CIMS WEEKLY CHARTS: WEEK ENDING 3/3/22

in

Hi Everyone,

This week brought some exciting news amongst the CIMS group. After building the amazing store that Twist and Shout is, and an incredible 33-year run, Paul and Jill Epstein are passing the torch to their long-time manager Patrick Brown. Patrick certainly knows the ropes, as he has been a part of the Twist family for 30 of the 33 years, so I know that nothing will skip a beat.

Paul has always had a way with words, maybe thanks to his former life as an English teacher,
and I wanted to share his announcement below in case you missed it.

To Patrick, we are so thrilled to be along for the ride on this new journey of yours.

To Paul & Jill, we love you and we are going to miss you being a part of the day-to-day of our group, but until we meet again (I have no doubts we will), Fare thee well.

Friends,

The time has come. After 33 years of running Twist And Shout, Jill and I have decided it is time to retire. This decision did not come easily, and we do not take our responsibility to our customers and employees lightly. We have understood for a while that our ability to retire had to dovetail with a plan to keep Twist And Shout going far into the future. We believe that the store has become part of Denver life, and if it were to disappear that a huge hole in the cultural and musical life of our city would appear.

In the early months of the pandemic as Jill and I walked around deserted streets we talked a lot about what our stepping down might look like. At the same time, our manager of 30 years, Patrick Brown, stepped up in a life-saving and heroic way. He let us know immediately that he, and a small group of employees would keep the store going. They collected mail, kept the lights on and helped grow our small mail order business into a substantial service. As we slowly came back to life, Patrick’s dedication to the store and energy for the job never waned. Simply put, he has been the employee of a lifetime.

2020 was such a challenge for all of us. We worked so hard to bring the store back, keep the community together, create new ways of doing an old business. And we succeeded! 2021 was our best year in a couple of decades. In spite of lock downs, mask mandates, supply-chain issues and Covid outbreaks we have come back stronger than ever. The store is a bigger refuge for music, musicians and music lovers than it’s ever been. Thanks folks - really. We did this together.

When I approached Patrick about taking over the store, not only did he immediately say yes, he assured me that nothing would change. The employees, product mix, special events, policies and overall vibe of our beloved Twist And Shout will remain the same. Patrick will bring 30 years of institutional knowledge to his management as well as the beating heart of true music scholar. He’s every bit the nut that I am for this stuff, but he is 11 years younger than me and his energy will carry the store way into the future. I’m excited for the store and have no trepidation about this move. Thank you, Patrick. We did this together.

As for me… It’s time. I’ve been in Twist And Shout for more than half my life. I’ve given everything I have to it. I love it so much. I’m so proud of it. I love you, our customers beyond what you could imagine. You, the third generation kid whose grandfather brought you in the first time - I see you. You, who came to all those in-store performances - I see you. First person in line for Record Store Day - I see you. Girl who bought her first record at the store when she was 12 and is now bringing her 12 -year-old in to buy a turntable - I see you. Deadheads who I waved to at so many shows over the years -I see you. I see all of you, and I thank you from the bottom of my heart.

I’m not going anywhere. I want to continue living in a city with a great record store. So, I say with full heart for the final time.

See You In The Aisles,
Paul Epstein

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
#cimsmusic

CIMS WEEKLY CHARTS: WEEK ENDING 2/24/22

in

Hi Everyone,

Over the past months, several of our CIMS members have celebrated important anniversaries. Next week marks another one for Strictly Discs out of Madison Wisconsin. March 9th, 2022 will mark their 33 1/3 anniversary! Hitting special anniversary celebrations is always important in our business, but marking those milestones in the midst of the past couple of years feels like just that much more of an achievement.

Here is their official press release:

Indy music store Strictly Discs in Madison, Wisconsin will celebrate 33 and 1/3 revolutions of the sun on March 9, 2022. Originally launched in the ascendancy of the CD era, Strictly Discs has expanded both its physical footprint and original focus, notably gaining fame for an enviable vinyl selection. With an offsite warehouse containing over 150K records, frequent customers know to check the Strictly Discs Instagram page every Thursday night for a sneak peek at Friday’s incoming weekly smorgasbord. What started as a one-man operation now has 15 employees, has shipped items to almost every country and ably navigated a thorny retail landscape in which it continues to prosper. How did this happen?

Ron Roloff, owner and founder, left a pharmaceutical sales career in Chicago and launched Strictly Discs on the west side of Madison in 1988. Currently, he serves as the store’s “Road Dog” and will travel 500 miles at the drop of a hat to look at possible collections. Buying trips have taken him down both the Atlantic and Pacific coasts and all points between. Records have been bought and too outlandish to fabricate tales have been exchanged.

Angie Roloff, co-owner, makes Strictly Discs a true mom and pop shop. Serving as webmistress, store sage and extinguisher of fires, she is the steady hand that makes HQ hum.

Thanks to the Monroe Street area in particular and Madison in general, Strictly Discs has cultivated a loyal clientele allowing the store to weather streaming services, a global pandemic and conventional wisdom asserting that physical music media would die on the vine. By both capitalizing on a resurgence in vinyl and a long record of customer service, Strictly Discs continues to thrive.

The shop will celebrate by thanking its customers with a storewide sale Wednesday, March 9th.

Strictly Discs is a member of CIMS (Coalition of Independent Music Stores). Strictly Discs is located at 1900 Monroe Street, five blocks west of Camp Randall Stadium.

https://strictlydiscs.com/

Congrats to Strictly Discs and here’s to many more!

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
#cimsmusic

CIMS WEEKLY CHARTS: WEEK ENDING 2/17/22

in

Hey everyone,

Here are the charts for the week.

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
#cimsmusic

Ryan Culwell
Run Like A Bull
(Missing Piece Records)

Scott Register - ThinkIndie A&R
This one’s been out a few months and I’ve been drawn to it more and more with each listen. Culwell isn’t new to the scene, but this Perryton, TX singer-songwriter has yet another collection of songs that deserve to be noticed. “Let’s Go Crazy” is an anthem that everyone should be singing.

CIMS WEEKLY CHARTS: WEEK ENDING 2/10/22

in

Hi Everyone,

Yesterday was one of the most anticipated days in indie retail, the RSD 2022 list launch…and it’s a good one!

This year also marks the return of Record Store Day. This year we should all be able to start to get back to celebrating our stores and music communities as was intended when we created this day, and celebrate we should, as this year marks the 15th Anniversary of Record Store Day!

Speaking of celebrating record stores, if you haven’t gotten a chance to check out the “Behind the Counter” series you really should. We have been lucky to have many of our CIMS stores featured, and this series gives some great insight into just what inspired many of these stores to exist and what keeps them going. Check it out and you can enjoy a virtual tour of some of the best stores across the country!

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
#cimsmusic

Beach House
Once Twice Melody
(Sub Pop)

Andrea Paschal- CIMS/ThinkIndie Executive Director
This is one of those bands that I have loved since the beginning. I have seen them on every tour and they are just one of those bands I know I can count on because they never disappoint and I just feel like “they get me.”

I am such a fan of their atmosphere and the best way I can describe it is the dream worlds that Victoria and Alex create. That is turned up to 11 with Once Twice Melody and I think this one just may be their Magnum Opus. Well done BH. Looking forward to the final chapter tomorrow!

CIMS WEEKLY CHARTS: WEEK ENDING 2/3/22

in

Hi Everyone,

In light of the news of her passing yesterday, I wanted to take a moment today to honor the force that was Betty Davis. She was the ultimate Nasty Gal. Betty was the coolest of the cool, the baddest of the bad, and influenced the best of the best. If your collection is lacking… shout out to the ever-brilliant Light in the Attic, they have you covered on all your Betty Davis needs.

