Something Old, Something New: Vinyl Records Make a Modern Comeback Locally

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DescoAV Owner, Jeffrey Scott, is excited to share his passion for premium vinyl with his customers.
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olympia vinyl
DescoAV Owner, Jeffrey Scott, is excited to share his passion for premium vinyl with his customers.

Long before the convenience of iPods and MP3 players and the transportability of cassette tapes and CDs existed, vinyl records were king. People displayed their record collections proudly in their living rooms, taking care between plays to methodically clean the grooves of the vinyl before slipping each record back into its protective sleeve.

It was during the 1970s and ‘80s, however, when people started deserting their records in dusty attics, replacing their heavy vinyl collections with compact and lightweight cassette tapes and CDs, audio formats that would more recently be replaced with iPods and the MP3.

While most people traded in their record collections for the latest and greatest, some continued to appreciate the warm, rich sound that was so unique to vinyl. These collectors helped keep the record industry somewhat alive during its dormant phase, which it is only now just starting to come out of. Recently the record industry has garnered a new generation of young listeners, bringing this primitive form of audio back into the mainstream. In the past 12 months alone vinyl sales have increased 49 percent. That translates to about 8 million records purchased over the course of just one year.

Jeffrey Scott, owner of DescoAV, couldn’t be more excited about the recent vinyl revival, as it’s an opportunity for Desco to branch out and offer its customers something that Scott and the rest of the Desco staff are passionate about: high quality vinyl. “I’ve always wanted to have a record store,” says Scott. “It’s one of those things that you say, ‘If I won the lottery and could do whatever I want, I would own a hi-fi and record shop.’” However, up until recently, the idea of owning a record store didn’t seem all that lucrative. As an outfitter of high quality audio/video equipment, for many years Desco has offered a range of turntables and record playing equipment as part of their inventory, but they weren’t sure that records were something that their customers wanted — until now.

olympia vinyl store
DescoAV offers a wide range of audio video equipment for every budget.

“It’s become popular,” says Scott. “The culture now is to appreciate better quality.” As such, the “iTunes generation,” as Scott call them, wants more from their music. “MP3s have no soul or depth,” explains Scott. “If you expose a young person to a record, they say, ‘Woah! That sounds amazing.’ That’s because they’re hearing notes they hadn’t heard before. They’re hearing musicians playing off each other. They’re hearing all these sounds that were lost with the [MP3].”

Featuring a curated selection of premium records, Desco customers can now retire their soon-to-be-outdated MP3 players and instead stock up from a selection of timeless, high quality, 180-gram virgin vinyl re-pressings of their favorite classic records and more recent hits.

Desco’s Director of Marketing, Beth Garson, says she’s excited that Desco is offering vinyl as it’s an opportunity to connect with customers who enjoy music that is not only good, but also of high quality. “We’re an audio video store that loves music and wants to surface great music to our clients,” says Garson. “We also want to introduce ourselves to people who enjoy good quality music, especially younger people.”

But, in addition to connecting with their customers on an even more musical level, Desco also wants to connect with local musicians by featuring their records in-store. “There are people locally who are making records and don’t have a place to sell them,” says Scott. “We want to sell their records and help them find their local audience.” Local musicians are encouraged to contact Desco about opportunities for selling their vinyl in-store.

olympia vinyl
Offering a curated collection of premium records, DescoAV’s record selection features titles from Frank Sinatra to Wolfmother and everything in between.

In celebration of Desco’s new in-store record shop, Desco is excited to announce its upcoming Record Store Day festivities on April 18. In addition to offering 10 percent off all vinyl, Desco also invites customers to bring in their records and take advantage of the free record cleaning service Desco will be providing using their hi-tech vacuum record cleaning equipment. Desco will clean up to five records for free. Scott says he’ll also be calibrating and fine-tuning turntables, free of charge. But, in addition to these great promotions, Desco is most looking forward to a fun afternoon of listening to music.

As part of Record Store Day, Desco’s high end room, which features top of the line equipment for the ultimate stereo sound music experience, will be open during the event. Bring some records, find some new ones, and get ready for a great afternoon. Record Store Day activities take place from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. on Saturday, April 18.

For more information, visit DescoAV’s website here. More information about Record Store Day and Desco’s new collection of vinyl can be found by visiting DescoAV’s blog.

 

DescoAV

2306 Harrison Ave NW

olympia vinyl
From turntables to speakers, DescoAV also offers all the equipment you need to play your favorite records.

Olympia, WA 98502

360-943-1393

 

Hours:

Monday – Friday: 9:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.

Weekends: By appointment

Record Store Day is Saturday, April 18, 11:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.

 

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