With the rising trend of usage of physical music such as vinyl, CDs, and even cassette tapes are having their moment again, comes with the uprising of record stores resulting in changes in the community. Record stores are an amazing place to discover new music and interact with the community and it’s people around you.
Matt Oland, owner of Orange Records since its opening in 2007, answers a few questions about what Orange Records and other record stores can add to a community. In response to a question about what Orange Records plans on bringing closeness to the community and what they plan on having at their new facility. “We plan to expand our current inventory. There will be more room for new and used CDs, Records, and DVDs. We’ll likely expand our poster selection too. New CD sales pretty much dried up for us a few years ago so we switched over to just getting new releases on vinyl” Matt said. We’ve kept used CDs on the shelf and we will have 10 times the number of used CDs out on shelves in the new space. I already have the racks disassembled in our garage waiting to fill our new location.”
In an email about how Orange Records reflects being able to bring closeness to people: “We do carry a wide variety of music, so you can find anything from Ted Nugent to Taylor Swift on the shelves” Matt says. When asked about the addition of live local music and vinyl swap meet ups Matt said, “We’re hoping that people appreciate the diverse selection that independent shops offer.”
When asked why he thinks it is important to shop locally, Matt explained over e-mail: “When you shop local, your money stays in the community. You’re also supporting your neighbors vs a large corporation like Walmart, or Amazon.” Since Record Store Day was soon Matt responded to a question about the importance that RSD holds. “The purpose of record store day from the beginning has been to get people into physical record stores rather than buying online. Even though there are going to be disappointed music fans due to the scarcity, the stores get a big boost.”
In response to what records were anticipated to be the best sellers Matt said the Noah Kahan- Olivia Rodrigo 7’ vinyl “Lacey-stick season”. Both of those artists had huge accomplishments this year, with Noah Kahan being nominated for his first Grammy and Olivia Rodrigo creating a song that was featured in the highly successful prequel movie: “The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes” where the song currently has over 100 million streams. With huge artists promoting RSD, it brings more awareness to local record stores. As that 7’ inch vinyl was the best seller across record stores
The spotlight on indie record stores has definitely gotten brighter in the past few years. The difference from last year’s record store day to this past weekend was huge. Last year, there was about 20 person que, this year there was 100+ with the line almost going around the corner. Shopping local gives you a chance to discover new music and get out into the community.
