THE NEW MUSICAL BOX

So, Where Is All This Hot New Music? (Part 2 of 3)

Record Shops

Welcome back!

Last time (13th October), I looked at one of the ways in which, years gone by, we could find out about all the latest musical releases - the range of weekly papers colloquially knows as "the inkies". Today, their number has declined dramatically and we only really have The New Musical Express left of those we enjoyed in the 70s. That august paper has recently celebrated its 60th anniversary and, although print sales are declining, it has a powerful on-line presence. 

But the music press of yore had one big-downfall: it spent its time trying to describe the sounds, the vibes - the feelings - of pieces of music be it the latest single or the hottest new album but, readers had to imagine what that experience might be like.

Small Town Stores

Woolworths Record Counter - 1950s

The solution was your friendly neighbourhood record shop, a facility that most towns and cities had in abundance during the second half of the last century. The shops were a mixed bunch: some highly specialised and happening, run by devoted experts, others more generalised and chart-focused - and of course, the charts counted for so much more than they do today. And in addition to that, there were the hybrid stores, those that sold instruments alongside sheet music and records plus, the High Street chains such as Boots, Rumbelows, John Menzies and, primarily, Woolworths. Indeed, Woolworths probably sold more singles than all the other major outlets put together. The net result was that even the most modestly sized of towns had multiple outlets where fans could listen to music and buy their records of choice.

The Yardbirds in a London Record Store 1960s

My home town of Woking was a classic example. Aside from Woolies and the other shops already mentioned, it had two specialist record stores - Maxwells and Aerco. Maxwells was a rather high-brow affair that had started out selling instruments and soon expanded into sheet music - which is what the very early sales charts were based on. By the 60s, they had made space for vinyl too - and not just classical sounds. Casual browsing, though, was not encouraged - you were supposed to know exactly what you wanted and woe betide you if you didn't.

That left Aerco - a small outlet on the corner of the two main shopping streets and handily placed opposite the ABC cinema. Founded in 1945, by the late 60s, they were the place to go for chart singles and albums. Indeed, their album selection was always varied and changing plus, there were racks and racks of them where browsing was encouraged. Although it didn't have listening booths, the counter-staff were always happy to play tracks or singles for you. This was the essence of a record store, a friendly place devoted to music, plenty of choice - but not overwhelmingly so.

But that halcyon period was under threat and in a way that at first seemed a positive move.

The Chains

1970s logo

Like so much of the rest of High Street UK, the 60s saw the increasing homogenisation of the shops and stores available. This often increased choice at first and I can recall when the first proper W H Smiths opened in Woking (as opposed to a small book stall on the railway station): this was 1975 and suddenly, we had a large record department and competitive pricing. The knock-on effect - which we only noticed in dribs and drabs - was that other stores stopped selling records (Boots, Rumbelows) or just gave up all together (Maxwells). Before we knew it, it was either Smiths or Aerco. This happened across the land, but as with all revolutions, another was already brewing in the wings.

HMV - First Store - 1925

HMV started life as His Master's Voice, part of the Gramophone Group. It's first store opened in London's Oxford Street in 1921, none other than Sir Edward Elgar performing the honours. Ten years later, The Gramophone Company merged with Columbia to become EMI. The HMV store sold not just the music, but all the equipment to play it on, much of it manufactured by EMI themselves. By 1966, expansion had started in London as further stores were opened and the merchandise focused more closely on the range of recorded music -  pop, classical, genre, spoken word and all the rest. By the early 70s, it was the UK's largest specialist record retailer and, again, the benefits were apparent in terms of access and choice: specialist departments for classical music, genre music as well as pop. But there was a downside too: increased competition for the independents. 

Virgin Megastore at the other end of Oxford Street from HMV 

Change isn't always bad though.

In fact, it's often a good thing - and that's what has kept the music industry going. Big things can grow from small acorns and none come bigger than the Virgin Group. From selling records via mail-order using a nearby public phone-box, Richard Branson set up a record label which had instant success with Mike Oldfield's first solo piece, Tubular Bells. This led to a small number of record shops, but quite bohemian and basic in their approach.

I can recall the one in Leeds in 1975 - and it was the epitome of a fairly scruffy and enthusiastically run independent shop: plus, it sold second-hand music as well. I also remember in 1978 it closing and being replaced a few buildings along by a flash new Virgin outlet, one that was perhaps six times the size, sold everything you could possibly imagine, but one that was soul-less, had everything in shrink-wrapped plastic ("Factory packed and sealed for your protection") and worse even than that, had turnstiles to let shoppers in and out. Suddenly, it was no fun anymore - but it was a roaring success and soon, HMV had some major competition on the High Streets of these islands. 

In the meantime, the indie stores pressed on. Vinyl was still king, punk was on the horizon and changes were afoot.