Betty Davis forever.

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
#cimsmusic

CIMS WEEKLY CHARTS: WEEK ENDING 1/20/22

in

Hi Everyone,

This week, I wanted to shed a little light on my co-worker and dear friend of many years, Scott Register. Many of you may know “Reg” from his CIMS marketing days. If you have worked with him in the last decade, it has probably been on the ThinkIndie side of things, where he spends his days working to bring special products and releases to indie retail. But for many artists out there, Reg is the guy willing to give their new music a chance to come to life across the airways and into the homes and cars of many week after week on his Sunday morning radio show Reg’s Coffee House. Reg’s show started as a true passion for not only discovering new talent but also wanting to spread the word and share that music with others, and this past Sunday he celebrated 25 years on the air. His slogan “building your music library one song at a time” could not be a truer statement for so many.

I think (hope) he will be okay with me sharing this story. I knew of Reg for years because of the show and working in record stores and through Don and other mutual friends. I honestly think we didn’t really like each other at first. I thought “Ugh….that radio guy…”, because I was way too cool for school and thought “I don’t need THIS guy to tell me what to listen to” and he pretty much summed me up as “the mean girl that thinks she is way too cool for school”. I am pretty sure at the time, the one thing we could agree on was that we probably had no music in common. Fast forward a couple of years, and I am the new kid at CIMS and his co-worker. We are a small office and so I think we both were thinking we had to figure out a way to at least tolerate each other.

I would love to say it was our love of music, in the end, was what broke the wall down, but no- it was candy… a little golden bear in fact. I don’t remember how it all went down, but one day we were at lunch and Reg asked me if I knew about this place that was a wholesale candy supplier that was open to the public. We took a detour, and we were literally two kids in a candy store. We realized on that trip that we both loved Haribo gummy bears like no other candy and that they are really the ONLY gummy bears worth messing with and that was it- The wall came down.

Over the years I have been lucky to share some amazing musical moments with this guy (turns out we ended up loving a lot of the same music) and I can attest he is still as excited about new music today as the kid he was when he started all of this.

Congratulations on twenty-five years Reg! Here is to many more years of bringing music to the people in the many ways that you do!

If you want to drop him a line you can find him at reg@thinkindie.com and you can catch him every Sunday on Birmingham Mountain Radio.https://bhammountainradio.com/

Also, this is a great interview written up in our local this week:
https://www.al.com/life/2022/01/scott-register-on-influencing-alabama-music-lovers-for-25-years-i-tell-people-im-a-conduit.html


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
#cimsmusic

Reg's Coffee House - 25th Anniversary Playlist
Listen here

CIMS WEEKLY CHARTS: WEEK ENDING 1/13/22

in

Hi Everyone,
 
This year marks fifteen years since we all came up with a crazy little idea to celebrate record stores in a big way.  So, it seems that the 2022 Record Store Day Ambassador should also be a go big or go home moment, and this morning kicked things off as we announced our first global RSD ambassador.

Taylor has shown lots of love and support to the indies, especially over the past few years, so this only makes sense.


Via recordstoreday.com:
TAYLOR SWIFT.
THE RECORD STORE DAY AMBASSADOR, TAYLOR'S VERSION

Watch for the Official List of RSD Releases, coming soon.

"I’m very proud to be this year's Global Ambassador for Record Store Day. The places where we go to browse and explore and discover music new and old have always been sacred to me. Record stores are so important because they help to perpetuate and foster music-loving as a passion. They create settings for live events. They employ people who adore music thoroughly and purely. Those people and shops have had a rough few years and we need to support these small businesses more now than ever to make sure they can stay alive, stay eccentric, and stay individual. It’s been a true joy for me to watch vinyl sales grow in the past few years and we, the artists, have the fans to thank for this pleasant surprise. Happy Record Store Day, everyone! Stay safe out there."


Stay Tuned, and 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
#cimsmusic

CIMS WEEKLY CHARTS: WEEK ENDING 1/6/22 + YEAR-END SURVEY RESULTS

in

Hi Everyone,

We are well into week two of this year and I am back with all that heavy math I promised last week. As we do every year, I surveyed our stores on the good, the bad and the ugly of all things 2021, and spoiler alert… it was mostly good. On a lot of these, I asked the stores to not only do year over year comparisons but also to stack 2021 against 2019, since last year was… weird to say the least.

So, without further ado, let’s dig into how the CIMS stores ended the year:

2021 Holiday Numbers:

How did December 2021 compare to December 2020?

On the low end up 3%, On the high end up 53%, with an average for the group of up 23%

How about December 2021 compared to 2019?

On the low end flat, On the high end up 56%, with an average for the group of up 30%

How did vinyl sales in December 2021 compare to December 2020?

On the low end down 5%, On the high end up 42%, with an average for the group of up 20%

How did vinyl sales in December 2021 compare to December 2019?

On the low end up 11%, On the high end up 77%, with an average for the group of up 45%

How did CD sales in December 2021 compare to December 2020?

On the low end down 22%, On the high end up 75%, with an average for the group of up 16%

How did CD sales in December 2021 compare to December 2019?

On the low end down 40%, On the high end up 67%, with an average for the group of up 8%. I would add that most of our stores reported growth here, with quite a few accounts in the double digits.

2021 Overall Sales Numbers

How did vinyl sales for 2021 overall compare to last year?

On the low end up 9%, On the high end up 103%, with an average for the group of up 60%

How did vinyl sales for 2021 overall compare to 2019?

On the low end up 10%, On the high end up 141%, with an average for the group of up 67%

How did CD sales for 2021 overall compare to 2020?

On the low end down 4%, On the high end up 78%, with an average for the group of up 28%

How did CD sales for 2021 overall compare to 2019?

On the low end down 50%, On the high end up 25%, with an average for the group of down 6%

What percentage of your overall sales were used product for 2021?

On the low end 9%, On the high end up 25%, with an average for the group of 25%

How did 2021 used sales compare to 2020 used sales?

On the low end down 21%, On the high end up 73%, with an average for the group of up 29%

How did 2021 used sales compare to 2019 used sales?

On the low end down 32%, On the high end up 27%, with an average for the group of up 4%

What percentage of your 2021 sales were in-store sales?

On the low end 65%, On the high end 100%, with an average for the group of up 85%

Of your overall 2021 sales, what percentage made up online sales?

On the low end 0%, On the high end 35%, with an average for the group of 15%

Overall, what was very exciting for me to see was that our stores reported growth in all formats (even the CD) and some in astounding numbers. Also, despite the fact that throughout 2020 our stores majorly upped their online sales game, they are still doing the majority of their business within the walls of brick and mortar, which speaks to the importance of the communities these stores have cultivated with their customers. I think that will only continue with all the vinyl discovery that has happened over the past two years especially.

Finally, I always like to close out the survey with these two questions:

Any product lines or genres that stuck out as big winners for the holiday season and all year?

The resounding answers will not surprise you; Turntables, Vinyl accessories and you guessed it… VINYL! Especially hip-hop and classic catalog

Were there any contributing or diminishing factors that affected holiday sales and throughout the year?

On the negative side, there were the obvious ones, the pandemic, supply chain issues and weather issues.
But on the positive side was believe it or not- the pandemic. Many stores gave various examples of how Covid has made everyone take a much closer look at their businesses finding ways to get creative, which has ultimately brought growth in several areas. One store actually noted having the staff unchanged in three years, “Their creativity and cohesion made for an incredibly successful year! “

There you have it, 2021 in a nutshell! Thanks for reading and as always feel free to reach out.

