Music Industry – Spring Stall Expected
The year started off with a fire that threatens the production of vinyl records worldwide. And now meet and greets, fan gatherings, record conventions and concerts in Canada and the United States may be cancelled or delayed because of concerns over the COVID-19 virus.
Events that were scheduled for this spring have already been pushed back, including several tours, sports championships and film releases. But some events, like the upcoming Record Store Day events in Canada on April 18th, 2020 and Ottawa Bluesfest appear to be on schedule, as are most of the summer music festivals throughout Canada.
If you were planning on attending an event that was scheduled in the spring and summer of 2020 you should probably keep an eye out for updates on their official site and social media accounts.
Specific precautions may be taken at certain upcoming events and trip cancellation insurance is now recommended if you are travelling to an event, with clarification from your provider in regards to coverage in case an event is cancelled due to the COVID-19 virus.
UPDATE: The Juno Awards have been cancelled.
Fire Threatens Vinyl Supply
A major American lacquer disc provider was lost to fire on January 7th, 2020, threatening the world’s supply of vinyl records.
Apollo Masters was one of two facilities that produced acetate discs in the world, the other being in Japan. But experts from the record pressing industry have told Billboard that the real effects of this loss won’t be known for some time, although a “major hindrance” is predicted due to the Japanese producer’s current backlog.
Vinyl record sales had recently surged worldwide so some members of the industry are worried that this may cause the sales to drop, as the labels struggle to manufacture and release their recordings.
In the United States alone, sales of LPs and EPs had grown by 7.9% to US$419.2 million in 2018 according to the Recording Industry Association of America. And here in Canada, we saw a 3.1% increase in sales in 2019, to 973,891 vinyl albums sold according to Nielsen.
There should probably be no delays for most Record Store Day releases this April 18th. But next year’s selections could be slim, unfortunately.
Superbowl Discounts
It looks like Amazon Canada is discounting quite a few televisions and soundbars for Superbowl 2020, which will air on the second of February.
Not an American football fan but I’m going to keep an eye out for some deals, including at bestbuy.ca and Newegg Canada.
Brr…
I just thought you’d like to know that Canada Post warns people of service disruptions via their official site: Click here for this information.
Stay Warm.
It’s Boxing Day Time
Boxing Day deals have already begun at Canadian retailers like 123ink.ca, Amazon Canada, Best Buy Canada, Canada Computers, chapters.indigo.ca, Living.ca, Microsoft Canada
, Newegg Canada
, Prime Cables Canada, Sonos Canada, Staples Canada and thesource.ca. But you’ll need to wait until Boxing Day itself for deep discounts at Amazon U.k and Sheet Music Plus if you were planning on importing music, sheet music, DVDs and Blu-rays from “across the pond”, although you could still browse those shops to see if they have discounts on certain products today.
Year-end deals can also be found in the United States at Amazon.com and Barnes and Noble, the later primarily in their CD & Vinyl and Movies & TV departments. And if you’re looking for collectibles, like figurines and other memorabilia, Entertainment Earth is having an After Christmas Sale.
Happy shopping.
It’s Black Friday
The day has come and I thought I’d discuss my go-to places for certain goods in this entry, beyond the miscellaneous, general goods sites like Amazon.ca, Bestbuy.ca and Newegg Canada.
There’s always an opportunity to do some comparison shopping when it comes to certain goods today and through the weekend into Cyber Monday, so I tend to visit multiple stores to find the best deals, including some American and European retailers, although you need to account for the exchange rates and possible shipping and customs fees for the later if it’s valued at over $20 Canadian.
I’ve personally saved on Vinyl Records, Blu-rays, DVDs, compact discs, sheet music and books ordered from American retailers Amazon.com, Alibris, ArkivMusic
, Barnes & Noble
and Sheet Music Plus and European retailers Amazon U.k, Amazon France and Alibris U.k.
so you might want to shop around; Sheet Music Plus is currently offering 15% off orders over US$50 and 20% off orders over $100 whilst Barnes & Noble is offering 10% Off Your Online Order until December 1st with the BLKFRI coupon code.
If you’re looking for musical instruments and accessories you might want to browse the Long & Mcquade site or pop on by one of their local Canadian stores. And you can also do some comparison shopping on American sites like GuitarCenter.com, Musician’s Friend and Woodwind and Brasswind
, who also ship to Canada.
All three of these American retailers are offering discounts; Guitar Center is offering a 15% discount on orders over US$199 today using code FRIDAY15 and on Cyber Monday using discount code CYBER15. Musician’s Friend is offering 10% off orders US$49+ and 15% off orders US$99+ with coupon code BLACKFRI19 until November 20th. And Woodwind and Brasswind is offering a 20% discount on purchases over US$99 with coupon code BF2019.
If you’re looking for miscellaneous cables, television mounts, adapters and audio accessories, you might want to browse primecables.ca for both deals on these products and a 20% discount using coupon code BF2019, which will be valid until 11:59 pm tonight (11/29) on this site and the other Shoppers+ sites (123ink.ca and living.ca). And Sonos Canada is currently discounting their home theatre speakers by 20% so you might want to check them out.
In regards to memorabilia, you could drop by at your local Indigo store for some in-store discounts on Lego, DC and Marvel merchandise and possibly visit them online for discounts on some toys. But U.S based EntertainmentEarth.com
is having major discounts this weekend and Diecast Model Warehouse is offering a 10% discount on their models with coupon code CYBERMONDAY. And deals can also be had at Toys-R-Us Canada (from 15% to 60% off) and samkoandmikotoywarehouse.com (25% with coupon code: thebigsave25).
You might also consider visiting your local record stores, some of which will also open early today to offer rare, exclusive and discounted compacts discs, vinyl records, DVDs, Blu-rays and music memorabilia in celebration of the Black Friday edition of Record Store Day.
Details on what is being made available and what stores are participating can be found on the official Record Store Day Canada web site, by clicking here.
Hope this information helps you find some good deals today. And if I think of anything else today, I’ll update this entry.
Enjoy.