the past year and a half has helped take 12on12 to the next level, from expanding into editioned fine art prints to creating more immersive 360 experiences with each launch,” said Moross, previously an exec at Cutting Edge proper. “We are excited to have Timbaland’s electric energy and business acumen added to the mix and witness the magic they create together.”

Timbaland’s 12on12 tie-up has arrived amid years-running growth for vinyl, which in 2022 outsold CDs for the first time since 1987 in the UK as well as the US, according to BPI and RIAA data. Moreover, evidence suggests that the sales-growth trend has continued to this point in 2023, which has seen Metallica purchase a massive record pressing plant and the Wu-Tang Clan’s RZA drop a vinyl turntable.

On the limited-edition front, Warner Music Group’s Rhino Records in May kicked off a quarterly Hi-Fi vinyl series, and Universal Music Group’s Interscope Records has gone ahead and offered a number of multi-thousand-dollar vinyl releases.

Similarly, fan demand for merch is showing few signs of slowing, and particularly given the astronomical prices charged for many such items, high-quality limited-edition purchase options will presumably appeal to certain diehard supporters. 12on12 is currently selling a Steve Aoki-Richard Orlinski hoodie, capped at 80 units, for a cool $140.

Photo Credit: Glenn Francis / CC by 4.0

Taylor Swift reveals that ‘1989 (Taylor’s Version)’ will be her next re-recorded album, with ‘insane’ tracks from the vault, dropping on October 27.

Swifties had been speculating for weeks about what would become Taylor Swift’s big announcement at her sixth and final Eras Tour concert at Los Angeles’ SoFi Stadium Wednesday night. The singer confirmed that her next re-recorded album would be her 2014 hit “1989,” featuring new deluxe tracks, including “New Romantics.”

“There’s something I’ve been planning for a really, really, really ridiculously, embarrassingly long time,” Swift told the crowd during the ‘surprise song’ portion of her concert, where she sang “New Romantics” and another new track.

An image of the album art for “1989 (Taylor’s Version)” appeared on the large screen behind her, confirming an October 27 release date.

“Surprise!! 1989 (Taylor’s Version) is on its way to you soon,” Swift wrote on social media shortly after her in-concert announcement. “To be perfectly honest, this is my most FAVORITE re-record I’ve ever done because the 5 From The Vault tracks are so insane,” she continues. “I can’t believe they were ever left behind. But not for long!”

In each “Taylor’s Version” album, Swift has included several previously unreleased songs, “From the Vault,” alongside her re-recorded originals. Since her announcement in 2019 that she planned to start re-recording her first six studio albums after her former label sold her master recordings, she has released three “Taylor’s Version” albums: “Red,” “Speak Now,” and “Fearless.”

“1989” is arguably Taylor’s most popular album, marking her transition from a country-pop star to full-on pop music, with hits like “Shake It Off,” “Blank Space,” and “Bad Blood.” The album earned ten Grammy nominations at the time, with Swift taking home the trophies for Album of the Year, Best Pop Vocal Album, and Best Music Video.

After “1989,” Swift is expected to re-record 2018’s “Reputation” and her 2006 self-titled debut album. The Eras Tour begins its international leg on August 24 in Mexico City.

Photo Credit: eBay

The Korean Fair Trade Commission is investigating major K-pop agencies over deceptive album sales practices related to photocards.

Entertainment agencies in the K-pop sphere have increasingly begun selling photocards of band members with their albums, a practice that increases the amount of units fans must buy to increase their chances of getting the photocard they want. Korea’s antitrust agency is launching a probe into whether the practice violates laws or disrupts the market.

Often included in albums, photocards are photos of K-pop stars that have never been released in other media, leading many avid fans to collect them in a show of affection. But because the cards are randomly placed in each album, the most die-hard fans purchase several copies of the same album to increase their chances of getting the photocard they want — and many K-pop groups contain numerous members.

The Korean Fair Trade Commission has stepped up its efforts to investigate major entertainment agencies to determine whether the practice is exploitative of fans. On July 31, SM Entertainment was investigated under this suspicion, as were JYP Entertainment and YG Entertainment on August 1 and 2, respectively. The investigations follow increasing complaints about excessive spending on photocards, extras of which are often sold on secondary marketplaces such as eBay.

NCT, a larger idol group of 20 members, was cited as an example; in their 2020 album, 50 different photocards were launched. Because fans can’t preview which photocard is contained in the album before purchase, some purchased tens of hundreds of albums to secure photocards of their favorites.

As a result, the social media trend of album unboxing, or “album kkang,” emerged, where fans unbox multiple copies of an album to show off which photocards they got. That, unsurprisingly, leads to excessive purchasing from even more fans.

The FTC investigation is to determine whether the process of manufacture and sales are handled fairly, as many companies have been suspected of altering production numbers to make some photocards rarer among the same set, thus promoting additional sales.

Korean officials have rejected media requests for comment.

Photo Credit: Onyx Record Press

A new vinyl pressing plant focusing on indies, Onyx Record Press, has opened up in Los Angeles with a plan to begin pressing vinyl as early as August.

Onyx Record Press is a new vinyl pressing plant opening in Los Angeles County, the brainchild of LA-based DJ and producer, Drumcell. Based in the city of Arcadia, the pressing plant is already taking pre-orders and is anticipated to begin pressing vinyl as early as August.

“We believe in investing in our music communities by prioritizing non-major labels and artists, creating access for customers that are faced with unrealistic timelines or flat-out denied, and having new state-of-the-art pressing machines for a quicker turnaround,” says Drumcell.

“Our team has over 25 years of experience in the vinyl manufacturing industry. We uphold the notion that getting records pressed is a distinguished compliment for an artist,” the statement continues. “We believe that the sum of feeling the weight of vinyl in your hands, listening to the needle translate the grooves into music, and admiring the large artwork is the ultimate form to experience recorded music. At Onyx Record Press, we are committed to delivering this quintessential music format in the highest quality possible.”

The news comes almost a year after a new vinyl-pressing plant opened in California, hoping to become “America’s premier vinyl production facility,” amid a trend of shortages and delays for plants worldwide. New vinyl pressing plants also opened in Germany and the UK last year.

US vinyl sales increased by 21.7% in the first half of 2023, according to Luminate’s mid-year report. Despite the continued resurgence in vinyl’s popularity, manufacturing delays and rising costs continue to strain the independent vinyl market; many smaller or indie musicians have been turned away from pressing plants in favor of more prominent artists, something Drumcell hopes to help alleviate. 

Photo Credit: Atlantic Records, Mattel & Warner Records

The Barbie Soundtrack has arrived with a cornucopia of stars, including Billie Eilish, Dua Lipa, PinkPantheress, Nicki Minaj, and Ice Spice.

The soundtrack for the forthcoming “Barbie” film has released less than a month after the complete track list was announced, featuring music by Billie Eilish, Dua Lipa, PinkPantheress, Nicki Minaj, and Ice Spice. The Limited Edition Hot Pink vinyl version and several other exclusive colors from different retailers are available, with the Milky Clear edition from Amazon already a No. 1 bestseller.

The album features a star-studded lineup of artists who appear to be performing Barbie-themed songs written specifically for the film. Artists include Billie Eilish, Dua Lipa, PinkPantheress, Nicki Minaj, Ice Spice, Lizzo, Charli XCX, Karol G, Ava Max, Sam Smith, Dominic Fike, Khalid, The Kid LAROI, Tame Impala, Haim, and GAYLE. Star Ryan Gosling also joins the roster of soundtrack artists with an original song performed as his character Ken.

Billie Eilish released a self-directed music video earlier this month for her soundtrack single, “What Was I Made For?” The pop star is seen dressed as a doll while placing an assortment of Barbie-sized outfits — replicas of looks Eilish has worn throughout her career — onto a small clothing rack.

Dua Lipa’s single from the soundtrack released back in May, the disco-pop number “Dance the Night,” along with a playful pink music video featuring clips from the movie and a cameo from director Greta Gerwig.

The vinyl edition of the Barbie soundtrack is pressed on a 12-inch hot pink vinyl with a 12×24 poster folded in the sleeve. The album is also available on CD with two different covers (one featuring Ken), three different colors of cassettes (Hot Pink, Transparent Pink, and Ocean Blue), and multiple vinyl designs, as well as a digital download.

The limited edition Hot Pink vinyl is only available on the official album website, while other pressings are available exclusively through certain retailers:

• Candy Floss (Target Exclusive)
• Clear Pink Splatter (Walmart Exclusive
• Cotton Candy (Barnes & Noble Exclusive)
• Hot Pink (Limited Edition Website Exclusive)
• Milky Clear (Amazon Exclusive)
• Neon Pink (Urban Outfitters Exclusive)
• Pink Bloom (Hot Topic Exclusive)

Barbie the Album: Full Track Listing

1. Lizzo – “Pink”
2. Dua Lipa – “Dance the Night”
3. Nicki Minaj & Ice Spice feat. Aqua – “Barbie World”
4. Charli XCX – “Speed Drive”
5. Karol G feat. Aldo Ranks – “Watati”
6. Sam Smith – “Man I Am”
7. Tame Impala – “Journey to the Real World”
8. Ryan Gosling – “I’m Just Ken”
9. Dominic Fike – “Hey Blondie”
10. HAIM – “Home”
11. Billie Eilish – “What Was I Made For?”
12. The Kid LAROI – “Forever & Again”
13. Khalid – “Silver Platter”
14. PinkPantheress – “Angel”
15. GAYLE – “butterflies”
16. Ava Max – “Choose Your Fighter”

Photo Credit: Andrés Ibarra / CC by 4.0

Roger Waters teases a rework of the Pink Floyd classic ‘Money’ ahead of ‘The Dark Side of the Moon Redux’ release on October 6.

Roger Waters has confirmed October 6, 2023, as the release date for The Dark Side of the Moon Redux, an ambitious reinterpretation of the acclaimed album, fifty years since the original Pink Floyd recording. The album’s lead single, Waters’ reinterpretation of “Money,” is out today with an accompanying lyric video.

Recorded with Pink Floyd when Waters was 29, The Dark Side of the Moon has long been hailed as an extraordinary “multidimensional” meditation on the human experience, the passage of time, and the abyss. Its opening line, “The memories of a man in his old age — are the deeds of a man in his prime,” foretells Waters transcending the fifty years since the album’s release to reinterpret his original creation with a new perspective.

Waters’ gravelly vocal performance adds fresh and profound layers to his classic lyrics with a pearl of tongue-in-cheek wisdom. The production strips back Pink Floyd’s psychedelic orchestration into something raw, experimentally inventive, and richly textured.

In addition to reimagining each of the album’s original ten tracks, The Dark Side of the Moon Redux LP will feature a bonus 13-minute original composition inspired by the re-recording as a final track.

“The original Dark Side of the Moon feels in some ways like the lament of an elder being on the human condition. But Dave (Gilmour), Rick (Wright), Nick (Mason), and I were so young when we made it, and when you look at the world around us, clearly, the message hasn’t stuck. That’s why I started to consider what the wisdom of an 80-year-old could bring to a reimagined version,” said Waters.

“When I first mentioned the idea of re-recording The Dark Side of the Moon to Gus (Seyffert) and Sean (Evans), we all thought I was mad, but the more we considered it, the more we thought, ‘isn’t that the whole point?’

“I’m immensely proud of what we have created, a work that can sit proudly alongside the original, hand-in-hand across a half-century of time.”

The Dark Side of the Moon Redux Track Listing

CD/Digital

1. Speak to Me
2. Breathe
3. On the Run
4. Time
5. Great Gig in the Sky
6. Money
7. Us and Them
8. Any Colour You Like
9. Brain Damage
10. Eclipse

Vinyl

Side One

• Speak to Me
• Breathe
• On the Run
• Time

Side Two

• Great Gig in the Sky
• Money

Side Three

• Us and Them
• Any Colour You Like
• Brain Damage
• Eclipse

Side Four

• Original Composition

Photo Credit: Ballantine’s

The first in a series of drops in collaboration with Ballantine’s, Wu-Tang Clan’s RZA has designed a branded “one-of-a-kind” vinyl turntable and Bluetooth speaker in partnership with Crosley Radio.

Wu-Tang Clan frontman RZA unveiled his branded Crosley vinyl record player in an unboxing video showcasing the first in a series of drops through his new collaboration with Scotch Whisky brand Ballantine’s. 

Designed and signed by the legendary hip-hop star, the Ballantine’s x RZA Crosley turntable comes with a Montero Bluetooth speaker, available beginning June 30. The limited-edition release coincides with the 50th anniversary of hip-hop and the 30th anniversary of Wu-Tang Clan’s debut, Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers).

The record player, built by Louisville-based audio electronics specialist Crosley Radio, is the first in a wave of product releases between Ballantine’s and RZA, “whether it’s discovering new music, trying out new recipes, or getting your hands on a limited-edition capsule collection.”

“Whether you’re an audiophile or simply a lover of extraordinary experiences, this partnership invites you to witness the intersection of mastery, passion, and creativity,” reads the release on Ballantine’s website.

“Crosley is proud to announce a partnership with Ballantine’s Scotch Whisky and hip-hop legend RZA, commemorating the 50th anniversary of hip-hop,” begins Crosley’s announcement about the collaboration. 

“Together, we are releasing the Ballantine’s x RZA Crosley collection, featuring a bespoke C6 record player and Montero speaker. The distinctive design, rooted in a shared love for music, encourages self-expression across genres. By celebrating individual taste, Crosley, Ballantine’s, and RZA want to inspire you to embrace your passions and forge your own path.”

“RZA’s multifaceted background as a kung fu master, filmmaker, chess champion, producer, and actor aligns seamlessly with Ballantine’s pioneering spirit, dating back to its founder, George Ballantine, who challenged conventions in whisky-making since 1827,” the release concludes.

The limited-edition Ballantine’s x RZA Crosley record player is available beginning June 30 for $399. 

Photo Credit: Luminate Data

Record Store Day 2023 has become the most successful since its creation in 2007. We look at some revealing data — like how few vinyl record buyers own a record player — and the biggest stars of Record Store Day 2023.

For those who don’t have their finger on the pulse of the record industry, Record Store Day might sound like a madcap attempt to drum up enthusiasm for a niche resurgence in the physical format — even among some who appreciate the younger generation’s seeming interest in vinyl alongside the diehard enthusiasts.

Conceived in 2007 as a way to celebrate the fun and diverse culture surrounding independent record stores and the communities they serve, Record Store Day has also become a way to encourage and celebrate the unique culture of the physical music format space in an industry dominated by streaming.

But naysayers to the sheer volume that Record Store Day is capable of moving need look no further than the Luminate data revealed following Record Store Day 2023 to see the value in the promotion and to recognize that it’s more than just a nod to vinyl’s comeback in the industry.

Record Store Day 2023 is the best vinyl week on record for independent record stores since its inception. Participating independent record stores sold 1.7 million physical units (LPs, CDs, and cassettes) during the week — 82% of which were vinyl (1.4 million.)

Further, independent record stores were a significant contributor (64%) for the entire week’s physical sales, while the week (Week 17) is the biggest for physical sales so far this year, with a total of 2.6 million units sold.

The emerging star of Record Store Day in 2023 is as the event’s founders had hoped upon its inception: exclusive content. Vinyl buyers predominantly want to own content from their favorite artists not available elsewhere. In many cases, these are fans buying for the collector’s aspect rather than to listen to the physical format — the percentage of vinyl buyers who own record players increases as the listeners get older.

57% of Gen Z do not own a record player, while 52% of Millennials do not. Meanwhile, 35% of Gen X do not own a record player, while only 16% of Boomers do not. That means 84% of Boomer vinyl buyers own a record player and are most likely to buy a vinyl record to listen to it.

The Stars of Record Store Day:

1. Taylor Swift – folklore: the long pond studio sessions
2. Pearl Jam – Give Way
3. The Cure – Show (2023 Remaster)
4. Stevie Nicks – Bella Donna Live 1981
5. The Rolling Stones – Beggars Banquet
6. Grateful Dead – Boston Garden, Boston, MA 5/7/77 (Live)
7. Tori Amos – Little Earthquakes – The B-Sides
8. Jason Isbell & Amanda Shires – The Sound Emporium EP
9. Larry Lovestein & The Velvet Revival – You
10. The Ramones – Pleasant Dreams (The New York Mixes)

Record Store Day 2024 begins on April 20, 2024.

Alliance Entertainment posted an almost 30 percent revenue decline for Q1 2023 amid “macroeconomic headwinds.” Photo Credit: Sean Benesh

Now a publicly traded company, Alliance Entertainment (OTC: AENT) has revealed that it generated $227.73 million during 2023’s initial three months – down about 28.93 percent from the same stretch in 2022.

The Florida-based media retailer, which merged with a special purpose acquisition company called Adara in February, just recently posted its Q1 2023 (Q3 of its fiscal year) financials. Notwithstanding a year-over-year (YoY) reduction in cost of revenues ($200.40 million total, down about 28.50 percent YoY), Alliance Entertainment’s aforementioned income falloff contributed to a $7.75 million net loss (or about 16 cents per share) on the quarter, according to the resource.

For reference, the company previously disclosed $3.71 million in net income for the opening quarter of 2022. Shifting back to the $227.73 million in quarterly revenue, vinyl led the pack by generating $75 million for the 13-year-old business, per its Q1 earnings report – although the resurging format’s sales volume is said to have decreased.

CDs, for their part, experienced a two percent average-price boost but nevertheless suffered a 17 percent revenue dip during Q1 as a result of reduced sales volume, Alliance Entertainment indicated.

“Along with other Retailers and Distributors in the United States,” Alliance wrote not long after CD Baby bailed on physical, “we are not immune to the macroeconomic headwinds caused by increased inflation and interest rates. … Our B2B wholesale customer base revenue was down 31% compared to prior year due to their relatively rigorous inventory management.”

Expanding upon the points, Alliance also relayed that vinyl sales had slipped by three percent to total $242 million during the nine months ending on March 31st, with CDs’ own revenue having declined by 24 percent throughout the window.

Addressing his company’s Q1 showing, Alliance Entertainment chairman Bruce Ogilvie touched upon subjects including the “incredible growth in Vinyl shipments at our Kentucky warehouse” and an adjacent automation push.

“Operationally, during the quarter we installed a cube-based warehouse automated storage and retrieval system that is now live and operational, supporting order fulfillment of 33 million pieces of inventory across more than 425,000 SKUs,” Ogilvie communicated in part.

“With our incredible growth in Vinyl shipments at our Kentucky warehouse, we needed a system that could reduce the distance walked to pick product, to store in a more compact form, and reduce the amount of labor needed to handle the product. This system is designed to support future capacity as we shift toward larger scale automation,” he finished.

Elsewhere in the report, Alliance disclosed that it had a $127.43 million revolving credit balance with Bank of America as of March 31st, with “two separate $250,000 promissory notes” having been in June of 2022 “executed between Adara and two of its then shareholders to provide cash to pay operating costs.”

The interest-free notes had an outstanding balance of $471,599 as of March 31st, according to the performance analysis. At the time of this writing, Alliance Entertainment stock was trading for an even three dollars per share.

The Rhino High Fidelity limited-edition reissue of The Cars (1978). Photo Credit: Warner Music Group

Warner Music Group’s Rhino Records has announced a high-fidelity “quarterly premium vinyl series” that’s kicking off with reissues of The Cars’ eponymous 1978 debut album and John Coltrane’s Coltrane’s Sound (1964).

Rhino reached out to Digital Music News with word of the Hi-Fi vinyl series today, making clear off the bat that each of the two quarterly releases will be available to purchase exclusively through its website. Additionally, the WMG subsidiary emphasized that the involved records, contrasting the majority of vinyl today, will pull from analog masters as opposed to digital versions.

Of course, it was only last week that a judge approved an estimated $25 million settlement from Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab, which was named in a class-action lawsuit (and subjected to ample audiophile criticism) over alleged misrepresentations. Specifically, the company is alleged to have attached an “Original Master Recording” label to products that incorporated “direct stream digital” into the production process.

But Rhino Hi-Fi vinyl is being “cut from the original analog master tapes by” veteran mastering engineer Kevin Gray, per the reissue product descriptions of The Cars and Coltrane’s Sound, which are limited to 5,000 numbered copies apiece.

