Oh no, is this the vinyl countdown?
On total purchases $1200* & over.
PLUS
A Wellington record store has put out a desperate plea for secondhand vinyl in an effort to stay afloat.
Death Ray Records in Newtown has been stung by a ballooning tax bill, competition from online sellers, and low stock volumes.
Now owner Apa Hutt fears he may not make it through Christmas unless people bring in used vinyl as trades, for sale, or as donations.
‘‘It’s all up in the air,’’ he said. ‘‘This is a really important cultural hub for Newtown, but it could close and that will be a really difficult decision to make.’’
In recent years, vinyl has had a resurgence. Revenue from sales soared 116 per cent in New Zealand from 2013 to 2014, growing from $462,000 to just over $1 million, according to Radioscope, which compiles record sales for the Top 40.
Although it may have levelled off, Recorded Music NZ figures show vinyl in 2016 accounts for about 10 per cent of the entire physical market, coming off a base of near 0 in the early 2000s.
Selling new vinyl kept people happy but it was not the bread and butter of the business and Hutt said he had been close to shutting up the shop, tucked away on Wilson St since opening in 2013, as he tried to figure out how to survive.
Support from Newtown’s music and arts scenes had blossomed since Hutt made his plight known through social media.
There was even talk of a fundraising gig ‘‘and other things in the pipeline’’ and Hutt had dug into his own crates, putting 400 of his own records back on the shelf for sale.
‘‘People have told me Death Ray is the best record shop in the country. I don’t believe it - but it’s the coolest.’’
As proof of Newtown’s pop-cultural heft, Hutt cited a 2015 report by APRA AMCO based on the number of earning songwriters by postcode, which showed Newtown-Brooklyn was the second most popular postcode behind Auckland’s Grey Lynn-Kingsland.
Music reviewer Grant Smithies said it was ‘‘always a cultural catastrophe’’ when a record store like Death Ray closed.
‘‘These places are breeding grounds for creativity, they nurture bands and are a bond between music obsessives. They’re a kind of marvellous library for the local culture.’’