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How Contemporary Musicians Are Embracing The Spoken Word Album

From Mike Posner to Dave, popular artists across genres are leaning into the art of spoken word like never before

GRAMMYs

Oct 8, 2020 - 11:17 am

The Best Spoken Word Album GRAMMY category has typically provided an opportunity for figures outside the music industry to get their hands on one of those coveted gold-plated trophies. In recent years its winners have flitted between the fields of ex-White House figures (Michelle Obama , Jimmy Carter) and beloved showbiz veterans (Joan Rivers, Carol Burnett, Carrie Fisher), while cult filmmaker John Waters and celebrated humorist David Sedaris are both regular nominees.

Contemporary music, though, has found a wide range of pop/rock talent merging into spoken word territory. Seemingly out of nowhere, spoken word has become the art form of choice for the more poetically-minded musician keen to prove they know their Poes from their Plaths.

Lana Del Rey, a six-time GRAMMY nominee for her more familiar brand of femme fatale pop, has had an impressively prolific 18 months; the sadcore queen has recorded two regular LPs and written two poetry collections, the first of which she’s also released in audio form.

Of course, with her tales of tragic romance and warped depictions of the American Dream, Del Rey’s output has always had a literate quality. She’s regularly spoken of finding inspiration in the works of Allen Ginsberg and Walt Whitman – the former’s "Howl" and the latter’s "I Sing the Body Electric" were even recited in her 2013 short film Tropico.

But Violet Bent Backwards Over the Grass allowed Del Rey to fully embrace her poetic ambitions. Penned amidst a bout of writer’s block while working on what many consider to be her masterpiece, Norman F***ing Rockwell, the audiobook doesn’t entirely abandon musical accompaniment. Regular cohort Jack Antonoff provides plenty of electronic shimmers and delicate piano backing throughout. But the focus here is very much on Del Rey’s expressive tones and freestyle musings on everything from indecision and alienation to the fallacy of worshipping Jim Morrison.

Backed by the claim that she "tore apart every word until I was able to write the perfect poem," Del Rey’s spot of moonlighting arrived during an unexpected boom period for the spoken word album. Only a month previously Imelda May, an Irish songstress renowned for her jazz-tinged rockabilly, had also displayed her wordsmithery on Slip of the Tongue.

As with Del Rey, May also uses subtle musical arrangements to add texture to her words on womanhood, sexuality and spirituality. But frustrated by how her previous record had been misinterpreted as a marriage break-up album, the Dubliner ensures her lyrical themes are far clearer this time around with a delivery every bit as commanding as her signature 1950s quiff.

Soon after, The Kills' frontwoman Alison Mosshart proudly declared her gearhead tendencies on Sound Wheel, a companion piece to a book of photography, poetry and paintings titled Car Ma. Although there’s the occasional concession to the gutsy blues rock of her day job, the majority of its 47 (yes, 47) tracks are unaccompanied reflections on the "never-ending search for the spirit under the hood" delivered in Mosshart’s unmistakable tobacco and whisky-soaked speaking voice.

Elsewhere, Mercury Prize nominees Black Midi have released Tales of Suspense and Revenge, an anthology of short stories by the likes of Ernest Hemingway and Robert Tressell read over some typically experimental jams. And even Led Zeppelin’s Jimmy Page has got in on the action, adding bursts of feedback and echo as producer of poet girlfriend Scarlett Sabet’s debut album Catalyst.

Of course, well-known artists channeling their inner poet is nothing new. See the likes of David Bowie ("Future Legend"), The Velvet Underground ("The Gift") and Morrissey ("Sorrow Will Come in the End"). The Shangri-Las ("Past, Present and Future"), James Brown ("King Heroin") and Daft Punk ("Giorgio by Moroder") even graced the Billboard charts with their spoken word efforts. But dedicating entire albums to the craft used to be the preserve of full-time storytellers like Gil-Scott Heron, Henry Rollins and John Cooper Clarke.

So what’s encouraging such artists to speak rather than sing into their microphone? Well, a new wave of spoken word performers are now proving that the art form can work on a bigger platform. Album of the Year winner Dave stole the show at this year’s BRIT Awards with a powerful piece of performance poetry addressing his homeland’s institutional racism.

Ted Hughes Award recipient Kae Tempest, meanwhile, has brought their Wu-Tang Clan-meets-William Blake vibe to the masses with several high-profile festivals slots including Glastonbury. Spoken word has even reached prime-time TV thanks to the inspirational speeches of Californian Brandon Leake, "America’s Got Talent"'s first-ever poet finalist, and indeed winner.

