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 the plight of the indie record shop
 to access audio and video on collective you need real player. Collective member Joe Downie investigatesthe plight of the independent record shop. With Gnarls Barkley taking the Number One single spot on download sales alone, is it the beginning of the end for independent record shops? I’ve been buying music from local indie shops since the first summer of Britpop - 1995 to be exact. But Parrot Records, where I excitedly bought Elastica’s debut album and my treasured Gene singles, back home in Cambridge, is no longer there. Around Britain, the little record shops have been dropping like flies, thanks to the triple whammy of internet shopping, digital downloading and supermarkets selling CDs for less than a pint of milk. Well, almost. The leading indie shops are surviving for now, but will Piccadilly in Manchester, Monorail in Glasgow and Sister Ray in London still be around in 10 years? I sounded out the managers at three of London’s top independent record shops to see if there’s reason to be cheerful… Simon Singleton, at Pure Groove in North London, is optimistic. Business is “fantastic”, but the shop’s had to adapt to survive. Their website now does the “lion’s share” of business. Being online also gives them access to the lucrative Japanese, American and Australian markets. Simon freely admits that “the website is a massive part of it for us now”.  So would they ever consider becoming a purely online concern? “We’d never just shut the shop and become an online retailer. The shop space is definitely still important. People come here because they like browsing and listening to music. It’s not a massive walk-past area but people do make the trip, and when we’ve had in-stores we’ve had hundreds of people come down.” Nigel House, manager of Rough Trade Shops, agrees. “When it gets busy in here, it’s great. We’ve always tried to be like an information exchange, so you’ve got crap all over the walls, flyers, posters. I don’t want to be clinical like Fopp, where it’s just rack, rack, rack, cheap, cheap, cheap. Music’s more than that; it’s about passion, it’s from the heart and that’s what we try and reflect.” In-store gigs are a tried and tested way of luring punters in. Pure Groove’s Simon: “Partly it’s good business sense ‘cos it gets people into the shop, but it’s also good fun, and we’re really into supporting new music. We get quite a lot of younger people coming down, who maybe can’t get into a normal gig. So they’re really satisfying.” Nigel says the important thing is that “you get lots of new people in the shop and they might think ‘cor, this is a good little shop’ and come back.” And what do the bands get out of it? Tabitha, singer with indie dreamers Joy Zipper (who once played an enchanting in-store at Rough Trade), admits they can start out a “drag”, but as soon as the shop fills up “the energy in the room becomes amazing and we end up leaving the store totally psyched.” For Simon Rigg, manager at vinyl-lover’s paradise, Phonica in London’s Soho, the aim is simple: to provide a relaxed atmosphere and, of course, stock the best records. Although the website’s of huge importance, accounting for around 40 per cent of business, if you visit on a Friday afternoon “it’s a social club, everyone’s here”. He’s sceptical about the growth of digital music and thinks “people still want something to take home”. Although many of Phonica’s customers are DJs, there are also, he says, plenty of people who simply love buying records, taking them home and “putting the needle on”. So, will the shop still be here in 2010? “Hopefully, but it’s changing quickly. At the moment we’re doing really well, mainly because loads of other shops are closing. We’re gaining customers (from elsewhere), but where are all the new customers? It is a worrying thing.”  The generation gap is something that crops up again and again. Simon admits that his customer base is getting older, with fewer teenagers coming in. Nigel at Rough Trade thinks bands like The Libertines and now Arctic Monkeys are massively important in getting young people interested in buying records. Over at Pure Groove they’re overrun with kids buying seven-inch singles again. So it’s a mixed picture. While there are a few too many heads-in-the-sand when it comes to the effect of downloading on their businesses, I think (and hope) that all these shops will be with us for a while yet. This is because the one thing they all have in common - apart from well-stocked shops, effective websites and knowledgeable staff - is a tangible passion and infectious enthusiasm for the music they stock. And you sure don’t get that down the supermarket.