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
#cimsmusic

CIMS WEEKLY CHARTS: WEEK ENDING 12/30/21

in

Hey Everyone,

Happy New Year! I hope you all had a happy and healthy holiday season. I have started checking in with the CIMS stores, but the word so far is that 2021 was a very successful year for indie retail, despite all our supply chain woes. I feel 2020 was a real gut check for all of us. We learned a lot about our businesses, and we did what we have always done -- we reacted, and we got creative. This is not to say that the pandemic has not created strain and stress for all of us, but it is in these moments that you figure just what you are made of and what you are capable of accomplishing.

I am working now to survey the stores on year-end and holiday numbers and should have results for you in next week’s chart.

Till then, 2022 let’s do this!

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
#cimsmusic

Alice Damon
Windsong
(Morning Trip/Yoga Records)

Blake Wimberly - CIMS/ThinkIndie
Here's to starting off 2022 right with a personally overlooked gem from 2021. Originally recorded in 1981 (or thereabouts), Windsong is music for traveling - by road, by sky, by mind. It's the essence of vocal-based New Age - ethereal vox layered among field recordings, synths and fretless bass, signaling ahead to the likes ofJuliana Barwick and Grouper. Damon was virtually unknown until an anthology released by Light In The Attic in 2011 (the excellent I Am The Center: Private Issue New Age In America 1950-1990) introduced her music to a wider audience. Sadly, Damon passed away that same year.

CIMS WEEKLY CHARTS: WEEK ENDING 12/9/21 + STAFF PICKS

in

Hi Everyone,

2021 has been another challenging year on the pandemic and supply chain front and the struggle is still very real for all of us. However, despite all of that, 2021 has also been a year of hope and success stories. At times it has been incredibly stressful and frustrating for us all to get records into the stores and onto the shelves, but it has also been exciting to watch the growth of vinyl continue and to see new collectors being created every day. For some of us out there in the retail sphere, things are heating up right about now. For others, their work is mostly done for now and things are finally settling down a bit. Whichever camp you fall into, thanks for being a part of all of this. I wish you all a healthy and happy holiday. Here is to a strong step forward in 2022!

It is also that time where the CIMS/ThinkIndie crew rounds up some of the music that got us through this year. Here are our lists… Enjoy!

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
#cimsmusic

ANDREA PASCHAL
CIMS/THINKINDIE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR


1) L’Impératrice- Tako Tsubo
2) La Femme- Paradigmes
3) Jungle- Loving in Stereo
4) Róisín Murphy- Crooked Machine
5) Dām Funk- Above the Fray/Architecture III
6) Jane Birkin- Oh!Pardon tu dormais…
7) Nick Cave, Warren Ellis- Carnage
8) Liars- The Apple Drop
9) Martina Topley Bird- Forever I Wait
10) Jarvis Cocker- Chansons D’ennui Tip- Top
11) Small Black- Cheap Dreams
12) Mr. Twin Sister- Al Mundo Azul
13) Bicep- Isles

LIZ BOGER
CIMS SALES & MARKETING


Lucy Dacus/ Home Video
Arlo Parks/ Collapsed in Sunbeams
The Marias/ Cinema
Cannons/Covers by Cannons
Indigo de Souza/ Any Shape You Take
CVRCHES/ Screen Violence
Rostam/ Changephobia

BLAKE WIMBERLY
CIMS/THINKINDIE SMORGASBORG


lp
Sam Gendel- Fresh Bread (Leaving Records)
Various- Planet Love Vol. 1 - Early Transmissions 1991 - 95 (Safe Trip)
Various- 88 Double Happiness Vol. 2 (FuFu Records)
Various- Tresor 30 (Tresor)
Various- 10 Years of Acid Test (Acid Test)

ep
Sobek- Monza (Duro)
Kasper Marott- Keflavik EP (SSPB)
YUF-O, Francis Inferno Orchestra, Yu Su- You Eff Ohh (Superconscious Records)

track
Kasper Bjørke- "Baybi" - Roman Flügel Remix (HFN Music)
All Is Well- "Late Night Romantics" - Lauer Remix (Permanent Vacation)
Demi Riquísimo- "Rocking You Internally" (Semi Delicious)
Eden Burns- "Invercargirl" (Public Possession)
The Goon Sax- "In The Stone" (Matador)
Fausto- "He Never Knew" (Fausto)
Christian Engh- "Ctairs" (Full Pupp)
Asa Moto- Cacao (Deewee)

SCOTT REGISTER
THINKINDIE A&R


My annual baker’s dozen of some of my favorites. Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you all. Thanks for all you do for indie retail.

1. Morgan Wade – Reckless – Ladylike Records
2. The War On Drugs – I Don’t Live Here Anymore - Atlantic
3. Jerry Cantrell – Brighten – Double J Music
4. Halsey – If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power – Capitol
5. Slothrust – Parallel Timeline – Dangerbird Records
6. Snail Mail – Valentine – Matador
7. Strand Of Oaks – In Heaven – Galaticana Records
8. James McMurtry – The Horses and the Hounds – New West Records
9. Heartless Bastards – A Beautiful Life – Sweet Unknown Records
10. Torres – Thirstier – Merge Records
11. Allison Russell – Outside Child – Fantasy
12. Bob Schneider – In A Roomful of Blood with a Sleeping Tiger – Bob Schneider
13. Yola – Stand For Myself – Easy Eye Sound

RUSSELL COTHRAN
THINKINDIE SALES & MARKETING


Top 21 For 21

1. The War On Drugs- I Don’t Live Here Anymore
2. Nick Cave & Warren Ellis- Carnage
3. Courtney Barnett- Things Take Time, Take Time
4. Durand Jones & The Indications- Private Space
5. Pond- 9
6. Radiohead- Kid A Mnesia
7. Small Black- Cheap Dreams
8. VA- The Daptone Super Soul Revue Live At The Apollo
9. Low- Hey What
10. Manic Street Preachers-The Ultra Vivid Lament
11. Chvrches- Screen Violence
12. Sharon Van Etten & Angel Olsen- Like I Used To
13. Geese- Projector
14. Idles- Crawler
15. St. Vincent- Daddy’s Home
16. Beach House- New Romance
17. Clams Casino- Winter Flower
18. Wet Leg- Chaise Longue
19. Spiritualized- Always Together With You
20. Spoon- The Hardest Cut
21. Warren Ellis & Nick Cave- OST La Panthere Des Neiges

NICK CAMPBELL
THINKINDIE WAREHOUSE MANAGER


Clark - Playground In A Lake
The Goon Sax - Mirror II
Dry Cleaning - New Long Leg
Shame - Drunk Tank Pink
The Drums - Mommy Don't Spank Me
Nick Cave & Warren Ellis - Carnage
Nation of Language - A Way Forward
Odonis Odonis - Spectrums
Ovlov - Buds
Low - Hey What

ASHLEY VASKE
CIMS/THINKINDIE ACCOUNTING


Top 10 Most Listened to 2021 Albums:

Arooj Aftab: Vulture Prince
The War On Drugs: I Don’t live Here Anymore
Japanese Breakfast: Jubilee
Coeur De Pirate: Impossible à aimer
Madlib: Sound Ancestors
Afrique Victime: Mdou Moctar
Valerie June: The Moon And Stars: Prescriptions For Dreamers
Sturgill Simpson: The Ballad of Dood & Juanita
King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard: L.W.
King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard: Butterfly 3000

CIMS WEEKLY CHARTS: WEEK ENDING 12/2/21

in

Hi Everyone,

This week a giant congratulations goes out to CIMS member, Karl Groeger Jr., as well as the entire Looney Tunes family as this year marks the 50th anniversary of the store. Karl has been a long-time member of CIMS, served on the CIMS Board for two decades, and is known for making plenty of noise in his little corner of West Babylon, New York.

