Hand Drawn Pressing Brings New Technology To Vinyl Records

A new record pressing plant out of North Texas, Hand Drawn Pressing is just getting started, but have plans to churn out almost two million records by the end of the year. Here two of the company’s top executives weigh in on the logic of opening a vinyl company in…

The Many Ways Of Accepting Payment For Your Music and Merch [HOW TO]

For DIY artists looking to monetize their creations, either through music, merch, or something else altogether, there are now more ways than ever to make it fast and easy to sell to your fans with just a single click. Here we walk through the many ways of making it happen….

Indie Music Stores Top 100, Top Vinyl For Week Ending 1.6.17

These charts for the week ending 1.1.17 come from The Coalition of Independent Music Stores (CIMS), a collective of 50 independently owned record stores in 25 states throughout the country. CIMS STORES Coalition of Independent Music Stores. © 1995-2017

Vinyl and One Size Fits All Strategies Will Not Save The Music Business [Mark Mulligan]

Surging vinyl sales may make a great headline, but at just 2.6% of total sales, they won’t save the music business, says music industry analyst Mark Mulligan of MIDiA. The real headline should be the increasing fragmentation of the industry with little overlap between the most popular artists on the…

Vinyl Sales Tops Digital Downloads In UK

For the first time ever, the recording industry made more money from vinyl album sales than downloaded albums in the UK last week. According to figures published by the Entertainment Retailers Association, vinyl accounted for sales of £2.4m ($3m USD), while downloads took in £2.1m ($2.6M). The ERA suggested that…

Amazon Doubles Down On Vinyl With Launch Of Vinyl Lounge Community, 12 Days Of Giveaways

Amazon has become a key sales outlet for vinyl records, and their music team is promoting the format with two new initiatives. During 12 Days of Giveaways with Amazon Vinyl, now through 12/15, vinyl enthusiasts can enter for their chance to win a turntable from Crosley and Pro-Ject. Two winners…

As Paid Music Streaming Escalates Paying Downloaders Can’t Be Left Behind

Although paid streaming subscriptions have continued to grow at a steady rate, the far more rapid decline of paid downloads, along with CD sales suggests that streaming services need to grow their paying subscriber base at an even greater rate. ________________________ Guest Post by Russ Crupnick on Music Watch As…

How Many Counterfeit CDs Is Amazon Selling?

While it’s difficult to get an exact number on such things, it seems as though Amazon has been doing a tidy trade in counterfeit CDs of late, with third party merchants now ripping albums off platforms like YouTube and reselling them in a physical format. __________________________ Guest post from Chris…

5 Alternate Ways Of Making Money From Your Music

In an era where CD sales have been replaced with a paltry streaming royalties, artists looking to make a living off of their music career must find other, alternative methods of earning money from their music. ____________________ Guest Post by Nicholas Rubright on Soundfly’s Flypaper In today’s environment where music…

Indie Music Store Top 100, Top Debuts, Vinyl Sales Charts For Week Ending 11/4/2016

This weekly indie music store sales charts come from The Coalition of Independent Music Stores (CIMS), a collective of 50 independently owned record stores in 25 states across the U.S. Related articles Getting It Done: The Week In D.I.Y & Indie Music Indie Music Retailers Launch "Vinyl Tuesdays" Getting It…