Hi Everyone,

Yesterday afternoon many of us gathered around the Zoom campfire for the first “Let’s Talk Physical” event. This was put together by Music Biz’s Physical Business Action Committee, a committee which I and several CIMS members also serve on. The goal was to bring together management, labels, distribution, retail, DSPs as well as other leaders in the music industry to share stories of how we have all worked together to overcome the challenges that 2020 brought with it. Last year certainly was a challenging one, but out of that came many creative initiatives, new business strategies, and believe it or not, success stories. For instance, the Indie sector saw sales growth last year (imagine if we had those supply chain issues rectified). Also, after its 15th consecutive year of growth, 2020 marked the best year for vinyl since the early ’90s. How about despite (or who knows, maybe because of) the pandemic, five of vinyl’s best-selling weeks occurred in 2020, and in case you were wondering, the compact disc is still alive and well. Here is the thing, streaming is great when you are on the go, or as a tool to discover new music and I use it as much as anyone. However, we all spent a lot of time at home last year (and still are) and we are missing the live experience of music, so many of us are listening to music differently and are craving a way to really connect with it, hence spending time on our collections. Also, there is a new wave of collectors who are learning to appreciate the value of owning their music and the ritual of listening to an album, and that is a good thing for all of us in the physical retail business. What became clear from the conversations we had yesterday, is that while it is definitely a business, for so many of us involved, it is truly a labor of love and I believe that is what makes it all work.

Here are the charts,
Andrea

Andrea Paschal
Executive Director
Coalition of Independent Music Stores
ThinkIndie Distribution
3738 4th Terrace North
Birmingham, AL 35222
Phone: 205.595.1932 x.208
Fax: 205.595.1938
Email : andrea@cimsmusic.com
cimsmusic.com
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