Newsletter and Subscription Sign Up
Subscribe

In a Digital World, Vinyl Record Sales Are Solid Gold

Published Wednesday Feb 3, 2016

Author Scott Murphy

https://www.businessnhmagazine.com/UploadedFiles/Images/Skeletone-article.jpg
Todd Radict, owner, with his business partner, Becky Maloney


The advent of iPods, mp3 players and streaming music was the death knell for vinyl records a long time ago, right? Not exactly. In fact, the bright pink storefront of Skele-Tone Records in Rochester serves as a reminder that record stores and the vinyl format are far from relics of a bygone era.

Owner Todd Radict founded Skele-Tone nine years ago to sell vinyl, CDs, tapes, music memorabilia and merchandise. Total sales have actually increased 70 percent since the store opened, with 80 percent of the growth in vinyl alone. Radict currently runs the store with business partner Becky Maloney, two other employees and an intern.

Radict grew up in Portsmouth, but moved to New York City at 18 when he fell into the punk scene. He started his own band, The Radicts and helped to run the famous rock club CBGB in Manhattan.

Then, about a decade ago, he noticed that vinyl records were making a comeback in nationwide. So he decided to return to the Granite State and bring that interest in vinyl with him. “Vinyl always sounded better,” says Radict. “It has a warmer sound [than CDs and digital].”

Skele-Tone isn’t the only independently owned record store operating in the state; Pitchfork Records & Stereo in Concord, Black Light Records in Nashua and Wicked Music in Keene are also contributing to vinyl’s popularity in NH. While there are also
regional chains like Newbury Comics and Bull Moose selling vinyl, Radict isn’t so keen on them.  

“Corporations kill mom & pop shops,” says Radict in true punk fashion. “I try to support the family business model as much as possible.”

Regardless of where you choose to dig through the crates, the overall vinyl trend continues to grow. While vinyl only accounted for about 3.6 percent of total album sales in 2014, it’s the only format of the main three that’s currently growing. Whereas Nielsen’s 2014 U.S. music report showed declines in sales from 2013 of 14.9 percent for CDs and 9.4 percent for digital music, vinyl sales increased 51.8 percent for the same period. That fleshes out to a total of 9.2 million units sold in 2014, up from 6.1 million the
previous year.

And it’s not just Gen Xers buying up their favorite AC/DC records, either. Nielsen reports that the sale of current releases on vinyl grew 37 percent in the U.S. in the first three months of 2015 in comparison to 2014.

Radict says that new bands frequently “cover their bases” with vinyl releases, which often include posters, CDs and digital download codes and limited color pressings, something that has heavily contributed to the uptick in vinyl collectors. “You’ll have a band put out your standard black pressing and then 100 copies on blue and 200 on red, for example,” he says, “and some people want all three.”

Special pressings have become a staple of Record Store Day, an annual audiophile holiday started in 2007 that aims to stoke interest in independently owned record stores. Artists and labels frequently press exclusive releases for sale on Record Store Day, which was originally held just in April but has grown to include Black Friday as well.

Skele-Tone participated in Record Store Day this past November, opening at midnight to a line at the door. A steady stream of customers then continued all day. Radict held special sales like 50 percent off on vintage vinyl and $2 tapes, posting a total of $2,400 in sales for the day.

Radict says he has a wide array of regular customers, from an 8-year-old self-proclaimed “Rock ‘N’ Roll Princess” to high school kids bored with the Salvation Army’s selection and a retired session musician who buys up all of Skele-Tone’s soul CDs.

Radict anticipates demand for vinyl records will continue to grow. When he left NYC, there were five record stores on his radar; a recent trip back revealed that number has doubled. Radict says that NYC has a knack for setting trends, and he is looking forward to continued growth in interest and sales in the Granite State. “Vinyl hasn’t even really touched New Hampshire yet,” says Radict.

All Stories