Record shop

German record shop (1988)
A record shop in The Hague, Netherlands
Record shops also host musical performances, especially on Record Store Day: Magnapop are pictured here playing at an American store in 1994, with flyers for their album Hot Boxing visible in the background

A record shop or record store is a retail outlet that sells recorded music. In the late 19th century and the early 20th century, record shops only sold gramophone records, but over the 20th century, record shops sold the new formats that were developed, such as eight track tapes, compact cassettes and compact discs (CDs). Today in the 21st century, record stores sell CDs, vinyl records and in some cases, DVDs of movies, TV shows, cartoons and concerts. Some record stores also sell music-related items such as posters of bands or singers, -related clothing items and even merchandise such as bags and coffee mugs.

Even when CDs became popular during the 1990s, people in English-speaking countries still used the term "record shop" to describe a shop selling sound recordings such as CDs. With the vinyl revival of the 21st century, often generating more income than CDs, the name is again accurate.


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