Hey Everyone,
I am travelling this week for the annual CIMS Board meetings.
Here are the charts... and y’all don’t forget to wash your hands!
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
Hi Everyone,
This week happens to be one of my favorite weeks of the year: Paris Fashion Week, but not for just the obvious reasons. Even if you don’t consider yourself a person that cares about fashion, the clothes you choose to put on every day are in fact an expression of you are: your interests, what you care about, and how you choose to present yourself to the world.
The “things” that I care the most about are: Art, Music, Cinema, and Fashion, which is where the first three intersect and reflect back to us. All of these art forms are what I consider the best ways to document the times we are living in, much more so than the news we watch or read daily.
I was just re-watching Fade to Black – which chronicles the making of Jay-Z’s Black Album, the other night. It was such a great glimpse into the creative process. One of my favorite moments of the documentary was when Pharrell is trying to sell Jay on a track- he says “you remember at the end of Carlito’s Way and the guys just trying to get out of the game?” to which Jay-Z responds, “That’s the speech?!” and a confident Pharrell just smiles and hits play. He earlier told the camera “I am gonna’ get my movie moment!” This loop is what would later be the basis of “Allure”. On a later studio visit, a young Kanye brings some beats and gives a similar pitch- there is a moment where he exclaims “this record is not just a record, it’s like the score or soundtrack to scenes from a great movie”
For most of us, our music is the soundtrack to our lives…all the moments, big and small.
Today’s news is as fleeting as our Instagram stories, so these are the things we will continue to come back to and reflect on and will carry on long after us. You will remember what was going on in your life or the world often by just hearing a certain song or album. Art in any form tells the collective tale of moments and movements, struggles and achievements for us all.
I am particularly fond of Paris Fashion week probably just because it is where some of my favorite designers show, and historically the soundtracks to these shows have been a great source for new music for me. I have discovered some of my favorite new artists this way. The first time I heard Cherry Glazerr or Sunflower Bean (when they were but a blip on Soundcloud) or La Femme, or Leon Vynehall…it was all fresh off the runway.
So for my CIMS Pick this week, here are some of my favorite PFW inspired tracks to get you ready for the weekend:
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/51l48hWGGVvXE3q5JJV6kY?si=l9sGiEuvSQa7eLIn6yimnQ
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
Hi Everyone,
Last week I made a quick trip to New York for our annual Record Store Day meetup. Every year the co-founders take a couple of days to get together in the same room to meet, discuss issues, work on our annual Summer Camp conference and brainstorm on how to solve the music world’s problems. I always leave reinvigorated with new ideas and ready to get to work.
Thanks to our friends at ADA/ BMG, we also got to take in a screening of the new Boom Town Rats documentary, Citizens of Boomtown. There was a Q&A afterwards and my big take away from the evening was hearing Bob Geldof reflect on his career and how so many of songs that he wrote over thirty years ago are still so relevant today. I Hate Mondays was one that immediately comes to mind. He also recalled the evening news story that inspired him to want to do something more- something to really make a change. I love the story of Band-Aid and Live Aid. I probably watch the making of documentary about once a year (admittedly around the holidays). The thing that was so inspiring to me was how this somewhat unlikely character was able to come along and channel all his anger and frustration not to divide or build walls, but to break them down, and to bring people together with music. That is a powerful thing.
Speaking of bringing people together through music, I saw on Twitter today that No Depression polled their staff, industry professionals and musicians to compile a list of 75 of the best record stores across the US. I was thrilled to see that 22 of our CIMS stores made the list!
Cactus – Houston, TX
Central Square – Santa Rosa Beach, FL
Dearborn Music – Dearborn, MI
Easy Street – Seattle, WA
Electric Fetus – Minneapolis, MN & Duluth, MN
Euclid Records – St. Louis, MO
Fingerprints – Long Beach, CA
Homer’s – Omaha, NE
Indy CD & Vinyl – Indianapolis, IN
Lou’s Records – Encinitas, CA
Magnolia Thunderpussy – Columbus, OH
Music Millennium – Portland
Park Avenue CD – Orlando, FL
Plan 9 – Richmond
Pure Pop – Burlington, VT
Record Archive – Rochester
Record Exchange – Boise, ID
Rockin’ Rudy’s – Missoula, MT
Schoolkids Records - multiple locations
Strictly Discs – Madison, WI
T-Bones – Hattiesburg, MS
Twist and Shout – Denver, CO
Waterloo Records and Video – Austin, TX
For the full list of shops, get the latest issue of No Depression here: https://store.nodepression.com/collections/subscribe?utm_source=CIMS&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=spring20
I would like to extend a big congrats to ALL of the shops featured. Some of the most important people in my life, I met through music or in a record shop, so to all the amazing record stores out there, thank you for doing what you do and giving people a place to come together through music.