And then there’s the rise of the InstaPoet. Artists like Rupi Kaur and R.M Drake have amassed millions of followers with their daily words of wisdom. Perhaps as a result, a SSPA study in 2017 showed that more Americans (28 million, in fact) are engaging with poetry in the social media age than they’ve done the rest of the 21st Century.

Few pop star poets better exemplify this than Mike Posner. Three years after topping charts across Europe with a super-meta ode to dropping Molly in Ibiza, the party boy dropped a 16-track spoken word collection verbosely titled i was born in detroit on a very very very very very very very cold day.

"It's all just water and it's coming out of different faucets," Posner told Billboard about the unlikely poetic streak he developed on his 2016 tour. Tear Drops and Balloons, a more expansive collection featuring poems titled "My Favorite Stain" and "i'm thinking about horses," arrived just two months later.

You wouldn’t be surprised if Billie Eilish committed to the concept, either. Last year's five-time GRAMMY winner has acknowledged Del Rey as a major influence and has already ventured into spoken word territory with "Not My Responsibility," a short film featuring a defiant statement against body shaming.

It’s easy to see the appeal. Sure, artists have more platforms to speak directly and candidly to their audience than ever before. But most Instagram captions and Twitter posts get lost in the social media ether within hours of their upload. Spoken word offers both freedom of expression and a capturing for posterity away from the confines of the 280-character box. And there’s no need to pander to any Spotify algorithms, either. It may not be a stretch to say that former presidents and comedic legends should expect to face some spoken word category competition in the future.

Diamond Platnumz Talks Growing Up In Tanzania & Breaking Into American Popular Music

Chorus practices outdoors this year at Countryside High School in Pinellas County, Florida.
Photo courtesy of Christy King

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Puppy Pads And Slit Masks: How COVID Changed The Look Of Music Education

COVID-era problems put pressure on teachers to work creatively, while fearing for the future

Emilee Lindner

GRAMMYs

Sep 21, 2020 - 9:01 am

Those living in Kingsman, Arizona, shouldn’t be surprised if they hear 30 kids yelling simultaneously from Lee Williams High School. That’s just Shannon Bascombe’s marching band letting out their COVID-19 frustrations.

"The kids were like, ‘Hey, Ms. B, can we, like, scream into the void for 10 seconds at the beginning of practice?'" Bascombe recalled. "'Yeah, sure, I’ll give you guys 10 seconds to just yell it out.' … Then they’ll start learning drill."

The coronavirus pandemic has made returning to school this fall a touchy debate. With each district whipping up its own tentative plan, students are either attending school armed with masks, learning virtually from home or doing a half-and-half schedule. They’ve pushed start dates, altered schedules and introduced new technology. Several schools GRAMMY.com contacted for this story set a date in September or October to reassess and adjust, aiming for in-person instruction by 2021. Needless to say, a little scream therapy is warranted—not just for students, but for teachers, parents and administrators as well.

So how does music education fit into the new school plans? Unlike math or history, which can rely on individual study, collaborative ensembles like band, chorus and orchestra cannot. With social distancing measures in place, getting a band of 50 students placed six feet apart in one room is, well, impossible. Not to mention the whole aerosol concern with kids blowing on their horns. Online group rehearsal doesn’t work either, due to latency issues.

With those difficulties in mind, districts across the country have already cut arts programs. And those teachers who still have their jobs are feeling the pressure to keep them by proving their worth.

"[Parents are] OK with the core teachers being at home and being able to give assignments," says Jake Olimpi, marching band and orchestra director at Marple Newtown High School in Pennsylvania. "But what is the art teacher doing, what is the music teacher doing? They’re getting paid and where’s the result?"

That pressure, atop the duty to keep students safe, healthy and engaged has become the new challenge for teachers, who are also haunted by the pandemic’s long lasting effects on music education.

Masks On Instruments And Puppy Pads

The spread of aerosols, a.k.a. air and saliva, forced the Centers for Disease Control to recommend the six-feet social distancing rule months ago. But when it came to the performing arts, there was little scientific evidence on how singing and instrument playing contributed to aerosol spread. A study from the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS), published without peer review in July, gave music teachers some answers.

