Records ‘aren’t making a comeback they already have come back’
Hectic Records is Belfast’s newest record shop which opened this week and we spoke to the people running the new addition to the city.
The store is located on Rosemary Street in Belfast City Centre which has become known for eclectic vintage and charity shops so a new record store is a seemingly great addition. This is one of the main reasons the owners chose to open here as it felt like a good fit for what they have on offer.
The store is covered wall to wall in records from most genres and decades that you can think of. From Thin Lizzy to Taylor Swift you will see a bit of everything in this new store which clearly caters for all tastes.
We spoke to William, one of the people running the new store, about vinyl records making a comeback and he added that they ‘aren’t making a comeback they already have come back’. He isn’t wrong with this as vinyl records in 2024 saw their best year for sales in 2 decades.
He believes streaming ‘gave people too much choice’ and this resurgence in sales is down to people wanting ‘to own their music’ in a physical way. They love being able ‘to take something out of a box, put it on a player and play it’.
People seem to value records in a much more ‘connective way than they would have previously’. They believe this is down to the record store environment allowing people to come in and be in control of what they buy. It prevents algorithms and music streaming platforms putting so much in front of you.
It’s not just people who will remember vinyl from the first time it was popular who have been in to add to their collection. There have been people ‘as young as 8 in buying Black Sabbath’ which definitely highlights the fact that the younger generation are helping to drive this spike in sales for vinyl records.
Social media and the modern popstar are both almost certainly a driving force for the new vinyl customers. With viral hit makers like Taylor Swift and Charli XcX both featuring on last years top 10 vinyl record sales charts it shows that the modern popstars are leaning into the popularity of this music format and releasing several ‘collectors versions’ of their albums sometimes exclusively on vinyl.
If you’ve always wanted to start a collection William advised that you ‘start with your top 10 albums’ once you have those you have the basis of a great collection. They advised ‘be patient’ and that ‘you might not get the record you want next week or the week after, or even next year, but it will come to when the time is right’. This adds to the joy of collecting, it takes a bit of work but ‘good things come to those who wait’ and eventually you will get the vinyl that you’re after.
The store is open 7 days a week so if you’re an aspiring or already established record collector then head into the new store on Rosemary Street to check out what they have to offer.
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