New meets old: bol.com is selling vinyl

Next Saturday, April 17, Record Store Day takes place in The Netherlands. The first edition was held in the US in 2008, but since last year independent Dutch record stores also celebrate their existence with this special day. With in-store performances, signing sessions, workshops by musicians, exclusive releases and many other activities, Record Store Day should draw the attention of a large audience.

The last few years have not been easy for independent record stores. Due to the growing influence of the internet, (il)legal downloading and the large chain stores, sales numbers decreased and many small store owners had no choice but to quit.

However, one of their main competitors, media-giant bol.com recently launched another trick on their sleeve: they started selling vinyl records. With this expansion of their assortment, bol.com is now reaching out to the traditional clientele of the independent record store: specialist music lovers that enjoy browsing through the records for hours. Although vinyl may come off as sinister hobby for dinosaurs, this is certainly not the case. CD-sales may be going downhill rapidly, the sales of vinyl records increased from 1.9 million units in 2008 to nearly 2.8 million units in 2009 in the United States.

Marketing director Michel Schaeffer of bol.com sees the offering of vinyl records as a step forward in the direction of becoming "the perfect record store" (source: 3VOOR12). And since bol.com is also a supplier of electronics, those who aren't yet in the possession of a traditional record player are served as well.   

As a music lover and a supporter of independent record stores, I say: let's hope this will not do too much damage for the retaillists. But as a student in business communication and digital media I say: smart move, bol.com!