Brighton's Rounder Records to close after 46 years

12:00pm Monday 9th July 2012 in News By Neil Vowles

An independent record store has announced it will close after 46 years in Brighton.

Rounder Records in Brighton Square, Brighton has announced it will close its doors for the last time at the end of this month.

In a statement, the record store said the business could no longer continue in a battle against illegal downloaders, big online retailers and the recession.

It said: "We are closing because we can't make it add up any more. We are a business that has been decimated by downloads (both legal and illegal), VAT avoidance by the big online retailers, a double dip recession, & the decline of the high street.

"Our lease has ended and we have nowhere to go.

"We would like to give heartfelt thanks to all our customers over the years, and hope that we have managed to provide you with some special and great music throughout this time.

"That's why we have been here – as place to obtain, hear, find out about, discuss all types of the weird & wonderful world of music, to be a social hub for a musical city, a place where future bands are born, where record labels are started, where local bands can stock their first release, where you can get tickets for gigs, where there's something playing on the shop stereo that might be your new favourite band.

"Sadly, in 2012, this is just not financially viable."

The store will close at 6pm on Sunday July 29.

For more details see today’s Argus.

Do you have any fond memories of Rounder Records? Leave your comments below.

The Argus has no responsibility or control over the content on external blogging sites, but you can contact us if you have a complaint.

Comments(45)

TonyB-of-Hove says...
12:22pm Mon 9 Jul 12

Sad to lose another great independent record shop. The best way to support them - although it's too late - is to get down there and buy lots before they close.

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FC says...
12:29pm Mon 9 Jul 12

It is sad. BUT:

A quick scan of the people complaining on Facebook shows that a load of them are also members of groups such as "SAVE THE PIRATEBAY"...

So they're hypocritical idiots.

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deanaprior says...
12:33pm Mon 9 Jul 12

There must be another cheaper lease somewhere in Brighton for an independent music shop.

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saveHOVE says...
12:38pm Mon 9 Jul 12

Come to Hove!

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s&k says...
12:42pm Mon 9 Jul 12

Very sad news. Perhaps we could have another coffee house or licensed bar in its place?

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Ligand Fields says...
12:44pm Mon 9 Jul 12

FC wrote:
It is sad. BUT: A quick scan of the people complaining on Facebook shows that a load of them are also members of groups such as "SAVE THE PIRATEBAY"... So they're hypocritical idiots.
Good point. But what to expect from freetard hipster loons?

Personally, although I buy music nearly every week, I've never once bought any in Rounder despite living here for over 15 years. There's nothing they would stock that I couldn't get more easily elsewhere online. If it's any consolation to them, they outlasted the Virgin Megastore and a branch of HMV!

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Archie Bun says...
12:47pm Mon 9 Jul 12

It's a bit rich to lay the blame on illegal downloaders when there is a wealth of evidence that shows that those who download more tend to buy more as well. It sounds like they are trying to blame others rather than accepting that if their business model couldn't change then this is a consequence.

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Ligand Fields says...
12:52pm Mon 9 Jul 12

Archie Bun wrote:
It's a bit rich to lay the blame on illegal downloaders when there is a wealth of evidence that shows that those who download more tend to buy more as well. It sounds like they are trying to blame others rather than accepting that if their business model couldn't change then this is a consequence.
Great. People who steal bottles of gin from Waitrose tend to drink more too. What was your point again?
That you want me to come round your house and steal your computer, because I'll probably buy some extra RAM for it later from dabs.com?

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Archie Bun says...
1:54pm Mon 9 Jul 12

Ligand Fields wrote:
Archie Bun wrote: It's a bit rich to lay the blame on illegal downloaders when there is a wealth of evidence that shows that those who download more tend to buy more as well. It sounds like they are trying to blame others rather than accepting that if their business model couldn't change then this is a consequence.
Great. People who steal bottles of gin from Waitrose tend to drink more too. What was your point again? That you want me to come round your house and steal your computer, because I'll probably buy some extra RAM for it later from dabs.com?
Point is, since you had trouble reading it, is the people who download more also SPEND more on legal music.

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Ligand Fields says...
2:16pm Mon 9 Jul 12

Yes, Archie, you're quite right: and we can PROVE this by noting that Rounder Records are to cease trading, joining all manner of other music retailers whose takings have fallen through the floor. Why don't you toddle off to Woolworth's and by yourself some sweeties? And follow it up with a trip to Virgin Megastore.

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Thetruth666 says...
2:18pm Mon 9 Jul 12

Thanks for the memories Rounders Records.You have supplied me with countless CD's and tickets for local events.I loved going through the mix tapes in the 90's also.I got my 1st Origin ticket from you and am so sad you are closing.Any chance you could continue online?

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fredaj says...
2:43pm Mon 9 Jul 12

The reason high street record shops can no longer survive is because the price of the product to simply too high.

