It’s not final as vinyl leads the record shop fightback

At some point the way we listened to music changed.

For decades listening to music had a ritualistic quality to it, much of it revolving around the classic vinyl format.

It is a product which requires physical interaction – with the artwork, the sleeve, the smell, the distinctive warm crackle it made, the need to turn it over halfway through. All these factors demanded your complete attention.

The most crucial part of the process of being a music fan was the visit to the record shop. Countless hours were spent browsing the stacks, searching for new sounds and discovering new artists.

The shift to CDs saw vinyl records gradually becoming less prevalent, but the stores adapted and thrived.

The digital revolution, however, seems to have altered that process and this culture forever. A huge amount of music is now listened to over the internet, meaning the physical product itself has found itself sold increasingly over the web.

The likes of Amazon and Play take a sizeable part of the retail share when it comes to music being sold as people increasingly listen to their music on the computers, MP3 players and phones.

The victim of the eradication of this culture has been the record shop, with independent record shops becoming increasingly scarce.

It’s not just the independent retailers who have suffered. High Street giants such as Zavvi, Virgin and Woolworths – places I have bought literally hundreds of albums from over the years – all fell victim to the recession. HMV, for so long the dominant force when it came to music retail, now predominantly sells DVDs and Blu Ray, with just a tiny corner of their stores selling music.

The changing retail landscape has inevitably meant that music has had to change too. Increasingly, bands and artists have chosen to release their music online, with some bands even going so far as to suggest that the album format was dead.

However, five years ago a fightback began.

In 2007 more than 700 independent stores in the USA decided to create Record Store Day, a celebration and affirmation of the unique culture of the record store. Retailers left standing in the UK quickly followed suit.

The idea is simple – to create a day that all of the independently owned record stores come together with artists to celebrate the art of music.

Special rare vinyl releases are sold on that day alongside other promotional products, made exclusively for the day and hundreds of artists across the globe make special appearances and performances.The event is proving massively popular.

Ian De-Whytell, owner of Crash Records in Leeds last year came to open up on Record Store Day to find a hundred-strong queue of people waiting. The year before he had a man who had queued since 10.30pm the previous evening to ensure he was able to get hold of a rare Record Store Day-only Blur release, Fool’s Day.

“By far it is the busiest day of the year for us.,” he says. “In terms of limited edition releases, we have got hundreds. There is something like 400 different records coming out. We have got some fantastic picture discs and coloured vinyl, all sorts of things.

“People love music and this is reflected in the passion that goes into making it and buying it.”

Record Store Day’s popularity has coincided with an unlikely comeback for the vinyl format. Sales of vinyl records surged 40 per cent last year, with artists increasingly returning to the format.

Alex Fox, owner of Attic Records in York opened his shop three years ago and stocks exclusively vinyl.

“Fans like to have a physical interaction with the records they listen to. I think the resurgence may be tied in to a nostalgia and the love of things vintage. Spending time on an afternoon going round a record shop is very comforting to people.”

“It is amazing really,” says De-Whytell. “I was looking at our figures and we are up sales-wise about 20 per cent year-on-year. This comes against a terrible economic climate and it is all down to vinyl.

“It has picked back up again and has almost come full circle.”

Support your local independent music store

From global superstars to cutting edge new acts, Record Store Day this weekend sees hundreds of limited releases.

Coldplay will put out just 500 copies a new seven inch vinyl Up with the Birds while hotly-tipped West Yorkshire acts Bearfoot Beware and Moody Gowns will release a split single via their websites.

Other independent shops participating include: Relics, Leeds; Jumbo Records, Leeds; Folk Devils, Whitby; Record Revivals, Scarborough; GJM Music, Hull; Record Collector, Sheffield; Muse Music, Hebden Bridge; Vinyl Tap, Huddersfield; and Pomp and Circumstance, Harrogate.