Conducted by the University of Colorado Boulder, the study found that instruments released fewer aerosols if they were masked at the bell. They found even fewer aerosols when the player wore a slitted mask. In order to return to in-person ensembles, authors of the study also suggested these points:

Musicians must stay six feet apart (nine feet for trombonists)
Bell covers should have a Minimum Efficiency Reporting Value (MERV) of 13 (although any covering is better than none)
Spit valves should empty into absorbent sheets like puppy pads
Rehearsal times should be limited to 30 minutes
Instructors should wait one HVAC air change between classes
HEPA filters should be in rehearsal spaces
Outdoor rehearsals are recommended over indoor ones

With the scientific guidance, teachers got to work crafting what fall 2020 would look like… and now that school’s back in session, music classes certainly don’t look like they did before. At Bascombe’s school in Arizona, they’re following the NFHS guidelines nearly to a T.

The students at Tarpon Springs Leadership Conservatory for the Arts stick to their cones and try out their new bell covers.
Credit: Anna Ottens

"When they come into the room, they have to wash their hands, drop their stuff off," Bascombe says. "We go through the symptom checker from the Mayo Clinic every day when they walk into the room… All of the doors are propped open so the kids have minimal touch. There's hand sanitizer everywhere. Mouthpiece cleaner everywhere."

Bascombe's woodwinds, brass, percussion and colorguard all get their own room. Every Friday, she spends an additional hour and a half disinfecting each room, including the bathroom her students use.

At the Southern Nevada Homeschool Performing Arts, program director Bonnie Buhler-Tanouye says brass players wear slitted masks, akin to "boys' underwear," and flute players wear shields. She says parents are willing to do even more in order to get their nearly shutdown Las Vegas music scene rolling again.

The students at Southern Nevada Homeschool Performing Arts wear face shields and slitted masks on the first day of band practice.
Courtesy: Bonnie Buhler-Tanouye

"One of the parents I was talking to the other day, because I was reminding her of masks for her trumpet player, she said, ‘You know what, put me in a hazmat suit, if you have to. Whatever we have to do to get back to playing music together,'" Buhler-Tanouye recalled.

The NFHS study deemed outdoor rehearsal better for dispersing aerosols. Summer band camps served as positive test runs for the rest of the school year, with students respectively keeping their distance. Water and sunscreen breaks are frequent and essential. In Pinellas County Schools in Florida, humidity plagues practices, but kids are happy to endure sweating for a chance to play together, says Jeanne Reynolds, performing arts specialist for the district.

"If you teach in Florida and you're a band teacher, you become a meteorologist," Jeanne said. "'Cause it’s not just hurricanes; we’ve got pretty good thunderstorms, so you have to know when to get out of harm’s way. Which we all do."

What happens when the temperature drops? When playing outside is no longer an option, bands will be forced to limit the size of their ensembles, based on dimensions of their rooms and state guidelines. Some schools have already taken band class off the schedule completely, exchanging it for smaller groups, broken up alphabetically or by instrument.

Smaller ensembles introduce two problems, though. First, smaller groups equate to more classes, meaning teachers' course loads have increased. Music programs like the one at Bergenfield High School in New Jersey rely on a large staff, which allows them to assign one teacher each to virtual and in-person classes for all of their ensembles. Bergenfield’s band director, Brian Timmons, considers his program lucky; not all schools have the resources.

Second, teachers must find music for a ragtag chamber ensemble. For example, if groups were split numerically by students' names, a director might end up with a flute, three trombones, five bass clarinets and a french horn in a class, and music for a combo like that is rare. Thankfully, publishers like Alfred, Hal Leonard and RWS Music Company have flexible arrangements that can be split into a few basic parts, and have become more available during COVID.

The supply of cleaning materials Shannon Bascombe uses to disinfect the band rooms at Lee Williams High School.
Courtesy: Shannon Bascombe

But will the music ever get performed? State guidelines vary, but indoor maximum capacity has been limited to as few as 25 people per room. Gathering an audience would be infeasible.

Perhaps concerts aren’t even necessary. According to Timmons, it’s time to shake up the dusty format anyway.

"Music education has been so performance-driven all the time," Timmons says. "And we never take time to explore the other things like the chamber playing or the composition or just ear training in and of itself or theory."

Students taking virtual band obviously don’t have to deal with these new precautions and guidelines, but they also don’t get to play together. As Timmons says, they’re working on individual assignments, like learning music production, which allows them to sew together an ensemble, piece by piece. Timmons' students will work on a shared online workspace to record music. It gives students the power to collaborate remotely, he says.

"They can listen to each other’s part and say, ‘OK, our articulation is not punching there. We’re going to have to rerecord this section,'" Timmons says. "I have three teenagers of my own. I watch them killing it on TikTok. If you can do that, there’s no reason why I can’t teach you how to do this."