Looney Tunes Records was opened by Karl Groeger Sr. in 1971. In 1989, Karl Jr. and his brother Jamie took the helm. The store suffered a fire in 2007 that completely destroyed the space. Most people at that point may have hung their hats up and called it a day, but not Looney Tunes! They rebuilt the store and carried on. In 50 years, they have seen it all. The CD boom, the emergence of the digital world, a devastating fire, the comeback of vinyl, a global pandemic, and countless amazing music events. Through it all, Looney Tunes continues to serve the Long Island music community every day.

Sadly, they also just suffered the loss of a long-time member of the Looney Tunes family, store manager, John Sadowski (also formerly of Polygram Records and then Universal Music)/ I know this will make celebrating this monumental achievement bittersweet, so I wanted to share Karl’s lovely tribute to John here:

https://www.looneytuneslongisland.com/post/john-sadowski-tribute

December 18th is when the anniversary celebrations will commence, so check out the details of that here and show some love to Karl and Looney Tunes!

https://www.looneytuneslongisland.com/post/looney-tunes-is-celebrating-50-years-on-saturday-dec-18th-2021

I talk a lot here about how music is a force that drives us. Let’s face it, you don’t usually make it to 50 years by just doing something you just kind of like doing. So, I asked my old pal Karl because I was curious what are some of the albums that changed his life. Here are 5 of those.

From Karl:

1) The Beatles- Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band
For me it has always been The Beatles and then everything else in life. Was my dad’s favorite band and we listened to them all day everyday growing up. Sgt. Peppers has always been my favorite.
Really I could just list all Beatles albums here but let’s try and find some others

2) Boston- Boston
So, in the Groeger house, even though my dad had a record store… I didn’t get anything for free! I was able to play my dad’s records, but I had to clean them after I played with them and put them back in order (lol) and they were his records so, when I was about 8 years old I saved enough money to buy my first record by myself - and I picked this one. Still to this day, it’s one of my favorites

3) Led Zeppelin- IV
After the Beatles, Led Zeppelin is my second favorite band. I had the classic Jimmy Page double-neck guitar poster in my room growing up and would stare at it daily. The sounds that they made together - just amazing. That album is perfect

4) Pink Floyd- Darkside of the Moon
How do you have a list of favorite records and not include Pink Floyd!

5) Queensryche- Operation Mindcrime
I have always leaned towards classic rock and heavy metal. I was always the one playing music the loudest and banging my head way too often. The first concert I was allowed to go to by myself was Helloween, Armored Saint and Grim Reaper! LOL This is one of those metal albums that is just perfect from beginning to end.

The list could go on forever... but that’ s my desert island 5! - It covers every mood!

There you have it!

Thanks, Karl, for keeping the love alive. Here is to 50 Years of Looney Tunes Records and to many more!!

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
#cimsmusic

CIMS WEEKLY CHARTS: WEEK ENDING 11/25/21 + BLACK FRIDAY

in

Hi Everyone,

I hope you all had a Happy Thanksgiving. I know for many of us it was the first chance to have been able to gather with family and loved ones in a minute, so I hope it was a joyful time for everyone. I am also happy to report another successful Black Friday/Small Business Saturday weekend for our stores. I always look forward to reading these recaps from our stores and so I have compiled some of the CIMS accounts of the weekend for you here. If this is just not enough reading material for you, Ken Glaser from Alliance has also compiled a two-volume deluxe edition as well.

I have included some of the individual store bestseller charts where provided, and the CIMS Chart below represents our collective hits for Black Friday sales.

Thanks to everyone reading this for being a part of this event. Whether you are making records, distributing records, selling records, or buying records- you all play a role in the success of our stores.

And if you don’t believe me…. Just read on!

Andrea

RECORD ARCHIVE - ROCHESTER, NY
Another fabulous RSD Black Friday entered into the books! 
Honestly this was strange in the sense that we were a little light in the morning (bitter cold, damp , gray) so I was a tad bit concerned...
 
We handed out time slots, but this time not only did I let people into the store early to escape the cold ( they could not enter the Backroom Lounge until 9 am official start) but then we moved them through so quickly with our streamlined and very organized process. 
Then we got slammed!! From 1 pm until closing time- we were BUSY!
 
We had tables of $1 vintage records, 2 food trucks, 2 bands as well as a high profile local DJ on site promoting our " Finally Friday Fickle Happy Hours" giving away a ton of concert tickets.
 
The releases were solid but folks were really just happy to Christmas shop and enjoy the live music and food with their friends & families. We have fully established ourselves as the ' place to go on Black Friday!" Where else could you go with both young  & old to share some live music, shop and enjoy a great craft beer or glass of wine!
 
Here are the details:

  • 2021 Black Friday up 38% over 2020 and up 10% over 2019!!

  • For the entire weekend; sales were up 26% over 2020 and up 21% over the 2019 weekend.

  • Best sellers: Lana Del Ray, Miles Davis, Blackberry Smoke ( defects and all!) Jimi Hendrix, Little Feat , U2 and Life Aquatic Soundtrack

  • Love em but slow movers: John Legend, KD Lang, Maxwell, Smith & Kotzen & Grant Lee Phillips

Thank you so much! I have been working on this little wrap up since 9 am this morning and am finally finishing up now! Sorry and THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO MADE THIS DAY POSSIBLE!!!

Much love & respect,
Alayna

RECORD EXCHANGE - BOISE, ID

What a difference a year makes.

After running our two biggest holiday kickoff days in 2020 with limited capacity and morning appointments, which naturally resulted in decreased sales, for 2021 The Record Exchange kept the masks on but returned to a “normal” shopping experience and crushed our previous Black Friday and Small Business Saturday sales records.

For Black Friday, we were up 25% over 2020 and up 20% over 2019. For Small Business Saturday, we were up a whopping 58% over 2020 and up 28% over 2019. For the three-day weekend, we were up 28% over 2020 and up 31% over 2019.

The morning was interesting. We had our shortest pre-opening line in years – only 60 people despite mild(ish) temperatures in the mid-30s – yet the first person in line was there at 2am, beating our previous record by two hours. He might have been cold, but it warmed our hearts to hear that he and the second person in line watched “Empire Records” together to kill time. Once we opened at 8am, the rush lasted a mere 30 minutes; we are used to a rush of an hour or two. The excitement was there among those who attended, but the rush came and went before we had even wiped the sleep from our eyes, which lent some credence to the online chatter that this year’s list wasn’t the best (even if we thought it was better than some people made it out to be). Fortunately, the typical lull only lasted an hour, as by 9:30am the store filled up again and it just kept getting busier until the afternoon peak. We stayed open until 8pm, and business didn’t subside until the final hour.

The only negative about the day was the number of allocations. We all probably sound like a broken record at this point, but we’re gonna mention the product shortages regardless because they’re still a big deal for the stores and our customers. We received ones, twos and threes on several titles for which we ordered significant quantities, including Dusty Springfield (1), Screamin’ Jay Hawkins (2), Nelson/Haggard/Price (2) and Beleza Tropical (3). In many cases we received half to a third of what we ordered. First-hour sellouts included Crobots, Charlie Parker, Bee Gees, Screamin’ Jay, Hall & Oates, Dusty, Oscar Peterson and A Place to Bury Strangers. The heavy sellers early on were the Life Aquatic, Billie Eilish, Fleetwood Mac, Jason Isbell, Jimi Hendrix, Lana Del Rey and U2. Sell-through was 48%.

