Cassette tapes brought Veronica Cloutier to Pittsburgh. Vinyl Her LPs have kept her here.
Before moving to Pittsburgh from North Carolina in 2021, the former vocalist and guitarist for the band Attack Cat connected with a local indie label that releases cassettes to gauge the city’s livability.
“The fact that there was a music scene that accepted me was important,” said Cloutier, 26, of Allentown. “It’s good to know that I can come here and do what I’m supposed to do.”
Within weeks of arriving in Pittsburgh, Cloutier found work at the Government Center, a popular record store, bar, and performance space on the North Side. Now, she’s helping music lovers buy her LPs at her Government Center outpost, a recently opened satellite of her original location on Her Avenue of the Potomac in Dormont.
“There’s a wide variety of what people buy. I’m always surprised by what people pick up,” said Cloutier, the store’s manager.
“Obviously, Spotify is a place where you can access a lot of different things,” she added. “But now there’s so much emphasis on supporting the bands you like and doing what you can as a consumer. …People are now more aware that records are a great way to support artists. I think.”
People flocking to the newest record store in Pittsburgh’s South Hills aren’t alone.
Physical media is back
In 2023, vinyl album sales will surpass CDs for the second time since 1987, with record sales reaching 43 million, according to data from the Recording Industry Association of America.
Physical music formats such as records, cassettes and CDs generated $1.9 billion in revenue in the U.S., increasing 11% from 2022 to 2023, according to RIAA data. These numbers take into account new sales and have nothing to do with the second-hand market or transactions between record collectors.
Records remain king, accounting for more than $14.3 billion in sales, with more than seven out of every 10 physical releases Americans bought last year, according to RIAA data.
“Anecdotally, we know that many new releases, such as Taylor Swift, use the vinyl format to connect with fans,” said Matt, vice president of research and gold platinum affairs at the RIAA. Bass says.
However, Bass emphasized that gimmicks are not the only thing driving sales.
“One of the trends we see with people who buy records is that they are superfans,” he said. “They’re consuming music in all sorts of ways.”
Artists are also paying attention, Bass says.
Swift has released four standard versions and three limited editions of her 2022 LP Midnights on vinyl, as well as splashy colors like “Blood Moon” and “Jade Green.” The Target-exclusive version of the LP came on lavender-colored vinyl and included her CD with three bonus her tracks.
In 2023, Lana Del Rey released a limited edition, light pink vinyl version of her album Did You Know That There’s A Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd through Amazon.
British rock band New Order recently re-released their 2-LP single collection on red and blue vinyl. The Beatles also followed this trend and released a blue vinyl, 3-LP version of “The Beatles: 1967-1970.”
Small labels are also fueling the vinyl firestorm.
California-based Ipecac Recordings this month released three colored vinyl versions of new LPs by the Melvins, a Seattle-born group with a strong discography backed by their friend Kurt Cobain.
Two of the colored vinyl copies sold out before the LP was released on April 19th. According to Revolver Magazine, the group has more than 20 albums available on vinyl.
“The music industry has probably transformed faster than any other entertainment industry,” Bass says. “Now that we’re in the streaming era, fans are saying they want to enjoy music instantly.”
Chris Grauzer is not on the RIAA’s earnings radar, at least not yet.
The Swissvale man started working at Jerry’s Records one day a week in 2009. He bought the company after owner and namesake Jerry Webber retired after eight years.
This iconic shop moved from Oakland to Murray Avenue in Squirrel Hill around 1994 and trades used music. Glauser said he doesn’t buy new material from distributors or directly from labels.
Glauser inherited a lot too – a lot! — Regarding Weber’s stuff.
“If you count the LPs, 45s, 78s, CDs and cassettes we have now, we definitely have over a million items,” said Glauser, 40. “We are a very large store, so we are constantly stocking products.
“In the second-hand market, even if you release something that is in demand, it won’t last long,” he says. “We still have a lot of people who come in every day, every other day, twice a week. We have a lot of old Jerry’s customers who come in often.”
Releases of classic 70s rock icons, such as Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd, always sell well, Glauser said. You can’t go wrong with jazz masters like Miles Davis and John Coltrane. (However, jazz records from the big band era don’t move that much.)
Glauser, who grew up in Minneapolis and moved to Pittsburgh in 2008, feels vinyl is superior in areas that digital recording can’t.
the difference is obvious
“One is the sound. It sounds different, but depending on how you look at it, it just sounds better,” he said. “It’s kind of a warm sound. It’s different when you listen to Grand Funk Railroad on a CD instead of a record.”
Record cover art is more impressive when displayed on a 12-inch LP platter than it is at the click of a button on a streaming service like Spotify or Pandora. “It’s visible,” Glauser said.
Glauser points out that streaming is a passive activity. If you wish, he can stream music from your computer in the background for up to 5 hours without any repercussions.
He emphasized that LPs need attention, or engagement. First, you have to flip it over to hear the whole thing.
“At the end of the day, it’s a more immersive experience, so you have to pay more attention to it,” he said. “It’s something you can feel. And I think something gets lost in a digital format.”
Believe it or not, cassette guru Eric Stevens wasn’t drawn into the indie rock orbit by Dictaphone tapes.
Born in upstate New York and raised in northern Pennsylvania, Stevens grew up in the ’09s sharing digital music files peer-to-peer via BitTorrent on computers. His aha moment with physical media came when he left St. Mary’s in Elk County to study film at Clarion University.
“I was obsessed with the film process, the emulsion layer that exposes light,” said Stevens, now 33 and living in Greenfield. “Recording was like a brotherhood. Movies are endearing in a way.”
After moving to Pittsburgh 10 years ago, Stevens met someone through a friend who owned a stack of old cassette decks.
One of these, the nakamichi X7, a professional-level recording device, caught his eye. He had seen similar decks online selling for more than $1,000.
This friend of a friend wanted $150.
“I felt like I had to use it for the greater good,” he laughed.
In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, with Nakamichi in tow, Stevens sent a cassette tape to Conor Murray, founder of Crafted Sounds, a scene-defining label whose early releases were cassette-only. I asked for (and received) the blessing to start a label.
On October 6, 2021, Stevens posted on Instagram, “Michi Tapes is born.”
Stevens later teamed up with Crafted Sounds to co-release the third LP by Pittsburgh group Gaadge. He has also blurred the line between cassette and film work, and under the banner Michi Tapes he releases his videos for Zurich Cloud Motors music.
Blinder’s “Drug of the Sun,” the label’s 30th release, hit Bandcamp on February 23rd. Sam Rubin’s “Bullet”, produced by Stevens on the Pleasure Tapes label, followed in March.
Stevens released some great music by Gina Gorey, an up-and-coming indie band from the aforementioned Government Center outpost manager Veronica Cloutier. (Cloutier says the band is discussing pressing the new single on vinyl; no decision has been made yet.)
Stevens estimates that he has dubbed about 850 tapes for Michitapes onto his cassette deck. He is now looking to build a website for Michi Tapes.
But is it too digital?
“Tape has a lovely quality about it that originally got me hooked on it. It’s hard to explain,” he laughed. “I think that’s what people love about records. It’s a ritualistic experience.”
“With records, you have to enjoy the whole album,” he added. “It’s a good way to test your tolerance. When you’re forced to spend time, you start to like things differently.”
Justin Vellucci is a TribLive reporter covering crime and public safety in Pittsburgh and Allegheny County. A longtime freelance journalist and former reporter for the Asbury Park (N.J.) Press, he worked as a general assignment reporter for the Trib from 2006 until 2009, when he returned in 2022. Contact him at jvellucci@triblive.com.