And then there’s the fact that some schools are taking little to no precaution. Music teacher Nathan Smith says he was fired from Oakdale Academy in Michigan after expressing his concern over the safety of students and staff. The private Christian high school is not requiring masks this fall, per a letter sent home to parents.

"I had so many plans for this school year," Smith said. "I certainly wasn't ready to leave without seeing any of my kids again."

The Lost Generation And Long-Term Effects

It’s a struggle to keep current music students engaged, but it’s a completely new challenge to get more kids involved. Recruitment requires getting instruments into the hands of fourth graders and presenting the allure of a polished, performing ensemble—hurdles made higher by COVID.

Lackluster recruitment will have damaging effects on the future of music education, says Robert W. Smith, a composer, arranger and professor at Troy University, who has written hundreds of works for high school-level ensembles.

"We cannot have a lost generation of musicians, and we’re about to have it," Smith says.

If too few young musicians join band, orchestra and choir programs, the ensembles will see dwindling numbers in each subsequent year, all the way up to college groups.

"This is like aftershocks of an earthquake or second and third waves of a tsunami," Smith says.

Current music students also face the loss of competition and adjudication—third-party feedback that lends itself toward improvement. Many in-person music competitions have been canceled for the fall. On the upside, some organizations have offered virtual adjudication, where students and ensembles can send in their performances for assessment.

But the long-term effects aren’t all bad. Timmons insists that it’s only shifting focus for COVID-era students to prepare for a more viable music career—one that isn’t totally based on performance (though still valuable), but digital skills.

"If you’re going to be successful in music, you have to have a basic understanding of how digital audio works, even if you’re a classical-style player," Timmons says. "You gotta have an understanding. If we can teach them how to use a digital audio workstation, even if it’s some kind of cloud-based thing, recording themselves and then as a chamber ensemble recording their own product, we’re kind of unlocking skills."

All of this means that music educators are getting even more creative than before, out of necessity.

"Music teachers by nature are problems solvers. It’s what we do," Timmons says. "Listen, troubleshoot, feedback, adjustment, listen, troubleshoot, does that sound good? This is just another problem to solve. It’s just a little more problematic than fixing the intonation of a chord."

Marching Six Feet Apart: How High School Marching Bands Are Coping With The Pandemic

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Black Lives Matter Protest in New York City

Photo by Erik McGregor/LightRocket via Getty Images

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Live To Tape: How To Safely Film Police Misconduct

As racial justice protests continue to thrive across the country, the Recording Academy has compiled a list of ways to safely and ethically film incidents involving police misconduct

GRAMMYs

Jun 10, 2020 - 1:58 pm

Over the past few weeks, protests have been staged across the nation in response to the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, David McAtee and many other Black people at the hands of police. Due to increased police presence and the deployment of the National Guard to several major cities, thousands of protesters have been arrested, and many violent incidents involving the police have been filmed and subsequently gone viral.

Palika Makam, who works at the human rights organization WITNESS as senior U.S. program coordinator, writes in Teen Vogue: "Using the camera in your pocket can be a valuable way to ensure the world bears witness to abusive policing and systemic racism, help hold authorities accountable, and advocate for the real safety of our communities."

As protests continue amid the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the Recording Academy has compiled a list of ways to safely and ethically film incidents involving police misconduct.

Record With The ACLU Mobile Justice App

Depending on which state you live in, you can download the ACLU’s Mobile Justice App (for example, in California, the app is called “Mobile Justice CA”). The ACLU’s app lets you record and report interactions with law enforcement, and all footage and reports submitted are sent immediately to your local ACLU affiliate.

Understand Your Rights

As WITNESS explains on its website, laws around filming authorities vary by country, so it helps to understand your rights before you hit “record.” In the U.S., you have a 1st Amendment right to record law enforcement in public spaces as long as you don’t interfere. Check out these tips from Makam:

Whether or not you are interfering is totally up to the police officer in the moment (and later up to a judge or jury), so it’s best to keep at least six feet of distance (or a car’s length) between you and the incident while filming, especially during social distancing.

If the police officer tells you to back up, comply with their orders. You can even film your feet as you’re backing up and say aloud, “I’m complying with orders.”

If the police officer tells you to stop filming, you can assert your right to film if you feel comfortable doing so.

You can stay safe and still film critical footage from a distance, like from a window, balcony, rooftop, or fire escape.

Verify That You Are The One Recording, And Where You Are

WITNESS recommends speaking into the camera to verify that it’s you doing the recording. “Alternately,” they write, “keep a written record with the original video file. If you need to be anonymous for security reasons, use a code name.”

