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Waxing lyrical
复刻音乐
Why one British record shop is thriving
一家英国唱片店的兴起
VISITING Rough Trade, a west London record shop, in the 1970s and 1980s was like going on a pilgrimage. Young men and a few women would gather to discuss the latest releases and swap records, overseen by knowledgeable (if sometimes surly) staff. But Rough Trade's latest business venture tests the limits of faith. On November 25th it will open a colossal, 15,000-square-foot music store in New York.
在上世纪七八十年代，漫步于地处伦敦西部的Rough Trade唱片店是一次对英伦音乐的朝圣。通常，一些青年男子和为数不多的女子聚集于此，在看似专业的店员眼皮子下讨论最新发行唱片或交换各自珍藏。但最近Rough Trade的最新商业计划—于11月25日在纽约开张的15，000平方尺的超大音像店的这一计划着实令人震惊。
Between 2001 and 2012 the number of independent music shops in Britain fell by 69%. Over the same period physical album sales fell by 68%. The American market is no healthier. Expanding in either country seems barmy.
在2001年至2012年间，英国独立音像店的数量减少了69%，与此同时，实体专辑的发售量也下降了68%，实际上美国的音像市场也并没有好多少，因此此时无论是在这其中哪个国家扩大店面都不太切合实际。
Rough Trade was once both a shop and an independent record label, which released albums by the Fall and the Smiths; the two businesses have been separate since 1982. For years the store was less well-known. But it has fared well. In 2007 it opened a branch in an airy warehouse in the East End. Since then Rough Trade's annual turnover has risen by around 20% a year, according to Stephen Godfroy, its executive director.
Rough Trade曾以一家独立唱片公司的身份为the Fall和the Smiths乐队发行过专辑，同时它也做着音像商店的生意，这二者直至1982年才分别独立开来。自那之后的几年时间里，音像店一直都不太出名，好在现已逐渐好转。2007年Rough Trade在伦敦东区的一个通风仓库里开设一家分店，其执行董事斯蒂芬·戈德弗鲁瓦表示，从那时起Rough Trade每年的营业额都会上涨20%左右。
The East End store is not just spacious and cheap to rent. It also nails something that many in the music business have tried for years to get right: how to capture the valuable aura around music. The store has a cafe, a book stall and a stage as well as lots of records and CDs. Rough Trade sells not just music but the idea of being a music lover: it is the musical equivalent of Daunt Books, a thriving independent bookstore. None of its records are priced at a discount.
事实上，东区的音像店不仅空间宽敞，租金便宜，还为许多音乐市场多年来一直试图明确的东西树立起风向标。例如，在如何最大限度地利用其他方面来充实音乐这一问题上，这家商店配备了咖啡厅、书摊甚至还有一个舞台，当然还有许多唱片和CD。Rough Trade试图传达这样一个理念：它不仅仅是在销售音乐，而实际上是一种音乐爱好者的信仰。它就像是贩卖音乐的Daunt Books（一家很受欢迎的独立经营书店），而且它所有的唱片都不打折。
The rising popularity of vinyl, which accounts for half of Rough Trade's stock, is another key to its success. Between 2007 and 2012 record sales in Britain increased by 88%, albeit from a tiny base. Records are increasingly desirable not so much because of the way they sound as because they are distinctive and rare—precious qualities in a world of ubiquitous free music. “People like to show off what they have bought,” says Spencer Hickman, who runs a record label.
占Rough Trade一半库存的黑胶唱片目前越来越受到人们的追捧，这也是促成Rough Trade成功运作的另一关键因素。2007至2012年间，在销售基数量很少的情况下，英国唱片发售量仍上涨了88%。事实上，人们对这些唱片表现出不断增长的热情并不是因为它们的音质，而是由于在这个充斥着免费流行乐的时代，唱片的与众不同和数量稀少的特点在人们看来是弥足珍贵的特点。经营一家唱片公司的斯宾塞·希克曼（Spencer Hickman）对此表示，“人们喜欢炫耀他们所买的东西。”
Vinyl is more popular in America, too: between 2007 and 2012 sales swelled from $23m to $163m. But not all are convinced Rough Trade will succeed in New York. The East End shop is already so big that customers are overwhelmed, says Tim Chambers, a British music consultant; it could almost be mistaken for a large chain store. The New York shop will be three times larger. There may turn out to be a trade-off between trendiness and sheer size.
相比之下，黑胶唱片在美国的受欢迎程度更甚一筹。2007至2012年间，其销售额由2300万美元飙升至1.63亿美元。但不是所有人都对Rough Trade在纽约的发展充满信心。一位英国音乐顾问蒂姆·钱伯斯（Tim Chambers）说，其东区的店铺已经如此之大，以至于超出一些顾客的承受范围，这种大型连锁商店无可避免会犯错误，而纽约的店面是这家店面的三倍，未来这家店可能要潮流经营和庞大的规模经营之中做出选择。译者：尤熠 校对：姜开锋
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