Priced at $39.98 (plus another $7.99 for shipping and handling), the 180-gram Optimal-pressed records at hand will likewise boast “glossy covers and ‘tip-on’ jackets,” according to Rhino.

Plus, the products are expected to feature “exclusive content,” referring here to “a new interview with guitarist Elliot Easton” as well as “producer Roy Thomas Baker’s tracking notes for ‘Good Times Roll’” with The Cars. Coltrane’s Sound, on the other hand, will per Rhino include “notes and images from the master tapes” and “an archival essay by legendary producer Tom Dowd.”

Rhino is set to announce its next Hi-Fi releases “in the coming weeks,” higher-ups disclosed, and the project represents just the latest in a line of recent efforts to capitalize upon strong vinyl demand in the United States, Japan, and a number of different markets.

March saw Metallica purchase a 70,000-square-foot pressing facility, for instance, whereas Universal Music’s Interscope Records earlier in May unveiled a collection of (extremely) limited-edition vinyl from acts including Billie Eilish, Nine Inch Nails, Eminem, Kendrick Lamar, Lady Gaga, Dr. Dre, Blackpink, Lana Del Rey, Machine Gun Kelly, and 50 Cent.

Superfans willing to part with $2,500 – neither taxes nor an approximately $12.50 shipping charge is included in the massive price tag – can purchase the products, which are said to feature Gucci-designed packaging and new artwork crafted by high-profile visual artists. Net profits will be donated to the Iovine and Young Foundation, per Interscope.

Photo Credit: Target

Taylor Swift hands Target an exclusive vinyl release of ‘Speak Now (Taylor’s Version)’ with a lilac marble design, available now for pre-order.

Taylor Swift’s “Taylor Nation” fan page revealed on May 18 that the vinyl for the upcoming re-recording of her 2010 album Speak Now is available for pre-order at Target while supplies last. The vinyl perfectly captures the album’s aesthetic with a lilac-marble color scheme.

Swift revealed during the first of her three shows at Nashville’s Nissan Stadium on May 5 that Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) will arrive on July 7. Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) follows Fearless (Taylor’s Version) and Red (Taylor’s Version) as the third re-recorded studio album of her original six.

“I first made Speak Now, completely self-written, between the ages of 18 and 20,” wrote Swift on her Twitter following the announcement. “The songs that came from this time in my life were marked by their brutal honesty, unfiltered diaristic confessions, and wild wistfulness. I love this album because it tells a tale of growing up flailing, flying, and crashing… and living to speak about it.”

In 2010, Speak Now became the first Taylor Swift album to cross the 1 million sales threshold in its launch week, debuting at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 with 1.047 million copies sold. According to Luminate, Swift’s third album has earned 7.8 million equivalent album units in the U.S. through April 27.

Luminate data revealed in its “Top Entertainment Trends for 2023” report also found that about half of vinyl LP owners do not own a record player. Of 3,900 U.S.-based respondents surveyed, 50 percent of consumers who bought vinyl in the past 12 months own a record player, compared to 15 percent among music listeners overall. 

That data indicates that half of the fans buying vinyl appreciate such items’ collectibility and exclusive nature rather than listening to the vinyl format. Since the vast majority of music revenue still comes from streaming services — 84 percent in 2022 — the numbers imply that “superfans” purchasing vinyl are completionist-minded, buying the merch but relegating their listening to playlist-oriented online avenues.

Photo Credit: Karl Hörnfeldt

Last August, self-described audiophile “reissue label” Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab (MFSL) was named in multiple class-action complaints for allegedly making misrepresentations about its mastering process. Now, a judge has approved a preliminary multimillion-dollar settlement despite objections from some customers.

Judge James L. Robart just recently signed off on the settlement proposal, legal documents obtained by Digital Music News show. As highlighted, the courtroom confrontations kicked off back in August of 2022, when plaintiffs from several states submitted complaints concerning the “Original Master Recording” label that Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab had attached to its vinyl products.

Of course, the identifier suggests that the items in question had been created directly from the appropriate analog masters, without being sourced from digital like so many other vinyl releases today. But MFSL, the complaints alleged, had for over a decade been incorporating “direct stream digital” into its production process – simultaneously misrepresenting as much and charging a premium for the vinyl at hand.

Meanwhile, Mobile Fidelity president Jim Davis promptly apologized “for using vague language, allowing false narratives to propagate, and for taking for granted the goodwill and trust our customers place in the Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab brand.” Needless to say, though, these remarks did little to assuage the criticism of irked customers or to stem the tide of related litigation.

MFSL sales records show that north of 634,000 of the “Original Master Recording” or “UltraDisc One-Step” products were sold between mid-March of 2007 and late July of last year, specifically including around 25 percent directly to customers and 75 percent via retailers like Walmart.

As written, the proposed settlement would enable each of the stateside “original retail consumers” – expressly excluding those who purchased but no longer own the items – to receive a full refund should they choose to make a return. (An estimated 20,000 of the persons bought straight from MFSL, with at least as many having purchased from retailers.)

Alternatively, the class members could opt to keep the products (which may fetch more than their original sale prices on the open market) in exchange for a five percent refund or a MFSL coupon equaling 10 percent of the amount spent. Eligible shoppers would be able to mix and match the options, selecting a coupon (expiring 180 days thereafter) for one record and a refund for another, but must in any event “show both proof of purchase and proof of ownership.”

Lastly, in terms of pertinent background details, the initial case’s two named plaintiffs would receive $10,000 apiece, whereas their counsel would receive “no more than $290,000” in legal fees. In opposing the proposed settlement, the aforementioned intervenors maintained, among other things, that these legal fees are too high and that the framework “provides inadequate relief” to class members.

Judge Robart rejected the associated arguments, however, finding the attorneys’ fees reasonable (“one of the lower proposed fee awards this court has encountered in a class action settlement”) and indicating that the “proposed settlement lacks the hallmarks of a reverse auction.”

Similarly, the presiding judge wasn’t persuaded by intervenor complaints that the full-refund claims process would be “overly cumbersome” or about the purported drawbacks of the exclusion of those who no longer possess the vinyl. Likewise refuted was the argument that “the cash and coupon components of the proposed settlement provide inadequate relief because they do not compare favorably to” potential liability at trial.

Class members will have until September 21st of this year to submit their claim forms, and a final approval hearing has been scheduled for October 30th.

Photo Credit: Andrea Cipriani

Record Store Day is on course to break sales records: “This is the largest single sales day ever for most Record Store Day participating independent stores.”

Alliance Entertainment, distributor of the world’s largest in-stock selection of physical media, from music, movies, and video games, to electronics, arcades, and collectibles, has confirmed 2023’s Record Store Day events as its most significant ever.

Alliance works closely with Record Store Day organizers and the industry’s distribution and label partners, who curate the available titles yearly. More than 800,000 units of vinyl were created and shipped to participating independent record stores around the country for this year’s Record Store Day event, with retail sales expected to surpass $32 million.

“Record Store Day has been a long-time partner to Alliance Entertainment, always collaborating to benefit the independent record store community,” says Alliance Senior Vice President of Sales, Ken Glaser. “We are pleased to see the continued growth of Record Store Day year over year, and 2023 results have surpassed our expectations.”

An annual event since 2007 held one Saturday every April, Record Store Day celebrates “the culture of the independently owned record store.” The event brings together fans, artists, and thousands of independent record stores worldwide.

Several albums are pressed specifically for Record Store Day each year, exclusively distributed to record stores participating in the event. Now in its 16th year, Record Store Day continues to play a significant role in the expansion and success of vinyl records. Last year, physical vinyl album sales surpassed 43 million units.

“Taylor Swift’s ‘folklore: the long pond sessions’ Record Store Day release could produce our first chart-topping album, and quite possibly a #1 album on the Billboard charts, a feat never achieved by a Record Store Day release,” adds Michael Kurtz, co-founder of Record Store Day. 

“Thanks in large part to Taylor, Pearl Jam, Jason Isbell and Amanda Shires, Beach House, Stevie Nicks, and others, Record Store Day is on course to break the sales record for the most vinyl sold in a single day. This is the largest single sales day ever for most Record Store Day participating independent stores.”

AMPED Distribution, a division of Alliance Entertainment, also played a significant role in this year’s Record Store Day, working with its label partners to release 64 unique titles. These include releases from Eric Carr, Mr. Big, and more. 

A UK man has been sentenced for selling millions of dollars’ worth of counterfeit vinyl records. Photo Credit: Steve Harvey

As the vinyl resurgence continues in nations around the globe, a UK court has officially handed down a major criminal sentence to a Dorset man who raked in about $1.5 million by selling counterfeit LPs.

The British Phonographic Industry (BPI), which is said to have coordinated with Dorset Trading Standards to target the illicit operation, just recently detailed the sentence issued to one Richard Hutter. Per the trade organization’s summary of the years-long crackdown, 55-year-old Hutter had previously pleaded guilty to 13 trademark and copyright offenses as well as one count of money laundering.

Also according to the BPI – which in March disclosed that domestic vinyl sales had grown 3.1% in 2022 to hit £119.5 million (currently $148.40 million) – the underlying investigation was set in motion when a fed-up fan complained after realizing that he or she had bought one of the fake products.

Available to purchase via Ebay, Hutter’s own website, and “an American website,” the vinyl records in question were confirmed to be inauthentic following subsequent “test” purchases and a review conducted by BPI reps, the London-headquartered entity relayed.

Needless to say, given today’s sentence, this confirmation set the stage for a search of the then-suspect’s home, from which authorities are said to have seized “a number of counterfeit records and sleeves” way back in July of 2018.

All told, the presiding recorder determined that Hutter had “benefitted by” approximately £1.2 million ($1.49 million) from the seemingly lengthy scheme, with £373,589 ($463,924) of the sum still in his possession at the time of sentencing. The vinyl records bootlegger was ordered to forfeit the remaining cash within three months post-sentence or face three years behind bars, the BPI emphasized.

Additionally, sentencing solely for the money-laundering charge, the recorder slapped Hutter with a four-month prison term suspended for two years, besides 250 hours of “unpaid work” that must be completed within one year as well as three months of an (electronically monitored) 8 PM to 7 AM curfew, the BPI indicated.

In a statement about the “serious crime” and the prevalence of counterfeit vinyl records in the UK, Paola Monaldi, head of the BPI’s content protection unit, specified that millions of fake products have been uncovered during the last three years alone.

“This is a serious crime that denies artists the rewards for their creativity, exploits fans, and impacts legitimate retail and the record labels that invest in music – but worse, it can feed into other forms of criminality that can impact us all,” Monaldi said in part.

“Over the last three years the BPI has delisted over 100,000 fake items from marketplace platforms and seized over 3 million counterfeit units across the UK – which underlines the scale of the problem,” continued the higher-up.

Outside the UK, 2022 data shows that the sales figures behind vinyl records are increasing in the US, Italy, Germany, Japan, and globally. Owing to this considerable demand, however, the format has long grappled with production woes that could potentially encourage piracy – prompting emerging manufacturers to arrive on the scene and compelling high-profile acts to invest in pressing plants.

Photo Credit: James Sutton

After reaching a substantial number of new fans with a Stranger Things placement last year – and as vinyl’s nearly two-decade-long commercial resurgence continues – Metallica has officially purchased an entire record pressing plant.

Alexandria, Virginia-based Furnace Record Pressing just recently announced that it had sold a “majority interest” to the more than four-decade-old act. The deal arrives about one month before Metallica will release its 11th studio album, 72 Seasons, and kick off a world tour with a pair of shows in Amsterdam.

Founded in 1996 by industry vet Eric Astor (who doubles as a co-founder of Alliance-distributed vinyl-care company VinylStyl and as a partner at ORG Music), Furnace has since 2014 “produced more than five million pieces of Metallica vinyl,” according to the involved parties. Bearing in mind the staggering figure and vinyl’s ongoing production woes, the heavy-metal mainstay took the opportunity to tout Furnace’s “capacity to meet the massive demand for Metallica vinyl.”

Similarly, Metallica – which is selling everything from jackets to action figures and skateboard decks to t-shirts on its website – also highlighted the technical capabilities of Furnace, which is said to operate out of a 70,000-square-foot facility. Per the much-streamed group, the record manufacturer offers “standard and heavyweight pressings, color vinyl, special effect color vinyl, and custom vinyl etching” alike.

Aside from Metallica, Furnace says that it counts as clients “many” big-name artists, international music companies, labels, and “indie/punk acts.” While the transaction’s financial terms haven’t been revealed publicly, Metallica disclosed that the aforementioned Furnace founder and CEO Astor, along with longtime execs Ali Miller (COO) and Mark Reiter (VP of operations), will continue in their existing roles.

The three will likewise remain equity stakeholders and retain their board seats, and in a statement, Astor acknowledged that the sale will enable his business to capitalize upon growth opportunities moving forward.

“Building Furnace into the dedicated and experienced family of experts that it is today has been a huge effort, but immensely gratifying,” said the Art Monk Construction co-founder Astor. “Knowing our long-term future is secured while also being better able to take advantage of growth opportunities is really exciting for every member of the Furnace staff.”

And in comments of his own, Metallica’s James Hetfield added: “Furnace has been great to Metallica and more importantly to our fans. This deepened relationship between Metallica and Furnace ensures that fans of vinyl everywhere, particularly our Fifth Members [the fan club boasts north of 1.37 million members, its website shows], will have continued access to high quality records in the future.”

Earlier in 2023, Warner Music Group revealed that it was shifting more of its vinyl production to the States, after the format last year outsold CDs in the U.S. as well as the U.K. for the first time since 1987, according to RIAA and BPI sales data.

Photo Credit: BVMI

BVMI revealed that the German music industry generated €2.07 billion in 2022. This is not the first time the German music industry has hit the €2 billion mark — though it’s been a while.

Back in 2002, the industry made €2.21 billion, but two decades down the line, the breakdown of revenue source is completely different. According to a just-published BVMI (Bundesverband Musikindustrie) report, the €2.07 billion includes proceeds from streaming, downloads, and sales of CDs and vinyl LPs. However, 80.3% of this revenue is credited to streaming and downloading, with a mere 19.7% generated through physical music sales (mostly CDs and vinyl LPs).

BVMI is a globally recognized music organization representing over 85% of music consumption in Germany.

Germany is the world’s third-largest music market, and the €2.07 billion earnings represent a 6.1% growth in its recorded music market.

CEO of the BVMI, Dr. Florian Drücke, spoke about the streaming segment growth, saying, “An increase of 6.1% means growth for the fourth year in a row. The fact that the industry has passed the €2-billion mark for the first time in two decades is good news of far more than symbolic value. Looking at streaming, it will be exciting to see how the price hikes from the early providers we’ve seen recently will now play out in the broader market and also how short form videos will be monetized even more.”

The strongest market segment was audio streaming, accounting for a whopping 73.3% of total industry revenue. This represents a 14% increase from 2021.

CD sales were the second-biggest source of revenue, with a market share of 12.9%. Vinyl recorded a 6% share of sales, while downloads contributed a mere 2.2%.

Overall, digital revenue increased by 11.7% in 2022, while the physical business declined by 11.9%.

Although vinyl sales witnessed a 5.1% growth in 2022, this pales in comparison to the 20.1% growth reported in 2021. Drücke says that data has continuously placed vinyl records as a favorite among young people, adding, “From the summer of 2023, the culture pass could have a stimulating effect, both for fans and for the industry.”

Photo Credit: Record Store Day UK

The 1975 is announced as the official ambassadors of Record Store Day UK 2023, following previous ambassadors like Taylor Swift, Noel Gallagher, Elton John, and The Big Moon.

Record Store Day UK has announced that Manchester natives The 1975 are this year’s official ambassadors, following the likes of Taylor Swift and Sir Elton John. As part of their role, the band will release their 2016 live performance with the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra on vinyl for the first time for this year’s Record Store Day, Saturday, April 22.

Following their fifth consecutive UK Number One album, a world tour, and three 2023 Brit Award nominations, The 1975 are “poised to fly the flag for the unique culture and heritage of independent record stores and the teams behind the counter who help shape the UK music scene.”

Matty Healy, the frontman of The 1975, said, “The guys and I are really proud to be ambassadors for Record Store Day this year. Independent record stores are the lifeblood of the music industry and have played a crucial role in our story so far. It couldn’t be more important to support their vital community and culture.”

The band has long been known to inspire music lovers to get into collecting vinyl by creating limited edition versions of their albums only found on the shelves of independent record stores. The release of their latest album, Being Funny In a Foreign Language, was accompanied by an exclusive white vinyl made only for record shops, and their vinyl release for this year’s Record Store Day will only be available at participating stores.

Record Store Day is widely considered one of the driving forces behind the vinyl resurgence over the last 15 years. Now in its 16th year, the event’s success has led to a considerable turnaround for record stores in the UK, helping them fight back the effects of the pandemic and the cost of living crisis.

“We can’t wait to be taking part in Record Store Day again this year, and to have a Manchester band like The 1975 putting our local musical heritage on the map and celebrating the culture of record shops in this way is fantastic,” said Louise Jackson of the record store Wax and Beans, just outside Manchester.

“Like all the stores involved in the day, we work incredibly hard all year round to keep our shop thriving as a hub for the music-loving community,” Jackson continues. “Bands like The 1975 are a product of independent music scenes like ours all over the country who back emerging talent, so it feels great to see them championing indie record shops just like ours in such a meaningful way.”

Hundreds of UK shops will participate in Record Store Day on April 22, with a complete list of over 400 official releases for Record Store Day UK 2023 coming soon.

Photo Credit: Manuel Sardo

Warner Music Group has released its second annual Environmental Social Governance (ESG) report. It reveals the music company is continuing its shift away from 180g vinyl to reduce environmental impact during production.

WMG says it has invested significantly over the years to reduce the environmental impact of record manufacturing. The company is investing in ways to produce records without using PVC, in addition to adopting vinyl recycling from production offcuts that would otherwise end up in a landfill. Avoiding the use of virgin materials helps lower carbon emissions, reduces plastic waste, and increases transport efficiency. 

After experimenting in 2022 with a large-scale release of re-vinyl for Coldplay’s Music of the Spheres album, WMG continued on with other re-vinyl releases. They include the Red Hot Chili Peppers‘ European release of their new album, Return of the Dream Canteen and The Staves’ 10th anniversary album reissue of Dead & Born & Grown.

WMG also ran a workshop series on WMG’s Global Green Product and Packaging Design Guidelines to help teams learn how to design better packaging for vinyl, cassettes, and C.D.s to reduce their environmental impact. A top recommendation during that workshop was to press new album releases on 140g vinyl instead of 180g vinyl. 

“We’re thrilled to report that in 2022 we pressed roughly 60% of our global vinyl products on 140g discs, reducing our output of virgin raw plastic by approximately 470 tonnes,” the ESG report reads. “Additionally, we’re poised to produce nearly three times the number of discs in the U.S. for the U.S. market in 2023. This will significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions from sea or air freight that would have otherwise come from European-based manufacturing facilities.”

WMG’s vinyl manufacture in the U.K. saw 94% of new vinyl releases pressed on 140g vinyl, reducing the use of raw plastic by 27 tonnes. 

Why is vinyl manufacturing so hard on the environment?

The main component in a vinyl record is plastic polyvinyl chloride (PVC), which is made from petrochemicals. Pressing plants can use antiquated steam boilers and a toxic brew of chemicals to make records, giving vinyl 12 times the greenhouse gas emissions of other physical media production like CDs.

“The demand for recycled components is still in the minority, but it does seem like it’s been gaining some steam over the past couple of years,” says Matt Earley, owner of the Cleveland, Ohio pressing plant, Gotta Groove Records. 

Photo Credit: Warner Music / Sony Music

Pink Floyd releases a monster-sized, $300 ‘Dark Side of the Moon’ box set.

Warner Music and Sony Music announced the upcoming release of Pink Floyd’s The Dark Side of the Moon as a deluxe box set in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the album’s original release. The newly remastered box set will be released on March 24, 2023. Sony Music will distribute the collection, while Warner Music is in charge of European distribution.

One of the most influential albums of all time, Pink Floyd’s The Dark Side of the Moon continues to find new audiences worldwide. The album is the eighth studio album by Pink Floyd, originally released in the US on March 1, 1973, and in the UK on March 16. The Dark Side of the Moon has sold over 50 million copies worldwide.

