“Independent record stores are like a casino where you put down your money and you always win. How amazing to discover gems you didn’t know about, to meet someone more passionate than you are, and to feel at home in a place you may never have been to before. I’m convinced they will never lose their place – Long may they rule.” K T Tunstall
Back in my university days I dabbled as a DJ. The two turntables and a box full of vinyl kind of DJ. I played plenty of student parties and even a few paid gigs but in reality it was never much more than a hobby that paid for itself.
The paying for itself part was important.
Getting my hands on the latest tunes (pre iTunes) meant hours spent in backstreet record stores, flicking through 12″ sleeves and then lugging my new finds home before doing it all again a few days later. I must have spent a quarter of my student loan on vinyl, not to mention ditching a quarter of my lectures to hang out in record stores.
A good record store was the place to hang out, meet people and hear the latest and greatest music – a focal point for a community and a mecca for music lovers.
I haven’t spun a record in years, but if my 19 year old self were to start again today, it would be with downloads and software rather than vinyl and turntables. Battered by downloads and supermarket CDs there are now fewer than 300 indie record stores in the UK – down by more than half in just five years. The US has around 700.
Which, to my mind at least, is a bit of shame.
But there are some signs of life in the indie music retail business. Vinyl is seeing something of a minor renaissance as CD sales decline and innovative retailers are coming up with new ways to pull in the customers.
And the industry is starting to pull together too.
Supported by the Entertainment Retailers Association (ERA), Indierecordshop.org hopes to raise the profile of the few remaining UK indie retailers, help people find their local store and showcase community-style events like in-store gigs. Indie stores are getting a leg up on both sides of the pond too with initiatives like the annual Record Store Day (April 17th).
Which are great ideas but arguably better designed to stop the slide than reinvigorate an industry and encourage new blood to enter the fray.
If it is still possible for independent music retailers to grow a successful business then we need to look at the ones that are not only surviving but thriving, for inspiration.
Playing to Their Strengths
If new starts are to grow successful businesses, it will be by playing to their strengths – the personality, sense of community and knowledgeable experts that are difficult (although not impossible) to replicate online or in cookie-cutter chains.
Stephen Godfroy, director of successful London record store Rough Trade, explained his take to the BBC following the launch of their newest 5,000 sq ft store:
“High street music shops are horrible – homogenised and impersonal places. At Rough Trade you get personal retail, expert recommendations, an enjoyable experience.
“In the chains, price is be-all and end all, because they’re trying to compete with the internet. But they don’t have the convenience of the internet or the personality of independent shops.
There’s a renaissance in music retail in side streets, while it’s dying a death on the high street.”
Rough Trade, of course, offers more than you might expect from a traditional record shop: it has a café, internet access and a permanent stage for free gigs. “Every record has a write up, with factual information and recommendations. We have screen printing and podcast workshops. It’s a wider celebration of music.”
Along the same lines, the former owner of Beanos, Europe’s largest second-hand record business, David Lashmar has some advice for anyone considering a move into music retail.
“There is a market, very definitely, on vinyl,” he says. “I think your digital formats are gone and CDs will make a poor man of you. But specialise and get it very finely honed. If you’re just going to do northern soul, do northern soul – don’t get tempted into doing punk or reggae.
Become an expert. But you’ve got to go online to do it, you’ve got to sell online – you’ll never get enough people through your door.”
Go Live and Build a Community
So expertise and community are important but they’re not the preserve of physical stores – communities exist online too and expert recommendations are frequently replaced by amateur reviews and recommendations from friends.
So what can’t the web do that indie stores can?
Well, in Spin magazine’s countdown of the 15 best indie record stores in America, there are a few clear themes: eclectic selections, expert staff, accidental finds and most interestingly the ability to act as the centre of the local music scene.
Take some of these reviews for example:
“As much as some record stores help foster their town’s music community, none has done so as prominently as Wuxtry in Athens, Georgia, which, if you believe the stories, has employed members of every prominent local band since the scene exploded in the ’80s.”
And:
“In a town with a music scene as established as Seattle’s, Sonic Boom is a welcoming hub for all the “types” floating around. Its Ballard flagship and smaller Capitol Hill location (the Fremont branch closed in February of last year) have employed half the music-industry folks in the city at one point or another, and its consistently great in-store performances often turn into impromptu family reunions.”
And one fan’s review in the list:
“There’s a lack of venues in San Francisco to sustain a music scene, so Aquarius is kind of an establishing factor; it really helps hold the community together.”
That’s something that the web just can’t compete with – record store as community hub. As local hangout. As live music venue. Even record store as record label.
So, should anyone start an indie record store? Of course they should, when the market’s going left sometimes it’s worth taking a punt and going right.
But just like any niche retailer, a new startup will need to both embrace the internet
- for sales and
- to start building a community via social media
and focus on where a physical store can add real value
- expert staff willing to share their knowledge
- atmosphere – a place to hang out – and personality
- an eclectic mix with hidden gems waiting to be found
- regular live events from gigs to podcasting workshops
- maybe even branch out into promotion, management or even an in-house record label
More than anything, it needs to be the epicentre of everything music in your town.
What are your thoughts? Do you have a favourite record store or niche retailer? What makes that experience better than buying online?
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