As for the rest of our weekend, our impressive growth with Small Business Saturday continued, thanks in no small part to pre-event coverage on two of Boise’s four network TV affiliates; several people said they saw us on the news and decided to come check out the store for the first time. The huge increase in sales leads us to believe that, true to the chatter leading into this holiday season, many consumers are choosing to keep their money in their communities, and that eases the blow of seeing all those Amazon delivery trucks zip around town on a regular basis.

Below you will find our Top 50 exclusive sellers and some photos from the day. A huge thanks goes out to everyone who helped make these exclusives happen as these strange times continue – we never thought we’d be players in A Covid Christmas II, and the fact we even had a Black Friday, despite all the delays and cancelations, feels like a minor (or even a major) holiday miracle.

Wherever you are and however you celebrate, we wish you a happy holiday season and look forward to working with you in the new year.

Thank you,
Chad Dryden
Co-owner / Marketing Director
The Record Exchange
chad@therecordexchange.com
mobile: 208.284.0355

THE RECORD EXCHANGE BLACK FRIDAY TOP 50 SELLERS
1. Various Artists - The Life Aquatic Soundtrack
2. Aerosmith - 1971: The Road Starts Hear (vinyl and cassette combined)
3. Billie Eilish - No Time to Die
4. Jimi Hendrix - Paris ’67
5. Jason Isbell - Georgia Blue
6. The Avett Brothers - Emotionalism
7. Miles Davis - Live-Evil
8. Dio - Holy Diver
9. Lana Del Rey - Chemtrails Over the Country Club
10. U2 - Gloria
11. Little Feat - Electrif Lycanthrope (vinyl and CD combined)
12. Fleetwood Mac - Alternate Live
13. Carole King - In Concert at the BBC
14. Joan Jett - I Love Rock ’n’ Roll / Bad Reputation
15. Leonard Cohen - Songs of Love and Hate
16. Blackberry Smoke - Stoned
17. Iron Maiden - Iron Maiden
18. John Legend - Once Again
19. Thundercat - The Golden Age of Apocalypse
20. Big Brother and the Holding Company - Combination of the Two
21. Brian Rich - Amen
22. All Them Witches - Live on the Internet
23. Judas Priest - The Best Of
24. Canned Heat / Memphis Slim - Memphis Heat
25. Dio - Last in Line
26. Chris Travis - Pizza and Codeine
27. Joe Strummer - Johnny Appleseed
28. Maxwell - Now
29. John Powell - How to Train Your Dragon Soundtrack
30. Jorma Kaukonen - Christmas Candy Cane (both versions combined)
31. Ray Charles - Live in Stockholm
32. The Wonderful World of Louis Armstrong - Original Grooves
33. The Munsters - At Home with the Munsters
34. Crobot - Rat Child
35. Trippie Redd - A Love Letter to You 1 / A Love Letter to You 2
36. Chris Isaak - Beyond the Sun
37. Saigon Kick - Lizard
38. Jackson Conti - Sujinho
39. “Weird Al” Yankovic and Osaka Superstar - Beat on the Brat
40. Modern English - After the Snow Live
41. John Carpenter - The Ghosts of Mars Soundtrack
42. Non Phixion - The Green LP
43. Norah Jones - Christmas Don’t Be Late
44. Smith/Kotzen - Better Days
45. The Wrens - Secaucus
46. Ozzy Osbourne - No More Tears
47. Nancy Wilson - You and Me
48. Sam Cooke - The First Mile of the Way
49. Chet Baker - Albert’s House
50. RZA as Bobby Digital - Digital Bullet


LOONEY TUNES - WEST BABYLON, NY
This weekend was a tremendous success. We are exhausted lol!

If you add Friday, Saturday and Sunday together, both instore sales and online sales….

Sales up 24% over 2020
Sales up 14% over 2019

When I got to the store at 7am we had about 100 people on line. A lot less than years past, so I was a little worried. But it was raining and VERY cold. We did our regular handing out free bagels and coffee to everyone in line. Customers were all in good moods and happy to be there.

We handed out coupons for our big 50th anniversary celebration which will be 12/18. We are still looking for nice prizes to give away and help from the labels.
info here - https://www.looneytuneslongisland.com/post/looney-tunes-is-celebrating-50-years-on-saturday-dec-18th-2021

It was not the same without our long time manager John who passed away last week. So we spent a lot of time talking to customers who were asking WHERE'S JOHN?

We have decided to do a music scholarship in his name to keep is memory alive. We miss ya buddy…
info here - https://www.looneytuneslongisland.com/post/john-sadowski-tribute

Overall sales were just great. CONSTANT…… Usually there is a MAD rush and then it dies down…This year as usual 8am - 9am was the best hour but it was really busy the whole day. Sales were really spread out through the whole weekend. Which was really nice. Online sales started the following Saturday and were strong!

Thank you to everyone that was a part of this wonderful event. Especially Andrea, Carrie and Michael…..I know you guys work so hard on this event for our benefit….we owe you a lot.

Best sellers
Aerosmith
Dio
Iron Maiden
Joan Jett
Jason Isbell
Hendrix
Ozzy

Wish we had more could have sold a TON more
Judas Priest
Saigon Kick

All the best
Karl


PLAN 9 - RICHMOND, VA
We were lacking in stuff to giveaway, including concert tickets this year.

After a brief interlude mask-free, we've been requiring masks since delta reared its head.

We had the shortest line outside that I think we have ever had. Weather was not a factor, although some of our regulars showed up later, even near the end of day saying they had to work.
So RSD shopping carried on through the day when usually we’ve slammed out most of it in the first three hours. That said, shoppers came on strong all day long, and we ended up 23% over last year.

Top sellers:
Jason Isbell
Miles Davis
Lana Del Ray
Little Feat
Hendrix
Carol King
Slow: U2, Maxwell, Dire Straits, Mobb Deep

Thanks to Carrie, Andrea, and all involved in RSD BF!


HOMERS - OMAHA, NE
Hello everyone,

Homers had a line of about 75 at our 10am opening.
We offered coffee and donuts to our crowd.

We had a successful Black Friday event with BF sales
up 20% from 2020 and the weekend up 24% from 2020

Sales for BF were down 7% compared to 2019. However, the
weekend sales were flat vs 2019.
For the year we are up 26% over 2020 and 20% over 2019

As has been the case for us for the last couple years
RSD product represents under 50% of day's/weekend's
total sales. So, we are lucky and thankful customers
shop us for more than just RSD products

Sell through so far is about 40%

top sellers
Eilish, Isbell, Hendrix, Aerosmith, Life Aquatic,
Cohen, U2, Del Rey, Miles, Wrens, Thundercat

no sales on 24 titles; Labrie, Legend, Cooke, Lang,
Strummer, Beleza are the most glaring

I would suggest RSD pull back on titles going forward with
250 on RSD, another 100 on a Drops day and
100 on Black Friday

-- Mike Fratt


WATERLOO RECORDS - AUSTIN, TX
Waterloo Records enjoyed a strong 2021 Black Friday and Small Business Saturday weekend! Once folks could get fully vaccinated this past spring, we had decided to do all of our year to year sales comps back to 2019, Vs 2020, because that year was so out of the ordinary. Our sales were down 2% on Black Friday, up 3% on Small Business Saturday, and down again on Sunday, but it all worked out to a 1% increase for the full 3 day weekend, when you factor out missing our historical bestseller release of the year. This year, again like 2020, there
wasn't a KGSR ACL Radio Broadcasts CD & LP, because many bands weren't touring, much less doing radio in-studio performances. This charity benefit release is historically our bestseller of the year. In fact, it had accounted for over 4% of our BF19 weekend.