The new deluxe box set includes CD and gatefold vinyl of the new 2023 remastered studio album, with Blu-Ray and DVD audio featuring the original 5.1 mix and remastered stereo versions. The collection features a new Blu-Ray disc of Atmos mix plus a CD and LP of The Dark Side of the Moon – Live at Wembley Empire Pool, London, 1974. 

Pink Floyd’s The Dark Side Of The Moon 50th Anniversary Box Set:

• CD 1 – The Dark Side of the Moon Remastered 2023, by James Guthrie, in gatefold sleeve with 12-page booklet
• CD 2 – The Dark Side of the Moon – Live at Wembley Empire Pool, London, 1974, mixed by Andy Jackson in gatefold sleeve with 12-page booklet
• LP 1 – The Dark Side of the Moon Remastered original studio album in gatefold, with original posters and stickers
• LP 2 – The Dark Side of the Moon – Live at Wembley Empire Pool, London, 1974, in gatefold, with two posters

Blu-Ray 1 (Audio) – Original album in 5.1 and high-resolution remastered stereo mixes in a dedicated wallet:

1. 5.1 Surround Mix – 24-bit/96kHz Uncompressed
2. Stereo Mix – 24-bit/192kHz Uncompressed
3. 5.1 Surround Mix – DTS-HD MA
4. Stereo Mix – DTS-HD MA

Blu-Ray 2 (Audio) – Original album in Atmos and high-resolution remastered stereo mixes in a dedicated wallet:

1. Dolby Atmos Mix
2. Stereo Mix – 24-bit/192kHz Uncompressed
3. Stereo Mix – DTS-HD MA

DVD (Audio) – Original album in 5.1 and remastered stereo mixes in a dedicated wallet:

1. 5.1 Surround Mix – Dolby Digital @448 kbps
2. 5.1 Surround Mix – Dolby Digital @640 kbps
3. Stereo Mix (LPCM) – 24-bit48kHz Uncompressed

160-page Thames & Hudson Hardback Book – with rare black and white photographs from the 1972 – 1975 tours of the UK and the US, taken by Jill Furmanovsky, Peter Christopherson, Aubrey Powell, Storm Thorgerson

76-page Music Book – of the original album

Memorabilia:

Replicas of 2×7″ singles in Harvest bags:

1. 7″ Single 1 – “Money” / “Any Colour You Like”
2. 7″ Single 2 – “Us And Them” / “Time”

Replica of EMI Pamphlet and Invitation to the preview of The Dark Side of the Moon at the London Planetarium on February 27, 1973

Simultaneously, the CD and first-ever vinyl issue of The Dark Side of the Moon – Live at Wembley Empire Pool, London, 1974, will be released independently. Originally recorded in November 1974 as part of Pink Floyd’s winter tour, this is the first time it will be available as a standalone album.

Photo Credit: Making Vinyl Minneapolis

Celebrate 75 years of the vinyl record industry in Minneapolis and see what’s next.

Celebrating their sixth year as a business and the 75th anniversary of the Long-Playing (LP) vinyl record, Making Vinyl Minneapolis presents Making Vinyl 2023, June 7-8 at the Loews Minneapolis Hotel. The “enhanced evening events” promise live music and exceptional networking.

Making Vinyl is determined in 2023 to focus on the business aspects of sustaining profitable growth in the vinyl industry. The conference will explore all aspects of the vinyl comeback to keep the supply chain teeming with new releases and reissues of classics amid rising prices, supply chain issues, and raw materials shortages.

“Vinyl’s current popularity — 15 years of double-digit growth — defies all technological and economic logic in the digital age,” reads a statement from Making Vinyl.

“Yet, given the immense expense of mounting such an operation continues to attract new financial investment, as the undeniable appeal of such a deluxe product shows no signs of slowing down.” 

Topics to be addressed at the Minneapolis event include:

• Will there be enough business to go around with all that new capacity?
• What are the real numbers behind vinyl sales?
• The Implications of Greenwashing
• It’s Time for a SPARS-like Coding System for Vinyl
• Sustainability & Vinyl’s Future
• Vinyl Manufacturing & Best Practices
• The Basics of Building a Record Factory
• Getting Real About Production Timelines
• Legal Perspective of Negotiating Vinyl Contracts
• What are the strategies of supply chain?
• New Product Launches
• The Relationship Between Quality and Efficiency

Making Vinyl will be held at Loews Hotel in Minneapolis, and they have negotiated a discounted single/double room rate of $179 per night plus taxes and fees for all conference attendees. However, rooms sell out quickly, so attendees should make reservations shortly after securing event registration.

This year marks the 75th anniversary of CBS Labs unveiling the LP record on June 21, 1948. The event also means to honor the July 7 birthday of Minneapolis native Prince, who died in 2016 and would have been 65 years old. His records continue to be significant sellers on vinyl to this day. 

Photo Credit: Jamakassi

Vinyl sales in the United States have reached highs not seen since 1991 thanks to the holidays. 

Data from Luminate shows that 2.32 million vinyl albums were sold in the week ending December 22–the last week before Christmas. According to Billboard, that’s the single-largest sales week for vinyl albums since Luminate began electronically tracking music sales in 1991. Vinyl album sales in the US also reached the 2+ million milestone in December 2021–showing the everlasting presence of albums as Christmas gifts. 

Holiday shopping helped fuel vinyl album sales by 46.7% in the week ending in December 22. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the most popular album sold was Taylor Swift’s Midnights selling 68,000 copies. Part of that success can be attributed to the availability of five vinyl variants–including one exclusive to Target. 

Vinyl album sales for the year of 2022 stand at 41.891, which is a 3.6% increase when compared to 2021. The vinyl format continues to make up the bulk of all physical album sales–with 63% of physical sales in the vinyl format. Limited stock of factories compared to the huge number of labels worldwide helps contribute to supply constraints for vinyl records.

The vinyl era of the 1960s and 1970s peaked in 1978 with unit sales of 341 million and revenue of $2.5 billion before a steady decline. The vinyl market finally bottomed out in 2005 at just $14 million in sales that year. But upticks in LP sales and have brought in $1 billion by the end of 2021, representing 7% of all music revenue and 12% of total units sold. 

What are the motivating factors for a new generation who are being exposed to vinyl LPs for the first time? An appreciation of the ‘authenticity’ and warmth’ of vinyl records is the key motivating factor in a study of vinyl consumers from 2021. But vinyl ‘newbies’ are also placing more value on the packaging and artwork of albums they consume–both old and new. 

Photo Credit: James Sutton

Album success in 2022 is shared across the regions of the UK, while new album releases lead a predicted 15th successive annual uplift in vinyl LP sales, with eight of the year’s Top Ten sellers released in 2022.

Music talent is flourishing across the UK, with most of the year’s biggest-selling new albums across all formats released by artists from nearly every region. The Top 10 LPs of 2022, according to the analysis of Official Charts data by the BPI, feature eight titles released within the calendar year, including albums by Harry Styles, Arctic Monkeys, and Liam Gallagher — compared to only three in 2017.

While US singer-songwriter Taylor Swift led the charge in 2022’s vinyl albums market, most of the year’s biggest-selling new albums across all formats combined were by artists from nearly every nation and region in the UK. There were 30 different Number One albums by UK artists throughout the year, with 10 of the UK’s 12 regions being represented across a diverse range of genres.

Outside London, Northwest England was one of the most heavily-represented regions with five chart-topping albums in 2022, led by Cheshire-native Harry Styles. Styles’ third solo album, Harry’s House, spent six weeks at Number One, the longest chart-topping run of the year. Other Northwest England artists topping the charts this year include Liverpool band The Wombats (Fix Yourself, Not the World), Stockport group Blossoms (Ribbons Around the World), Manchester-native Liam Gallagher (C’mon You Know), and Cheshire band The 1975 (Being Funny in a Foreign Language).

Yorkshire and the Humber showed strong musical representation in 2022, with four artists from the region reaching Number One: Olly Alexander’s solo project Years & Years (Night Call), Yungblud (Yungblud), Louis Tomlinson (Faith in the Future), and Paul Heaton and Jacqui Abbott (N.K.Pop).

Official Albums Chart Number One in 2022 by UK Artists

• The Wombats – Fix Yourself, Not the World
• Years & Years – Night Call
• Don Broco – Amazing Things
• Bastille – Give Me the Future
• Frank Turner – FTHC
• Ed Sheeran – =
• Central Cee – 23
• Stereophonics – Oochya!
• Rex Orange County – Who Cares?
• Charli XCX – Crash
• Wet Leg – Wet Leg
• Digga D – Noughty By Nature
• Blossoms – Ribbon Around the Bomb
• Florence + The Machine – Dance Fever
• Harry Styles – Harry’s House
• Liam Gallagher – C’mon You Know
• George Ezra – Gold Rush Kid
• Paolo Nutini – Last Night in the Bittersweet
• Jamie T – The Theory of Whatever
• Kasabian – The Alchemist’s Euphoria
• Steps – Platinum Collection
• Muse – Will of the People
• Yungblud – Yungblud
• Robbie Williams – XXV
• Paul Heaton and Jacqui Abbott – N.K.Pop
• The 1975 – Being Funny in a Foreign Language
• Louis Tomlinson – Faith in the Future
• Stormzy – This is What I Mean
• Olly Murs – Marry Me
• Sam Ryder – There’s Nothing But Space, Man!

“It’s no surprise that most of the UK talent who reached Number One in 2022 are from outside London,” said SJM Concerts artist manager Conrad Murray, who represents artists like Blossoms, Paul Heaton, and Jacqui Abbott. “As a Manchester-based manager, it’s been evident for a long time that you don’t have to be in the capital to succeed — the artists I represent are a testament to that.”

“Blossoms started out a decade ago in Stockport, where they grew up, and have now scored three Number One albums, including Ribbon Around the Bomb,” Murray continues. “And since the first Housemartins LP back in the Eighties, tellingly called London 0 Hull 4, Paul Heaton has been living proof of the exceptional music talent that exists across the entire UK. All these years later, alongside his long-time collaborator Jacqui Abbott, he is still making brilliant Number One albums.”

Newly-released albums are claiming an increasingly more significant share of vinyl LP sales, with the year’s ten biggest sellers to date featuring eight titles released in 2022, according to analysis of Official Charts data by the BPI.

Taylor Swift’s Midnights ranked as the year’s most popular album on vinyl in the UK, on a list that included 2022 releases by Harry Styles (Harry’s House), Arctic Monkeys (The Car), Liam Gallagher (C’mon You Know), Wet Leg (Wet Leg), The 1975 (Being Funny in a Foreign Language), Fontaines D.C. (Skinty Fia), and Muse (Will of the People).

The sales of these 2022 albums contributed to a UK vinyl market expected to grow for the 15th successive year, reaching its highest volume level since 1990. The BPI will announce the final figures for vinyl LP sales in 2022 on January 4, 2023, as part of its Official 2022 UK Music Market Update. The update will also report on CD and cassette sales along with the total volume of audio streams for the year.

Such a high number of current albums among the year’s top sellers marks a further notable shift in the vinyl market, whose revival over the past 15 years has primarily been driven by catalog titles. Half of the ten biggest vinyl LPs of 2021 were albums released that calendar year, while five years ago, classic albums by artists like The Beatles, David Bowie, Pink Floyd, and Oasis dominated 2017’s Top Ten sellers. That year, new releases by Ed Sheeran, Liam Gallagher, and Rag’n’Bone Man were the only new titles to appear on the list.

“Vinyl’s revival has been one of the most welcome success stories of recent times,” said Geoff Taylor, Chief Executive BPI, BRIT Awards & Mercury Prize. “While initially this renaissance was built largely on older music fans reconnecting with treasured past albums and on younger generations newly discovering classic releases, increasingly the ongoing rise in LP sales has been driven by brand new releases.”

“A diverse and growing number of contemporary artists have recognized the enduring magic of this most beloved format, from global superstars such as Taylor Swift and Harry Styles to breakthrough UK talent including Wet Leg and Yard Act. As the LP marks its 75th anniversary in 2023, it’s as relevant as ever, highlighting that, in an age of streaming, physical music purchases remain an essential and healthy part of the music market.”

Official Vinyl Artist Albums Chart 2022

1. Taylor Swift – Midnights
2. Harry Styles – Harry’s House
3. Arctic Monkeys – The Car
4. Liam Gallagher – C’mon You Know
5. Wet Leg – Wet Leg
6. Fleetwood Mac – Rumours
7. The 1975 – Being Funny in a Foreign Language
8. Fontaines D.C. – Skinty Fia
9. Arctic Monkeys – AM
10. Muse – Will of the People 2022

Image: https://pixabay.com/photos/christmas-gift-new-year-holidays-3015776/

As we close out 2022, I wanted to share a handful of items that I personally got some enjoyment out of. We’re cutting it close on timing for this to be relevant, but a late gift is still a nice gesture. So, if you know someone who loves music or makes music, I hope this gift guide helps readers find some great ideas for people they care about.

Disclaimer: Some of these items (individually disclosed below) were provided at no cost in exchange for editorial coverage. I don’t care if you buy any of these or not, which is why you won’t find any affiliate links in this article. 

1) Yamaha TT-S303 Turntable (provided for this gift guide)

Vinyl is a fantastic way to enjoy music. Collecting records is fun, and the top royalty-generating way to listen to music. Holding something and appreciating the art it comes with provides a different, more intimate experience than digital streaming. 

Sonically, depending on the source material, many (including me) will tell you that the fidelity is unmatched on vinyl. I think that at around $500 — give or take $50 — this is a good option. 

It’s similar to Pro-Ject models within the same price range, but includes a more user-friendly tone arm with anti-skirt technology. This model also includes a built-in phono amp and speed adjustment from 33 to 45 RPM. That makes this a simpler standalone unit than the Pro-Ject I had previously been using, which required external phono and speed control. I like that. 

There is a downside. Yamaha’s Turntable comes equipped with a Moving Magnet (MM) cartridge and a built-in phono. I personally use a moving coil cartridge. Without getting in the weeds of it, the moving coil is a better type of cartridge, but it requires a setting to be adjusted on the phono amp. If you have an external phono, that’s easy to do. But, as far as I can tell from hours of research, it’s not possible on the Yamaha TT-S303. 

There may be moving coil cartridges that are compatible, but mine (Dennon DL-110) isn’t. 

I would consider this to be a solid beginner turntable, or even an upgrade for someone who may have purchased a lower cost turntable and wants something more serious. However, if your giftee might eventually get more into the hobby, I would get a Pro-Ject instead for the upgradability. 

2) Rock And Roll Warrior — a book by David Libert  (provided for review)

David Libert is an industry gem who has been active in the music industry since the mid-1960s. Scoring big with the hit “See You In September” with his group, The Happenings, he found himself taking on more and more of the business responsibilities of the band after the initial success from the hit had calmed down. This inspired his decades-long career of working with some of music’s most notable artists. 

David’s goofy sense of humor is on display in every page of the book. It’s one of the most ‘fun’ autobiographical books I have read, and I consider it a ‘must’ for anyone who works with talent, tours, or simply wants to know more about the inner workings of the music industry. 

3) Fender Fat Finger

I recently came across this little guitar gadget on Sweetwater, and I had to try it out. It’s a very simple gift, it makes for a great Hanukkah present (or stocking stuffer for the snowflakes who feel that every celebration in late December should be called ‘Christmas’). 

For only around $20, this makes a great gift for anyone who plays guitar or bass. The device claims to increase sustain. I noticed it to some extent, but the really nice thing about this is that sometimes, you just need an inexpensive gift for musicians. This is the perfect thing to get for someone who plays guitar or bass, particularly if you don’t know what to get for them. If nothing else, it’s unlikely that they already have one.

4) Little Korg synths

These are more or less toys for music makers, or people who want to start experimenting with making music and sounds. They (like the last entry) are relatively inexpensive (around $50) and provide ongoing fun. I have a couple that I keep in a desk drawer and bust out 1-2 times per month to play around with for 20ish minutes. There are sure to be people who get more enjoyment than that, but as someone who does not play keyboard, piano, or synth, I get a great deal of enjoyment out of these. 

5) Inside by Bo Burnam

Bo Burnam’s Inside is a special on Netflix. It’s also a contender for my favorite piece of media (including music, movies, and games) of the new millennium. 

Bo is able to take deep societal issues and communicate them in ways that nearly anyone can understand. He addresses how emotions are monetized and how this is psychologically impacting us as a species. I don’t want to spoil it too much, though I think that everyone should watch the special. However, the gift I am recommending is the vinyl record. Preferably ‘Inside – Deluxe’ which includes fantastic outtakes such as Bezos 3 and Bezos 4, and 1985. 

Here is a preview of what you are in for: 

If your giftee is not into vinyl, just hop on to Netflix and watch Inside together. Time together, appreciating great things, that is a gift in itself. 

7) Snark rechargeable

If you know a stringed instrument player, they probably have one or more of these. But, now they make them with rechargeable batteries. It’s a great ‘small gift’ that any string player will appreciate. 

6) Yamaha — Home Theater in a Box System YHT-5960U (provided for this gift guide)

Home Theater in a Box is a product type that has become increasingly hard to find. So a quality offering from Yamaha is a welcome addition — especially in our modern age of 3D mixed audio and more immersive sound design. 

This system is powerful for the price, thanks largely to the very nice amplifier that comes with the set. However, it does lack Atmos. So people who are really going for the latest in 23 audio may want to go a different direction. But, for people who will be happy with 5.1 (which I think is most people in a home theater setup), this is a good pick at a good price.  

Something I used to bely about HTIBs was the sub-par (often proprietary) amplifiers. These would be designed with proprietary ports and other inconveniences that prevented them from myriad use cases. For example, I may buy a HTIB and years later want to upgrade the speakers or just the amp. If the speaker ports are all proprietary, I cannot do that.  

With this system, you get an amp/receiver that will connect to anything and everything you need. It also uses traditional speaker wire. 

The sound quality is pretty good. It may not produce the same fidelity for stereo music that you would get from a nice 2-channel (or 2.1 system), but it does sound great for the price (around $700).

Something to note is that the amp when sold by itself is close to $600. So if you have any desire for 5.1 surround sound, I think that the HTIB provides a great value. 

7) Soul Asylum, Grave Dancers Union (30th anniversary)

A great Minneapolis rock album, Soul Asylum’s Grave Dancers Union is a fantastic album. It includes “Runaway Train”, which won the Grammy for Best Rock Song in 1994. It’s a great album, and a ‘must’ for alternative rock fans. 

Furthermore, this is a fantastic remastering! As someone who has been listening to this for most of my life (“Runaway Train” was the first song I knew all the words to) these songs have never felt so alive and textured. The soundstage has a great deal more depth compared to other versions I’ve heard, and the separation between the instruments allows every element to have individual clarity and vibrance. 

There are only 5,000 copies of this pressed to black-and-gold marbled vinyl (very clever). With how highly regarded this album is, it’s sure to be a valued collectors item for some. I myself bought two copies so I could listen to one and preserve the other. 

That’s all I have for you. I hope that this gift guide helps you find something special for that someone special in your life that either makes music, or loves music.

Photo Credit: Mercury Studios

The Rolling Stones have announced the release of a ‘definitive’ live album featuring John Mayer, The Black Keys, Bruce Springsteen, and more.

The Rolling Stones have announced the release of their “definitive” live hits album, GRRR Live!, spanning the band’s 60-year career, remixed and re-edited. Released on February 10 from Mercury Studios, the album features guests including John Mayer, The Black Keys, Bruce Springsteen, and Lady Gaga. 

Now available for pre-order, the album features hits like “It’s Only Rock ‘n’ Roll (But I Like It),” “Honky Tonk Women,” “Start Me Up,” “Gimme Shelter,” “Sympathy For the Devil,” and “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction.” The album will be available in several formats: 3LP black, 3LP colored white (indies exclusive), 3LP red (D2C exclusive), 2CD, DVD + 2CD, and BluRay + 2CD. The BluRay and digital versions will include Dolby Atmos.

The Rolling Stones embarked on their 50 & Counting Tour in 2012 and 2013 to celebrate their golden anniversary. The tour was a 30-show itinerary across North America and Europe. 