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
Hey Everyone,
I am traveling this week.
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
cimsmusic.com
#cimsmusic
Hi Everyone,
Man…the hits just keep on coming. This weekend we lost Bill Southard of Ingram/ VPD, a cherished member of our indie retail community.
Bill was a wonderful person with a big personality and an even bigger heart. He always brought cheer to a room and his love for life was infectious. He was a champion for all of us, and always went the extra mile to be supportive of indie retail over the years. Bill will be greatly missed by so many of us.
I should also mention that Record Store Day will be doing our annual meeting next week. We (Michael, Carrie, Eric Luann and I) will convene in NYC to collect our thoughts and continue planning for 2020. It is always a great way to get the idea wheels turning, and that time together face to face really seems to be the magic that holds it all together.
We will have limited time, but in the wake of losing one of our friends, we want to see as many of our NYC friends as possible. To attempt to accomplish this with only so many hours in a day, we will be hosting a happy hour on Tuesday 2/11 from 5:00-7:30 at Tanner Smiths, located at 204 West 55th Street. Come for a few minutes, come for an hour. If you're in the city next week, so are we! Let's get our faces in the same room! We look forward to seeing you and catching up.
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
Hi Everyone,
Not too much to say this week other than it started off with some high highs and some low lows.
For the Highs- Congrats to Billie Eilish and Finneas on their Grammy sweep and performance. Tyler the Creator brought it and Rosalia was on fire! I absolutely love her, and it has been so exciting to see her gaining ground here in the States.
However, it was beyond weird to go into the Grammys, at the Staples Center, with the loss of Kobe. As a long-time Lakers fan, I watched almost every game of his career and what can you say- he was a legend. I am growing really tired of losing legends. I know, this is a game as old as time….and no one can last here forever, but there are certain people on this planet with such talent and raw energy- be it in in sports, music, film, whatever – that they actually seem invincible.
And in a way…I guess they are- because they have forever left their mark on us. The people we hold as our legends (whoever that may be for you) are the ones that inspire. Whether you are driven to get on the court, learn to work a camera, pick up an instrument, invent something. These are the people that drive us to push ourselves to that next level even when it seems out of reach.
So- I guess the message this week is: Life is short. Don’t take for granted the ones you love. Whatever it is you do, do it with passion and go make your mark.
Here are the charts:
CIMS PICK OF THE WEEK
This week, I would like to focus on one of our CIMS members.
Darkside Records in Poughkeepsie, NY celebrated its 9th anniversary this past weekend. I was able to catch up with the store owner, Justin Johnson, to see how they celebrated and I wanted to share his wrap-up with everyone.
From Justin,
“For our anniversary, here's what went down:
Darkside celebrated our 9th anniversary this past Saturday with a huge 30% off EVERYTHING store-wide sale plus hundreds of great used records for only $1. We also paired up with our local coffee shop, The Poughkeepsie Grind, to give away free coffee. We had local brews on tap for our customers, food from our favorite taco spot Mole Mole and adoptable puppies in house from no-kill animal shelter CARE of Dutchess County. The day was a huge success despite the impending snow, with the morning and early afternoon feeling like Record Store Day had come early.
We also launched a new charity event on our anniversary. Our county, and in March the whole state of NY, has started a plastic bag ban. We've been using paper for years, but we decided to do like some other indie record stores have and take it to the next step. For every person that doesn't take a bag at checkout, Darkside is donating 10¢ (the average cost of our bags) to the severely underfunded Poughkeepsie City School District via DonorsChoose.org. If you're not familiar, Donors Choose connects people directly with teachers who need things for their classrooms and students. 90% of the kids in the city of Poughkeepsie school district live at or below the poverty line, so it's pretty awesome when we can help out teachers who are trying their best with what little they're given.”
I love hearing this sort of news, and Darkside’s account is just one example of how our stores are SO much more than just a place to buy music. They are an integral part of the communities around them. I would like to extend a huge congratulations to Justin and the entire Darkside team. Keep up the good work!