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Ligand Fields says...
2:45pm Mon 9 Jul 12

fredaj wrote:
The reason high street record shops can no longer survive is because the price of the product to simply too high.
Yes, because the price of music has vastly increased year on year since 1973, hasn't it? Back in 1987, a new CD album might cost £11.99, but now it costs £11.99!! QUICK, LET'S STEAL THEM FROM PIRATE BAY INSTEAD.

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funnygirl says...
2:47pm Mon 9 Jul 12

Very sad news! i well remember calling here as a very young EMI plugger - great times and fond memories!

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Artrocker says...
3:05pm Mon 9 Jul 12

I thought they were meant to be moving to trafalgar street , gutted now this means resident will have the monolopy so expect higher prices once they have closed . So gutted needed a big shop but to close :(

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banargustrolls says...
3:58pm Mon 9 Jul 12

This is terrible news especially in the wake of Edgeworld records who just closed too. I wonder how much Resident trade affected Rounder as they seem to be booming. Rounder didn't update much but that was part of its charm. Such a shame. Two decent independent record shops gone..

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Surely not! says...
4:10pm Mon 9 Jul 12

I always loved the 'Hometaping is killing Music' inner sleeves on albums in the eighties. I would buy an album costing five to seven pounds at least twice a week. I would probably record two or three albums a week from friends. Meanwhile they were recording mine. We never quite managed to kill music. Over the years it has struck me how much record companies were ripping us off as kids. An album costs little more now. Obviously this has impacted severely on the amount of white powder record company execs can get up their noses. Unfortunately it also means record shops are rapidly becoming a thing of the past, this is sad to me personally, but its all part of life. Things change.

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SicklySeagull says...
4:31pm Mon 9 Jul 12

Very sorry to learn that one of my music stores i like to spend time in searching for Jazz items from way back is to close,so sad!

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MuammarQaddafi says...
5:54pm Mon 9 Jul 12

As a the former owner of a now-defunct record shop, I sympathise. Remember the good times, I suppose.

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remluf says...
6:07pm Mon 9 Jul 12

Those who download are wrong to do what they do, but record shops aren't losing out to them. Downloaders would simply do without the music and wouldn't buy it anyway.

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BURIRAM says...
6:25pm Mon 9 Jul 12

Brought my first DVD at Rounders Cliff Richard's Heathcliff now worth £150 on EBay and Amazon

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VoxUnpopuli says...
6:36pm Mon 9 Jul 12

Part of my youth is dying. Bought God Save The Queen by The Sex Pistols there in 1977 and relied on the shop ever since for hard to find quality music - from obscure indie to US import Hip Hop and Techno. Always friendly staff - I remember Norman Cook working in there too. It's not "illegal" downloading (file sharing) that has killed the shop, but downloading in general. No longer do you need to spend weeks hunting for rare tunes, now you can google it and buy it with one click. I must have spent £1000s in Rounder during the 80s and 90s but not so much in the last few years. Sad to see it go whatever the reason.

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The Gnome says...
7:22pm Mon 9 Jul 12

Sad, but probably a sign of the times. I don't download much music -I like the physical thing of the dics and cover that can be read and passed around. But whether browsing for new music, buying tickets or looking for hard to find items... it's just too **** easy on the internet. You don't get rained on and likely as not, it'll be as cheap if not cheaper.

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The Gnome says...
7:23pm Mon 9 Jul 12

Discs not dics! -not a Freudian slip!

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brightonmike2011 says...
8:21pm Mon 9 Jul 12

Oh god, here we go. Piracy is the blame for everything. No it's not. It is part of a much bigger issue.

The reason these record shops fail is because they keep trying to flog CDs. The fact is people don't buy CDs any more. It's not just illegal downloading, but also legal downloading and streaming such as iTunes & Spotify that have hurt CD sales.

Rounder Records needed to diversify, find alternative revenue streams, other services and products they could offer. But they didn't, they stuck to selling a product people don't want any more. The fault lies with them just as much as anything else so my sympathy runs dry quite quickly.

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Chipstick41 says...
8:22pm Mon 9 Jul 12

Shame Norman Cook can't step in and do something. He served me in there in the early 80's. I wonder if Rounder in Worthing is still going? Sign of the times, I'm afraid. How many record shops have closed in Brighton on the last 10 years? Funny, but the second hand record shops still seems to do ok. Wax Factor's been going for donkey's years, although they do rob you when you sell onto them!

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HJarrs says...
8:22pm Mon 9 Jul 12

Terrible news. I shall be down for a bag of records before it closes. I will miss the good selection of LPs.

Downloaders just don't know what they are missing. There is a whole different experience of getting an LP out for the first time, the artwork, the smell, the glinting grooves as they catch the light, lowering the needle and watching it bob up and down as the music plays.

Kick the downloading habit and buy a record player!