Specialist Stores

LPs galore in the 1970s

Those indie stores, the ones that focused on recorded output, tended to be quite flexible in their approach: they sold tickets for local venues, sold self-produced records from local bands, had flyers and posters promoting local gigs and - more importantly - had founts of musical knowledge, and not just behind the counter. Some were a bit intimidating and it took time to feel *at ease* when browsing and asking questions. But, it did mean that you knew what was going on and what was new, they weren't just sales-outlets shifting product as quickly and economically as possible.

Spillers, Cardiff - Early 20th Cemtury

Some stores became legends in their own right. The oldest surviving record store is Spillers In Cardiff which can trace its origins back to 1894. For all the indie bands that emerged out of South Wales in the 90s, Spillers had been *musical central* for them. Another legend was Beanos in Croydon, a store run by Dave Lashmar and a place equally adept at being the centre of all things musical in south London. Spillers has struggled in recent years and Beanos has sadly closed. However, some outlets were showing increasing confidence in their futures, outlets often to be found in cities with large student populations. Leeds had - and still has - the estimable Jumbo Records, Manchester the superb Piccadilly Records whilst in Birmingham, there was Swordfish. With the launch of cassettes and then CDs, more music could be packed in, thus providing an increased choice. And for a while, there was the added opportunity of helping music fans replace their vinyl with digitised formats. 

Andy's Records - the original Cambridge store

Cambridge record store Andys Records, run by Andy Gray, decided on an expansion programme - and from 1976 through to the early 90s, it grew to over 30 shops across East Anglia, all with excellent choice and, critically, great prices. They were unusual in the way they filed their stock: it was alphabetical, but for solo artists, it was the first letter of the first name that determined where the record was to be found. It took some getting used to for those familiar with other outlets. The shops were well run and covered an excellent choice of bands and artists.

All important LP bag

This was certainly an expansive period for music sales too; singles were a declining breed but album sales continued to grow - and album back catalogues were increasingly seen as a valuable commodity. Other chains emerged: what had been between 1971-1976 six small shops called The Tape Revolution renamed itself Our Price and took advantage of something new: the rapid growth and penetration in the UK of commercial radio. Our Price ads were frequent and memorable and this, plus  their pricing policy saw them expand across the UK onto many High Streets. I still recall a London chum hearing an Our Price ad on Capital Radio and believing the chain was actually called "Arkwright's Records".

Megastore Logo

And thus, by the mid-1980s, national music chains - HMV, Virgin, Our Price - had become highly visible, highly efficient at selling and highly capable at taking sales from your local independent. Once you get to such a size, though, it's the structure and distribution methods of the company which start becoming the priority, rather than the musical knowledge and passion. W H Smiths saw their record departments under pressure and bought out Our Price. A flurry of activity over the next 15 years saw more take-overs, restructures and consolidations as our musical tastes and means of consumption evolved. 

The Majors Get Worried

T-Shirt with A Message 

The big retailers and record companies, though, had other battles to fight.They convinced themselves that they'd sell a lot more music if the consuming public didn't keep taping albums and passing them around. It was a grey and murky area legally: music fans believed that in doing this, they were actually increasing interest and sales, the record retailers and labels disagreed. In some ways, by focusing on this, the large chains and labels overlooked what was going on around then. 

Punk had introduced a DIY ethos in the late 70s: no musical experience was needed - just enthusiasm and energy. Fans joined in by producing home-generated fanzines, posters and promotional material. The only thing missing was good technology - and then, in the years that followed, along came the introduction of digital music. First with mini-discs and then the ubiquitous CD, bands could, before long, really become DIY and more self-reliant. The music chains and large record labels often failed to genuinely understand what motivated record buyers and casualties were bound to follow. 

US Invader - Tower Records

The late 80s saw a new phenomenon which really mushroomed during the 90s: the birth of large shopping malls. These were kicked off in north London by Brent Cross and then spread gradually around the UK, by-passing the High Street and encouraging what became known as "destination shopping". They also provided an outlet for US interlopers who had long been used to "megastores" in such out-of-town developments. They knew how to pile it high and sell it cheap: Suddenly, Virgin et al had increased competition from Tower Records, Borders and Sam Goody. 

Music & Video Club Logo

Indie stores also saw greater pressures as footfall fell across the older town centres: shoppers increasingly flocked to the malls, attracted by their bright lights and free parking. Some remaining record shops took advantage of lower rents for a while, but ultimately, it's the people coming into the shop and spending money that will keep it going: that and a great marketing idea. One final chain sprang up to add to the mix, a chain that had one of those *great marketing ideas* - they were The Music & Video Club, or MVC, a chain started by disaffected managers from Our Price who didn't like what they found when W H Smith took them over. MVC's unique selling proposition was that they'd sell CDs at two different prices: a standard price and a lower, member's price. Membership was free, but you had to sign up - and of course, with a database of customers, came the chance to promote more items to them. 

