Live Music
The vinyl frontier
By Matt Clark
Opening a new music store is a monumental challenge
for anyone, especially a vinyl store in this day and age.
However, new shop owners Karrie Miskowski and Greg
Miszowski have decided to take the plunge, by opening
their own independent store in Swindon - RPM Records.
Just a few days before their store opened on July 23, we
had a quick chat.
Karrie said “There is never going to be a good time
to start a business without risk, but with the ‘vinyl revival’
taking place at the moment, we wanted to get on the
ground running now before the market takes off even
further. Last year, two point five million units were sold,
and that figure is projected to be over three point five
million units this year, so it shows that there is a national
increase in vinyl purchases.”
Greg Misowski also mentioned that his interest for vinyl
‘dates back to the last decade’. “The reason why vinyl
is so good is because it gives you a listening experience
which you don’t get with CD’s or digital downloads.
People also respect the track quality of a vinyl, and pay
more attention to it as a format.”
Asked about the local competition in the area, the
couple responded: “We want to be able to complement
local businesses in the area, not compete with them. We’re
part of the Old Town Traders Committee, and it’s great to
be in a tight community who will have each other’s back.
However, it’s great that we’re able to compete with the
likes of Amazon and HMV on price.”
“We also want new releases at RPM Records as well,
not just the usual classics that your dad would probably
buy. We would like to be able to supp