WITNESS also recommends that you document where and when the incident is occurring. “Your media is easier to verify if you capture the date, time and location of your footage. If possible, turn on automatic date, time and GPS location capturing features. Alternately, film newspapers, intersections, street signs and landmarks.”

Prepare Your Device

If your phone does not have a six-digit passcode, it would be wise to set one up—in addition to a touch ID, face ID and/or pattern lock. As Makam writes, “You have a 5th Amendment constitutional right to not give up your cell phone passcode during a legal search. But that right is murkier when it comes to touch ID, face ID, or pattern lock, and courts have ruled both ways in the past. So it’s safest to just stick with a six-digit passcode for now.”

Also, Makam recommends that you set your phone to automatically back itself up to the cloud, be it Dropbox or Google Drive. Therefore if you were to lose or break your device, anything you record won’t be lost.

Know The Right Tools To Bring

WITNESS recommends a checklist of tools for capturing your surroundings, should you be out at a protest: an external microphone to potentially record interviews, extra memory cards, headphones, a tripod, a notebook and pen for recording dates, times and locations, and an extra battery and charger.

Have Help Readily Available

WITNESS also recommends bringing a partner or friend with you to protests to help keep you safe and watch out for important situations to document. “Memorize emergency contact information, or keep it written in a secure location,” they write on their site. “Use a camera strap or tie your camera to your wrist. Know your equipment. If you can’t run with it, don’t bring it.”

For more information for how to safely and ethically film police misconduct, visit WITNESS’ site, the ACLU or read Makam’s Teen Vogue piece in full.

Want To Support Protesters And Black Lives Matter Groups? Here’s How

Grammys Newsletter

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The Best Apps & Tools For Recording And Monetizing Music In The COVID-19 Era

Here's a rundown of some easy-to-use apps and tools for recording and monetizing your music in the COVID-19 era

GRAMMYs

Jun 9, 2020 - 3:04 pm

We are currently living in an unprecedented era around music creation and touring. Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, all business has been forced to become remote, making it difficult for artists to maintain their usual level of activity. Of course, though the music landscape looks totally different right now, artists are finding new and innovative ways to get their music heard, be it through livestreams, engaging with fans via social media or launching subscription models that offer exclusive content to fans. To that end, here's a rundown of some exciting new apps and tools for recording and monetizing your music in the COVID-19 era.

Recording Tools

There are plenty of social media options for getting your work out there: Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok and Twitch are just some of the possible platforms you can use to capture your recording.

There's also a new all-in-one app called RMusic, which allows songwriters to collaboratively write music on the go. Not only does RMusic let you to record ideas directly onto a virtual project file, but you can punch in new lines, edit takes, invite other collaborators from your address book, type lyrics, undo takes and communicate with project members from within the app.

Live Broadcast & Streaming Channels

Facebook: According to a new Remote Musicians Handbook put together by the Berklee College of Music, Facebook is the best venue for livestreaming if your audience skews a little older.

Instagram: Meanwhile, Instagram, which has a feature that allows other people to join your live stream as guests, is ideal for younger audiences. "Based on your social media engagement on each platform, you can make an informed decision about which platform will be best for your fans," the handbook writes. "Both of these are well-suited for unannounced livestreams as notifications will go out to engaged fans, as well as letting your fans know ahead of time when you will be streaming."

YouTube: Then there's YouTube, which offers a number of monetization options and scheduling tools, such as pre-stream and in-stream ads, donations and merch sales. YouTube will even notify your followers when you go live and will allow you to schedule a live stream ahead of time. And as the stream takes place, YouTube lets viewers ask questions and interact with the streamer.

TikTok: If you're on the super music-friendly app TikTok, did you know that you can activate a live stream if you have more than 1,000 followers? Once watching your livestream, viewers can purchase stickers, and a portion of the money is donated to the streamer. According to the aforementioned handbook, on TikTok these purchases are made using "coins." Coins start at $0.99 for 65 coins and go up to $99.99 for 6,697 coins. In turn, users can buy stickers, called "Virtual Gifts," for anywhere from 1 to 100 coins.

Twitch: The video game streaming platform can be useful for engaging new fans. Because this app hosts as many as 4 million viewers at once (according to TwitchTracker) actively encourages discovering new streamers, artists can show up under Twitch's "Music & Performing Arts" section (with 2.3 million followers). Here, according to the handbook, "the music ranges from metal to violin covers to singer-songwriters, and is generally more diverse genre-wise than more mainstream platforms."

