More than your local record shop
As major record companies are desperately searching for new ways to make money, Natalie Blachford looks at how an independent record store is still thriving in the age of the download.
There is no official figure for how many songs are downloaded illegally. However, a spokesperson from the British Phonographic Industry said “there were 100 million legal downloads last year, and the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry estimated that only one in 20 downloads are legal. So you can sort of work it out, there were almost two billion illegal downloads.”
This is an incredible figure, and the undeniable shift from buying music in a physical format to acquiring it digitally, through legal or illegal means, is causing great concern for record shops across the country. High street retailers Woolworths and Zavvi have collapsed, as have distributers EUK and Pinnacle.
This could make you think that independent record shops are in a precarious position. If a massive chain like Zavvi can collapse, what chance does an independent have?
“If I was running a CD shop, like HMV, I’d be shitting myself,” says Jon Tolley, the owner of Banquet Records. “But people still want something physical, vinyl is still something ‘cool’ to have.”
Four years ago, Banquet Records in Kingston upon Thames was on the brink of closure. According to Tolley, who had been working there for several years before taking over, it had been “run into the ground,” and the future looked bleak.“I worked for nine months unpaid,” he says. “It was either pay me or buy stock, so I worked for free.”
But despite his personal sacrifices, the business was failing, and their financial troubles culminated in the previous owner being forced to sell. This is when he decided to step in, with the belief that keeping the shop open was vital to sustaining Kingston’s music scene.
“I had money from DJing, and I borrowed some, so I bought the shop and took on its debts.”
Four years on, and the shop is now a resounding success. Turnover has tripled, and as well as selling records, Banquet runs club nights New Slang, New Noise and Repeater, have bands play in the store, put on gigs, run a record label, and even sponsor the local football team, Kingstonian FC.
Singer Dave House works in the shop, as well as handling their graphic design. He thinks that the combination of all the things they do is the reason they are flourishing, when the much of the music industry is struggling.
“If there wasn’t the community and the club nights, we’d be closed in a month,” he says. “We lose money on the instores because we need an extra person working, but it’s about the long term gains.”
Tolley agrees. “Not everything we do makes money. Some of the records we put out lose money, but there are still benefits because it pushes the brand.”
Banquet's biggest club nights, New Slang and Repeater, are held at the 1000 capacity venue McCluskys. With tickets for Repeatr sold at £6 each, on a sold out night they could potentially take almost £6000 on the door, although with varying costs of running the night, even a sold out event could lose money.
It seems that the rest of the music industry may slowly be catching on to the idea that just doing one thing isn’t enough now, and that live music is the way forward.
Ged Doherty, UK Chairman of Sony BMG, gave a speech at the Brit Awards launch party, saying “We’re in the entertainment business now, not the music industry, that’s our strap-line”. Companies like Sony and Virgin are trying to move into the live bookings business, and HMV are set to take over some venues to turn them into ‘HMV Academies’.
Other independent record stores are seemingly making more of an effort as well. April 18th is Record Store Day. Independent record stores will be celebrating on this day by doing something revolutionary to regenerate interest… such as having an instore gig.
“We checked our calendar for that day,” says House. “We already had two things booked. I guess it’s a good thing for some record stores, but it’s just what we’ve been doing for years.”
Another thing which makes Banquet successful is the dedication of the staff who run it. They are all passionate, extremely knowledgeable about whatever music they are into, and love working there.
“We have 15 staff,” says Tolley, “and they’re all friends, people I can trust. For example, we only have one sound man, Danny, and he always has to be available for every instore and every club night we have. He’s never let us down”.
Dave House agrees that having the right people working there is vital. “Everyone works really hard, we don’t mess about. If you didn’t work that hard, it would be over.”
An independent shop will never be able to compete with HMV when it comes to albums, because they can order more and therefore get them for a cheaper price. Banquet would have to charge double the price for an album in order to make the same profit, but according to House that’s not the area they try to compete in.“We can compete with the stuff they don’t know about, band’s that aren’t well known, and we can get stuff before it comes out.
“What we sell depends on the type of music,” he continues. “With indie, alternative and punk, we take an equal amount of money in albums and singles. No one will buy CD singles, but we often get people buying a lot of 7’’s. They might download the album, but buy all the 7” singles that are put out. With drum n bass, there aren’t really albums, but people want the upfront stuff straight away and will pay anything for it.”
Another reason for optimism is that Banquet may have to do less to adapt in order to survive than perhaps other record shops will.
Frank Turner is a musician who has a long standing relationship with the store, and he believes that they already have an advantage over other shops who feel threatened by the increased usage of the internet to acquire music.
“There's less need for localized specialists when everyone can get onto Amazon or whatever and order the things they want. What that means in practice is that the bar for survival for such places gets raised really high. The great thing about Banquet is that they were already operating at that level before the internet problem really kicked in.”
Banquet clearly has the support of artists like Turner, and it is easy to see why, as their relationship is beneficial for both parties. But why should your average man on the street spend money in an independent record shop, when they could download for free?
“I don’t believe in telling people they should support their local record store,” answers Tolley. “People should shop here because they want to, and because they want to give money to the band or record label.
“It doesn’t matter what happens with downloading, if you’re independent and forward thinking you will adapt.”
What do the artists they have worked with think of Banquet Records?
“They seem like a bunch of friendly people who do what they do because they really like music. They always give good coverage to whatever we write/release and we’ve done some good shows with them. The website is well designed, always updated, and has good descriptions and info about all the releases, it gives the impression that they give a shit and aren’t just flogging units.”
Frank Turner –“In my solo work they've been there being supportive since day one, helping out with instores, local club shows and so on. I think they provide an immeasurably great example to younger folks coming into the music scene. They combine specialist knowledge - on a broad range of genres - with a really important sense of local musical community. Long may they continue.”
mistakes.in.animation –“They’re easily the best record shop in the country because everything they do directly affects the Kingston community. Banquet are responsible for pretty much every amazing Kingston night out we’ve had in the last few years, and they do it totally for the love of music, which is what’s most admirable.”
“In my opinion they are the best independent record store in the country. What they do for musicians, music fans and the community in Kingston is unparalleled anywhere else in the UK. For me personally, the support that Banquet have shown has helped get my music to a whole new audience, and also inspired me to follow the DIY music path that I do. What Banquet do is really quite incredible.”
Tellison –“We've been incredibly lucky as a band to work with them and it's been an honour at every point to have been able to put out records with them. There are only a handful of record shops in the UK you can walk into and immediately know you're somewhere special. Banquet Records is one of these very few magical places.”
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