On December 15, 2012, the band took the stage at Newark, New Jersey’s Prudential Center, for the final four shows in the greater New York area. The concert proved to be one of the most memorable in the band’s history, with guest appearances by The Black Keys (“Who Do You Love?”), Gary Clark Jr. and John Mayer (“Going Down”), Lady Gaga (“Gimme Shelter”), Mick Taylor (“Midnight Rambler”), and hometown hero Bruce Springsteen (“Tumbling Dice”).

The Newark show has not been available to fans since its original pay-per-view airing in 2012 until this release. The concert has been re-edited, and the audio has been remixed. Three songs from the December 13 show, which also took place in Newark, will be available as bonus features on the DVD and BluRay: “Respectable” (with John Mayer), “Around and Around,” and “Gimme Shelter.”

GRR Live! Track Listing:

CD1

1. Get Off Of My Cloud
2. The Last Time
3. It’s Only Rock ‘n’ Roll (But I Like It)
4. Paint It Black
5. Gimme Shelter (with Lady Gaga)
6. Wild Horses
7. Going Down (with John Mayer and Gary Clark Jr.)
8. Dead Flowers
9. Who Do You Love? (with The Black Keys)
10. Doom and Gloom
11. One More Shot
12. Miss You
13. Honky Tonk Women
14. Band Introductions

CD2

1. Before They Make Me Run
2. Happy
3. Midnight Rambler (with Mick Taylor)
4. Start Me Up
5. Tumbling Dice (with Bruce Springsteen)
6. Brown Sugar
7. Sympathy For the Devil
8. You Can’t Always Get What You Want
9. Jumpin’ Jack Flash
10. (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction

ABKCO Records is set to release The Rolling Stones in Mono vinyl box set in early 2023. Here’s a peek at the collection–which retails for $450.

Originally issued on black vinyl, CD, and digital in 2016 the updated version contains the entirety of the Rolling Stones’ 1960s recorded output, now presented in 14 vinyl colors chosen to match the original cover art of each classic album. That’s 186 tracks spread across 16 180-gram LPs.

Spanning the era between 1963 and 1969, The Rolling Stones in Mono covers the formative years of the legendary London-based quintet. packaged as 15 separate albums, the collection contains key releases from the band’s U.S. and U.K. discographies, organized to include every track from the era while minimizing catalog redundancies. 

Stray Cats, a 2-LP compilation exclusive within the vinyl box set, ties up all the loose ends, incorporating every 1960s Rolling Stones track that isn’t found on the other 14 albums–for a total of 24 tracks. 

“The Rolling Stones in Mono is the full studio account of that first decade of history and mayhem, newly remastered with unprecedented fidelity and revelatory detail,” says Rolling Stone Senior Editor David Fricke, whose 5,000 word essay accompanies the set.

His commentaries are included with the box set as part of a 4-color deluxe 48-page lie-flat book that features numerous rare photos by renowned photographer Terry O’Neill. The 16 LPs are housed in the original full-color album jackets that fit along with the book into a one-piece specially crafted box.

The Rolling Stones in Mono 16-LP Vinyl Box Set

1. The Rolling Stones (UK, 1964) – Cobalt Blue vinyl
2. 12 X 5 (1964) – Yellow vinyl
3. The Rolling Stones No. 2 (UK, 1965) – Steel Blue vinyl
4. The Rolling Stones Now! (1965) – Gold vinyl
5. Out of Our Heads (US, 1965) – Sky Blue vinyl
6. Out of Our Heads (UK, 1965) – Green vinyl
7. December’s Children (And Everybody’s) (1965) – Silver vinyl
8. Aftermath (UK, 1966) – Purple vinyl
9. Aftermath (US, 1966) – Grey vinyl
10. Between the Buttons (UK, 1967) – Azure Blue vinyl
11. Flowers (1967) – Pink vinyl
12. Their Satanic Majesties Request (1967) – White vinyl
13. Beggars Banquet (1968) – Maroon vinyl
14. Let It Bleed (1969) – Red vinyl
15. Stray Cats 2-LP Collection of Single A&B Sides – White vinyl

Photo Credit: Bandcamp

Will bioplastic vinyl albums become the future? R.E.M.’s Michael Stipe releases the first commercially available alternative this year.

Traditional vinyl records are pressed on polyvinyl chloride (PVC) which is considered one of the most environmentally damaging plastics. It’s a highly versatile and relatively inexpensive material, but the process to create the material uses chlorine. The music industry is seeking alternatives to vinyl for a more sustainable future and bioplastic vinyl may be the answer.

Michael Stipe’s new bioplastic 12″ was part of Bandcamp Friday promotion, limited to 500 copies. The record features two tracks, including “Future if Future” and Beatie Wolfe’s “Oh My Heart” on the flip side. The release was made possible by Evolution Music.

“I’m thrilled to be working with EarthPercent and Evolution Music on this release, imagining positive innovation through action,” says Michael Stipe about the initiative. “Simply showing that this type of solution-based project is possible opens pathways to a brighter future.”

Evolution Music says the bioplastic vinyl is made from a combination of “sugars and starches.” They previously partnered with UK-based environmental group Music Declares Emergency to debut new bioplastic vinyls in that country. That special edition release was only available to people who donated to the crowdfunding campaign, while Stipe’s record was commercially available on Bandcamp Friday.

Curious to know more about Evolution Music and the bioplastic vinyl records they’re creating? NPR’s Rachel Martin spoke with the company to discuss how the company is seeking to change the impact of vinyl now that it’s experiencing a resurgence in popularity. “I want sustainable products in a 21st century environment,” Marc Carey, CEO of Evolution Music says. “So I had to form a new company and do it myself.”

The big question here is how much does bioplastic sound like the vinyl made from PVC? Evolution Music says the sound quality is extremely high. “We believe the quality is extremely high, just about as high as vinyl. Maybe 95%,” Producer Rob Cass told CBS News about the new technology.

Blood Records Founder Craig Evans says he couldn’t believe the sound quality from the bioplastic vinyl. “The first time I heard one of those test pressings, I couldn’t believe what I was listening to was basically made of bioplastic and plant waste.”

Vinyl sales in the United States alone topped $1 billion in 2021. That’s the first time they’ve achieved that number since the 1980s before CDs made vinyl old-fashioned. Evolution Music says once it has its bioplastic production is in full swing, these albums will cost much the same as current PVC vinyl records.

Photo Credit: James Sutton

Audiophile record label Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab (MFSL) is officially facing a class-action lawsuit for allegedly making misleading statements about its mastering process.

One Adam Stiles, a North Carolina resident who says that he’s “purchased various records from MoFi over the years,” just recently submitted the straightforward complaint to an Illinois federal court. MFSL is said to have long claimed that records labeled “Original Master Recording” on its website (and their packaging) had been created “directly from the master recording or original analog tapes— without any sort of digital mastering process,” per the complaint.

However, the plaintiff maintains that the company has since 2011 been utilizing “direct stream digital” (DSD) within its production chain – referring to the practice of copying original analog tapes to digital recordings and then using the latter to press records – for “Original Master Recording” releases.

By 2011’s conclusion, 60 percent of the business’s “vinyl releases incorporated DSD, and MoFi’s last non-DSD recording was in 2020,” the action indicates. And during the over decade-long stretch between the alleged switch to DSD and the lawsuit’s submission, Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab is said to have “falsely” represented on its website, in interviews, in communications with customers, and on the aforementioned packaging that the vinyl in question had been pressed directly from the analog masters.

(Needless to say, more than a few audiophiles were evidently unable to pinpoint the use of DSD based upon the records’ sound quality, and particularly given vinyl’s ongoing sales boost, most all of the format’s releases are sourced from digital today.)

The company’s allegedly misleading and “fraudulent” use of digital in pressing “Original Master Recording” records – for which the plaintiff says he and others paid a premium – entered the media spotlight earlier in 2022.

Rumors and customer criticism pertaining to the subject then prompted multiple MFSL engineers to acknowledge their company’s use of DSD during a July interview (cited in the lawsuit); one of the professionals at the sit down’s start semi-jokingly asked, “Is this under oath?”

With the discussion having failed to stem the tide of customer pushback, MFSL president Jim Davis issued a public statement apologizing “for using vague language, allowing false narratives to propagate, and for taking for granted the goodwill and trust our customers place in the Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab brand.”

Judging by social media users’ responses as well as the described lawsuit, this apology likewise failed to end the controversy, and Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab has since added to its website a nearly 1,400-word-long interview with Davis on the matter.

The defendant company is also alleged to have updated diagrams “to reflect the use of DSD in the production chain” following the public outcry, and the plaintiff estimates that there are a total of about 5,000 members in the proposed class. Said class’s cumulative damages claims exceed $5 million, according to the suit.

In other vinyl news, August’s first three or so weeks have delivered a roughly $4.2 million raise for elasticStage, which bills itself as “the world’s first on-demand vinyl manufacturer.” Meanwhile, Rebeat Innovation paused its HD vinyl initiative after a series of disappointing sound-quality tests.

Austrian music company founder Guenter Loibl has been forced to suspend his ambitious ‘HD Vinyl’ research initiative due to disappointing audio fidelity tests, according to the company and filings with the Austrian government.

The HD Vinyl project was first hatched as a separately-funded R&D initiative within Rebeat Innovation GmBH in 2018, with Rebeat founder and CEO Guenter Loibl personally investing the most substantial tranche of funds into the project.

Rebeat, which started as a physical recording distributor in the early 2000s, has since expanded into a diversified portfolio of music technology services and companies. That includes a suite of digital distribution services, royalty accounting solutions, a company focused on verifying data from streaming platforms, and development initiatives like HD Vinyl. The company remains a stronghold in the Eastern European music industry, with substantial expansions into broader Europe, the United States, and portions of Asia.

The vision of HD Vinyl was to dramatically improve the audio quality of conventional vinyl records by using a sophisticated laser-etching process. Initially, the more granular and fine-tuned grooves promised to deliver extremely high-fidelity audio without sacrificing the warmth and cool-factor of vinyl LPs. Even existing turntables would be compatible with HD Vinyl releases. But despite the theoretical possibilities, Loibl explained that current digital laser technology proved incapable of delivering the precision and dynamic range that listeners would demand.

“A lacquer has a dynamic range of up to 90db,” Loibl told Digital Music News. “The most that playback systems on turntables can reproduce is around 60-65db. We achieved 50-55db, which simply isn’t enough for a high-quality audio product.”

By Austrian law, Rebeat has been forced to file its HD Vinyl initiative into administration given the number of investors and outstanding Austrian government-supplied loans for the project. Loibl explained that proper payback of Austrian government-funding would be impossible within the six month timeframe given the testing concerns and resulting time-to-market delays.

Loibl also noted that a pivot is now underway while HD Vinyl is on pause, with the underlying technology and approach being thoroughly reexamined. “HD Vinyl is definitely not dead,” Loibl assured, though he noted that the existing approach proved insufficient to achieve the ambitious audio-fidelity goals envisioned.

So what went wrong? According to Loibl, HD Vinyl stumbled upon a surprising discovery: analog cutting technologies are tough to beat, even with the most sophisticated, modern-day technologies.

“Neumann was a genius back in the day when he built his cutting lathe,” Loibl elaborated. “This 60-plus year old machine produces unmatched precision when cutting lacquers.”

“Just one example: a well-calibrated and well-maintained cutting lathe can cut modulations smaller than 1 nanometer. You cannot see that modulation in a microscope anymore, but you can still hear it. Just for comparison, the most sophisticated microchip production process currently delivers 4-nanometer precision, which is 5-10 times less precise than a cutting lathe.”

The sobering discovery unfortunately took a while to realize. “Using all the magic possible, we could only achieve a precision of 50-60 nanometers — and this is only in the best case scenario,” Loibl noted. “That means that a digitally-controlled laser system cannot overtake an analog cutting lathe when it comes to sound quality. I guess some vinyl aficionados already knew that regarding sound quality — but the tools to achieve such a precision digitally will not be available for the next 15-20 years. So we will need a different technical approach for HD Vinyl.”

Loibl indicated that planning is already underway for a technological reboot involving a more analog approach. ”Later this year, we’ll do some testing with an analog-controlled laser,” Loibl said. “If these tests are successful, we will restart the HD Vinyl project.”

Meanwhile, vinyl record sales remain robust and growing in many parts of the world.

According to data from Luminate, vinyl record sales topped 19.4 million units during the first half of 2022 in the United States alone, up slightly from the same period in 2021. That volume is still small compared to streaming revenues, though it’s enough to support a revived micro-economy within the music industry.

Alongside his efforts developing HD Vinyl, Loibl is also president and one of the founders of the Vinyl Alliance, a trade group that has materialized around the resurgent vinyl record industry with members like Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment, Warner Music Group, Ortofon, Pro-Ject, Audio-Technica, GZ Vinyl, Record Store Day, VinylMePlease, Gotta Groove Records, and others.

“Sometimes failure is necessary, because it teaches us what doesn’t work,” Loibl mused. “But with the huge amount of knowledge we’ve gained about vinyl production, we have a shortcut on future development.”

Photo Credit: Karl Hörnfeldt

London-headquartered startup elasticStage, which bills itself as “the world’s first on-demand vinyl manufacturer,” has announced the close of a £3.5 million (currently $4.23 million) seed round.

Higher-ups unveiled their business’s multimillion-dollar raise via a formal release this morning. With a targeted launch date in Q4 2022, elasticStage says that it’s received investments from the likes of producer Paul Epworth, Lewis Capaldi manager Ryan Walter, and TaP Music founder Ed Millett, to name some.

Execs intend to put the capital towards forging professional relationships with labels and DSPs, besides continuing to develop their company’s “patent-pending technology.” On the latter front, the most interesting component of elasticStage’s business model (independent of creating and fulfilling orders for vinyl amid a major production slowdown) is the promised “shift away from outdated and archaic processes currently in use” for the creation of records.

“Put simply, elasticStage does not press vinyl, but rather, each manufactured record is a first-generation recording,” the soon-to-debut manufacturer relayed. “By eliminating the old-fashioned way of pressing vinyl and offset printing, the new method equates to a much more sustainable and ethical way of creating records – as heat and energy from pressing is removed.”

Additionally, elasticStage indicated that its elimination of “the old-fashioned way of pressing vinyl” will dramatically accelerate the production process, which, amid continued demand for records, has long been defined by delays and high costs.

“With an on-demand D2C solution, fully packaged vinyl products can be dispatched immediately from the point of creation and in large volumes,” elasticStage drove home. “This offers the music industry incredibly short lead times, with a minimum order of just one, enabling commercial demand to be met instantaneously.

“Artists can essentially sell vinyl on the same day when making a release available on the elasticStage web-platform, which can not only boost revenues, but potentially bolster crucial chart positions based on physical sales,” the startup communicated, maintaining also that “all this is achieved without compromising the quality of the sound.”

Addressing his company’s seed round in a statement, elasticStage co-founder and CEO Steve Rhodes said in part: “We have built a revolutionary way to manufacture vinyl that will soon replace the current outdated, traditional method that uses harmful chemicals and a lot of energy, along with long lead times and unnecessary warehousing.

“We are already in talks with a major DSP for integrating our tech and we can’t wait to help the industry in meeting commercial demand for vinyl at speed,” concluded the BaanTu “relationship wizard” founder Rhodes.

While the precise cost, production capacity, and logistical specifics of elasticStage’s operation remain to be seen, an expeditious vinyl manufacturing option would undoubtedly prove beneficial for artists as well as fans.

To be sure, vinyl’s production woes began well before lockdown measures disrupted the economy and the supply chain. The associated delays have continued into 2022, compelling several new vinyl pressing facilities to open, bringing well-known artists to call for action from the major labels, and prompting some acts to meet fan demand for physical releases with different formats.

Vinyl sales are continuing to increase in the U.S. (albeit at a comparatively slow rate following a massive jump in 2021), Germany, and other nations, according to H1 2022 reports, and even comedians are looking to cash in on the years-running trend.

Photo Credit: Bo Burnham

Bo Burnham opens pre-orders for Inside deluxe vinyl box set.

More than a year after the release of his critically hailed comedy special, Inside, Bo Burnham announces a deluxe (signed or unsigned) vinyl box set including the outtakes previously only released for free via YouTube.

The three red, blue, and green vinyl records come in sleek jackets with translucent outer sleeves in the same color scheme for a total of 46 tracks: the 20 original tracks plus 13 outtakes and 13 songs. Pre-orders are available now on Burnham’s website for $89.99, with orders shipping on December 16.

Additionally, the deluxe box set contains a 24-page lyric book, three window clings, and a 12×12 art card. Burnham includes a helpful unboxing video in his tweet announcing the collection, which helps showcase the artwork on the sleeves not done justice by photos.

“We spent a lot of time designing these, and I am very, very happy with how they turned out,” tweets Burnham, who has been shown an incredible amount of love from fans since Inside‘s release.

Burnham’s official return to comedy since 2016’s Make Happy, Inside was a hit in 2021 as a musical comedy in the artist’s typical style with some notable differences. The special neatly captures the feeling of isolation brought on by the pandemic with a side of social commentary and a helping of discussion on the struggles of mental illness.

The special was written, performed, filmed, and edited by Burnham alone and featured a mixture of his usual comedy bits and songs with creative visuals. Inside won numerous awards, including a Peabody Award, three Emmys, and one Grammy for the track “All Eyes On Me.”

Photo Credit: Victrola

Global and domestic streams continued to grow by double digits during 2022’s opening half, and catalog releases accounted for about 72.4 percent of stateside music consumption, according to a new report. Meanwhile, previously red-hot vinyl sales are showing signs of cooling down.

Luminate revealed these and other stats in its newly published “Midyear Music Report.” As the title suggests, the analysis centers on music consumption trends during the initial six months of 2022, when global on-demand song streams cracked 1.6 trillion (up 24.7 percent from H1 2021) and on-demand video song streams came in at 901.5 billion (up 28.1 percent YoY), according to the breakdown.

These worldwide boosts translated to smaller (but still substantial) increases in the U.S., per the resource, including 620.2 billion on-demand streams for audio as well as video (up 11.6 percent YoY). The figure specifically reflects 543.2 billion audio streams (up 12.4 percent from Q1 and Q2 2021), with the remaining 77 billion or so streams (a 6.3 percent YoY boost) having come from video.

Predictably, digital album sales (down 19.6 percent YoY) and digital single sales (down 21.4 percent YoY) continued to decline in the U.S. during 2022’s first half, the document shows.

And as initially mentioned, the much-discussed rise of “catalog” music consumption – or tracks that, among other things, released at least 18 months ago – continued during H1 2022, hiking to 72.4 percent (up from 69.4 percent) in the U.S., including 14 percent growth for “catalog total album consumption” (344.1 million), the newly released report states.

More immediately, the development drove a 2.6 percent YoY consumption falloff for non-catalog titles on streaming services and a 10.4 percent dip for non-catalog in video streams.

Besides the gains in streams and catalog’s listenership share, perhaps the most interesting takeaway from the report is a slowdown in vinyl sales and a material slip for CDs. 

Notwithstanding some prior signs of a resurgence, CD sales fell to 16.9 million units (down 10.7 percent YoY) – BTS nevertheless managed to move a quarter of a million copies of the CD-only Proof in a single week last month – whereas vinyl sales improved by one percent YoY, to 19.4 million units, according to Luminate.

Interestingly, in terms of the surging format’s relative sales standstill, non-catalog vinyl sales grew by 27.4 percent YoY during H1 2022 – just enough to offset an 8.4 percent decline in the catalog category, the analysis shows.

The report likewise indicates that Gen X and millennials accounted for 62 percent of male vinyl customers in the U.S. between January’s start and June’s end, compared to 34 percent of female vinyl customers for Gen Z, a large portion of which is reportedly unfamiliar with extremely well-known 20th century bands.

Photo Credit: Erik Mclean

Manufacturers are struggling to keep pace with vinyl record demand forty years after CDs nearly killed off the record format. 

Major record labels sold or dismantled their vinyl pressing machines en masse with the dawn of the compact disc era. Forty years later, dozens of record-pressing factories have been built to keep pace with the $1 billion demand for vinyl albums, which still isn’t enough.

