In the wake of the annual music convention hitting Nashville, The Orchard's Antone DeSantis takes us on tour of some Nashville's top brick and mortar retail spots, from Third Man Records to Grimey's New and Preloved Music.
The annual Music Biz convention rocked the town of Nashville just a few short weeks ago. Overall the vibe was positive as many physical retailers report increased sales, primarily due to music consumer’s appetite for vinyl releases. In response many stores are devoting more shelf and floor space to 12 inch records. Retailers like Newbury Comics are experiencing increased business due to sales on lifestyle items like fidget spinners. These trendsetting topical toys are bringing in customers that haven’t ever visited music stores before.
While in town I visited three record stores. My first stop was Third Man Records, a shop that is part of Jack White’s musical empire. The facility includes a label office, performance space and recording studio. The location is an eclectic mix of music and merchandise meticulously curated down to the décor consisting of tin metal ceilings and vintage floor rugs. Third Man Records is a museum-like experience displaying the musicologist’s fanatical devotion.
Speaking of museums there are more institutions devoted to music history in Nashville then anywhere else. The ultimate example is the Country Music Hall of Fame. There are six exhibits including an exhaustive display of rock and roll in Music City in the ‘60s and ‘70s entitled Nashville Cats. It’s primarily built around Bob Dylan’s influence on the country music scene and how his recordings with Johnny Cash transformed the sound of album rock. The gift store includes a rather extensive record store that reaches beyond country music with titles from roots artists and singer-songwriters like Leonard Cohen, Elvis Costello and many more. The location is high trafficked with tourists from all over the world shopping the bins.
My last music retail stop was to a store that’s been named among the best record stores in the USA from Rolling Stone, Grimey’s New & Preloved Music. The store opened in December 1999 primarily as a used shop with inventory personally selected by owner Mike Grimes. In 2004, the store expanded and moved into its current location, a three story 1919 brick house on 8th Avenue. The structure was dormant for many years and was restored in the 1990s. Before they moved in, an art gallery and crystal shop resided in the space. In 2006, The Basement club opened in the cellar becoming a must stop for touring bands. With a deep catalog of diverse genres the store expanded again in 2011 opening next-door as Grimey’s Too. The neighboring store includes soundtracks, comedy and children’s music as well as other offbeat genres, books, videos and merchandise. Both stores combined are jam packed with over 10,000 titles of LPs and CDs; there are even some cassettes and 8-tracks! While browsing, you can get your caffeine fix at the Frothy Monkey coffee shop and pick up some good reads at the Howlin’ Books store.
Over the years Grimey’s has hosted a number of in-store appearances including Metallica, Sharon Jones, Black Keys, Jason Isbell, Dr. Dog, Mumford & Sons, Ty Segall, Yo La Tengo, Black Angels, Phoenix and a myriad of others.
The store has become a local institution and is heavily involved in various community events including the Southern Girls Rock & Roll Camp, Toys for Tots, canned food collections for area food banks, voter registration drives and a fundraiser for the city’s mayor Megan Barry. Mayor Barry actually performed a DJ set at the last two Record Store Day events!
The building houses Nashville’s only listener supported community radio station WXNA. The station went on the air in June of 2016 and took a closer step to reflect the exciting musical and cultural diversity of Nashville. There are over 100 specialty shows hosted by various local music enthusiasts including Grimey’s owner Doyle Davis and manager/buyer Anna Lundy along with local personalities from Sundazed Records owner Bob Irwin, Jonathan Marx from Lambchop, Bill Lloyd of Foster & Lloyd fame and graphic artist Sam Smith. Check out the station and stream online here.
Nashville has evolved into more than just a country music town. If you haven’t been there lately or haven’t visited yet, do yourself a favor and experience the wide-ranging sounds and styles that truly make Nashville the Music City!
Sony Music's two independent artist and label services firms in the UK - The Orchard and Red Essentials - are merging. Could Sony Music, now under new leadership, be planning a similar combination for The Orchard and Sony RED in the United States; and if so, which company would come out on top?
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The Orchard and Red Essentials are merging their indie label services operations in the UK. The newly formed, Sony owned company will be called The Orchard.
Ian Dutt and Mike Chadwick, currently the co-Managing Directors of Red Essential, will run the new business. Essential Music & Marketing was acquired by Sony Music UK in March 2016 and merged with Sony Red to create Red Essential.
"Combining the companies harnesses the seasoned expertise of both teams, offering artists and labels an unmatched slate of services including physical and digital, sales, marketing, promotion, synch licensing, neighbouring rights, strategy and analysis in more than 30 markets across the globe," the company said in a statement
The amalgamated companies have partnerships with artists including 2016 Mercury Music Prize and 2017 Ivor Novello winner Skepta as well as Run The Jewels, Giggs, Joey BadA$$, Lower Than Atlantis, Alter Bridge and Anderson .Paak. There are also ongoing relationships with labels including Cooking Vinyl, Cherry Red, Snapper, Red Bull Records, Demon, Thirty Tigers and the London Symphony Orchestra.
Napster has partnered with Rakuten to enhance the Japanese internet service provider's on-demand music streaming service. Starting today, Napster will deliver song playback and curated playlists to Rakuten Music, with a total of over 20 million songs to be added by the end of this year.
This deal marks a continuation of Napster's strategy of expansion through partnerships and co-branding. The music streamer, formerly known in the U.S. as Rhapsody recently partnered with iHeartMedia to launch a co-branded on demand music streaming service.
Japan is the world's second largest music market after the United States. While CDs and other physical formats still dominate the music industry in Japan, streaming services are just beginning to gain momentum.
With the Napster, deal Rakuten Music expands its catalog to include tracks from global independent music and millions of independent artists.
"We're seeing the emergence of a new era of on-demand streaming in Japan," Brian Ringer, Napster Chief Technology Officer, said. "Today, we're excited to partner with Rakuten, a world-class brand, to extend the Napster experience into Asia and bring the Japanese music community access to over 20 million tracks through our partnership with Rakuten Music."
It's not quite James Comey before Congress, but many in the biz were betting/hoping that L.A. Reid was still arrogant enough to get up on stage at MIDEM.
Buying a home can be extra challenging when you're in a seller's market and have to compete with others. Here's how to deal with the extra pressure and get the house you want.
from Mortgage Rates, Mortgage News and Strategy : The Mortgage Reports http://ift.tt/2rIsk05
