[URBAN NOTE] "The past and the future of the record store in Toronto"

[rfmcdonald]

blogTO's Phil Villeneuve looks at how the record store has been surviving in Toronto.

When a restaurant or clothing store stays open in Toronto for over 20 years, it's a big deal. When a record shop stays open for over two decades in this city, it's a jaw-dropping, stop-in-your-tracks, holy-hell moment.

That's what makes the 25th anniversary of Rotate This such a big deal. The music sales business is one of the most volatile out there. It has not only survived by being honest and upfront, but also by consistently reinventing itself ever so slightly to remain a go-to spot for music lovers.

How do stores like Rotate This stay alive in this city when the big shops are calling it quits?

"It's kind of neat when a Soundgarden record comes out in 1991 and there you are in 2015/2016 repricing it. It's like wow, that's cool!" say Pierre Hallett, owner of Rotate This. "What's happening now is people are going back to those records that they've listened to for years but have not been able to buy.

"Another really interesting thing that my manager Brian Taylor pointed out is that the biggest thing that has happened in the music industry is the internet. It single handedly changed how music was consumed."