He Said It, He Did It
Sam Sniderman, the founder of Sam The Record Man, has died at the age of 92.
The Sam The Record Man chain was founded in 1937 and had become Canada’s largest chain of record stores by 1982, which enabled the chain to be a major promoter of Canadian music.
In 1961, their flagship store at 347 Yonge Street in Toronto opened and had become a landmark due to its pair of rotating neon signs, which were prominently featured in film and television including Marvel’s “The Incredible Hulk” and one of my favorite music videos, Alphaville’s “Big In Japan”.
Unfortunately, the chain and flagship store closed by mid 2007 due to competition and advancements in music distribution technology. But Sam The Record Man will be remembered for his contributions to the Canadian music industry, including the independent scene, which flourished in the 80’s and 90’s because of his support.
Sam The Record Man RIP 1920-2012
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A Vinyl Comeback ?
It appears that more and more consumers are choosing vinyl over compact disc when if comes to purchasing physical copies of their music.
According to Soundscan, Americans had purchased just over 330 million vinyl albums last year and over 76 thousand new record albums were released in the United States that year.
Apparently many audiophiles are purchasing mp3s for their portable players and purchasing vinyl for their home stereos instead of compact discs because they believe vinyl has a richer sound. And although many bloggers have claimed that this opinion was subjective, the sales of vinyl records continue to rise.
Regardless of the technological debate, consumers have not dropped vinyl as a physical format like the magnetic tape formats (8 track/cassette tape). And compact disc sales are dropping so dramatically in the United States that many major retailers have either reduced or eliminated the retail space they had dedicated to the format.
On the other hand, many online retailers have created vinyl stores to fulfill the demand, including Amazon.ca
in Canada, and Amazon.com
, CD Universe
, DeepDiscounts.com & JR.com
in the United States.
Yes, compact disc sales were still substantial at $225.5 Million dollars in the United States in 2011. But sales have slipped by 5.7% from 2010 whilst sales of LPs, digital singles and digital albums have grown.
LPs will not likely not surpass compact discs in sales anytime soon. But it obviously remains a niche product that is fashionable in certain circles, who also prefer the artwork found on LPs and 45s.
Compact disc inserts may be adequate to some but I personally prefer framing a LP for display if I am unable to find a poster of an album cover’s artwork. And I doubt that I am alone in finding the LP album cover more aesthetically appealing.
Many home audio systems and compact stereo units still include turntables but record players are available as separate components in Canada from Amazon.ca, and Sony.ca
.
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TVO Documentary on Record Collectors
Just thought I’d bump an interesting documentary on record collectors called “Vinyl“, which will air tonight on TVO at 9 PM Eastern and tomorrow at 12 AM Eastern.
It is also available for viewing online by Canadians via the TVO web site.
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I Need That Record
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I just rented this documentary on Netflix and I thought i’d bump it on this blog.
Basically it’s about the rise and fall of record stores in the United States, which was unfortunately mirrored here in Canada. The record store is a rarity now outside of the major cities of Canada because of the conveniences of the internet but vinyl has retained a charm and sound that people still enjoy to this day. Additional information on this film can be found on the film’s official site. |
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