Photo Credit: Agnieszka Kowalczyk Bandcamp sales top $20 million as the site flourishes during the pandemic. That’s mostly thanks to its commitment to supporting its artists. 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 […]
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 […]
Record Mart owner Jesse Moskowitz. 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, […]
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 […]
(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 businessowners, their employees, and customers. Businessowners are directed to these measures through California’s “Resilience Roadmap” webpage. Per the entry, the state has […]
Bleak news from Seattle’s Bop Street Records, which is now closing its doors because of COVID-19 shutdowns. The Los Angeles Lakers, a storied basketball franchise worth more than $4.4 billion, recently scored a $4.6 million ‘small business’ Paycheck Protection Loan from the federal government. Millions were also given to Tender Greens, Shake Shack, and even […]
After hiring approximately 175,000 new workers to handle the many orders being placed by self-quarantining customers, Amazon has announced that it will continue fulfilling nonessential item purchases this week. About one month ago, Digital Music News was the first to report that Amazon had suspended warehouse shipments and the distribution of nonessential goods, including vinyl […]
In 2019, U.S. vinyl record sales grew by nearly 20 percent to over $500 million, marking the 14th consecutive year in which the format’s domestic commercial performance has improved. Now, COVID-19 is putting that progress on pause, though Qrates is developing smart manufacturing and distribution workarounds to keep growing the format. The medium that was previously thought […]
(photo: Luana De Marco) Record Store Day 2020 has been postponed until June, but that isn’t stopping vinyl fans from supporting independent record stores. Before the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic forced a change of plans, Record Store Day 2020 was slated to take place this Saturday, April 18th. To celebrate the occasion and support independent record […]
A London record store (photo: Clem Onojeghuo) To more quickly and effectively distribute food and medical supplies, Amazon has temporarily stopped mass-ordering CDs and vinyl records. The purchasing pause is expected to last until at least April 5th, at which time Amazon’s processing capacity—and the status of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic—will be evaluated. In the […]