The demand for vinyl records has been growing exponentially for over a decade. Mass merchandisers like Target carried bolstered selections of albums just in time to be met with the unexpected boom provided by the pandemic. While tours were cancelled, with people stuck at home, music enthusiasts started snapping up record albums faster than manufacturers could produce them.

Vinyl record sales revenue grew an incredible 61% in 2021, reaching $1 billion for the first time since the 1980s. Its growth far outpaces that of paid music subscriptions and streaming services such as Spotify and Pandora, the Recording Industry Association of America told The Associated Press.

The decline in interest in vinyl records started with the popularity of cassettes during the 80s. With the emergence of the compact disc, that decline worsened. It’s only been within the last 15 years that vinyl’s popularity surged, and because the major labels shut down their plants long ago, new ones have had to take their place. Among them is Precision Record Pressing in Toronto, Memphis Record Pressing, Gotta Groove Records in Cleveland, and Kansas’ Quality Record Pressing.

Third Man Pressing, the vinyl pressing plant of White Stripes’ Jack White, opened in his hometown of Detroit in 2017. White pleaded with major record labels to reopen their manufacturing facilities to meet the increasing demand, but the majority of the 40-or-so plants in the US remain smaller operations.

It’s challenging to open a new pressing plant because only a handful of companies exist that make record-pressing machines, and none of them are in the US. Additionally, supply chain disruptions of raw materials such as vinyl polymers have led to a backlog for existing manufacturers, who are already swamped with orders.

No one can accurately predict the ceiling for record growth due to the constrained supply, says Chris Brown, vice president for finance at Bull Moose Records, a New England record store chain. New releases often fail to meet demand, while reorders can take even longer, leaving little room for lesser-known “eclectic” albums.

“Part of the fun of collecting records is being surprised,” he says, “but midlevel stuff doesn’t get printed, or there’s a long wait.”

Mark Michaels is the CEO and chairman of United Record Pressing in Nashville, Tennessee, the largest vinyl record manufacturer in the country. He says the industry “has found a new gear, and is accelerating at a new pace.”

United Record Pressing launched in 1949 and never stopped manufacturing records. The company is currently in the process of a $15 million expansion to triple its capacity in the middle of next year.

Michaels says that he can’t help but wonder how long the double-digit growth will last, but that he’s optimistic for the future. He says that seeing high schoolers and young adults showing an interest in records is heartwarming and good for business. “I believe in music and I believe in the importance of music in people’s lives,” he concludes. “I don’t think that changes.”

Photo Credit: Samuel Regan-Asante

Alliance Entertainment is going public via a special acquisition (SPAC) merger. Here’s what we know.

Alliance Entertainment Holding Corp. has announced a deal with Adara Acquisition Corp. Upon closing, the combined entity will be listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbols ‘AENT’ and ‘AENT.WS.’ Bruce Ogilvie and Jeff Walker will continue to lead the company as Chairman and CEO, respectively.

Alliance stocks over 485,000 unique entertainment products from Microsoft, Nintendo, Activision, Electronic Arts, Sega, Funko, Disney, Warner Home Video, Universal Video, Sony Pictures, Fox, Lionsgate, Paramount, Warner Music, Sony Music, Universal Music, Mattel, Lego, Hasbro, Arcade1Up, and over 500 additional entertainment product manufacturers.

Through the exclusive distribution divisions of AMPED, Distribution Solutions, and Cokem, Alliance is the exclusive distributor of over 57,300 unique vinyl, CD, DVD, and video game products to retailers worldwide.

eCommerce fulfillment is a cornerstone of Alliance’s success and a significant growing division, with over 38% of the company’s $1.4 billion in sales being delivered directly to consumer homes. In 2021 over 13,485,000 products were delivered as a drop shipper for Amazon, Walmart, Best Buy, Wayfair, GameStop, Kohls, Target, and hundreds of additional eCommerce customers.

The DTU division of Alliance also has its own websites and retail brands, such as Deepdiscount.com, Popmarket.com, Importcds.com, Critic’s Choice Video, Collectors Choice Music, and Movies Unlimited. In addition, the company has worldwide accounts on eBay, Amazon Marketplace, Discogs, and many more online retailers.

As a public company, Alliance Entertainment will enhance its ability to pursue future acquisitions while also investing in further automation of its distribution facilities and upgrading its proprietary suite of software.

“Alliance Entertainment with limited capital has grown into a leading distributor and wholesaler of entertainment products,” adds Bruce Ogilvie, Chairman of Alliance Entertainment. “We are an essential partner to the best-known entertainment brands and largest retailers. As a public company, we will be well positioned to pursue future strategic combinations that further diversify our products offerings, and to invest further in our operations and proprietary technology.”

The business combination implies a proforma equity value of the combined company of approximately $480 million. Upon completion of the transaction, and assuming no redemptions by public shareholders of Adara, the current owners of Alliance Entertainment will hold 78% of the combined company and current Adara shareholders will hold 22% of the combined company.

Alliance Entertainment will receive proceeds of $115 million of cash held in trust. The deal is expected to close in Q4 2022 and has been unanimously approved by Alliance Entertainment and Adara’s board of directors.

Photo Credit: Joyce G

A new vinyl pressing plant will begin operations in Southern California in 2023 to meet high demand.

Fidelity Record Pressing says it aims to be the country’s “premier vinyl production facility.” The plant’s co-owners Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab and Music Direct’s Jim Davis partnered with vinyl engineers Rick and Edward Hashimoto, a father and son team with 60 years of experience in pressing vinyl.

Vinyl production has continued to face delays as plants are faced with massive backlogs. In March 2022, Jack White called on major labels like UMG, Sony Music, and Warner Music to help alleviate the manufacturing woes experienced by vinyl pressing plants amid record demand.

“It’s 2022 now and it’s no longer a fad. Vinyl records have exploded in the last decade, and their demand is incredibly high. A small punk bank can’t get their record for 8 to 10 months. And now I ask the major labels – Warner, Universal, and Sony – to finally build your own pressing plants again,” White said in a YouTube video.

Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab is a California-based label specializing in the production of reissued vinyl LPs and other physical formats. It is owned by Music Direct, who is the world’s largest online retailer of high-end audio accessories. Fidelity will become the future production home of all Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab vinyl releases.

“The biggest opportunity is the increased capacity for our related record label, Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab,” Jim David told Billboard about the announcement. “It’s been frustrating watching demand far outpace our ability to deliver records to our customers. The expanded capacity will enable us to issue records that aren’t just the standard classic rock and jazz for which we are known.

According to Davis, a good starting goal for Fidelity is to press two million LPs annually. He hopes the factory will eventually be able to increase its production up to 12 million LPs per year, based on the facility’s size. Davis says the biggest challenge has been coordinating the acquisition of record presses and the required infrastructure to run them.

“Conversations about opening a new record pressing facility started mid-2020 when it became apparent that demand for vinyl was far exceeding capacity,” Davis continues. “My partners and I viewed this not just as an opportunity to capitalize on a growing music sector, but also to advance the quality standard for vinyl.”

T Bone Burnett, who developed the Ionic Original format that Bob Dylan used for his rerecording of “Blowin’ in the Wind.” Photo Credit: Kulturvultur

One month ago, T Bone Burnett unveiled an analog audio format, the Ionic Original, that he’d tested with Bob Dylan. Now, Dylan has rerecorded “Blowin’ in the Wind” on this new format, and the “one-of-one” disc is being auctioned off.  

The quick-approaching sale of the “Blowin’ in the Wind” rendition – which marks the first time that Dylan has rerecorded the 1963 song in studio and commemorates his 60th anniversary as an artist – came to light in a formal announcement message today. (Prior to the 1963 release of “Blowin’ in the Wind,” Dylan wrote, recorded, and performed the song live in 1962, meaning that 2022 also represents the 60th anniversary of its actual debut.)

Regarding the aforementioned Ionic Original, though, the format features “lacquer painted onto an aluminum disc, with a spiral etched into it by music,” a release from T Bone Burnett and his NeoFidelity, Inc. company indicated in late April.

“An Ionic Original is the pinnacle of recorded sound,” the same document relayed. “It is archival quality. It is future-proof and it is one of one.” Notwithstanding the “archival quality” at hand, Ionic Original discs are “playable on existing and commonly available vinyl playback equipment.”

Bearing in mind the format’s basics and the confidence of its developer, the newest studio recording of “Blowin’ in the Wind” is set to become available to bidders in a Christie’s auction on Thursday, July 7th.

Said auction will specifically take place during “The Exceptional Sale” component of the Christie’s “Classic Week London” event, and the involved parties expect the winning bidder to shell out between £600,000 (currently $753,345) and £1,000,000 ($1.26 million) for the disc.

But before a Bob Dylan diehard takes home the “unique lot,” prospective buyers will have the chance to schedule appointments for “exclusive in-person listening experiences” in Los Angeles (Wednesday, June 8th) and New York (June 15th), besides accessing a “public pre-sale exhibition” in London (Saturday, July 2nd, through Thursday the 7th).

Addressing the auction (and the Ionic Original format) in a statement, 74-year-old T Bone Burnett communicated: “Sixty years after Bob first wrote and recorded ‘Blowin’ In The Wind’, he is giving us a new recording of his song; one that is both deeply relevant for our times and resonant with decades of the artist’s life and experience.

“We’re grateful to Christie’s for their belief in the ‘Ionic Original’ and for presenting Bob’s masterful recording to the world in a unique and meaningful way,” concluded the 13-time Grammy winner Burnett.

Despite benefitting from a multimillion-dollar windfall after selling his song rights to Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony Music, and, most recently, Primary Wave, Bob Dylan is remaining decidedly active – including by touring and rolling out non-fungible tokens (NFTs).

More broadly, time will tell whether T Bone Burnett’s Ionic Originals catch on with collectors, audiophiles, and/or the public. Overarching physical-music sales have been strong as of late, however, and vinyl’s well-documented comeback appears to have spilled over to CDs and even cassettes.

Photo Credit: Ianthebush / CC by 2.0

Harry Styles has broken a modern-era vinyl sales record after just three days with his latest album, Harry’s House.

The vinyl edition of the album released on May 20 and Billboard reports it has sold over 146,000 copies in the United States through May 22. That beats the previous single-week sales set by Taylor Swift’s Red (Taylor’s Version), which sold 114,000 in a week in November 2021.

Harry’s House only needed three days to break that record and first-week vinyl sales are expected to grow. The week ends on May 26 and the album’s first-week sales numbers will be available around May 29. If Harry’s House debuts on the Billboard 200 at #1, it will be his third straight #1 debut on the charts.

Harry’s House release included a number of vinyl variants for fans to buy. There’s a standard black vinyl pressing, a Target-exclusive yellow-colored vinyl and a sea green glass-colored edition available exclusively on Harry Styles’ website. Since taking off in his solo career, Styles’ albums have always been strong sellers even on physical formats.

Styles’ 2019 album Fine Line has sold 586,000 vinyl copies to date in the US. His self-titled 2017 debut album sold 263,000 copies on vinyl. Vinyl became the best-selling physical music format in 2021, outpacing CD albums sold that year. One out of every three albums sold in the US was sold as a vinyl copy. Vinyl continues to grow as a format in the United States as more and more people are embracing the warmth that comes with listening to physical music rather than music streaming.

The COVID pandemic helped cause a surge of interest in vinyl, both for listening and production. More independent musicians are looking to get vinyl pressed, bu a shortage of PVC plastic has bottlenecked production factories across the United States and Europe. The Apollo Masters fire in early 2020 has also put strain on the vinyl production network. The only other plant in the world capable of producing master plates is Japan’s MDC, which has been overwhelmed with orders since 2020.

Photo Credit: Paul Robinson / CC by 2.0

A Nottingham music shop could disappear without a new owner. Windblowers on Derby Road has been open for nearly 40 years.

Opened by David Oldershaw and Margaret Frogson, Windblowers has sold sheet music and instruments since 1983. The pair plan to retire and are looking for a new owner for the business, saying it was “time to hand over the baton.” Without a new owner, the shop will close at the end of the year.

Oldershaw was working as an engineer in the late 1970s when he had the idea of setting up a music shop. Frogson said they soon needed to hire additional staff when the shop opened, as the business “grew tremendously.”

“It’s our baby and it’s been our livelihood,” said Oldershaw. “It’s taken us all over the world – we’ve been to virtually every European country with one orchestra or another, playing or supporting.”

“The family don’t want to take it on and we’re just getting too old,” added Frogson. “We just feel really sad that it will be the end of an era.”

Windblowers has had many well-known customers in the music industry, including Nottingham’s Kanneh-Mason family. Cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason won the BBC Young Musician Award in 2016, the first Black musician to do so since the competition’s inception in 1978.

Winning the SME Midlands Enterprise Award for Best Independent Music Retailer in 2019, Windblowers has long been at the heart of the music community in England. The shop is a proud supporter of the Nottingham Music Hub and is a registered participant of the Art Council’s Take It Away initiative. 

The Nottingham Music Hub supports the city’s young people in developing their musical skills and participating in performances. Take It Away is a program that “allows individuals between the ages of 18 and 25 to apply for a loan of up to £2,000 for the purchase of any kind of musical instrument, and pay it back in nine monthly installments, completely interest free.” 

Windblowers offers an assisted instrument purchase scheme in addition to the Take It Away program and instrument repairs. The shop is open Tuesday-Saturday, and instrument testing is available by appointment.

Photo Credit: Wim van Rossem / Anefo / CC by 1.0

Acoustic Sounds, Verve/UMe’s analog-only vinyl reissue series, announces their scheduled releases for 2022. In its third year, the series will focus on some of the label’s best-known jazz albums released between 1956 and 1966.

January saw the reissue of two albums by John Coltrane, Live at the Village Vanguard (1962) and Crescent (1964). His joint LP with Duke Ellington, Duke Ellington & John Coltrane, and Coltrane’s album with singer Johnny Hartman, John Coltrane & Johnny Hartman (1963), followed on April 29.

May 13 will bring the release of Duke Ellington and saxophonist Coleman Hawkins’ collaboration, aptly named Duke Ellington Meets Coleman Hawkins (1963). June 17 will see Bill Evans’ classic Trio 65 (1965) reissue, with Bill Evans at Town Hall, Volume 1 (1966) to follow on September 9. 

Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong’s timeless duets album, Ella & Louis (1956), will release on July 15, and Ella & Louis Again (1957) will follow on September 16. Oscar Peterson’s We Get Requests (1964), featuring his versions of the era’s biggest songs, will drop on August 19.

Roy Haynes’ Out of the Afternoon (1962) will be out on October 14, with Pharoah Sanders’ Karma (1969) to follow on November 11. The 2022 series will finish on December 2 with Oscar Peterson’s Night Train (1963) to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the December 1962 recording of his featured “Hymn to Freedom.”

Like all Acoustic Sounds releases, the albums will be stereo remastered from the original analog tapes by Sterling Sound’s Ryan K. Smith. Pressed on 180-gram vinyl, all LPs will be packaged in high-quality jackets replicating the original packaging of each release. Launched by Acoustic Sounds CEO Chad Kassem, Quality Record Pressings will oversee production.

“After reissuing more than 1,000 releases, we’ve built a reputation for producing only the highest quality LPs,” said Kassem. “We’re proud that Verve selected us for their Acoustic Sounds series and to create these definitive Impulse! and Verve records. We started with the very best all-analog audio sources; worked with the top mastering engineers; best jacket manufacturer and used one of the world’s best pressing plants, Quality Record Pressings, resulting in the best pressings of these albums that you’ve ever heard. If you love Verve and Impulse! as well as the seminal artists and albums these labels produced, you’re going to want to add these records to your collection.”

2022 Acoustic Sounds Series Releases

• April 29: John Coltrane & Johnny Hartman – John Coltrane & Johnny Hartman (Impulse!, 1963)
• May 13: Duke Ellington & Coleman Hawkins – Duke Ellington Meets Coleman Hawkins (Impulse!, 1963)
• June 17: Bill Evans – Trio 65 (Verve, 1965)
• July 15: Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong – Ella & Loui (Verve, 1956)
• August 19: Oscar Peterson – We Get Requests (Verve, 1964)
• September 9: Bill Evans – Bill Evans at Town Hall (Verve, 1966)
• September 16: Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong – Ella & Louis Again (Verve, 1957)
• October 14: Roy Haynes – Out of the Afternoon (Impulse!, 1962)
• November 11: Pharoah Sanders – Karma (Impulse!, 1969)
• December 2: Oscar Peterson – Night Train (Verve, 1963)

Major label and publishing conglomerates Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment, and Warner Music Group, as well as other publishers represented by the NMPA, have tentatively agreed to increase mechanical royalty rates on physical products and downloads in the United States from 9.1 cents to 12 cents per song use. Already, independent music organizations including SGA, SCL and MCNA are reacting to the move — here’s their official statement on the matter as shared with Digital Music News.

The Songwriters Guild of America (SGA), the Society of Composers & Lyricists (SCL), Music Creators North America (MCNA), and their hundreds of thousands of independent songwriter and composer allies around the world are extremely pleased that the specific terms they have championed for the past year before the US Copyright Royalty Board (CRB) to increase the mechanical rate in regard to physical product and downloads have apparently been adopted in principle by the major record labels and music publishing companies as their new joint proposal to the CRB.

The recommendations of songwriters and composers that the CRB apply the Consumer Price Index (CPI) to royalties payable for the distribution of songs on physical products and via downloads were originally set forth in the written submissions of the independent creator groups to the CRB on May 24, 2021 (respectfully asserting right to comment),  July 26, 2021, October 20, 2021 (updating the CRB on new inflation rates), November 22, 2021, and April 9, 2022. Those proposals included raising the US mechanical royalty rate from 9.1 cents to 12 cents based upon changes in the CPI since 2006 (when that rate first went into effect), and subjecting the new rates to annual revisions based upon subsequent government inflation statistics.

It is believed application of these measures will result in hundreds of millions of dollars in additional revenue for music creators and independent music publishers on a going forward basis starting in 2023.

In a joint statement issued by SGA, SCL, and MCNA, our three organizations have stated that “We have jointly expressed our thanks to the CRB for rejecting the unfair ‘frozen’ rate deal as first proposed by the major labels and publishers, and for citing in its ruling our detailed objections as well as those of other individual, independent music creators and publishers including participant George Johnson. We will now independently evaluate the new proposal based on our own past submissions, and likewise comment on any additional outstanding issues of fairness and inclusivity that we believe fall within the purview of the CRB and the US Copyright Office to review and address.”

Among the important recommendations the music creator organizations shortly expect to revisit in their comments are: (1) establishment of a floor below which new Subpart B mechanical royalty rates cannot go; (2) the issue of eliminating contractually frozen royalty rates, locked in pursuant to controlled compositions clauses (some at a level of two cents); (3) the elimination from the CRB rate-setting process of corporate side deals and private Memos of Understandings; (4) the recommending to Congress by the CRB and the US Copyright Office of US Copyright Act reforms that will engender greater music creator inclusion, participation and diversity in CRB rate-setting proceedings; and, (5) the sponsoring of industry round table discussions by US Government agencies to further address these issues.

The creator groups will also be meeting with the US Copyright Office, various members of Congress, and Biden Administration officials in the coming days to further discuss how to help level the music industry playing field for individual music creators, who form the bedrock of the music industry and who are profoundly impacted by these processes.

Photo Credit: Steve Rhodes / CC by 3.0

T Bone Burnett has developed a new analog audio format he’s calling Ionic Originals. Bob Dylan is the first test subject.

Bob Dylan has re-recorded some of his classic songs using the technology, but they’re not available to the public yet. According to the press release, the producer is hoping to “reset the valuation for recorded music.”

The Ionic Originals format features “lacquer painted onto an aluminum disc, with a spiral etched into it by music.” T Bone Burnett’s development is the first major move in analog music reproduction in more than 70 years as vinyl became the standard.

“An Ionic Original is the pinnacle of recorded sound,” the press release asserts. “It is archival quality. It is future-proof and it is one of one. Not only is an Ionic Original the equivalent of a painting, it is a painting. It is lacquer painted onto an aluminum disc, with a spiral etched into it by music. This painting, however, has the additional quality of containing that music, which can be heard by putting a stylus into the spiral and spinning it.”

