Vinyl Outsells CDs in the United States
NPR has just reported that vinyl records have outsold CDs for the first time since 1987 ; 41 million units sold in 2022 compared to 33 million CDs, regardless of the vinyl shortage that occurred that year.
Click here to read the article.
A very quiet month but…
As you can see there wasn’t much to talk about this month.
The concerts and record conventions are back on, so it should pick up in fall:
- The Bowmanville CD and Record Show is scheduled for Sunday, September 11th at the Bowmanville Memorial Park Club House from 10am-4pm with free admission whilst the Newmarket Record Show will be occurring an hour or so drive away on the same day at the Royal Canadian Legion from 10am-3pm. (Road trip?)
- There will be a Giant Record & CD Garage Sale at 90 Vanzant Court in Whitchurch-Stouffville from 10am to 4 pm on Saturday, September 17th. This appears to be a private residence so parking could be limited.
- The Guelph Record Show will be happening the following Sunday, September 18th at the Royal Canadian Legion from 10:30am-4pm and tickets are $20 for early access and $5 for general admission.
- The Montreal Record Show will occur the Sunday after that, on the 24th of September at Eglise Catholique Saint-Denis from 10am to 4pm, with free admission. This church if located next to the North entrance of the Laurier Metro station, I believe facing the entrance itself.
- The Toronto Downtown Record Show will be at 958 Broadview Ave, East York from 10am to Noon ($25/early admission) and Noon to 3pm ($5/general admission) on Sunday, September 25th. Parking will be limited but the event is less than a three minute bus ride from the Broadview TTC Metro Station to the corner of Broadview and Chester Hill Rd (Stop ID: 651), or ten minute walk from said station.
- The Hamilton Record Show is also happening on Sunday, the 25th of September from 10:30am to 4pm at Bridgeworks, which is an hour’s drive away from the Toronto event. The venue is also a ten minute walk from the West Harbour GO station or 6 minute walk from Bus Stop 2977 at the corner of Cannon and Hess. And he admission fees for this convention is $20 for early admission and $5 for general admission.
- The first convention of October will occur on the Sunday, the 2nd in Windsor at the Royal Canadian Legion on Wyandotte St E at 10am to 4pm. Admission will be $3 and the venue from this event is near bus stop numbers 1303 and 1304.
- Another Bowmanville CD and Record Show is scheduled for Sunday, October 16th at the Bowmanville Memorial Park Club House from 10am-4pm with free admission whilst the Barrie Vinyl Record & Collectibles Show will be happening an hour and a half drive away on the same day at the Allandale Recreation Center from 10am-3pm with $4 admission. (Road trip?)
- The London Record Show will be occurring the following Sunday, October 23rd at Centennial Hall from 11am to 5pm, with a $5 admission fee. Parking is available onsite for a fee and the nearest bus stops are less than a three minute walk away at London City Hall (bus stop numbers 535 and 1936).
- The Calgary Music Collectors Show, will be on at the Acadia Recreation Centre Curling Hall on Sunday, October 23rd from 9:30am-11am ($10/early admission) and 11am-4pm ($5/general admission). The bus stop numbers closest to the venue are 6414 and 6447.
- The Oshawa CD/Record Show end the scheduled shows for October at the Royal Canadian Legion from 10am to 4pm on Sunday, the 30th. Admission will be $3, with parking on-site, and the nearest bus stops are numbers 665 and 670.
- The St. Catharines Record Show originally scheduled for the 8th of November was unfortunately cancelled so the first record convention of that month in Ontario will be the Burlington Record Show at the Burlington Senior Center in Central Park, from 10:30am to 4pm on Sunday, the 13th. Admission will be $3 and the nearest bus stop number are 38, 40, 216 and 815, the latter being the closest. And this event occurs on the same day of November’s Bowmanville CD and Record Show at the Bowmanville Memorial Park Club House, which is of course free, open from 10am to 4pm and only a hour and a half drive away from the previously mentioned event. (Road trip?)
- Also the 13th of November, the Record Fair will be hosted at the St.John’s Farmer Market in St.John’s, Newfoundland from 10am to 4 pm. And the nearest bus stop to the venue is #245.
- The December 11th Bowmanville CD and Record Show is apparently the last show of the Fall season and year, at the same times and venue as the previous shows. But this may change at any time so I encourage you to to visit Vibrations.ca for updated record convention information. And please be aware that masks and social distancing may be encouraged at these events, as well as the use of cash for purchases.
I will try to update this page. But if you know of any other event, please post it on my Facebook group. Thank you.
Jack White Appeals To The Labels
In 2021, vinyl sale revenue grew by 61% in the states to a Billion Dollars according to the Recording Industry Association of America. But the major labels don’t have their own pressing plants, regardless of vinyl’s ever growing popularity. And unfortunately album pressings are delayed here in Canada as well.
Hopefully there won’t be any delays for Record Store Day on April 24th.
Canadian ’80s Rock Classics Re-Issued
Platinum Blonde’s quadruple platinum certified “Alien Shores” album and subsequent platinum certified release, “Contact“, will be re-released on vinyl on August 14th, 2020.
“Alien Shores” was one of my very favourite Canadian rock albums from the ’80s, along with “Standing In The Dark“, the band’s double platinum debut LP (which was re-issued in mid-2018).
This Eddy Offord and Mark Holmes production features the platinum-selling single “Crying Over You” and other singles “Situation Critical”, “Somebody Somewhere” and “Hungry Eyes”, whose music videos are available on the band’s Official Youtube Channel.
Another prominent album of the period, Luba’s “Secrets and Sins“, has also just been issued on iTunes and Google Play.
Although this 1984 Daniel Lanois production featured hits “Let It Go”, “Everytime I See Your Picture”, “Storm Before Calm” and the title track, it only had a limited release on compact disc.
Her label at the time preferred releasing a now out of print best-of compilation entitled “Over 60 Minutes With” in 1987, which was excellent. But now fans will be able to download this album, her first full-length release.
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.
Record Shows This Weekend
There will be two record show events this Sunday, in two different provinces:
The St. Catharines Record Show will be held at the Holiday Inn Parkway Convention Centre at 327 Ontario St. in St. Catharines, Ontario from 10:30 am to 4 pm. General admission for this event will be $4 or $25 for early entry at 9 am.
The RE
Enjoy.