In Port Perry, Ontario This Weekend?
You might like to stop by at the Port Perry Vinyl Record & Collectibles Show on Sunday, the 21st at Latcham Hall (121 Queen Street) from 10 am to 3 pm ; Admission will be $4.
Record Shows This Weekend
Are you going to be in St. Catharines, Ontario or St. John’s, Newfoundland on Sunday, June the 2nd, 2019? Then you might like to pop in the local record shows that are happening in these cities.
Both events will be occurring at their respectful Holiday Inns :
St. Catharines Record Show / Holiday Inn, 327 Ontario St. / 10:30am-4pm / $4 Admission
Record Fair / Holiday Inn, 180 Portugal Cove Road / 10am-4pm / $2 Admission
Record Store Day 2019
It’s International Record Store Day! Click here for a list of participating retailers in your community or click here for a list of releases for Canada.
Great News From RIAA
The Recording Industry Association of America has compiled its data for 2017 and sales are up by 16.5%, driven by the heightened sale of vinyl records, music downloads and streaming service subscriptions.
The actual report can be found here (in PDF) and additional commentary on this growth in sales can be found on Medium.
Why is Vinyl So Expensive?
I just ran into a Toronto Star article that I pretty much agree with.
Although I love the depth of analog, I now purchase the rare long play records to mount them on my walls as art and/or to find tracks that have not yet been released digitally online. And I would never think of replacing my CD collection with vinyl now because they’re way too expensive.
Yes, I can find popular and new releases (or new re-releases) for around $26 online. But many are well over $40 and some DVD-audio or Blu-Ray audio titles are cheaper.
I may indulge with a few of my very favourite albums and might buy LPs that include downloads but i’m happy with my collection for the moment.
Canada Post & Vinyl LPs
It appears that Canada Post may have decided to classify record LPs as fragile items, in essence removing their liability as per their section 12.1.2 (c) of their General Terms and Conditions :
“Canada Post shall have no liability for damage of shipments containing Fragile Items. Fragile Items include but are not limited to ceramic, glass, porcelain, mirrors, crystal, pottery, china, perishable items or items requiring refrigeration or temperature-controlled transportation.”
I have personally never received broken LPs by mail, having last received a rape LP in the summer. But this causes me to be a bit nervous, although i’m sure most retailers will do their best to package vinyl correctly.
I guess I would suggest that you choose a courier other than Canada Post/Xpresspost or Purolator when shipping rare items that are fragile. The later also has a policy removing liability on fragile items and “Collectors’ items”.
Federal Express will insure collectible items up to $100 according to their policies (pdf) and UPS will require prior approval on these items. But shipments originating from the United States may have better coverage through these services so you might want to investigate your options when you order vinyl records and collectibles from abroad.