Ah!

http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid1184614595?bctid=20068485001

Interesting interview.  Although I disagree with Jarvis about cassettes and grandparents - you don't have to be that old to have a cassette collection!  Also, much to my annoyance, most of my cassettes that I bought back in the 80's are now unplayable cos they've gone all wobbly, unlike my vinyl collection.  Cassettes are crap.  I'd like to know what else is on that Rough Trade cassette that Jarvis mentions though.

Thanks! I suppose I could have tried to find that out myself, but it's more sociable to ask someone else.

You live in Newcastle, right? We're extremely lucky with our Indie Record Shops, despite the demise of Steel Wheels/Beatdown we've got RPM, one of the best shops in the entire country.

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My gut feeling is that indie record shops will outlive the record industry collapse.

I hope I don't offend anyone if I suggest the English have a certain affinity for "collecting stuff", and for collecting music in particular. I think resale record shops in the UK will continue to attract a vibrant niche market of serious music fans for many more years. While trading in rare and independent records might not make anyone rich, there will be modest rewards for the passionate shop-owner.

My guess is you'll see a consolidation of indie record shops over the next couple years, but the owners who love music will resist closing, even if they are just barely managing a profit, because, well, they can't imagine doing anything else. Those stores that do survive the purging will then have less competition, and they will probably acquire their competitors' stocks. The combination of passionate, knowledgeable owners, large inventories, and lack of competition will make these surviving record stores very attractive destinations for collectors.

The smartest store-owners will relocate their stores to large, dirt-cheap locations in seedy neighborhoods. Collectors don't mind traveling out of their way for a good selection, and they might actually enjoy "the hunt".

Take this example: There's an all vinyl record shop in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania called Jerry's Records, it's easily the largest vinyl shop I've ever been in. If you talk to the owner, he'll tell you how he has almost no local support, and that his store makes it's profits selling to collectors from the UK, New York, Chicago, & Toronto. People are willing to travel to the cultural backwater of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania just to go to his store. Jerry is able to keep his business alive because he can afford the low rent on a huge space in Pittsburgh, that would otherwise cost 10's of thousands of dollars in city like London or New York. But at the end of the day, Jerry does it because he loves music, not because he wants to be rich.

Mainstream record stores, on the other hand, are going to completely disappear or transform into something else altogether (see HMV... now your DVD and videogame headquarters). They don't understand the market for music, and can't possibly pay the rent between Britney Spears albums... I wouldn't be surprised if the mainstreams do try to dabble in resale/vintage collectibles for a little while, but the problem is that their employees wouldn't know how to differentiate between a good record and a bad one. They'd never stock the stuff collectors want.

When the mainstreams disappear, that's more good news for the indies. At least, this is my purely subjective hypothesis.