Vinyl Record Stores: A Comparison
Between Toronto and Los Angeles
Asma Yousaf
Abstract:
This research brief is aimed to summarize a
research project conducted between January
and March of 2018, analyzing the
distribution of vinyl record stores in the
cities of Toronto and Los Angeles. We
observed around 40 different vinyl record
stores within each city, and assessed these
stores by their location, whether it be
centralized around the downtown core or
clustered near tourist attractions, and have
analyzed theoretical work done by Paulo
Magaudda and Eric Harvey on the vinyl
record culture. We concluded this project by
coding the various stores by variables which
assess authenticity, duration of the store
since opening, store schedules, online
selling and, the use of key words and
phrases.
Introduction:
As we are presently undergoing a digital age
era, where the use of technology is at its
peak, it is interesting to research the use of a
pre-digital commodity as a means to
consume music; vinyl records. As streaming
softwares have become the main hub for
music listening in 2018, it is evident to say
that vinyl record consumption has
decreased, but still present. It was our
interest to research how vinyl records are
used today, specifically the accessibility of
vinyl records to the digital age consumer.
Background:
In order to understand the concept of vinyl
record demands, especially within the hype
of the digital age where the distribution of
music streaming platforms which disregard
vinyl records such as Spotify, or Apple
Music, we researched some theoretical
frameworks to make sense of how vinyl
records are being reintroduced in 2018.
Paulo Magaudda (2011) is a sociologist who
has theorized the circuit of practice theory,
which emphasizes the consumption patterns
of vinyl record usage in a step-by-step
process. Magaudda (2011) discusses six
steps that start with the recognition of digital
age music streaming devices and software as
being dissatisfactory, the re-integration of
vinyl records and turn tables, and finally
being fully emerged with vinyl records and
dis-valuing digital age music listening
mechanisms. Understanding the
consumption patterns revolved around vinyl
record usage, we can understand the origin
of vinyl record demands made by music
consumers (Magaudda, 2011). The circuit of
practice theory allows us to understand the
cultural shifts within music intake, which
can correlate to the distribution of vinyl
record stores across Toronto and Los
Angeles.
With consideration to a holiday committed
towards vinyl records, it felt necessary to
conduct some research on Record Store Day,
at least Eric Harvey (2017) has. Within his
research, Harvey (2017) has concluded that
there is a role that vinyl record store owners
fulfill within society which plays out to the
valuing of culture. There is a unique
community within the vinyl record sphere of
society and these vinyl record store owners
are the main players in advocating the vinyl
culture (Harvey 2017).
Both vinyl record scholars acknowledge
there is a unique culture that is valued within
vinyl record usage, which is the satisfaction
of listening to a physical recording of music,
which digital age technologies, such as
Spotify or Apple Music, dismiss completely
(Magaudda 2011; Harvey 2017).
Methods:
We started this project by conducting a
spatial analysis for the vinyl record stores
within Toronto and Los Angeles. By using
Google as the main source in locating the
various vinyl stores, a map analyzing
software was used to mark the vinyl stores
across the maps of their individual cities,
and were colour coded in the variables of
selling used, new, or both types of vinyls.
We then continued on our next stage, which
was to conduct background research in order
to understand the vinyl record culture and
communities in depth with the research of
Magaudda (2011) and Harvey (2017).
Lastly, we coded the vinyl stores into
variables of authenticity, the store
participating in Record Store Day, the
amount of years open, the daily operating
hours, the participation within online selling,
and the use of key words and phrases as a
marketization strategy.
Findings
What we found was that in each city there
was a combination of stores that sold the
various types of vinyl records, as listed
above, but what we found intriguing was
that within Toronto, most of the vinyl record
stores were located in the Downtown core,
while in Los Angeles the stores were mostly
spread out across the city, but clustered
around major tourist sites such as,
Paramount Pictures Studios.
Within the coding stage, we found
interesting patterns between both Toronto
and Los Angeles under each variable
researched.
For authenticity, a small number of retailers
out of each city were planning to participate
for Record Store Day. There is a higher
number of Torontonian stores participating
in Record Store Day, 16 against 13 in Los
Angeles, however it was not clear on how
exactly these stores anticipated in
celebrating the holiday.
The amount of years open indicates how
long the store has been running. We found a
lot of variation with this variable, starting
from stores opening in the pre-digital era, or
at the height of the digital age, within the
last 2 years.
A trend that we found regarding store hours
between Toronto and Los Angeles vinyl
stores is that most tend to open mid-day,
around 11 to noon, and close late in the
evening, around 6 to 7. Interestingly to note,
for Los Angeles based stores, there is a
commonality of not operating stores on
Mondays, and being open every other day.
While overall, in both cities, weekend hours
were longer, about an additional 2 hours, in
comparison to weekday hours.
Online engagement is a variable to
determine how far consumption is valued for
store owners, understanding if international
sales an important aspect for determining
consumption patterns. Within Toronto
almost half, 19 stores out of 40, do
participate in online selling of vinyls, while
in Los Angeles, 18 stores out of 40 are
engaged with international consumers as
well.
Key words and phrases are an important
variable to analyze in assessing how stores
attract consumers in the language that is
used. There was no specific pattern found in
each city, but overall the vinyl stores that do
have personal websites emphasized on the
quality of their records and claim to be the
“best record shop” in the city.
Conclusion
Overall, independent vinyl record stores
have undergone a significant shift in
consumption patterns due to the popularity
and spread of digital age technology. Vinyl
records are not as popular as they once were,
and vinyl retailers are feeling the pressure of
the lack of consumption, which is leading to
the decrease of vinyl record accessibility.
References
Harvey, Eric. (2017). Siding with vinyl: Record
Store Day and the Branding of Independent
Music. International Journal of Cultural Studies,
20(6), 585-602.
Magaudda, Paolo. (2011). Digital Music
Consumption Practices in the Age of
Dematerialization. Journal of Consumer Culture,
11(1), 15-36.