Amoeba Music Plans Online Store, Record Label (l.a. times)
Posted: Fri Nov 18, 2005 12:04 pm
Amoeba Music Plans Online Store, Record Label
Brick-n-mortar CD stores and online music outlets may seem diabolically opposed, but more retailers are attempting to thread the two environments. As musical tastes shift away from mainstream genres and toward multiple niches, legendary record shop Amoeba Music is eyeing an opportunity. The company just revealed plans to present music fans with an edgy online music service based on its first-rate knowledge of bands and artists. With popular outlets in three key US cities, including its legendary Haight-Ashbury shop in San Francisco, the chain also confirmed plans to launch its own record label. "We're starting the 21st century now," company co-founder Dave Prinz told the LA Times. "The internet is changing everything. We were ignoring it." The report points out that while other music retail outlets have felt the pinch of file-sharing and the end of the CD replacement cycle, Amoeba only saw sales flatten this year.
But anyone who has trekked to Amoeba for a musical fix would hardly know the difference. The secret is that the store caters to the tastes of hardcore music fans, instead of more mainstream (and declining) record buyers. The first CD from the label will be a 1969 unreleased live concert from country-rock pioneer Gram Parsons. "Amoeba will also release an album featuring the Robin Nolan Trio, a Gypsy jazz group inspired by Django Reinhardt, and Brandi Shearer," the report states. That fits in well with the underlying Amoeba attitude, and is likely to elevate the company’s overall business.
Story by news analyst Jonny Evans.
Amoeba Music
LA Times "Record Chain Bets on the Past, Future"
Brick-n-mortar CD stores and online music outlets may seem diabolically opposed, but more retailers are attempting to thread the two environments. As musical tastes shift away from mainstream genres and toward multiple niches, legendary record shop Amoeba Music is eyeing an opportunity. The company just revealed plans to present music fans with an edgy online music service based on its first-rate knowledge of bands and artists. With popular outlets in three key US cities, including its legendary Haight-Ashbury shop in San Francisco, the chain also confirmed plans to launch its own record label. "We're starting the 21st century now," company co-founder Dave Prinz told the LA Times. "The internet is changing everything. We were ignoring it." The report points out that while other music retail outlets have felt the pinch of file-sharing and the end of the CD replacement cycle, Amoeba only saw sales flatten this year.
But anyone who has trekked to Amoeba for a musical fix would hardly know the difference. The secret is that the store caters to the tastes of hardcore music fans, instead of more mainstream (and declining) record buyers. The first CD from the label will be a 1969 unreleased live concert from country-rock pioneer Gram Parsons. "Amoeba will also release an album featuring the Robin Nolan Trio, a Gypsy jazz group inspired by Django Reinhardt, and Brandi Shearer," the report states. That fits in well with the underlying Amoeba attitude, and is likely to elevate the company’s overall business.
Story by news analyst Jonny Evans.
Amoeba Music
LA Times "Record Chain Bets on the Past, Future"