“When describing the quality that raises analog sound above digital sound, the word ‘warmth’ is often used. Analog sound has more depth, more harmonic complexity, more resonance, and better imaging. Analog has more feel, more character, more touch. Digital sound is frozen. Analog sound is alive.”

T Bone Burnett is also launching a new company called NeoFidelity, Inc. The company will serve as a new platform for the distribution of Ionic Originals.

While the new technology certainly is interesting, there’s no indication for how the end consumer is supposed to play these recordings. There’s also no mention of how much the Ionic Original will cost at retail.

T Bone Burnett has long been an advocate for analog audio. He supported a high-resolution format called Code in 2008 – suitable for DVD players of the time. John Mellencamp’s Life, Death, Love, and Freedom was released in Code in 2008.

Photo Credit: Clem Onojeghuo

Record Store Day is helping reignite the world’s love of vinyl music – and Taylor Swift is leading the charge.

Swift was selected as the global ambassador for Record Store Day this year. The tradition was started in 2008 to celebrate independent record stores and their owners all across the world. Swift took to Instagram on Saturday, detailing her plans for Record Store Day. Swift says she is “honored to be this year’s Global Ambassador and glad we get to celebrate these sacred and important places now more than ever.”

More than 300 new releases went on sale as part of the Record Store Day celebrations on Saturday, April 23.

Taylor Swift released a two-sided 7-inch clear vinyl containing two versions of her song “The Lakes” from her 2020 album, Folklore. Only 10,000 copies of the vinyl were available and shipped to independent record stores across the country. Swift fans quickly began camping out at record stores across the country to snag a copy.

“I already have two people lined up for it,” Chacho Perez, a manager for Southtown Vinyl in San Antonio, said on Saturday. “They’re going to do what? A 27-hour wait for a 45. It’s just one song.” But the limited edition copy of the vinyl was only sent to 1,200 record stores across the country.

“This is turning out to be the biggest Record Store Day ever, as far as releases are concerned,” Jesse Galvan says, owner of Music Connection in San Antonio. “It gets the community together; it could be Taylor. It could be anybody, right?”

Taylor Swift also gave a shout-out to Grimey’s in Nashville, sharing the mural of the singer outside the store. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Swift made a donation to the noted record store in Nashville to help it stay afloat and keep its employees during the mandated shutdowns. Swift’s donation provided direct relief to the record store’s 10 full-time employees and three month’s of healthcare for the group’s insurance plan.

Swift also donated boxes of signed CDs and vinyls during the COVID-19 pandemic to keep interest in record stores high during the pandemic.

Vinyl records, one of several physical formats judged as ‘de minimis’ by the NMPA (photo: Bru-nO)

The National Music Publishers’ Association (NMPA) tried valiantly to serve the labels, its real patrons, in the latest round of mechanical royalty rate proceedings before the Copyright Royalty Board. But, alas, the CRB rejected the NMPA’s pact with the labels to freeze the current rate of $0.091, set in 2006, for another 5 years.

The CRB ruling is a treasure trove of findings that should forever disqualify the NMPA from pretending to protect and enrich songwriters. Could its songwriter gaslighting days be over?

Here are the standout nuggets…

The NMPA argued that, since download and physical record licenses comprise only 15% of the total mechanical licenses, they are not worth the legal fees necessary to fight for an increase, especially since judges in prior hearings accepted low rates.

“It is too low, it is not fair, it is not enough,” NMPA president and CEO David Israelite recently stated, referring the 9.1 cent rate. “We are not minimizing the importance of physical, but let’s say we get a 10% increase, we would spend more on [litigation] to get that rate. So the decision was made to focus on streaming rates where the real fight is and not get into a fight on 9.1 cents.”

The CRB saw it differently. “Royalties from [physical records] are not inconsequential to the rightsholders,” it ruled. The Board also seemed to chastise the NMPA for treating these royalties as “de minimis” and a “throw away negotiating chip to encourage better terms for streaming configurations.”

The NMPA was unconcerned that the nominal rate set 15 years ago is worth less today just by virtue of normal cost of living factors.

The CRB considered it very relevant. The Board computed that the “application of a consumer price index cost of living increase, beginning in 2006, would yield a statutory … royalty rate for 2021 of approximately $0.12 as compared with the $0.09 that prevails, which adjustment … represents a 31.9% increase.”

The NMPA basically asserted that the terms of its “private contract” with the labels that preceded their joint “settlement” to keep the mechanical rate static was nobody’s business.

The CRB begged to differ. “It appears rather to be an attempt to modify the application of the terms of statutory licenses they allegedly are negotiating in the context of a rate-setting proceeding under the Copyright Act.” That’s judicial speak for “something’s rotten in Denmark.”

I’m reminded of a quote given many years by the larger-than-life music publisher, Marty Bandier, in a Billboard Magazine puff-piece about the NMPA when he exclaimed, “There’s no ‘S’ in ‘NMPA,’ but it does a great job of representing songwriters, too.”

The CRB concluded quite the contrary: the NMPA does a lousy job of representing songwriters. So, it’s perfectly appropriate to leave out that ‘S.”

Photo Credit: MSCHF

The Weeknd and MSCHF are debuting a playable saw blade single of “Out of Time” from Dawn FM.

The collaboration is part of MSCHF’s infamous drops – the same company behind Lil Nas X’s Satan Shoes. The Brooklyn-based art collective is regularly involved in releases that push societal boundaries.

The latest release combines the “Out of Time” single with a 12″ saw blade. “The record groves are engraved into a copper band via direct metal mastering, which is then inset in the saw blade body,” the press release says. “The blade itself is a carbide-tipped 12″ combo blade–for both rips and crosscuts–with powder-coated color and graphics.”

There were only 25 of these playable saw blade albums available in a blind auction where bidding started at $1,000. The FAQ notes that the sawblade shouldn’t be used as an actual saw.

“Attempting to use the vinyl blade on a saw could result in serious injury or death,” the site reads. It also notes that the album may not be very useful as an album, either. “A turntable adaptor is included, but official documentation notes that the Vinyl Blade is “significantly heavier than a standard vinyl record” and that the copper grooves used to press the album “may wear your stylus down faster than a normal record.”

At least Lil Nas X’s Satan Shoes collaboration was actually a wearable item. That collaboration kicked up a huge fuss online because the shows featured Satanic symbols and were made with “actual human blood.” Both MSCHF and Lil Nas X faced legal backlash from Nike over the Nike Air Max 97s that were customized in the collaboration.

According to the MSCHF team, those 666 pairs of sneakers contained two fluid ounces of red ink and ‘one drop of human blood in the sole. The blood donors were all taken willingly from the MSCHF team. Originally, the sneakers were priced at $1,018 – a reference to a Bible verse about Satan. Now the Satan Shoes are going for as much as $2,999 on third-party markets like eBay.

Photo Credit: David James Swanson

Amid historic vinyl sales – and historic manufacturing delays – Jack White has called on the major labels to open their own production facilities.

Detroit-born Jack White entreated Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment, and Warner Music Group to help alleviate vinyl’s well-documented manufacturing woes in a minute-long YouTube video as well as an open letter. Uploaded to the account of his Nashville-based Third Man Records (TMR), said video features White inside TMR’s vinyl-pressing facility.

After a brief demonstration of the vinyl-creation process, White – whose upcoming concert series is aptly named The Supply Chain Issues Tour – enters the scene (employees continuing to work around him) and says: “This is Third Man Pressing, Third Man Records’ pressing plant, that I built and opened in 2017, using my own money.

“It’s 2022 now, and it’s no longer a fad. Vinyl records have exploded in the last decade, and their demand is incredibly high. A small punk band can’t get their record for eight to 10 months. And I now ask the major labels – Warner Brothers, Universal, and Sony – to finally build your own pressing plants again.

“As The MC5 once said, ‘You’re either part of the problem or part of the solution.’ Thank you,” White concludes. Then, all-caps on-screen text arranged around the major labels’ logos reads: “Please, build your own record plants. (Again) The vinyl industry needs it.”

The aforementioned 479-word-long open letter from Jack White expands upon the request, indicating in part: “‘At least once a week, without fail, someone will reach out asking me to help expedite their vinyl record manufacturing.’

“I’ve done everything within my power to help. Third Man Records began a concentrated focus on vinyl in 2009 with hopes of exposing its wider potential to the farthest reaches of the music industry. In 2017 I furthered my commitment by opening Third Man Pressing… a plant which has always been open to anyone and everyone who walks in the door and wants to press a record, from bedroom hip hop artists to field recording documentarians.

“And in the last year, I’ve doubled down and invested in even more record presses, more employees to run them, and more shifts to try and accommodate the insane growing demand for vinyl product.

“There are people who will say – isn’t this good for Third Man? More demand than you can handle? To which I say, even though Third Man benefits in the short term, in the long term it ultimately hurts everyone involved in the vinyl ecosystem given the bottlenecks and delays. Something needs to be done.

“To be clear, the issue is not big labels versus small labels, it’s not independent versus mainstream, it’s not even punk versus pop. The issue is, simply, we have ALL created an environment where the unprecedented demand for vinyl records cannot keep up with the rudimentary supply of them,” the document from Jack White continues.

At the time of this piece’s writing, the Big Three labels – each of which reported a double-digit revenue increase during 2021’s final quarter – didn’t appear to have responded to White’s request on social media. But especially with stateside vinyl sales having cracked $1 billion for the first time since 1986 during 2021, according to the RIAA, the companies are undoubtedly aware of the vinyl-production bottleneck.

To be sure, Universal Music began taking orders for all manner of Nevermind 30th anniversary editions last year, but the largest (and most expensive) of these releases, featuring “8 180-gram LPs,” isn’t expected to ship until the end of May – about eight months removed from the actual 30th anniversary of the iconic Nirvana album.

Consequently, some artists are turning to CDs and even cassettes to assuage fans’ demand for physical releases. U.S. CD sales rose for the first time in nearly 20 years during 2021, and domestic revenue from “other physical,” including cassettes, hiked from $8.8 million to $14 million. International vinyl sales are likewise growing, however – resulting in the arrival of more global pressing plants.

Photo Credit: Don Sniegowski / CC by 2.0

The Ernest Tubb Record Shop in downtown Nashville is closing this year — here’s their statement.

A Facebook post made by the Honky Tonk Circus, ETRS, and David McCormick Company reveals the building in which the business is housed will be sold. “Due to changes in circumstances out of our control, it’s now clear the best way forward is to sell the business and the real estate,” the Facebook post reads.

The Ernest Tubb Record Shop located on lower Broadway has been a Nashville staple for years. Currently, the store stocks vinyl records, CDs, and it displays rare memorabilia from country superstars like Tanya Tucker, Loretta Lynn, and several others.

In August 2020, Jesse Lee Jones bought the building and record shop business from David McCormick for $4.75 million. That purchase allowed Jones to protect, promote, and preserve the great history of the country music retailer. From 1951 to 1995, the Ernest Tubb Record Shop was the home of the Midnight Jamboree.

Grand Ole Opry performers would immediately appear at Ernest Tubb Record Shop for an encore performance. The showcase returned to the location in 2021 after a brief move to the Texas Troubadour Theater. According to the record shop, the Midnight Jamboree was the second longest-running radio show in history. The program helped launch several artists to stardom, including Loretta Lynn and Tanya Tucker.

“Preserving the history and tradition of country music remains at the forefront of everything we do,” the Facebook statement continues. “We remain committed to preservation work and look forward to new projects that will allow us to continue to protect and nurture the invaluable history and tradition of country music.”

Currently, there is no word yet regarding who is purchasing the Ernest Tubb Record Shop building or how it could be transformed. The Cotton Eyed Joe’s property at 200 Broadway, just a stone’s throw away, sold for $24.5 million in 2021. That’s a 32% increase in price after the building was purchased for $18.5 million in 2019.

Photo Credit: Christian Wiediger

Amazon, which has faced criticism over the alleged sale of counterfeit CDs and vinyl LPs on its marketplace, has officially been removed from the U.S. government’s list of “notorious” counterfeiting and piracy platforms.

The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) just recently published its “2021 Review of Notorious Markets for Counterfeiting and Piracy.” Last year, the government agency’s 2020 report called out Amazon – and specifically the ecommerce giant’s “foreign domains” – for allegedly hosting “high levels of counterfeit goods” from third-party sellers.

“Right holders expressed concern that the seller information displayed by Amazon is often misleading such that it is difficult for consumers and right holders alike to determine who is selling the goods,” according to the USTR’s 2020 report. “Right holders also expressed concern that Amazon does not sufficiently vet sellers on its platforms.”

However, the entity also disclosed that Amazon had “partnered with the U.S. Government’s National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center (IPR Center) on a joint operation to prevent counterfeit goods from entering the U.S. in an effort to protect American consumers.”

This partnership (and related initiatives) was evidently enough for the Seattle-headquartered company to exit the list of “notorious” counterfeiting/piracy markets, though, for the business isn’t mentioned in the 56-page-long 2021 edition.

Regarding said related initiatives, Amazon in October of 2021 submitted to the USTR “an update on our global efforts to protect consumers, selling partners, and brands from counterfeit and pirated goods.”

The RIAA, Snap, TikTok, and Tencent also put forward remarks in response to the USTR’s request for comment. (As an aside, Tencent Music stock, traded as TME on the NYSE, was down about six percent at the time of publishing, with shares approaching their all-time low of $5.36 apiece.)

But Amazon’s 10-page-long filing, among other things, indicated that the Amazon Music parent company had “invested over $700 million and dedicated more than 10,000 employees to stopping fraud and abuse” in 2020, besides conducting “robust verifications” that prevented 94 percent of applicant sellers from listing items.

“Amazon’s Counterfeit Crimes Unit referred over 250 counterfeiters to law enforcement authorities around the world, undertook independent investigations or joint investigations with globally renowned brands as well as family-owned businesses, and pursued civil litigation against 64 counterfeiters in U.S. courts,” the company said.

Spanning 17 pages, the RIAA’s own letter to the USTR mentioned Amazon only in passing, relaying that “massive quantities” of counterfeit CDs and vinyl albums, originating from Russia and China, were making their way onto it and competing ecommerce platforms.

But the trade association dedicated the bulk (as well as the beginning) of the text to stream-ripping sites, which it’s targeted through a number of lawsuits in recent years. One of these services, FLVTO.biz, made the USTR’s “notorious” list for 2021 despite ceasing operating in the U.S. in August.

Interestingly, the major labels’ comments specified of FLVTO’s Russia-based founder, Tofig Kurbanov: “We also have reason to believe that the operator may be involved in other stream-ripping sites as well.”

Photo Credit: Record Store Day UK

Record Store Day UK has announced three exclusive releases in association with their charity partner, War Child.

The collection of vinyls for this unique Record Store Day drop will be available on April 23, 2022. Patti Smith, Deacon Blue and Dire Straits collectible vinyls will be available at participating independent record shops. A donation of £1 from every copy sold will go to War Child to help educate and protect children living in conflict zones.

“W are so excited to be the charity partner for RSD again this year,” says Sophie Mckay, Music and Events Executive at War Child. “It is a partnership that we are really proud of, and one that is making such a big difference year on year. Coming together to celebrate music and independent record stores on Record Store Day through these amazing vinyl releases feels really special. And to know that we are raising money for War Child’s vital work in progress makes it all the more so.”

Record Store Day UK – 2022 Vinyl Exclusives

There are over 240 independent record stores across the UK that participate in Record Store Day on April 23, 2022. These special vinyl releases are one of the reasons why vinyl has seen such a resurgence in recent years.

Patti Smith’s release is a double LP made up of hits spanning her career from 1974 to 1996. The tracklist was selected by the Record Store Day team for this exclusive release. The compilation is officially titled Curated by Record Store Day. It features “Gloria,” “Because The Night,” “Dancing Barefoot,” and “People Have the Power” among other releases. This vinyl will be limited to 2,250 copies available in the UK.

Also available is a 35th-anniversary edition of Deacon Blue’s debut album, Raintown. Each of the 2,000 copies are individually numbered, packaged in a foil sleeve, and feature new liner notes from frontman Ricky Ross. This album features tracks like “Loaded,” “Chocolate Girl,” and “Dignity.”

The third exclusive RSD release is Dire Straits’ album Love Over Gold. It’s a new ‘half-speed mastered’ edition, cut by Miles Showell at Abbey Road Studios to celebrate the album’s 40th anniversary.

Printing at half-speed allows the cutting process to take twice as long, hugely improving sound quality. The re-issue features an embossed lithograph, an essay about the album, and a certificate of authenticity from Abbey Road. Only 1,500 copies of this limited RSD exclusive will be available in the UK.

Photo Credit: Record Store Day

Record Store Day is celebrating its 15th anniversary by naming Taylor Swift as its global ambassador.

Record Store Day first launched back in 2008 and will return in April for its 15th year. Taylor Swift has always been highly supportive of the spotlight on physical retail sales, even releasing exclusive RSD drops in the past. She’ll also have a special RSD 2022 vinyl to celebrate her ambassadorship.

“I’m very proud to be this year’s Global Ambassador for Record Store Day. The places where we go to browse and explore and discover music new and old have always been sacred to me,” Taylor Swift said in a statement.

“Record stores are so important because they help to perpetuate and foster music-loving as a passion. They create settings for live events. They employ people who adore music thoroughly and purely. Those people and shops have had a rough few years, and we need to support these small businesses more now than ever to make sure they can stay alive, stay eccentric, and stay individual.”

“It’s been a true joy for me to watch vinyl sales grow in the past few years, and we, the artists, have the fans to thank for this pleasant surprise. Happy Record Store Day, everyone! Stay safe out there!” she adds. Taylor Swift is no stranger to helping indie record stores stay afloat amid the pandemic.

After Nashville went into lockdown in 2020 to combat COVID spread, Grimey’s owners sent many employees home. When Swift learned what was happening, she reached out with the funds to keep the store open, pay employees, and offer three months of health care. She also donated $1 million for tornado relief recovery when downtown Nashville was destroyed.

Following the release of her album Folklore, Swift donated signed CDs of the album to Grimey’s and other record stores. The limited-edition signed CDs were sent at no additional charge to help attract business to local stores. Several record store owners reached out on Twitter to thank the country star for supporting them with unique merch.

Photo Credit: Qrates

As demand for physical releases continues to grow, vinyl crowdfunding pioneers Qrates look towards cassettes as the next frontier in independent revenue building.

The following article comes from Qrates, a proud partner of DMN.

It’s no secret that the popularity of vinyl has been accelerating around the world at breakneck speed. At the forefront of this explosion is Tokyo-based record manufacturing and sales platform Qrates (pronounced ‘crates’), which has been offering independent artists the chance to fund, press and ship records directly with and for fans since 2015. 

Weathering the storm of manufacturing bottlenecks during the worst of COVID-19 lockdown, Qrates managed to shorten predicted turnaround times to below current industry standards. Now they plan to apply that same consistency to offering cassette manufacturing services in the new year.

The cassette tape, which reached its peak in the latter-half of the 1980s, has itself been experiencing a resurgence in popularity in recent years. It’s been supported by a new generation of music fans and artists who are buying and releasing on the format with rapidly increasing demand. In 2020, it was announced by The Official Charts Company (OCC) that in the UK cassettes sales had increased 103% by the second quarter alone.

Qrates has commercialized the world’s first crowdfunding service specializing in analog records with a growing reputation as the most reliable and cost-effective option for record manufacturing and sales in both the United States and Europe. The hugely successful US funk band Vulfpeck’ continues to use the service since releasing their infamous Sleepify protest album on the service in 2017. To date they’ve funded, produced and delivered over 20 records direct to fans. 

A number of other artists have also seen and taken advantage of the value and quality that Qrates offers. European lo-fi YouTube streams-come-labels like Chillhop Music and Lofi Girl (formerly Chilled Cow) have managed to translate their audiences—which together reach well over 10 million subscribers—into paying, record-collecting customers. Japan’s own Made in Abyss and Cowboy Bebop anime have enjoyed vinyl popularity via soundtrack releases and indie artist covers manufactured and sold through Qrates. Grammy Award-winner Cookin Soul has dropped 13 sought-after releases. Five years after launch, the service has over 150,000 users, supporting the production of more than 1,200 titles and the sale of more than 350,000 records.