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Fight Back says...
8:33pm Mon 9 Jul 12

Ligand Fields wrote:
fredaj wrote:
The reason high street record shops can no longer survive is because the price of the product to simply too high.
Yes, because the price of music has vastly increased year on year since 1973, hasn't it? Back in 1987, a new CD album might cost £11.99, but now it costs £11.99!! QUICK, LET'S STEAL THEM FROM PIRATE BAY INSTEAD.
I know it's your aim but you really do come across as a nasty repugnant individual in all your posts.

Report this post »

lordenglandofsussex says...
8:53pm Mon 9 Jul 12

HJarrs wrote:
Terrible news. I shall be down for a bag of records before it closes. I will miss the good selection of LPs.

Downloaders just don't know what they are missing. There is a whole different experience of getting an LP out for the first time, the artwork, the smell, the glinting grooves as they catch the light, lowering the needle and watching it bob up and down as the music plays.

Kick the downloading habit and buy a record player!
That's the same as asking someone to go and buy a horse plough instead of a tractor.

Progress happens and the 'old' ways die a death. It has always been that way however sad and nostalgic that it may be.

In 20 years the high street shop will be no more and the internet shopping trolley will be king with supermarkets close behind.

It will happen as night follows day.

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jamesbandenburg says...
9:50pm Mon 9 Jul 12

Not everyone who likes owning music in a physical form is a Luddite who is still lamenting the passing of the valve in hi-fi equipment. I always buy music on disc instead of downloading it - there's something about getting home from town with a bag of albums and blasting them out that isn't quite matched by pressing Play on iTunes after getting a dialog to tell you that the download is complete... Personally I don't think you can call yourself much of a music fan if your entire collection consists of a load of downloaded mp3s.

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Dicky71 says...
9:51pm Mon 9 Jul 12

I remember going into Rounder Records in Brighton in the early 80´s and buying Ultra Fantastico by Denis Lawson (the theme from the Kit Curran Radio Show), no one else remembers it, except me. It was on Tv, i think Channel 4. Norman Cook did indeed work at Rounder Records and the branch in Worthing, sadly went a long time ago. On the plus side Fine Records in George Street and still going and owner, Julian has a great knowledge of music, shop there instead.

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Lostandaway says...
9:57pm Mon 9 Jul 12

I agree that technology moves on.
We have seen the demise of the vinyl disc, but when it was around in the 50's and 60's we could buy a tape recorder which enabled all the kids I knew to copy their favourite songs.
Then came cassette players, walkmans, cd walkmans etc.
It never stopped the rise of music as many have said it would. I think that argument was and is today a bogus position to take.
I can remember back in the 60's there were electronic companies complaining that they could not progress fast enough because there was no alternative medium for music.
Welcome to Sony and the new age. They bought out compnies like MCA and changed the way in which they operated.
Copying could be stopped at any time. Don't make the electronics to enable it. Electronic companies need people to copy etc to create a whole raft of new innovations.
Sony are on record saying that expect people in the future to listen to music in a multitude of ways, hence the rise in sale of turntables and the cost of collectable albums.
The internet has created even more opportunities. Once there were exchanges through Napster, but these were supposed to destroy the music industry.
Welcome to Apple which has shown the new model for the furture with the computer et al. Major record stores have now gone online.
The new businesses will arise on the net and some will become major players.
Music stores are in decline and soon bookstores will follow. Not to total oblivion, but in changed format.
Maybe we will see more electronic stores where we can purchase all the cadgets we need plus music, books along side some of the hard copy. There may also be the internet access while we socialise and exchange ideas and the goods that we purchase without feeling that we are all criminals. Remeber there is a growing body of people who would restrict the access to the net as they seem to be frightened of it.
Read some of the legal literature around from around the World.

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The Gnome says...
10:13pm Mon 9 Jul 12

To follow on from Jamesbandenburg's comment... MP3 files actually chop up the music quite badly compared with the quality of a CD. (Some argue that vinyl is better although I remain to be convinced on that one!) The point is that downloading is not the same as listening to a CD. However, whether you buy your CDs online or from a high street shop is another matter.

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Ligand Fields says...
10:21pm Mon 9 Jul 12

Fight Back wrote:
Ligand Fields wrote:
fredaj wrote:
The reason high street record shops can no longer survive is because the price of the product to simply too high.
Yes, because the price of music has vastly increased year on year since 1973, hasn't it? Back in 1987, a new CD album might cost £11.99, but now it costs £11.99!! QUICK, LET'S STEAL THEM FROM PIRATE BAY INSTEAD.
I know it's your aim but you really do come across as a nasty repugnant individual in all your posts.
Look, evil people deserve respect too you know.