-Andrea
CIMS PICK OF THE WEEK
Various- Come On Up To The House: Women Sing Waits (Dualtone)
Justin Johnson - Darkside Records
“Especially the Phoebe Bridgers cover of 'Georgia Lee' - it's just devastating.”
It doesn’t seem like it was that long ago that a group of record stores would come up with a way to work together- to be stronger, to think bigger, to matter more.
That year was 1995:
It was the year of the OJ trial,
The year Sony gave us the PlayStation,
The year we would meet and fall in love with Buzz and Woody,
The year the World Wide Web successfully found its way into people’s homes.
That same year, so did Ebay and Amazon.
I will always remember 1995, because it was the year I saw Aphex Twin & Bjork at the Masquerade in Atlanta. Easily one of my top three favorite shows of all time.
Britpop was having a serious moment…
And so was the CD, which I guess makes it quite appropriate that CIMS is celebrating its Silver anniversary this year.
25 Years Y’all… Dang. How did that happen?
Here we are 25 years later; still fighting to stay in the game we love, sometimes still winning, and along the way making some lifelong friends.
Through the years, we have marked the milestones with some pretty amazing events and artist performances. This is a year to celebrate so we are planning to do just that with a “CIMS Silver” party at RSD Summer Camp. There will be more info on that in the coming months, but we will be inviting some of those friends to join us so please help us Bring the noise!
Speaking of, I would like to extend a giant congrats to Trent Reznor and our pals at Silva Artist Management on the Nine Inch Nails induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Time sure is a funny thing, but the one thing you can count on- it flies by when you’re having fun.
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
Happy New Year Everyone!
I am writing to you for the first time as the new Executive Director of CIMS, and I cannot tell you how honored I am to be typing this message.
First of all, as this week’s chart is the official passing of the torch, I would like to give a big thanks to Michael Bunnell for all of his years of service to this organization. I had the pleasure of working with Michael for his entire tenure as Director and we truly appreciate all of his hard work and diligence. Thank you, Michael! If you need to find him, he still has a kick ass record store in Boise, ID that remains a proud member of CIMS.
Next we have the CIMS year-end wrap. I think it goes without saying that 2019 was a tough one. With major supply chain problems that presented major hurdles for everyone on all sides of our business, we all found ourselves having to work both smarter AND harder.
I polled the CIMS stores to see how this December compared to 2018, so let’s see the compiled results:
How did your December 2019 fare overall compared to December 2018?
Answers ranged from a negative 16.3% to a high of 12% up, overall average being up 2%
How did your vinyl sales fare in December 2019 compared to December 2018?
Range of down 15% to a high of 21% up with an average growth of 7%
How did CD sales in December 2019 compare to December 2018?
Overall there was a drop in CD sales the average being a drop of about 13%
Any product lines or genres that stuck out as big winners for the holiday season and all year?
Socks still rule. Other big sellers included: Stickers, Turntables, Vinyl Accessories, Toys, Candles, Classic Rock Vinyl, Dishtowels and who knew… oven mitts!
How did vinyl fare in 2019 compared to last year?
Average overall growth of 7.3%
How did CD sales fare for the year compared to last?
The average sales were down 7.64%
Were there any contributing or diminishing factors that affected sales at Christmas and throughout the year?
The most frequent response where was the obvious one- DSD issues.
Other factors included:
Shorter shopping season- fewer days between Black Friday and Christams
The weather- milder winter for the most part helped sales
Lack of big titles
In a perfect world of music retail, what would change?
The overall most consistent response was the plea for distribution issues to be rectified
Other responses included:
CD and Vinyl release coinciding with digital allowing all formats to be treated equally.
Lower LP prices
CD Sales would make a strong comeback
In summary, we are still seeing a decline of CD sales, but vinyl is still growing. Most stores overall had a good year. The number one question I have heard from the stores and the one I am asking myself is: “How much better could the holiday and the year overall have been if we were not battling the issues of getting product onto the shelves?” I guess that would be the number one new year’s resolution for 2020.
Despite the issues at hand, I want to thank everyone that has worked with CIMS and/or ThinkIndie this year. We truly value these relationships and your continued support!
Finally, to anyone here that does not know that much about me, let’s change that. For a little background, this is my 16th year with CIMS/ThinkIndie Distribution. I have been the general manager for both companies for the past 11 years and I am looking forward to taking on this new role and stepping into this new era of our organization. Music is my passion and I am committed to this group. From now on, you will be hearing from me weekly with news from the front lines, but please feel free to reach out at my contact info below. I want to hear from you!
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
Here are the charts.
