32MusicWeek 06.07.12 RETAIL RAVES FROM THE GRAVE


20 Cheap Street Frome, Somerset BA11 1BN t 01373 464666 wravesfromthegrave.com


www.musicweek.com


Give us a brief history of Raves FromThe Grave… We opened inMarch 1997 in Cheap Street, Frome, with only a few hundred records, CDs and cassettes. At first we sold second hand products but in the second year started stocking new products due to increasing customer demand. Since then we’ve grown


substantially and now stock over 50,000 LPs, 20,000 7 inches, 15,000 CDs and 5,000 DVDs as well as a large range of t-shirts, posters and various other forms ofmemorabilia.We have one shop, that’s still on the same street we opened on in 1997, and another inWeymouth Street,Warminster.


What kind ofmusic and other products do you stock? Ourmusic range covers all tastes, fromMantovani toMotorhead. We get asmany customers buying James Last as we do Ed Sheeran. Our Frome shop stocks most of the CD’s and DVD’s whilst


inWarminster we have six rooms of vinyl. OurWarminster shop regularly hosts livemusic events in-store, usually once amonth on Saturdays. The Blood Choir, who have just released their first label album, played here on Saturday June 30.


How is business today compared to previous years? When we opened 15 years ago the industry was very different compared to what it is today. The most significant thing to happen has been downloading, especially as we often get requests for tunes that are only available on download. Another difference is the lack


of on-the-road reps.We used to have a handful of reps visit us each week, supplying us with new release information and special offers.Without themitmeans hours perusing emails and new release sheets. The companies that still send us hard copy information benefit as we usually ordermuchmore this way. To


INTERNET vs HUMAN


Manager: Andrew Birch


operate without road reps is a very short-sighted approach by record companies, if you askme. We obviously recognise the


growth of digital downloads but believe if we provide the service of having a wide range ofmusic along with knowledgeable and friendly staff, people will still use us instead of the internet.


Do you participate in Record Store Day and, if so, what was your experience like this year? Record Store Day this year was substantially better for us than last year, withmuchmore interest and longer queues outside both of our shops. OurWarminster branch was able to have a band play which added to the success of the day.We can’t wait until next year’s event.


“Wemiss reps fromour


suppliers.We understand that there are fewer indies out


there, but personal contact goes a longway”


ANDREW BIRCH, RAVES FROM THE GRAVE


Is there anythingmore that the music industry or anyone else could be doing to help independent retailers? As I touched on before we miss reps fromour suppliers, particularly the bigger companies. However, we find smaller companies like Cargo Records and Discovery Records are still very helpful. We understand that there are


fewer independents out there but a personal contact goes along


way with us, which is what we believe in delivering to our customers.


If you could change one thing about themusic industry, what would it be? It would definitely be downloading.We feel there’s nothing quite like owning a hard copy of a single or albumand that’s the experience that we can deliver to the public.


How confident are you about next year and themore distant future? We’ll survive the near future but long termis becomingmore and more difficult. We have a selection of loyal


customers and amail order business. If that grows then we can survive.


This week’s High Street Hero Andrew Birch takes on his digital rivals ...


WE SAID WE LIKED... ED SHEERAN+


AMAZON RECOMMENDED... EMELI SANDÉ Our Version Of Events


ANDREW RECOMMENDED...


SAM COOKE Live At The HarlemSq Club 1963


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