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wcarstairs says...
8:24am Tue 10 Jul 12

These stores only have their selves to blame for sheer greed.Look at their prices!I own a second hand shop in Eastbourne and I sell the same CDs for £1.00 that they sell for £12.99 and the same DVDs for £2.00 that they sell for £14.99! More and more people and turning to second hand and charity shops.Has the big stores go bust more and more second hand and charity shops are opening up and business is thriving.

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Man from Uncle says...
10:28am Tue 10 Jul 12

Very sad news, very best wishes to all of those guys at Rounder. Hopefully you can re-emerge some time in the future.

Another piece of Brighton will have gone, all for a souless need for a download.

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Spanners says...
10:54am Tue 10 Jul 12

remluf wrote:
Those who download are wrong to do what they do, but record shops aren't losing out to them. Downloaders would simply do without the music and wouldn't buy it anyway.
I think you have a point. When i was young we used to record from one cassette tape to another. Or off the radio. Both of which are piracy and were common practice amongst kids at most schools. Once old enough to afford the 12 quid I bought them instead. A mjor difference now is the real cost of an album which has plummetted. A tenner now is way less than a tenner in 1980

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tartanesque says...
9:35am Wed 11 Jul 12

Fight Back wrote:
Ligand Fields wrote:
fredaj wrote:
The reason high street record shops can no longer survive is because the price of the product to simply too high.
Yes, because the price of music has vastly increased year on year since 1973, hasn't it? Back in 1987, a new CD album might cost £11.99, but now it costs £11.99!! QUICK, LET'S STEAL THEM FROM PIRATE BAY INSTEAD.
I know it's your aim but you really do come across as a nasty repugnant individual in all your posts.
Don't feed the troll :)

Report this post »

toldsloth says...
1:48pm Wed 11 Jul 12

What a load of ill-informed claptrap LOSTANDAWAY and LORDENGLANDOFSUSSEX!


Vinyl in demise? Yeah right thats why I've just spent £400 on a new arm and another £500 on a new cartridge! Vinyl absolutely wipes the floor with all other formats apart from master tape. I have a £1500 CD player and it still can't hold a match to the turntable.
You may or may not notice that vinyl has actually never gone away and almost every new release now comes on 180gm vinyl as well as CD, MP3. CD however is definitely on it's way out because of downloads but vinyl is still going strong. You must remember that there is a lot of us out here who find 128Kbps MP3 about as appealing as a shave with sandpaper - the quality is appalling and not fit for human consumption. Make no mistake - I have an ipad, iPod, iPhone, NAS, touchscreen jukebox etc but all my digital music is either WAV or FLAC and therefore high quality. I made a "Media PC" long before they because mass market and was streaming music 6 or 7 years ago so the great god of Apple isn't doing aything new!
The reason Rounder is going to the wall is because they are too expensive - I buy £60 to £100 worth of music a month but always found them to be asking too much for their albums. Also they failed to move with the times and simply didn't make browsing and purchasing as pleasurable as Resident or Borderline. Also I wonder how much of it is attributable to the fact that they seem unwilling to invest in a new lease or premises.
There is more to this than meets the eye............

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Unbias says...
5:46pm Wed 11 Jul 12

toldsloth Saved me saying it..

A1 reply.

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M0uthoftheS0uth says...
8:26pm Wed 11 Jul 12

Perhaps if the staff didnt look you up and down and decide if you were cool enough to be served I would have spent more money in there

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toldsloth says...
10:50pm Wed 11 Jul 12

Don't get me wrong - losing another independent shop is a disaster but ther is more to this than meets the eye.

Perhaps the owner(s) of Rounder would like to write and state the real reasons and not try and blame the recession, online stores VAT avoidance or illegal downloaders.

I'm not saying it's the most profitable business to be in but come on......

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Lostandaway says...
8:51pm Thu 12 Jul 12

Oh how eloquently put toldsloth.
Indeed there may well be a significant increase in vinyl sales as a % of previous sales but the figures overall are against you.
In 2011 there were about 3 million vinyl sales with over 600 million CD/MP3 sales. Less than 0.5%. So I think you are part of a very nice specialist market and long may that continue.
Unfortunately this market goes along with other such specialisms such as classic cars and motorcycles, split cane fishing rods, bespoke walking sticks. The basic premise is still the same the market is changing.

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djcarbines says...
12:00am Wed 18 Jul 12

Abstracks are a new indie record and art shop in Worthing's West End Haven't been there long, bucking the trend.

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toldsloth says...
1:15pm Wed 18 Jul 12

Hmmm, visited Rounder last Saturday for a nose and noticed "20% off" signs.

OK me thinks, lets go buy some records.........only to find that the cost of an album that I purchased two weeks ago at Resident was £24 not the £18 I paid................


I now see they are looking for somebody to invest or take over the business.......

"Dear.Mr.Cook. I know you once worked for us and yes I know we made you clean the toilet bowl with a toothbrush however we were wondering........."!

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