If you want to monetize your work on Twitch, know that streamers get paid when new subscribers follow them and viewers donate to the streamer. Some streamers use new followers and donations as mechanisms to unlock new content or segments. Some will take requests at certain follower count or donation levels, others run merch giveaways, or give followers access to exclusive content.

OBS Software: OBS (Open Broadcaster Software) is free and open source software for video recording and live streaming. Stream to Twitch, YouTube and many other providers.

Nugs.net: Get live music on demand. Nugs.net offers a collection of more than 15,000 full-length concert recordings from the likes of Pearl Jam, Widespread Panic, Umphrey’s McGee, Dead & Company and more. Try it free with a 30-day trial.

Houseparty: This social networking service enables group video chatting through mobile and desktop apps. Users receive a notification when friends are online and available to group video chat.

StageIt: Founded in 2009, Stageit is a web-based performance venue that hosts paid livestreamed performances. Artists choose when they want to perform, for how long, and how much they want to charge.

Crowdcast: This video platform hosts live video Q&As, interviews, summits, webinars and more.

Streamlabs: This streaming platform can stream audio to Twitch, YouTube and Facebook.

BandsInTown: Use BandsInTown to promote your live stream shows. You can even engage new fans and monetize shows through BandsInTown's Twitch partnership.

Fan & Membership Platforms

Patreon: Patreon gives fans access to exclusive artist content for a monthly fee, might be the first option that comes to mind when it comes to fan and membership platforms. But Patreon is only the beginning. Gumroad lets creators offer digital and physical products for sale, while its dashboard provides insight into how your sales are doing and how fans are consuming your content.

Squarespace: Offers subscription products in their store, integrating directly with your website and can be sold alongside your other merch products.

Shopify: For $40/month, Shopify offers apps that allow you to offer subscriptions from your Shopify ecommerce store, which is helpful if you are offering physical goods as part of your subscription.

Bandzoogle: Sell music, merch, downloads and tickets, commission-free. Once you add a store, you can start selling music, downloads, tickets and band merch. Monthly fees start at $8.29.

Ghost: With Ghost, which is free to join, you can publish content online, grow an audience with email newsletters and make money from premium memberships.

Memberful: Memberful helps independent publishers, educators, and creators sell memberships to their audience and build sustainable businesses. You can integrate with Wordpress, send email newsletters, create private podcasts and more. Pricing is free to start and goes up to $25 or $100 per month.

Digital Production Marketplaces, including licensing and sell music, samples, and custom sounds:

Splice: Splice Studio gives you access to millions of royalty-free samples, MIDI and presets on mobile, web and desktop for $7.99/mo.

ScoreAScore: This music production, licensing and supervision company puts producers in need of original music directly in contact with the composers who create it.

Beatstars: Beatstars is an online marketplace to buy and sell beats.

Putting The Plan Into Action

Now that you have the tools, all you need is to put a plan into action. The Remote Musicians Handbook suggests that you first analyze your audience to get a sense of their social media profiles. Then, you may want to run an unnanounced test live stream, just to get a sense of who's showing up. Then, schedule a series of announced live streams on the platform(s) of your choice. Once livestreams are part of your routine, consider partnering with artist friends on YouTube where you can cross-promote each other's work. From there, consider monetizing your work on Patreon with exclusive content. All the while, to engage new fans, hop on music-discovery tools TikTok and Twitch.

Now that you have the resources to build a fully functional music online platform from the safety and comfort of your home, the rest is up to you. Good luck!

How Musicians Are Staying Positive & Productive Amidst A Pandemic

Photo: KAMIL KRZACZYNSKI/AFP via Getty Image

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4 Independent Record Stores Across The U.S. Weigh In On Their Struggle To Survive During COVID-19

We talked to four fan favorite stores in Austin, Brooklyn, Indianapolis and Los Angeles about their harsh reality during the coronavirus crisis

Jeffrey Silverstein

GRAMMYs

Apr 7, 2020 - 2:09 pm

At over 18 million LPs sold, 2019 marked 14 consecutive years of rising vinyl record sales. As COVID-19 continues to bludgeon the music industry, independent record stores are left particularly vulnerable. The indefinite closure of these small businesses comes poorly timed with Record Store Day, the annual shopping event often noted for record breaking sales now postponed until June. For store owners, everyday their sign reads "closed" adds uncertainty to the livelihood of their shops, employees, and community at large.