Joe Downie
 comments
Read members' comments related to this feature.
comment by indiemusician
Mar 4, 2007
physical records are a lot more rewarding than having digital files on a computer screen.I agree with downloading a catchy pop tune on your mind but I don't think ill be downloading a whole record well not any time soon. Indie record shops still have a place at this point in music and time.
comment by ObjectFetish
May 29, 2006
Indie shops of all kinds need to survive - that's why we started http://ObjectFetish.com... ! Big stores and big shops and big brands have too much power. The only way small shops can survive is by collectivizing.
comment by badgirlswirlgirl
May 25, 2006
I've bought a vinyl boxset from there! Spiffing service!
comment by JudeOne
May 25, 2006
Howdy. My partner and I run what is effectively an 'indie' record shop but... it's a website (it started off 20 years ago as a market stall, then became a mail order catalogue, and then mutated into a website). Would it be rude to stick a sneaky plug in here:http://www.rhythmonline.co.uk... We pride ourselves on the huge quantity and variety of bands/artists we've got listed, and we can also do our best to track stuff down for you that's not listed. It's certainly a struggle, financially, as a small independent, but we do what we do cos we love it, and love our music.
comment by LordRuthven
May 25, 2006
Excellent article!My local indie record shop (Spillers Records) in Cardiff has been going strong for over 100 years. There is a vast range of music on offer there, and even some new releases are much cheaper there than in the big main street stores. The staff are always as helpful as possible and do their best to track down even the most obscure recordings when asked. It would be a crying shame if Spiller's (or indeed any indie record shop) were to ever close down. =^_^=
comment by imjustmyself
May 25, 2006
I'm not from London, I'm not even from that continent and I have to say that there are still parts of the world where indie stores are needed. México, my country, is filled with big stores that mix reggaeton with the new Stadium Arcadium, this has pushed me to believe that I have to create my own store; but sometimes I doubt if I'll be able to make it grow or even to keep it for a long time with all this itunes stuff. Ur article helps me a lot with this ideas as now I remeber that what took me to this decision was the love I feel for music, and no matter how much it lasts I know that there's people just like me that needs a place to live music......and there couln't be anything better than help them to make it real.
comment by londoner
May 16, 2006
thanks for all the feedback and glad the article has proven a starting point for further discussion. i'd also encourage collective members to have a go pitching/writing an article, it's all good  J
comment by starla_kid
May 9, 2006
i worked in an indie for four years and it was something of an experience. i cannot bring myself to even look in an HMV anymore and only really buy stuff from the indie in my new town.i don't think anything can compare with the knowledge and passion of staff in these places. I spent two weeks searching for obscure klezma for one fella and whenever i go into HMV i feel that it's full of students whose love of music has been stripped away because they have to listen to the Scissor Sisters album for the fourth time that day. I can go into 'Reveal' in derby and if I say that I like Mark Kozelek for example, they can show me something similar that I might also like. I've NEVER found that in a chain.
comment by Ugly Sister
May 9, 2006
I really enjoyed reading this article as it's subject is an issue that interests me greatly. I have listened to popular music throughout my entire life and due to this i have built up a large c.d collection. A couple of years ago i went out and bought a record player and my fascination with vinyl began. I now have a large collection of L.P's and 45's and i spend nearly all of my money on reocrds. I shop in a record shop called Plastic Wax in Bristol but i tend to find that i am usually the youngest person in the shop which i think is a great shame. I'm not interested in downloading as i'd miss having the artwork and as the main article says, it's great to have something you can take home with you. It's a real shame that people don't seem to have much time for record shopping anymore.
comment by The Daily Growl
May 9, 2006
Although the future of the small 'general' indie stores seems bleak, there will probably always be a place for the more specialist ones. The ones I use (mainly Rough Trade and Sounds of the Universe) have a whole heap of stuff you can't get elsewhere (maybe even including the internet). You can listen to vinyl before buying and Rough Trade put on free instore gigs (surely the most intimate instore gigs of all) too. Add to that the love and musical knowledge of the staff, and it's a winning forumla that can't be beat! No major store can compete with that.
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related info
 useful linkswww.phonicarecords.co.uk www.piccadillyrecords.com www.juno.co.uk www.monorailmusic.com www.sisterray.co.uk www.roughtrade.com
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