In our age of digital books, pundits love to say “bookstores will disappear, just like record stores.” But the truth is, record stores never disappeared!
Despite the digital shift in music, record stores have built a booming new community in Los Angeles. KCRW recently produced that video embedded above about the city’s record store resurgence. Can bookstores maintain the same kind of loyalty?
In an interview, Record Store Days author Gary Calamar explained why record stores have endured: “I am not of the mind that it has all gone to hell now. I mean I use iTunes and Amazon, and I still love going into record stores. I certainly appreciate the convenience of iTunes, and in a way I could be buying more now than I was then. I think it was good then and I think it is good now … All these great albums are coming out on vinyl now. I will buy vinyl just for the artwork and keep vinyl just for the great artwork.”