Now the company aims to maximize the possibilities by expanding their enterprise into manufacturing and selling cassette tapes, for both the artists using their service and the fans that are buying their music. 

Qrates will provide clients with more services to support sales and thus revenue and income, making it a one-stop-shop for both vinyl and cassette production. 

As with the existing vinyl record service, artists will be able to produce on-demand cassettes with a 50-item minimum. Qrates will continue to provide centralized support from build-to-order manufacturing via crowdfunding, pre-order sales and delivery. Their fulfillment service will allow for delivery of products directly from the Qrates distribution center to each and every fan, with wholesale sales of popular works going to more than 150 record stores and distribution companies affiliated with the company.

Qrates has already secured a manufacturing partnership, where clients can order from a vast array of color variations and product options. While the new branch of Qrates offerings for independent artists is set to launch in Q1 of 2022, they have provided a teaser site to give each and every person looking to harness the power of their fan base an overview of what’s to come. Sign up to their mailing list and become one of the first to try out their new Qrates cassette service.

Photo Credit: Adrian Korte

Curious to know what’s the best-selling album of 2021? Plenty of music titans dropped albums this year – here’s a peek at the numbers.

Adele’s 30 smashed opening week album sales with 839,000 album-equivalent units, according to Billboard. That debut beat Drake’s Certified Lover Boy, which hit 613,000 album units in September. Taylor Swift’s re-release of Red (Taylor’s Version) is now relegated to third place with 605,000 album units in 2021. 30 also racked up a massive 692,000 actual album sales – edging out Taylor Swift as the queen of merch.

Interestingly enough, Adele’s album sales were primarily CD, leaving Taylor Swift as the queen of vinyl. 30 sold 378,000 CDs and 108,000 vinyl copies, with digital album sales coming in at 205,000 copies sold.

Those opening week album sales are impressive, but what’s the best-selling album of 2021?

According to Hits Daily Double, Morgan Wallen’s Dangerous: The Double Album is predicted to finish 2021 as the year’s best-selling album, with a projected sales of 3.2 million. Dangerous: The Double Album currently sits at 2.8 million total sales. Adele’s 30 is poised for plenty of Black Friday deals and Christmas stocking stuffers, though.

Best-Selling Album of 2021 – As of November

1. 1. Morgan Wallen | Dangerous: The Double Album – 2,820,000 sales
   2. Olivia Rodrigo | Sour – 2,448,000 sales
   3. Drake | Certified Lover Boy – 1,516,000 sales
   4. Pop Smoke | Shoot for the Stars Aim for the Moon – 1,349,000 sales
   5. Justin Bieber | Justice – 1,306,000 sales
   6. The Kid Laroi | F*ck Love – 1,288,000 sales
   7. Dua Lipa | Future Nostalgia – 1,246,000 sales
   8. Doja Cat | Planet Her – 1,179,000 sales
   9. The Weeknd | After Hours – 1,175,000 sales
   10. Luke Combs | What You See Is What You Get – 1,135,000 sales

Morgan Wallen and Olivia Rodrigo are predicted to edge out titans like Drake, Taylor Swift, Justin Bieber, and Billie Eilish. Curious about the best-selling album of 2021 past the top ten? Check out the predictions here. Wallen’s controversy and removal from radio station airplay earlier this year certainly helped drive his album to record sales for the year.

He also enjoyed massive support from fans who bought billboards to advertise his presence during awards shows where Wallen was banned from attending.

Photo Credit: Rihanna

Rihanna has announced a ‘rih-issue’ of her eight studio albums in a special collection.

The pop star released a boxed set of her work five years ago – but this new set of reissues is much more unique. It features her entire discography pressed onto colored vinyl and paired with an exclusive t-shirt to match.

“‘Today’s kids will never know what viny is,’ they said!” Rihanna wrote in her announcement of the vinyl albums.

The special collection is available on ShopRihanna.com. It includes:

• Music of the Sun (2005)
• A Girl Like Me (2006)
• Good Girl Gone Bad (2007)
• Rated R (2009)
• Loud (2010)
• Talk That Talk (2011)
• Unapologetic (2012)
• Anti (2016)

Each Rihanna album bundle is considered a pre-order, and orders won’t ship until November 11.

Each album in the collection is sold separately for $110-$140 with the album and the t-shirt. Rihanna’s boxed set that debuted in 2016 included all eight albums and a 186-page hardback book of all the booklets from her original CD releases.

Unfortunately, the vinyl and merch are paired together with no opportunity to buy them separately. That has led to some fans complaining about the bundles on social media, especially since Rihanna has only featured on other artists’ music since Anti dropped in 2016.

In September, the singer told fans to expect a different sound from her ninth album when it drops.

“You’re not gonna expect what you hear; just put that in your mind. Whatever you know of Rihanna’s not gonna be what you hear,” the singer said in an interview while promoting her Savage x Fenty fashion show.

“I’m really experimenting, and music is like fashion, you should be able to play, I should be able to wear whatever I want, and I treat music the same way. So I’m having fun, and it’s going to be completely different.”

Since the release of Anti, Rihanna has been featured with Kendrick Lamar on “Loyalty,” N.E.R.D. on “Lemon,” and most recently, PartyNextDoor for “Believe It.”

Photo Credit: Victrola

Qrates and Fat Beats have partnered for in-store distribution of select press-to-order vinyl projects.

The distribution deal with Fat Beats includes access to a network of hundreds of independent record stores across America. Some of those iconic record stores in the US include:

• Rough Trade in New York City
• Amoeba Music in Los Angeles and San Francisco
• Newbury Comics
• Zia Records
• Bullmoose
• Criminal Records

International

• Sunrise in Canada
• Sounds of the Universe in London
• Gibert Joseph Musique Paris
• Rush Hour in Amsterdam
• Disk Union in Japan

As part of the deal, Fat Beats will promote select vinyl projects in its retail network. It will gather firm, pre-paid orders and will work with Qrates to eliminate waste by pressing only the agreed-upon number of records. Press-to-order eliminates financial and inventory risk for independent labels and artists.

The first Qrates project to be distributed through the partnership will be Duckwrth’s new LP, SG8*. The LP was released digitally on September 3 and follows Duckwrth’s album SuperGood. Duckwrth will be touring with Billie Eilish in 2022.

“With the process of pressing and selling vinyl records becoming more difficult for independent artists and labels, Qrates’ mission is to buck that trend and once again prioritize these releases – this partnership with Fat Beats helps us do exactly that,” explains Taishi Fukuyama, Co-Founder and CMO, and Qrates.

“By teaming with Fat Beats, we are opening up new opportunities for them to sell their music in this highly lucrative, in-demand format. All with zero risk, zero waste, and zero upfront costs. Vinyl for independents is far from dead; it’s growing! It’s about time independents got a piece of the pie.”

The Fat beats partnership expands upon Qrates’ retail store network and is available at no additional cost to all Qrates users.

Qrates has focused on the hassle-free creation, financing, and distribution of vinyl records since 2015. Over 6,000 artists have distributed vinyl records to 140,000 fans, with Qrates paying out $2 million+ to artists to date.

All artists need is their final recording and art design to begin their vinyl campaign. Qrates has direct relationships with pressing plants, so it can turn orders around quickly. Crates says an artist who sells around 300 vinyl records for $26 apiece can expect to earn the same from one million streams – depending on production costs and shipping.

Photo Credit: Victrola

Factors including supply-chain disruptions, heightened chemical prices, and unprecedented demand are contributing to a vinyl shortage – prompting some artists to opt against releasing music via the resurging format.

More than a few creators and professionals have commented on the far-reaching effects of the ongoing vinyl shortage, in terms of both manufacturing delays and increased costs. A number of artists recently acknowledged that they’re turning to the comparatively easy-to-make CDs and cassettes to satisfy fans’ desire for physical releases, for instance. And the Vinyl Alliance early last year identified “the broken supply chain” as the space’s “biggest issue.”

Chesapeake, Virginia-headquartered Vinyl Alliance’s unsettling observation arrived shortly after COVID-19 lockdown orders went into effect – drastically limiting air travel – and Apollo/Transco burned down. The Banning, California, facility was one of two known establishments (the other being Japan’s MDC) that created the lacquer discs used to form vinyl master discs, from which additional record copies are pressed.

Consequently, vinyl’s manufacturing woes began even before the pandemic’s onset, and continued supply-chain difficulties appear to be exacerbating these existing challenges.

Nike, for instance, has seen cargo vessels’ journey from Asia to North America increase from about 40 days to roughly 80 days “as a result of container shortages, port congestion, rail congestion, and labor shortages,” according to Yahoo Finance. The point is proving significant for vinyl given the above-highlighted limited supply of lacquer discs as well as the format’s decidedly global manufacturing process. (It also bears mentioning that stateside manufacturing solutions have emerged, and other such options seem likely to debut moving forward.)

Plus, the price of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) – which is used in vinyl, credit cards, pipes, certain medical devices, and more – “has rocketed 70%” amid the pandemic, per the Associated Press.

Addressing the many obstacles that the energy and chemical sectors (besides different spheres yet) have faced since 2020’s start, Jeremy Pafford, Independent Commodity Intelligence Services’ head of North America, market development, indicated: “There isn’t one thing wrong. It’s kind of whack-a-mole – something goes wrong, it gets sorted out, then something else happens. And it’s been that way since the pandemic began.”

As noted, the vinyl shortage is being compounded by unprecedented demand for records. Vinyl revenue nearly doubled in the U.S. during the first half of 2021, according to the RIAA – with 2020 having delivered a 23.5 percent year-over-year revenue hike for the global vinyl industry, per the IFPI. As a result, 2021 appears poised to keep alive the more than decade-long trend of growth for vinyl.

In the most recent testament to the extent of the vinyl shortage, Universal Music announced all manner of 30th anniversary editions of Nirvana’s Nevermind, which released on September 24th, 1991. However, the most expensive of these anniversary editions, which includes “8 180-gram LPs,” isn’t expected to ship until late May of 2022 – nearly eight months from now.

Photo Credit: James Sutton

After 14 consecutive years of growth and a record-setting 2021, vinyl’s commercial resurgence is showing few signs of slowing down. Now, vinyl upstart Qrates is helping artists translate their streaming successes into more serious physical revenue.

One sad outcome of the streaming explosion is the lack of any significant revenue for most artists. But what if streaming success could be translated into more meaningful revenue opportunities in the physical realm? That’s a challenge Qrates has been tackling by creating an end-to-end vinyl production solution for artists, complemented by a fan crowdfunding option to jumpstart projects. The goal is to strip away the considerable financial and inventory risks associated with creating vinyl, while opening a more lucrative format beyond streaming. In a landscape of disconnected and oftentimes smaller vinyl pressing plants, Qrates has weaved together a network of manufacturers to fetch the best prices and speediest turnaround times.

We’ve covered the pound-for-pound revenue advantages of vinyl records for artists, though leveraging that advantage has always been difficult for indies. Now, Qrates is attacking that problem head-on, and helping artists better monetize their online fanbases.

The nuanced offerings of Qrates (pronounced “crates”) are particularly valuable for creators because vinyl records, despite their years-running popularity uptick, still require complex and time consuming manufacturing journeys before reaching fans.

But these costs — and the obligations brought on by storing large quantities of vinyl records in-house —  needn’t dissuade artists from turning their considerable presence on streaming platforms (both live-streaming and traditional) into considerable revenue.

While the income attributable to online gigs (and especially the dismal royalties paid by YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Music) can be underwhelming, strong streaming listenership, as an indicator of fan interest, often sets the stage for popular vinyl releases. Accordingly, Qrates and Digital Music News have joined forces to share some of the company’s recent success stories in this initiative — which are likely the first of many.

One example comes from Chillhop Music, which has 3.1 million YouTube subscribers and has achieved solid results across multiple campaigns with Qrates. Qrates stocks inventory in its London and Michigan warehouses, processes orders, handles fulfillment, and, by emphasizing crowdsourcing, eliminates much of the risk associated with releasing music via the comparatively costly (and lucrative) format.

Perhaps the foremost contributor to these and many other vinyl sale successes, aside from sizable streaming followings, is the intuitive user experience Qrates offers artists. The prospect of establishing a foothold in vinyl is intimidating, but Qrates aims to make these first steps as painless as possible.

Another major hurdle-reducer is Qrates’ crowdfunding option, which allows labels and artists to press vinyl without upfront costs or inventory risk. Once a minimum of 100 units is pre-ordered, Qrates presses the records and ships them directly to fans or to any destination specified. Artists can also “Press & Sell” to immediately start recovering costs with pre-orders while records are being produced.

Additionally, clients maintain full control of the entire process, including everything from design to packaging options to the weight of the records. They also have the option of consulting Qrates’ team or, for a nominal fee, connecting with audio mastering professionals specifically for vinyl.

Qrates’ 3D visualizer tool, for its part, enables creators to see exactly what their vinyl records will look like – and cost – before finalizing the order at hand, and the corresponding images are ideal for teasing variations to fans.

Qrates will store orders of any size for free, from a single record to expansive inventories, in their aforementioned storage and shipping facilities. Effectively, Qrates is moving a design, manufacturing, storage, and delivery chain under one umbrella, while vastly lowering the cost and management complexity for artists.

Exact income per record sold (after production and processing expenses) varies based upon the price paid by customers, of course. But the underlying business model is driven by an artist-friendly vision, especially when compared to the per-stream payments offered by Spotify (typically one-third of a penny to one-half of a penny).

On that last point, it’s interesting to note that Spotify recently reported that its most popular ‘merchandise’ option was vinyl, beating out items like t-shirts. While vinyl purists are loathe to call vinyl ‘merchandise,’ a number of fans buy vinyl simply because the format is a physical keepsake — and a valuable memento even for those that don’t own a turntable.

Either way, a vinyl purchase is a vinyl purchase. Lofi Girl, for instance, a Paris-based livestream channel and record label that specializes in low-fidelity hip-hop music, has a solid presence on Spotify and boasts over 8.4 million YouTube subscribers.  Lofi Girl’s sixth vinyl release through Qrates, Window Seat, sold 802 units for about $24.19 (€19.95) each during an initial pressing, generating a total of $19,400.38. At the upper end of Spotify’s per-stream royalty rate, one would need to secure a staggering 3.88 million or so plays to earn the same amount. On YouTube, that figure would be multiplied several times over.

More than being a reliable, quick-growing income source for creators, however, vinyl provides a means of strengthening relationships with dedicated supporters – the most committed five percent or so of one’s fanbase – as well as engaging the medium’s diehards and identifying consumer habits that could prove useful in the coming months and years.

“We want to help identify and nurture new fans who will buy your music,” Qrates CMO Taishi Fukuyama told Digital Music News. “The Qrates community includes hundreds of thousands of music lovers and vinyl enthusiasts, many who have purchased hundreds of records by artists they have discovered on Qrates. These consumers are passionate about vinyl, and seek to discover artists with new vinyl they can buy.”

Brandon Boyd of Incubus, Jack Conte’s Pomplamoose, and Vulfpeck are some of the artists who’ve launched multiple successful vinyl projects via Qrates. Vulfpeck alone has made 20 records available to fans through Qrates to date, the newest of which, a third installment in the one-press-only Vulf Vault series, has sold 6,095 units at $30 apiece, generating $182,850 from this release alone. Vulfpeck’s previous vinyl releases have already exceeded $1 million dollars in sales on Qrates.

As encouraging as the vinyl landscape is today, evidence suggests that even better things are on the way. Currently, a surge in vinyl demand isn’t being met by a concomitant increase in manufacturing capabilities. Fukuyama told us that major labels are maxing out current manufacturing capacity thanks to their big titles and even bigger buying power. But that’s where Qrates is combating that problem with its collective bargaining power: currently, Qrates is placing tens of thousands of vinyl orders for more than 6,000 artists, with a network of pressing plants at their disposal.

Now, with long delays, prohibitive costs and a notoriously difficult manufacturing process no longer preventing artists from delivering vinyl to their fans, Qrates is hoping that more artists explore the format and its vast earning potential.  “Everybody’s excited that sales have been increasing for 14 years, but this is really just the tip of the iceberg,” Fukuyama continued.

Qrates is now demoing their vinyl production model in a quick, 15-minute demo to artists, labels, and anyone else interested in pressing platters. Check it out here. 

Walmart photo by JJBers Public (CC by SA 4.0)

Walmart has now exhausted its entire supply of Morgan Wallen Dangerous double-vinyl LPs — with each carrying a $34 price tag.

Morgan Wallen’s unexpected sales surge is spreading into some unexpected formats. That includes vinyl LPs, a format that typically produces the highest financial returns for artists and their labels. As of this morning, Walmart — a store known for stocking a lot of inventory — has exhausted its nationwide supply of Morgan Wallen Dangerous: The Double Album vinyl LPs. Walmart has now pulled its online page for the album, and it doesn’t appear that supplies will be replenished.

The price for the double-disc was $34, which sounds pricey but is actually moderate by vinyl aficionado standards. But for those that have extra cash to spend, we also spotted a $119 limited-edition double-disc of Dangerous, which was about sell out. Now, it’s likely that Wallen’s label, Big Loud/Republic (UMG) — which supposedly ‘suspended’ Wallen in February — will ramp up production on another high-priced batch.

If that doesn’t happen, however, the double-discs could easily become collector’s items, with skyrocketing prices on platforms like eBay and Discogs.

The Walmart news comes as Dangerous enters its seventh-straight week atop numerous album sales charts in the U.S., including the Billboard 200. That streak looks likely to keep going, with Wallen easily outpacing sales by pop superstars like Ariana Grande. According to MRC Data, Morgan Wallen is now the best-selling artist of 2021.

A major part of that success is actually coming from streaming platforms like Spotify. As of this week, Wallen has been banned from virtually every radio station in America, though his music remains readily available online. Spotify, Apple Music, and other streaming platforms stopped short of removing the country star’s music, instead choosing to remove him from their marquee playlists. That is undoubtedly lowering listens by country fans who aren’t dedicated Wallen fans, but it’s doing little to dampen listening by those that are.

In response, Spotify is now relaxing its playlist ban in a potential bid to keep subscribers and steal customers from rivals like Apple Music. Last week, the platform reinstated Wallen into its Country Coffeehouse playlist, which draws nearly 600,000 followers. They’ve also slotted a Wallen track into their Country Favourites curated playlist, which has nearly 200,000 followers. Now, the big question is whether Spotify will reintegrate Wallen into its marquee country playlist, Hot Country, which boasts more than 6 million followers.

Photo Credit: Victrola

Vinyl sales in the US and UK have reached record heights during the holiday season.

New numbers from Nielsen show a record 1.842 million LPs were sold in the week leading up to December 24th. That’s the largest week for the vinyl format since Nielsen started electronically tracking music sales in the 90s. The previous record high was set just a week earlier, with 1.445 million sales for the week ending on December 17th. That’s the fourth such record-setting sales week for vinyl – and they all happened in 2020.

Previous record sales weeks for vinyl came with Record Store Day 2019. The top-selling vinyl album in the week ending on December 24th was Paul McCartney’s new studio set, McCartney III.

Meanwhile, the end of year figures from the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) reflects record vinyl sales in the UK.

Vinyl sales in the UK have grown for the 13th year running, with some impressive stats. Nearly one in five albums purchased in the UK in 2020 was in the vinyl format. That’s around 18% of all album sales in the UK, or 4.8 million LPs purchased this year. Those numbers reflect a 10% rise compared to vinyl sales in 2019 in the UK. It’s also the highest figure for vinyl sales in the UK since the British pop boom in the 90s.

Record Store Day and LoveRecord Stores have helped re-ignite love for the vinyl format. Those efforts have also helped independent record shops and other specialist chains stay afloat. Geoff Taylor, Chief Executive Officer of BPI, attributes the growth of the vinyl format to the convenience of physical media during a pandemic.

“It’s remarkable that LP and audiotape sales should have risen at all given the challenges we’ve all faced. The surge in sales despite retail closures demonstrates the timeless appeal of collectible physical formats alongside the seamless connectivity of streaming,” Taylor says.

BPI also gave us a clearer picture of the top ten albums by vinyl sales in the UK in 2020. Fleetwood Mac can thank the virality of TikTok for their position at the top of this chart.

