'Big players are good for Soho's independent record shops'

"Big players" like HMV are good for independent sellers, according to a creative who has hopes of a brighter future for Soho's record shops.

Artist Joel Peter Levack, who created the vinyl album art for The Kooks' Junk of the Heart, is positive about the return of HMV to Oxford Street.

Between 1946 and 1996, there were more than 170 record stores in neighbouring Soho, according to the British Record Shop Archive and Museum of Soho.

Now there are seven.

"Opening a shop that competes with online sales is really important," 43-year-old Mr Levack says. "I think the big players are good for independents."

The flagship London branch of HMV at 363 Oxford Street reopened on 24 November, four years after it shut when the company went into administration.

Owner Doug Putman says he wants the century-old chain to once more become a "mainstay on the UK High Street".

Mr Levack says that over the years Soho's relationship with vinyl has changed.

He says that while there are fewer vinyl record stores in the area, people are still enjoying the medium, with musicians and artists creating small runs of an album on vinyl, and Dean Street restaurant Ducksoup exclusively playing records to customers.

"Shops close for lots of different reasons," he adds. "But when something closes, something else opens up. Nothing is forever.

"And what you don't want is too many of the same thing.

"HMV is a great flagship store but you don't want it everywhere. Variety is important to good culture."

Chris Bress, of Reckless Records, which has operated on Soho's Berwick Street since 1984 said: "It's good to see that vinyl sales are rising and places like HMV see it as viable to reopen on Oxford Street."

He says he hopes the reopening will encourage more younger people to start collecting records again - which has seen a rise in the past few years.

"Most people started collecting via chain shops like HMV, Virgin, Tower and Our Price so I imagine that will return," he said.

He added that during his 10 years at Reckless Records, he had seen the shop cater for a more "varied customer".

Musician Erik Moore says he used to visit Soho as a teenager to buy records.

"We'd come here, have pizza and real coffee and buy vinyl," he says. "We'd spend all day traipsing around. You'd have a stack of records."

He says the collective he is part of, An Upside Down Tree, have released their music on streaming services but also produced small runs of vinyl albums.

"I like to listen to vinyl - I like the ritual of it," the 65-year-old who works in Soho explains.

And from a production point of view, "you put the effort into the art, the order of the songs, the lyrics," he adds.

"Music is the best fun, I can't imagine life without it.

"It's been my thing. All my life has been about engineering sound and music."

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