As vinyl collectors lament the current loss of their safe havens, record stores are working tirelessly to find short-term solutions to what appears to be growing into a long-term problem. Hopeful that crate-digging will commence, we spoke to four record shops across the country to hear more about the toll the pandemic has taken, the implications of store closures, and what strategies and revenue streams are currently keeping them afloat.

Permanent Records (Los Angeles, CA)

How many days have you been closed? What’s the longest you’ve ever shut down at one period of time prior to this?

We were forced to close the Roadhouse on 3/15 and we closed the shop on York on 3/17. Since we opened in 2006, we've never shut down before aside from holidays. Never.

When did the reality of having to close indefinitely sink in? What were your initial thoughts?

I still don't know if it has set in fully, but the hardest part of the closure has been informing my staff that all of their scheduled shifts have been cancelled for the foreseeable future. My initial thoughts were that we'll do whatever we have to do to weather this storm and hit the ground running as soon as things get back to normal.

How would you describe the overall mood/attitude in your city at the moment?

Overall, people seem to be positive, even though we're all suffering greatly.

To what degree have sales been impacted by COVID-19?

Sales have been decimated. Our Roadhouse location is shuttered completely and the only business we have going is online, which is a fraction of what we normally do when we're open to the public.

How many people does the store employ? What are the current implications of a closure for them?

There are ten full- and part-time employees. I've suggested that they all look into temporary unemployment claims. Customers and the community can support them by supporting Permanent, so they all have a place to come back to work when this all blows over. I've also offered my support to my supervisors if they feel inclined to start a fundraiser, but they, like I do, feel a bit uncomfortable with it considering how many people are all in a similar situation.

Are you offering any kind of special promotions right now?

We did everything we could at first, but the demand for curbside pick-up wasn't where we needed it to be to support it. We're offering free shipping on the rare records we're posting on Instagram. We have gift certificates and other merch available on our web store (PermanentRecordsLA.com). Before the "safer at home" ordinance, I offered a private shopping experience at Permanent to people who bought $100 gift certificates, but we've been forced to postpone that offer.

Were you already in a position where customers could access your titles online or via Discogs?

Yes, but it's especially crucial now. It went from being a supplemental necessary evil to being a necessity overnight.

What are your most immediate concerns?

Earning enough to pay our monthly bills and rent are my most immediate concerns. I'm hopeful that things will get back to normal soon enough to not worry about the long-term, but the economy at-large and the unemployment rate are my biggest concerns currently.

What might be a way record stores in your city could ban together right now?

Los Angeles has the best record stores in the country. We generally do a pretty good job of supporting each other and I think the best thing we can all do is to stay positive, stay healthy, and stay productive during these unprecedented times while remembering that there is a

End of an Ear (Austin, Texas)

How many days have you been closed?

We reduced our hours starting March 16th. We were only doing mail order, online and curbside. Since this Tuesday (the 24th) we are just doing mail order and online.

How would you describe the overall mood/attitude in your city at the moment?

I think like everywhere, it seems like we woke up into an episode of "Twilight Zone" and trying just to take it day by day. We've had lots of support from customers and other Austin businesses as well.

To what degree have sales been impacted by COVID19?

It's too early to tell, but we've seen a drop in business somewhere between 60 to 90 percent.

How many people does the store employ? What are the current implications of a closure for them?

Including the owners (myself and Blake), there are 13 of us. We have a small staff, so no one was laid off. The mail order and curbside helped get cash still coming in. We have a small reserve. Customers have been very supportive.

How will Record Store Day being postponed affect your shop?

We already had SXSW cancel, and then there would have been Record Store Day in April and then our 15th year anniversary in May. So now of course it will all be pushed back. Once we all crawl out of this mess we can make new plans.

What are your most immediate concerns?

That my customers will have jobs they can go back to and places to live. And above all. healthy friends that run bars, clubs, restaurants, etc... There are a lot of mutual supporters and champions of the shop.

LUNA Music (Indianapolis, IN)

How many days have you been closed? What’s the longest you’ve ever shut down at one period of time prior to this?

LUNA music has been closed, as a storefront, for 12 days—but, we are still shipping worldwide mail order. We've never experienced a closure like this before, in terms of a protracted period of time—where our public space was closed.

When did the reality of having to close indefinitely sink in? What were your initial thoughts/feelings?

Honestly, I just wanted my crew and clientele to be safe—so as soon as it became obvious that we should cease contact with folks, we started using a drop box, at the front of the shop—for customers to pick their orders up and began dropping orders off, on folks' front porches.