When we opened Black Friday at 7am (3 hrs early), there were 60 folks waiting in line, versus 100 back in 2019 when we didn't open until 9am. Like other stores, we had done a really good job of messaging folks about the plethora of Black Friday title bumps, so there weren't many folks surprised or disappointed to find out their desired BF title now had a Dec21 or RSD22 release date. We're obviously still in a Covid world, (OmyGod - Omicron!) so I'm not even gonna try to shame any label or distributor for all those BF bumps. As our wise, local sage, Ray Wylie Hubbard often deadpans, "Every day that I keep my
gratitude higher than my expectations, that is a really good day!" Myself & everyone here has very high gratitude for all of the great music that was released for BF21. Thank you all!

On Friday the BF21 exclusives comprised 34% of our sales, compared with 41% in BF19, which we attribute to less titles and more bumps. We had a 42% sell through for the BF21 exclusives on Black Friday, (Vs 33% in 2019) and a 50% sell through overall for the 3 day weekend (Vs 42% in 2019), so our BF21 purchasing was tighter this year, as we had planned.

These BF indie exclusive releases are an appreciated and needed strong driver, that has given customers a reason to shop independent record stores on Black Friday, and after. Here's a big 'Thanks' again to every artist, manager. label, distributor., and manufacturer that helped make all of these Black Friday releases happen!

Overall traffic drivers this weekend in addition to the BF21 releases were:
- CIMS' GTGOM $9.99 CDs & $5 off LPs
- UMG's Black Friday week rebated CDs
- Amex Small Business Sat
- Austin Chronicle full pg RSD/BF ad, shared with all Austin RSD
pledge stores and others
- Waterloo's BF early opening underwriting announcements on KUTX and Sun Radio
- Social Media posts on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook

Waterloo's Top Black Friday sellers:
(All Formats combined)
1. Little Feat 31 (LPs + CDs)
2. Jason Isbell 29
3. Miles Davis 26
4. Jimi Hendrix 26
5. Lana Del Ray 22
6. Aerosmith 20
7. Life Aquatic 19
8. Fleetwood Mac 19
9. Billie Eilish 19
10. Carole King 11
11. Chet Baker 10 (SO)
12. Leonard Cohen 10
13. Iron Maiden 10
14. Blackberry Smoke 10 (SO)
15. Nelson/Haggard/Price 9
16. John Legend 8
17. Big Brother 7
18. Munsters 7
19. Dio Holy Diver 7
20. Chris Issak 7 (SO)
21. Shangri-Las 7 (SO)
22. Dusty Springfield 7


EASY STREET RECORDS - SEATTLE, WA
Well, we’ve all come a long way from a year ago. We doubled where we were from last years RSDBF. That one sucked so hard I didn’t bother with a wrap up. We were about 20% down from 2019. I can’t say we were too surprised. We weren’t getting the calls and questions we normally get about titles. We just didn’t have any drivers that were registering for us like previous years. At the same time, I think we fell short of rallying behind some of the releases at the store level. We didn’t do a lot to pre-promote the titles like we normally do. We did still do a few things and we overall had a good day and overall, a pretty good weekend. We are hopeful that this might carry into a nice holiday stretch.

Our operating costs are back to (and in some cases higher) than pre-Covid levels…there is definitely a motivation to find areas within the store to utilize better. We’ve continued to expand our product lines as well. We are back to selling posters. We’ve improved our t-shirt, book, and Hi-Fi business, but still…we aren’t back to pre-Covid sales figures just yet. So, things are still pretty challenging.

We partnered with Sub Pop reissuing the ’93 power pop classic The Fastbacks-Zucker. Been out of print for years. They performed on BF as well. We were able to sell 250 copies in November. Made for a great night https://www.instagram.com/reel/CWv193ilBPw/?utm_medium=copy_link

Here’s a small biz video we participated in https://www.instagram.com/p/CWlsugqNuKZ/?utm_medium=copy_link

A few newer releases that performed well all weekend…. Adele, Taylor, U2, Nirvana, Kiss, Coltrane, Brandi, Mogwai, Snail Mail…
A few surprise sellers we could’ve used more of…Strat Cats, Aerosmith, Little Feat, Fleetwood Mac
A few we thought more of than sales would indicate…Charlie Parker, Mr. Big, Dio, Maxwell, John Legend, Joe Strummer, Lana Del Rey… (let us know if u need any of these)


STREETLIGHT RECORDS - SAN JOSE & SANTA CRUZ, CA
Well, another successful Black Friday and Small Business Saturday are in the books! It was full of happy customers, busy employees and buzzing cash registers. Customer after customer told us how happy they are that we’re still here and thriving. Our San Jose store kept the appointment system we’ve been using since the onset of the pandemic and it went well. The Santa Cruz location used a numbering system for the people in line and called them up in groups, also proving to be a solid system.

As always, many thanks to everyone who participated in making Black Friday happen, with an ultra big thanks to Carrie Colliton, Michael Kurtz, Andrea Paschal, Eric Levin and Luann Myers! We had a couple last-minute product arrivals, but otherwise it was pretty smooth sailing. Below are a few stats for each store. Many thanks, and have a wonderful holiday season!

--Paige

San Jose
--Black Friday was up 8% over last year and up 21% over 2019.
--Small Business Saturday was up 26% over last year and 27% over 2019.

Santa Cruz
--Black Friday was up 22% over last year and up 14% over 2019.
--Small Business Saturday was up 16% over last year and down 14% from 2019.

PARK AVE CDS - ORLANDO, FL
event: RSD Black Friday & Small Business Saturday 2021
dates: Friday, November 26th & Saturday, November 27th
location: Park Ave CDs, 2916 Corrine Dr, Orlando, Fl, 32803
sales reporting: MRC
event marketing: social media, pacd newsletter, local media, app
facebook event page: https://www.facebook.com/events/279952734006307
instagram: https://www.instagram.com/parkavecds
twitter: https://twitter.com/ParkAveCDs
pacd newsletter/guide: https://conta.cc/30SHtzl
charitable contributions: Second Harvest Food Bank of CFL

overall sales:
- RSD Black Friday: up 35% over 2020
- Sell through: 42%
- Small Business Saturday: up over 100% over 2020
- Sunday: up 40% over 2020

thumbs up and thumbs down:
up: Our crew!
up: The RSD crew for the coordination and execution.
up: Our customers and supporters.
up: The allocation deities smiled upon PACDs this RSD event.
up: The best Black Friday weekend in the history of the shop, surpassing the previous best of 2019.
down: Last minute shipping from the one-stops.
down: Larger list of bumped titles resulted in smaller turnout for “RSD Black Friday shoppers"

titles we wish we had more of: Norah Jones, Iron Maiden, Pink Lincolns, Art Pepper, Bee Gees, Nancy Wilson, Broken Social Scene, Dusty Springfield, Tammi Terrell, Chris Travis, Stypes P

titles we thought would have done better: Jason Isbell, Lana Del Rey, Weird Al, Billie Eilish

summary:
Hello again!