Best Albums By Vinyl Sales in 2020 – the UK

• Fleetwood Mac – Rumors
• Oasis – What’s the Story, Morning Glory?
• Amy Winehouse – Back to Black
• Nirvana – Nevermind
• Harry Styles – Fine Line
• Kylie Minogue – Disco
• AC/DC – Power Up
• Queen – Greatest Hits
• IDLES – Ultra Mono
• Arctic Monkeys – Live at the Royal Albert Hall

Seems like physical media is continuing to grow thanks to the pandemic. Many people want to make sure their music collection is accessible at home, regardless of internet connection.

Photo Credit: Jace & Afsoon

Vinyl record sales reached their highest levels since 1991 during the week following Black Friday, according to newly released figures from Nielsen/MRC Data.

Between Friday, November 27th, and Thursday, December 3rd, vinyl record sales experienced a 56 percent year-over-year boost, per MRC, with customers having purchased some 1.253 million units across the weeklong stretch. In spite of the COVID-19 pandemic and the economic impacts thereof, the impressive figure represents the single largest vinyl record sales volume of any week since MRC Data’s 1991 founding – as well as the second time that weekly sales have crossed one million units.

MRC attributes the record-setting sales benchmark to interest drummed up by Record Store Day and continued promotional efforts from big-name retailers. Harry Styles’ Fine Line ranked first in vinyl album sales, with 15,000 units moved, against The Vince Guaraldi Trio’s soundtrack for A Charlie Brown Christmas in second place. (Guaraldi crafted the music for a number of Peanuts specials and the 1969 feature film A Boy Named Charlie Brown.)

Queen’s Greatest Hits ranked third, followed by Billie Eilish’s When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? (the bestselling vinyl record of 2020’s initial six months, per MRC’s half-year report) and Taylor Swift’s surprise Folklore release, which debuted in late July.

Far from marking a once-off spike, the strong vinyl record sales ushered in by Black Friday and Cyber Monday 2020 appear to be just the latest byproduct of fans’ long-expanding interest in the medium. To be sure, vinyl sales hiked by nearly 20 percent (to over $500 million) in 2019, which signified the format’s 14th consecutive year of commercial growth. And even before the all-time-high weekly sales came to light, other evidence indicated that an increasing number of fans were purchasing records.

Vinyl sales jumped by 33.72 percent on Discogs, comparing 2020’s first six months with the opening half of 2019, and a combination vinyl record pressing facility, record store, recording studio, and bar/café, Citizen Vinyl, began welcoming fans and customers in September.

In Germany, vinyl record sales grew by north of 13 percent last year and accounted for more than five percent of overall recorded music sales. France experienced a commercial falloff in vinyl through January and June of 2020 – though the decline was decidedly less severe than that of other formats, and vinyl still accounted for one-third of all physical sales.

Also worth noting is that 2019 brought a massive uptick in vinyl record sales during Christmas week. Given fans’ clear-cut interest in vinyl during Black Friday, it’ll be particularly interesting to analyze consumers’ music-purchasing habits through the remainder of the holiday season.

14 years after the closure of its famed retail locations, Tower Records has triumphantly returned – once again as an online store.

Tower Records officials recently confirmed the news on social media, and their all-encompassing webstore is live presently. Some 500,000 items, including merchandise (branded t-shirts, hats, stickers, etc.), CDs, vinyl records, and more, are available for purchase. Within this wide selection, fans can choose from new vinyl releases (Billie Eilish, Stomzy, and Taylor Swift works among them) as well as classics from the likes of The Beatles and Fleetwood Mac.

Additionally, the revived Tower Records is publishing digital pieces through its Pulse! magazine banner, which concluded a 19-year print run in December of 2002. (These online entries debuted on Tower Records’ website earlier this year, but production looks to have ramped up for the webstore rollout.) Showcasing both new releases and indie artists themselves, the web-based Pulse! variation appears poised to attract more than a few readers, based upon the reach of Tower Records and vinyl’s still-growing popularity.

To be sure, the medium’s sales have improved for 14 consecutive years, and even the COVID-19 pandemic has proven unable to halt the trend. New release-wise, Nielsen/MRC Data revealed that vinyl’s ascent continued through 2020’s first half, when fans purchased 9.2 million units (an 11.2 percent bump compared to the same period in 2019). Pre-owned sales figures are similarly impressive to this point in 2020, as Discogs reported a massive boost to vinyl’s already-substantial 2019 numbers.

Notably, the Portland-based platform also specified that a large portion of the new sales are attributable to indie record stores, with many owners having opted to list “their entire stock online.” COVID lockdown orders and customers’ potential hesitancy to visit businesses in-person undoubtedly spurred the pivot, which seems set to outlast the pandemic – in part because the embrace of digital involves major players like Tower Records.

Despite these points and the coronavirus-fueled closure of several indie record stores, however, 2020 hasn’t been without exciting vinyl developments on the physical front. Citizen Vinyl, a 10,000-square-foot vinyl-pressing factory, record store, recording studio, and bar/café, began welcoming (a limited number of) fans in September. Customers’ online reviews of the Asheville, North Carolina, establishment appear overwhelmingly positive thus far.

On the international stage, vinyl is picking up steam in Germany and, in France’s hard-hit music industry, experienced a smaller year-over-year falloff than other physical formats. Lastly, it bears mentioning that vinyl record sales totaled 1.24 million units during 2019’s Christmas week, and given the space’s ongoing growth and bolstered digital presence, it’ll be interesting to see how sales fare during the holiday season this year.

A bar-graph comparison of physical sales on the Discogs Marketplace in 2019 and 2020. Photo Credit: Discogs

Last month, Digital Music News was first to report that vinyl had thrived through 2020’s initial six months in spite of the novel coronavirus pandemic. Now, Discogs has elaborated upon the medium’s continued growth in its own half-year analysis.

Discogs compiled its Q1 and Q2 2020 Marketplace data in a comprehensive report, which was shared with DMN. The Portland, Oregon-based platform enjoyed solid year-over-year sales growth during January and February; purchase volume then stagnated in March, amid the domestic onset of the COVID-19 crisis and its associated market shakeup.

April, May, and June, however, brought with them tremendous transaction upticks, including over 1.6 million sold items in May alone (up from approximately 950,000 in May of 2019).

Overall Discogs Marketplace physical sales jumped 29.69 percent through the first half of 2020, compared to January-June 2019 – a point that the mid-year analysis attributes, in part, to a larger number of users and “a desire to support small business.” Within this nearly 30 percent boost, CD sales’ year-over-year growth came in at 31.03 percent, and cassettes trailed closely with their 30.52 percent increase.

Nevertheless, vinyl and its already-substantial sales witnessed the biggest year-over-year improvement, 33.72 percent. Equally as significant, vinyl sales accounted for more than 75 percent of Discogs’ total transactions between January and June 2020.

Indie record shops’ pivoting to digital played an integral role in the latter sales boom, according to Discogs – including “many record stores listing their entire stock online.” The decision to embrace remote selling was, admittedly, the result of circumstance, as lockdown measures temporarily prevented brick-and-mortar shops around the world from resuming normal operations. But the necessity-prompted move may well have a lasting positive influence on the vinyl sphere as passionate fans continue to interact on the web.

“From where we’re sitting right now,” the report reads, “the future of the record industry looks different, but it certainly looks quite bright.”

On the new-release front, Tame Impala’s The Slow Rush (which became available for purchase in February) sold the most of any debuting vinyl record on the Discogs Marketplace. The Strokes’ The New Abnormal followed, while Khruangbin and Leon Bridges’ Texas Sun EP rounded out the top three.

About one month ago, we covered Citizen Vinyl’s fast-approaching opening. Spanning 10,000 square feet, the Asheville, North Carolina, business will encompass a record store, a recording studio, and even a bar/café. And in a testament to the ongoing resurgence and bright future of vinyl (which has experienced 14 consecutive years of growth in the U.S.), the ambitious establishment will also house the first record-pressing factory in The Tar Heel State.

Citizen Vinyl is set to begin welcoming customers in mid-September.

A promotional image for Asheville, North Carolina’s Citizen Vinyl. Photo Credit: Citizen Vinyl

In February, Digital Music News was first to report that a fire had destroyed Banning, California’s Apollo Transco, one of two plants in the world (the other being Japan’s MDC) known to create the lacquer discs used to form vinyl master discs. Now, in the wake of this unfortunate setback, a new vinyl record pressing facility is preparing to open.

Called Citizen Vinyl, the Asheville, North Carolina, business will begin welcoming a limited number of fans in mid-September. In addition to being the first record-pressing factory in “The Tar Heel State,” the vinyl establishment – situated within the roughly 10,000-square-foot former offices of the Citizen-Times newspaper – will encompass a record store, a recording studio, and even a bar/café.

Founded by music producer Gar Ragland, Citizen Vinyl aims “to embrace a role as a community hub and center for creative collaboration,” according to the formal announcement of its debut. The aforementioned bar and café combination, Sessions, will offer coffee and casual meals during the daytime, as well as cocktails and “more sophisticated” dishes during the dinner hours – with vinyl records playing all the while (needless to say).

Furthermore, Citizen Vinyl “aspires to revive some of the hope, camaraderie, and excitement surrounding independent arts that may have been muted in the wake of the pandemic.” In this vein, fans will have the opportunity to witness the vinyl-pressing process firsthand, via employee-led tours. That mirrors the approach of Third Man Records in Detroit, where enthusiasts often travel thousands of miles for a factory tour and hang-out experience.

Album-listening parties, art galleries, and music-history lectures are also set to rotate through Citizen’s three-story facility.

Lastly, Citizen Vinyl’s official release indicated that the plant’s streamlined production style and elimination of shipping expenditures will produce comparatively affordable pricing for small-volume clients – while simultaneously providing the dependability sought by major record labels.

Addressing Citizen Vinyl’s opening in a statement, CEO Gar Ragland said: “It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to bring this historic studio back to life, and to be able to work in a space with such deep history. … We hope that this space can provide a fun and restorative experience for both our community and its many visitors, and that the power of music, food and beverage will help grant some relief in these stressful times.”

That investors were willing to front the capital for Citizen Vinyl is indicative of vinyl’s ever-growing appeal and popularity, especially in the U.S. About ten days ago, we reported that vinyl had thrived through this year’s first half despite the COVID-19 pandemic, including both its lockdown measures and economic impact. As of July 2nd, total vinyl sales had hiked by more than 11 percent, from 2019’s initial six months, expanding upon 14 consecutive years of growth.

Photo Credit: Agnieszka Kowalczyk

Bandcamp sales quietly topped $20 million last month as the site continues to grow during the pandemic, according to a recent Financial Times report.

The online music retail platform sells .mp3 downloads, vinyl records, CDs, cassettes, and even merchandise. Bandcamp only collects a 15% revenue share from all its sales – that’s less than the industry-standard 30% model. Bandcamp’s lower cut has made it a longtime popular destination for indie artists, many of whom collect micro-pennies from platforms like Spotify.

Over 30 days to July 10th, artists sold $20 million worth of products through Bandcamp sales, according to details published by the Financial Times. That’s a marginal amount compared to massive streaming platforms, though it works for the right indie artist. The Oakland-based company is focused on maintaining its direct-sale approach despite a surge in subscription-based alternatives, and surprisingly, Bandcamp is maintaining its niche.

The company also made waves with its commitment to artists during Juneteenth and other days. In a string of recent sales days, Bandcamp waived its customary 15% share in favor of donating to support the NAACP. The organization did that every Friday from June 19th until July 3rd. Bandcamp’s commitment to artists and social justice causes is undoubtedly helping to build the brand, especially as artists try to survive without touring.

Bandcamp was founded in 2007 by Shawn Grunberger and Ethan Diamond. For a big chunk of its life, it was discarded as a place for indie artists to upload their game scores. But Bandcamp’s model has been slowly growing, despite searing gains by Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, and other streaming giants.  Now, the question is whether fans (and artists) continue to draw interest alongside streaming’s continued surge.

Many artists who hate the algorithmic approach of recommending music prefer Bandcamp’s model of discovery.

The site mostly skips algorithms and shuttles fans to explore the music of an artist first and foremost, before expanding into the genre. According to the Financial Times report, artists who join the site are seeing their revenues double every year afterward. (Warning: paywalled article.)

One artist pointed to the extreme challenges artists face these days, especially with touring essentially locked down.

“The current situation has posed serious questions for the whole industry, not just independent labels and artists,” Nick Siddall told FT. “But it has been a bit of a leveler, in that every artist now has the same limitations. People want content now more than ever.”

During the height of the pandemic, many indie artists turned to stream on sites like Twitch. Now, Instagram and Facebook have made it easier for those artists to reach (and get paid) by their fans. In that shifting terrain, Bandcamp is actually becoming a growing place to buy official merchandise from artists, though commerce plays by giants like Instagram could challenge that stronghold in the coming years.

Drift Records’ Rupert Morrison – with help from his daughter – prepares online orders received on June 20th.

Though the first of three planned Record Store Day 2020 legs won’t arrive for two months yet, UK-based music retailers enjoyed more than $1.24 million (£1 million) in one-day sales on Saturday, June 20th.

The substantial sum derived from the Love Record Stores event, during which fans were encouraged to purchase limited-edition (and vinyl-exclusive) albums from their favorite British music retailers. Importantly, June 20th was the original date of Record Store Day 2020, which organizers have now split into three weekends (across August, September, and October).

As part of the Love Record Stores initiative, labels and artists (including Elton John, Tom Walker, and The Rolling Stones, among others) shipped approximately 50,000 vinyl units, encompassing 83 new and reissued records, to retailers ahead of June 20th.

Participating retailers indicated that many of the products sold out less than one hour after becoming available for purchase. More broadly, Love Record Stores has generated considerable buzz on social media since launching in April, and fan interest was undoubtedly bolstered by the in-store performances livestreamed by prominent artists and DJs.

Some of the event’s over $1.24 million in revenue benefited the Music Venue Trust (MVT), which previously rallied for financial aid on behalf of 556 British music venues that are facing dire financial straits – and a very real chance of permanently closing – due to the COVID-19 crisis.

Addressing the success of Love Record Stores, Jason Rackham, managing director of UK indie music brand [PIAS], said:

“We had really high hopes for our #loverecordstores event, but things exceeded even our most ambitious expectations. The feedback we’ve had from participating record stores has been phenomenal with reports of some doing a month’s business in less than an hour on Saturday. We have been stunned by the generosity and commitment of artists and the wider music community, which was hugely enjoyed by music fans this weekend.”

The first Saturday of Record Store Day 2020 is set for August 29th, with the latter two portions of the function slated for September 26th and October 24th.

Since being unveiled by RSD higher-ups in April, this three-weekend plan has received a mixed response from fans.

Record Mart prior to closing in the Times Square subway station, NYC (photo: Record Mart)

Manhattan’s oldest record store, Record Mart, is permanently closing its doors.

Record Mart recently confirmed the unfortunate news on Facebook, writing: “Sad to say it is the end of era!!”

Outside of that brief statement, the famed Times Square subway station record shop hasn’t addressed its closure on the internet. Instead, the store taped a typed message on its entrance (penned by Lou Moskowitz, son of the brand’s co-founder).

Citing the pandemic as the chief cause of his store’s closure, Moskowitz thanked customers for their support and signaled that his brand “will be moving into the vintage audio business.”

Founded by Jesse Moskowitz and Bob Stack in 1958, Record Mart quickly emerged as one of New York’s foremost distributors of Latin music. Following nine years of suspended operations (between 1998 and 2007) as the Times Square subway station was renovated, Record Mart reopened and achieved relative success.

Unfortunately, New York City’s total number of subway riders fell dramatically amid the early portion of the coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis and its associated lockdown measures. Though “The Big Apple” is seeing commuters return to the subway, the daily passenger total remains dramatically lower than it was before the novel coronavirus pandemic’s domestic onset.

Making matters worse for New York City companies, an estimated 450 businesses were vandalized and/or looted by violent elements of the protests that emerged in the wake of George Floyd’s tragic passing.

New York has reported the most COVID-19 cases of any U.S. state, with about 385,000 of its residents having been diagnosed thus far. Roughly 211,000 of these cases are attributable to New York City, as are approximately 17,400 of the state’s nearly 25,000 deaths.

Late last month, Digital Music News was first to report that the fiscal impact of the coronavirus had forced record stores Steady Sounds and Dead Media to shut down.

Photo Credit: Kevin laminto

Although states across America are reopening their economies following lockdown measures stemming from the coronavirus crisis, many independent record stores are being forced to permanently close their doors.

It’s difficult to pinpoint the precise depth of the troubling trend, but there’s no denying that indie record stores have been hit especially hard by the COVID-19 pandemic. In early April, Digital Music News was first to report that Taylor Swift had stepped in to keep Nashville’s Grimey’s New & Preloved Music afloat as it struggled to make ends meet.

Similarly, Amoeba Music launched a GoFundMe campaign in a desperate bid to continue operating. To date, more than 6,300 supporters have donated a total of over $274,000 to the cause – less than the initiative’s $400,000 goal, but enough, one would assume, to tide Amoeba over until it reestablishes its revenue stream.

Other record shops haven’t been as fortunate, however. Dave Voorhees, founder and owner of Seattle’s Bop Street Records, revealed late last month that his store will shut down by the end of June. Voorhees opened his first retail location in 1979 and has operated the Ballard, Seattle, storefront since 1984.

Now, the iconic brand is joined by Richmond, Virginia’s Steady Sounds and Minneapolis, Minnesota’s Dead Media.

Dead Media execs took to Instagram to announce their business’s closure, stating: “We really had a great run selling amazing music from all over the world, especially music from our community…We would like to thank everyone who spent their time with us.”

Steady Sounds officials followed suit, writing: “We’re transitioning to on-line sales on Discogs and selling from Instagram for the foreseeable future…Thanks for a fantastic 10 years!”

Record Store Day 2020 organizers put their much-anticipated celebration of vinyl records and stores on ice due to the novel coronavirus outbreak, but fans will still have a chance to enjoy the event.

In the UK, Record Store Day 2020 is set to occur on three Saturdays, each spaced one month apart, beginning on August 29th.

(photo: Clay Banks)

As part of its plan to gradually lift COVID-19 restrictions, California is allowing record stores to reopen. However, government officials have laid out bolstered sanitization protocols and health-oriented guidelines for business owners, their employees, and customers.

Business owners are directed to these measures through California’s “Resilience Roadmap” webpage.

Per the entry, the state has entered Stage 2 of the roadmap, which calls for the measured reopening of “retail, manufacturing, and logistics” businesses, before schools, offices, and child-care facilities take steps to resume normal operations. (Significantly, Stage 3 of the roadmap centers on the reopening of “higher-risk workplaces,” while Stage 4, labeled “End of Stay at Home Order,” revolves around reopening “areas of highest risk: e.g. Concerts, conventions, sports arenas.”)

The State of California has broken down its Stage 2 reopening and operational recommendations by professional sphere, and record store owners’ responsibilities are highlighted within the retail-sector section. The state’s “Industry Guidance” document requests that businesses craft a “written, worksite-specific COVID-19 prevention plan,” besides educating employees on the plan’s contents and the nature of COVID-19.

After emphasizing the importance of already-established guidelines (frequent handwashing, distancing, facial covers, etc.), the text relays the specific steps that retail-business owners (and record stores’ professionals) will need to take in terms of protecting employees.

Workers must be tested via a “temperature and/or symptom screening” at the start of every shift, and “employers should provide and ensure workers use all required protective equipment.”

Finally, the “Industry Guidance” resource for retail encourages business owners to stock their stores with hand sanitizer and antibacterial wipe stations, regularly disinfect commonly touched/shared surfaces, and even stagger employee breaks to minimize contact.

Despite the far-reaching nature of the preventative guidelines, it goes without saying that many record store owners are eager to reopen their doors, just as many customers are eager to patronize their favorite businesses once again.

Late last month, Digital Music News was first to report that Seattle’s famed Bop Street Records had been forced to permanently close. Meanwhile, California favorite Amoeba Music is on the brink, and currently raising money on GoFundMe to survive. Additionally, Record Store Day UK organizers have pushed their much-anticipated celebration back to fall and split it into three functions, each separated by one month.