On-Line CD Selling Threat

And by the late 90s, something else had arrived - widespread use of the internet and especially the world wide web: now for the first time, technology, buyers and sellers were uniquely linked, twenty-four hours a day - and, in the comfort and safety of their own home. 

So where does this leave us? Well - there's that greater DIY approach from bands and artists exploiting technology to allow easier and cheaper production and sale of CDs, an over-supply of national music-chains - and the advent of file-sharing and later, downloading: inevitably, something was going to give.The dominoes were all set: how long before the collapse?

Decline

Woolworths - The End

Our Price was sold by W H Smith and was quickly snaffled up by Virgin. Many of the stores were small which no longer fitted in with Virgin's Megastore format: a large number were closed down. Woolworths had become part of Kingfisher and were struggling, no longer the musical leviathan of years gone by. It closed in 2008. Andys Records struggled with over-expansion and closed in 2003. MVC, which had started brightly with a fresh marketing approach, was falling behind and suppliers cut their credit lines. They closed in  2005, some of the larger stores being sold to discount retailer Music Zone who in turn closed in 2007. Tower Records went bankrupt here and in the US, Borders followed suit in 2008. Sam Goody withdrew from the UK.

Once an Indie -
Now HMV-owned

This left HMV and Virgin - and one quite interesting start-up, Fopp. Fopp was founded as a market stall in Glasgow and through careful acquisition, grew a select chain of stores around the larger cities. With a small range of fixed prices - £3, £5, £10 - it soon attracted quite a discerning customer base. It also had a good, solid in-depth range - not too big or deep to put off the casual buyer, but better than its competitors. Fopp also opened coffee shops in its larger stores (such as Manchester) and encouraged them to become social drop-in points, a place to come and chat, have a bite to eat and buy some music. 

But, expansion costs - and growing from a handful of stores in the late 90s to over 100 sites in 2004 saw financial problems arrive. They went into administration in 2007 leaving HMV to come along and cherry-pick the 9 best sites. Interestingly, HMV have kept the Fopp brand and style and those stores still exist today, a little oasis in the greater pool of homogeneity.  

In 2005, Virgin - probably seeing the way in which music sales of the future would increasingly take place (on-line, downloading) decided to sell their record stores. No single buyer wanted them all: the smaller ones closed and the rest were passed onto a new start-up group Zavvi.

HMV Logo

They struggled from day one and by 2007, were having problems buying stock. They soon closed and became an on-line brand. HMV picked up a few stores in under-represented areas to add to their portfolio, but even they have found it tough out there on the High Street.

Opportunity?

So where are we today?

• One high street chain HMV, a chain with a long heritage, but one that although safe for the moment, hasn't had it easy financially. It expanded heavily into DVDs, computer games and other complementary stock: calendars, books, posters and magazines and most of these are under the same downward sales pressure as CDs. 

• A vastly reduced number of independent record stores: some commentators say that the UK has barely 300 such outlets left and of the survivors, a good number are run more as a hobby shop than a business. 

Ben's Collectors Records
in Guildford

• A small number of specialist second-hand record shops: some have migrated on-line, others near closing. Some second-hand stores have struggled on, but their lifeblood - new customers wanting to buy vinyl and CDs - seems in short supply. And - their principal ways of buying-in stock (from record fairs and collectors selling-up) is equally strained and fragile right now. It's not just that the amount of stock to be found is diminishing, but the stuff which is there is hardly of the appropriate quality to bring in the real collectors and their money.

It's all a bit dispiriting, isn't it?

Rough Trade - Notting Hill 1970s

Not necessarily. The remaining indie stores have upped their game. By combining knowedge, social media marketing, in-store gigs and events - and on-line mail-order back catalogues, they are often so much more than they were before. Rough Trade is a good example of this. They started life as a single store in 1976 in London's Notting Hill area. It was an area filled with young bands and musicians, an area ripe for the punk explosion, and an area where this DIY approach we touched on earlier was able to burst out onto an unsuspecting world.

Rough Trade Brick Lane -
Live music amongst the stock

Just two years later, Rough Trade started their own record label and in a symbiotic kind of way, joined together consumers, sellers and bands in a three-way relationship. It hasn't all been easy for them, but in 2007, Rough Trade opened a huge 5000 square foot store in Brick Lane, an emporium which although not the cheapest (when compared to on-line retailers), certainly had a terrific choice of music, was based in a *happening* part of town and rode the wave of increasing interest from audiophiles and youngsters alike for vinyl music. With record labels taking less interest in nurturing new bands, this role can - to some extent - be taken up by these outlets.

You can still get to find out about music from your local store, it's just that there there's so much more new music around than ever before . And with store numbers still falling, how's a poor boy to find out about the blues?     

Next time we look at on-line retailers, digital downloads and - importantly, the rebirth of radio. Join us in a week's time for the third and final part of this musical overview. 

All is not lost.