Hope everyone had a nice and relaxing holiday weekend :)

PACDs is happy to announce that we’ve had another successful RSD Black Friday and Small Business Saturday! Overall both days as well as Sunday were consistently busy, and we’ve continued to stay busy with online RSD Black Friday orders since we went live at 8am on Saturday. We utilized the same raffle/appointment system for early access time slots like we have for past RSD Drops, but this time we adjusted the number of time slots so we could open the doors to the general public a bit earlier in the day. This worked well for us as we had a good amount of walk-up shoppers before noon and we were able to easily slot them in without much of a wait. Once again the time slots proved to be very efficient and the store never felt too crowded or congested.

As always, there were several surprises as far as which titles sold out early and which titles were hardly touched — all of which have been included in our wrap-up below. Norah Jones, Iron Maiden, Broken Social Scene, Nancy Wilson, Dusty Springfield, Rich Brian, Bee Gees and Chris Travis were the some of the hottest titles of the day and some of the first titles we ran out of on Friday. The Life Aquatic, Lana Del Rey, Billie Eilish, Aerosmith, Jimi Hendrix, Jason Isbelll, Black Berrysmoke, Thundercat and Miles Davis also did really well for us and have continued to sell both in-store and online throughout the weekend. We didn’t have as high of a sell through in comparison to last year’s RSD Black Friday but we were very happy with the turnout and our overall numbers for the entire weekend beat last year.

Our RSD Black Friday shopping time slot reservations were booked from 8am-11am for over 180+ people, and then at 11am we opened the doors to the general public and began taking walk-up RSD Black Friday shoppers. We had a good turnout but we also had a good number of no-shows and last minute cancelations. This was mostly expected with it being Thanksgiving weekend and the fact that a good number of RSD Black Friday titles were bumped or removed from the list. We decided to add the list of bumped titles to our ‘"RSD Black Friday Menu” which helped us out a ton with relaying all the information to our customers. Once we hit 11am and started allowing walk-ups we maintained a pretty busy atmosphere in-store but we hardly ever had a line outside. A bit later in the day we even had a visit from Orlando own/PACDs’ alum, Tierney Tough! We were super proud of her to have her first RSD Exclusive release for her debut solo EP! She came by to visit and help us do a giveaway for a special test pressing of the release. Photo attached below of Tierney and her pup, Arrow! This RSD Black Friday we also held our annual food drive for our local food bank Second Harvest of CFL!

Overall it was fun day for everyone involved! We hardly had anyone that couldn’t find the record/CD they were looking for on their list and we’ve continued to sell through titles steadily online and in-store. The big surprise for us was how quickly we sold out of the Norah Jones 3” and how many people added it to their wishlist! The more you know! Also, sales overall for this Black Friday weekend bested our previous record set in 2019!

Lastly, thank you so much for everything you’ve done to help us and all of indie retail throughout the year! We know this was a weird RSD Black Friday for most but we couldn’t be happier with how things have panned out and we look forward to another busy holiday season!

Stay safe, stay warm, listen to some new tunes, and have a great rest of the year!

Cheers!
- Josiah, Sandy & the entire PACDs crew!

top selling titles:

1. The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou - Soundtrack
1. Lana Del Rey - Chemtrails Over The Country Club
2. Billie Eilish - No Time To Die
3. Aerosmith - 1971: The Road Starts Hear
4. Iron Maiden - Iron Maiden (PD)
5. The Jimi Hendrix Experience - Paris 1967
6. Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit - Georgia Blue
7. Blackberry Smoke - STONED
8. Thundercat - The Golden Age Of Apocalypse (10th Anniversary Ed.)
9. Miles Davis - Live-Evi
10. The Munsters - At Home With The Munsters
10. Mr. Big - Lean Into It
11. Fleetwood Mac - Alternate Live
12. Saigon Kick - The Lizard
12. RZA as Bobby Digital - Digital Bullet
12. Little Feat - Electrif Lycanthrope
12. Rich Brian - Amen
13. How To Train Your Dragon - Soundtrack
14. Hall & Oates - Fall In Philadelphia: The Definitive Demos
15. Motorhead - Lost Tapes Vol.1 (Live in Madrid 1995)
15. The Avett Brothers - Emotionalism (Cassette)
16. U2 - Gloria (40th Anniversary)
16. Dio - Holy Diver (PD)
16. All Them Witches - LIVE ON THE INTERNET
16. Bee Gees - Three Kisses Of Love
16. Dusty Springfield - The Complete Atlantic Singles 1968-1971
17. Stray Cats - Live At Rockpalast
17. Broken Social Scene - Feel Good Lost (20th Anniversary Ed.)
17. Puscifer - Billy D and the Hall of Feathered Serpents, Puscifer Live at the...
17. Dire Straits - Encores (Live)
17. Carole King - BBC Live Performance (1971)
17. Leonard Cohen - Songs Of Love & Hate (50th Anniversary)
17. Ozzy Osbourne - No More Tears
17. Big Brother & The Holding Company - Combination of the Two: Live at the Monterey...
18. Ray Charles - Live In Stockhol 1972
18. Smith/Kotzen - Better Days
18. Tickets For Doomsday: Heavy - Various Artists
18. Screamin’ Jay Hawkins - My Little Shop Of Horrors
19. Dio - The Last In Line (PD)
19. Judas Priest - Best Of
19. The Shangri-Las - The Best of the Red Bird & Mercury Recordings
19. Jackson Conti - Sujinho
19. Chris Isaak - Beyond The Sun
20. Charlie Parker - Bird In LA
20. Chief Keef - Thot Breaker
20. "Weird Al” Yankovic / Osaka Popstar - Beat On The Brat (Maxi Single)
20. Joan Jett & The Blackhearts - Joan Jett & The Blackhearts - 40x40: Book & Record Set
20. Chet Baker - Albert’s House
20. Tierney Tough - A Farce To Reckon With (7”)

MUSIC MILLENNIUM - PORTLAND, OR
Hello All -

Black Friday this year felt like the world was back to normal….except everyone was wearing masks. We had about 40 people in line when I arrived at 5:30. The weather had drizzled over the night but it had stopped for the time being. The temperature was hovering close to 50, making it quite tolerable.

We had no time assignments this year and everyone lined up with social distancing in mine. We handed out granola bars and coffee to those in line along with Kill Rock Star CD samplers and an incredible poster that our store artist made. We also had local radio station KINK-FM out at 7 AM, giving everyone a chance to win a turntable along with giving out buttons and stickers.

By the time we opened at 8am, we had a crowd of about 100, the smallest BF crowd we have had since RSD BF began. Each of the first two customers exceeded $1000 in purchases. Both are regulars on RSD event and built up find collections from being regulars at our store. Hendrix seemed to be the big title that most people wanted but everyone was all over the map on what they wanted.

By 9:30 we went from regulating a single file line into the store to keep social distancing, with everyone walking by all the RSD releases, to just conducting regular business. There was a lot of non-RSD business done in the day. We also had door buster deals we had in place on 25 titles on vinyl at $10 off, that had not performed up to potential. Those were well shopped and at the end of the day we had moved quite a few. CDs had a solid day as well, a format I hope the industry re-embraces. With the vinyl shortage, we have seen a substantial pick up in catalog CDs and I believe it’s a sign of the future as 10 month pressing time on vinyl is too long a wait to get a title. And the younger generation is more and more embracing the CD as a secondary format of physical music to own.

Our business was up almost 62% over last year and equal to our business on BF 2019. And that’s with a lot less titles. Our sell though on BF titles was only 50%, much like last year which
had been a low for us. however, like last year, we are hoping to have a super strong weekend and that number being closer to a 70 to 75% sell through. The surprise titles that did not sell well were the Ozzy Osbourne picture disc, Lana Del Rey, Maxwell, Todd Rundgren and Mobb Deep.