Since then, we have a "shelter in place" order and are doing business over the phone and online—shipping packages out worldwide, with no local pick-up or drop-off.

How would you describe the overall mood/attitude in your city at the moment?

One of hope and one of help!

To what degree have sales been impacted by Covid-19?

Dramatically; from a flow to drips.

How many people does the store employ? What are the current implications of a closure for them?

Two full-time and four part-time. Currently both full-time co-workers are working from home, on a variety of store projects. The part-time crew has been put on stand-by, waiting for a re-open date. The best way folks can support is continue to shop with us online or give the shop a ring for assistance!

Have online/phone sales helped soften the blow?

Absolutely—it's also a great way to have a bit of interaction with folks!

What are your most immediate and long-term concerns?

The health of my friends and family.

What are three LPs helping you stay hopeful?

Ben Watt-Storm Damage
Nat Russell-Sunlight (LIVE at the Warfleigh Labs)
Hiss Golden Messenger-LIVE at LUNA music's 25th anniversary show (private reel...)light at the end of this dark tunnel.

Human Head Records (Brooklyn, New York)

How many days have you been closed? What’s the longest you’ve ever shut down at one period of time prior to this?

We closed the doors as of Sunday March 15th 8:00 pm. We had been open everyday for 5.5 years at that point. I used to tell people on the phone all the time, "Christmas Day, Chinese New Year, Mother's Day." Everyday. Before that we closed half a day when I got married so employees could be there. In the first year, my partner suggested I have a break and we had the store "closed on Wednesdays," but then I was always working on records so I'd just left the door open. We really never close. It's very rare.

When did the reality of having to close indefinitely sink in? What were your initial thoughts?

These were things that you were hearing as the potential oncoming issue for months, but I had gotten back from a four-day trip to Brasil the Tuesday before we closed March 10th. If I thought everything was going to be shut down to this degree I would've never extended those kind of resources to do that. It was pretty apparent in the airports that this was an inevitability not a possibility. The only proactive measures that we saw at the airport was the private sector shutting their staff down from travel. Latin America had been significantly behind the curve of the spread at that point so we weren't overly concerned. Population on the planes that I flew on anyway was already down to max 20 percent capacity. I think we understood a virus was coming, but until Italy I'm not sure how many of us appreciated the real issue which was the overwhelming of the healthcare system.

How would you describe the overall mood/attitude in your city at the moment?

It's obviously very tense. How do you describe an insanely dense population where it's tumbleweeds everywhere in the city and what appears to be the exact opposite at hospitals around the city? People know they are in for the long haul. To be able to turn this to a level where we have some confidence on when we would be able to begin to grow out of this would be a major accomplishment. Regardless of how far out it is, the uncertainty is far worse than a dependable but distant target.

How many people does the store employ? What are the current implications of a closure for them?

There are six employees. They were all immediately laid off due to the closure for not only business but health and safety reasons. That doesn't mean we've stopped moving. To create something dependable for all of us to look forward to, and hopefully help the employees a bit, we mobilized an online radio show everyday at 4:20 pm. It's comprised of the six guys playing records for an hour once a week and one guest DJ steaming on Instagram Live all playing from their homes. We've also added a donation link to the broadcast and linked at our Instagram home page. 100 percent of the proceeds is split between the six employees without work during the pandemic. We already have two days in the books and we'll be doing it everyday during the shutdown. Our mixes from the board can be heard also on our mixcloud which is all linked in our homepage on Instagram. We are working on adding to it everyday. The responses so far have been really invigorating and positive.

Are you offering any kind of special promotions right now?

We are doing a promotion for our online store. Go to humanheadnyc.com to find our discogs page of 27,000+ items. With an order of $20 or more and the word "Modelo" in the info gets you free shipping.

If there's something in the storefront that someone remembers and they want I'm happy to take the call and ship it to them as well.

What are three LPs helping you stay hopeful?

União Black-Eponymous
Any/All Mizell Brothers Productions
Any/All Tim Maia

What might be a way record stores in your city could ban together right now?

I think multimedia streaming is so wide open and moved to the forefront, I'm sure it would be something within that platform. What that entails, who knows. It's so difficult to say because every record store has a different framework and situation. If we're able to come back after this and people feel comfortable to be out and together I think we'll see everyone win. We've seen a lot of love and positivity expressed not only toward us personally but to many record stores across the country. I think people will be leaping at the chance. I will also.

Learn more about how you can donate to or apply for assistance via the Recording Academy's and MusiCares' COVID-19 Relief Fund.

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