The day accomplished what we wanted to see….happy customers who really enjoy buying physical music and being able to celebrate their temple of worship…..Music Millennium and record stores in general. To some, this was their first RSD event they decided to attend. Being double and triple vaxxed is giving many more confidence in wandering indoors….and in a crowd. I believe the retail holiday season will be quite strong because of that.

Thanks to all of you that made this day possible with all these wonderful releases. Thank you Michael, Carrie, Andrea and Erik for your work all year long to make this day happen. And the label and distribution people who are juggling to make these releases happen. Physical goods just keep growing. I hope each of your companies take a good look at the immediate future and provide you with the tools and staff to keep the arc going forward.

Now for the sales results:

Full Length Vinyl
1- Jimi Hendrix -Paris 67 48 (sold out)
2- Miles Davis - Live-Evil 38
3- Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou 30 ( sold out)
4- Jason Isbell - Georgia Blue 27
5- Tundercat - Alternative Live 25
6- Fleetwood Mac - Alternative Live 22
7- Little Feat - Electrif Lycanthrope 22
8- Leonard Cohen - Songs of Love & Hate 20 (shipping company lost 10, sold out)
9- Carole King - Carole King In Concert 20
10- Aerosmith -1971:Road Starts Here 20
11- Big Brother & The Holding Company - Combination Of The Times 17
12- Lana Del Rey - Chemtrails Over The Country Club 14
13- Dire Straits - Encores 14
14- V/A -Tickets For DoomsDay 14
15- All Them Witches - Live On The Internet 14
16- Dusty Springfield - Complete Atlantic Singles 14 (sold out, allocated)
17- Iron Maiden - Iron Maiden 12
18- Blackberry Smoke - Stoned (sold out) 10
19- Shyangri-las - Best Of The Redbird and Mercury Recordings 10
20 - RZA - Digital Bullet 9
21- Canned Heat/Memphis Slim - Memphis Heat 10
22 - Munters - At Home With The Munsters 10
23 - Ray Charles - Live In Stockholm 1972 9 (sold out, allocated)
24- Jackson Conti - Sujinho 8
25 - Charlie Parker - Bird In L.A. 8 (sold out, allocated)


12” and 7” Singles
1- Billie Eilish - A Time To Die 16
2- U2 - Gloria 16
3- Joan Jett - 40 X 40
4- Sons of Kemet - African Cosmology 6
5 - Joe Strummer - Johnny Appleseed 6

Cassettes
1- Aerosmith - 1971: The Road Starts Now 5
2- Local Natives - Music From The Pen Gala 1983

CDs
1- Little Feat - Electrif Lycanthrope 6
2- Charlie Parker - Bird In LA 4

CIMS WEEKLY CHARTS: WEEK ENDING 11/18/21

in

Hi everyone,

Hope you all have a safe and happy Thanksgiving, and a successful Black Friday.

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
#cimsmusic

CIMS WEEKLY CHARTS: WEEK ENDING 11/11/21

in

Hi Everyone,

This week I wanted to take a break from talking or even thinking about the logistics of the “Music Business”, (or sometimes lack thereof) and instead take a second to just talk about MUSIC- which is the reason most of us got into this game.

Time for a throwback Thursday…

It was Thanksgiving 1991. I was thirteen years old. My parents had just gotten divorced the year before, and my brother was with my dad, so it was just me and my mom. I had already gone vegetarian (which my parents both just loved, but supported) so, we were giving thanks for our favorite Chinese restaurant being open.

I went to the restroom, and as I was washing my hands, in the mirror I saw the reflection of one of those yellow industrial mop buckets with wheels pushed over in the corner. I looked at the image I had already seen a million times in my short life- the little figure within the triangle with the exclamation point above his head worried about just how bad that fall was going to be. In that exact moment, a light bulb went off in mine. I looked at the word above… it was in German which I didn’t really know a bit of until that. I smiled to myself and thought, “Ah-ha! So that’s what it means…. Attention Baby!

Thirty years ago today, U2 unleashed Achtung Babyupon the world. I already liked the band, but this was something else and it was the one I fell for. You had the Dan Lanois/ Eno/ Flood production trifecta. There was the mystery to the sounds that came out of Hansa Studios. We got Zoo TV which I was obsessed with, and we met “the Fly” (This is my absolute favorite Bono and I still think it was the coolest he ever looked). What I learned years later, which makes me love it that much more, is that this was the album where it was all on the verge of falling apart and instead it solidified them as one of the biggest bands in history.

I randomly asked the other members (separately) of the ThinkIndie crew what their three favorite U2 records were. For two of those albums, we made different choices that spanned the bands career, but this was the favorite for all of us. No hesitation, no debate, this was the One.

Music… it is how you find your people.

So, Happy Anniversary to this masterpiece of an album, and to many others that changed our lives and are celebrating big anniversaries this year. There are too many to get into now without going down a total rabbit hole, but 1971, 1991, 2001 you were really fantastic years for music. Oh yeah, and Happy Thanksgiving! I hope you have a safe one with all of your favorites.

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
#cimsmusic

U2
ACHTUNG BABY
(Island)

CIMS WEEKLY CHARTS: WEEK ENDING 10/21/21

in

Hi everyone,

Here are the charts for the week.

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
#cimsmusic

Dino Lenny, Doorly, Seth Troxler
"The Magic Room - Dino Lenny & Seth Troxler Re-Edit"
(Play It Say It)

Blake Wimberly - CIMS/ThinkIndie Magician
A simple bassline groove, a couple of piano chords and some storytime vocals on top. Everyone's busy as hell, no time for digging -- just throw this one on repeat.

CIMS WEEKLY CHARTS: WEEK ENDING 10/14/21

in

Hi Everyone,

Thinking about the issues with vinyl this week.

We have been struggling for a few years now at indie retail to get enough vinyl to keep our shelves stocked. Before the pandemic, it was a case of fulfillment, with new releases often showing up late and catalog sometimes taking weeks or even months to get product back in.

Then with the pandemic, there has been a whole new slew of problems that have entered the mix. Supply chain issues are rampant, and not just within our industry. There are shortages all along the line, from labor to cardboard to well… you name it, that have made it even more of a challenge for our stores to keep those customers happy and coming back for more. Yet, we are still here. Cue the Gloria Gaynor because, despite the tireless job it is, our stores are not only surviving but thriving! There has been impressive growth in the indie sector with vinyl sales over the past two years… and that is with what we can get our hands on. Imagine what we could do if we were not limited by all the supply issues that abound. It is a complicated multi-faceted problem and despite lots of robust discussions on the subject, there doesn’t seem to be a clear end in sight.

When we finally receive product, sometimes in very limited quantities to start with, there is an amazing amount of damaged product we are dealing with due to poor packing and shipping practices. That is the part that really makes me sick. After all the painstaking work and long hours that went into making those records, there ends up being a huge amount of unsellable product. The worst part of it all is this is an issue that was preventable.

This is something we have been actively discussing with our Partners on the Music Biz-led Physical Business Action committee and later today, this issue will be the focus of the fall installment of Let’s Talk Physical. Several members from all areas of physical distribution will come together to take a hard look at the packaging challenges faced by retailers, labels and pressing plants, and we will begin to discuss best approaches for optimizing shipping practices going forward.

What is that saying? One small step for Vinyl…

I look forward to the giant steps, but we must start somewhere.

I remain thankful to all the supporters out there that remain committed to independent physical retail and help to keep us on this journey.

Onwards and upwards.
Andrea

Here are the charts.

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
#cimsmusic