Doors open for great vinyl revival

In fact, Wang says, this resurrection was largely preordained; it was an idea he had considered even before the doors of the first shop closed. For his loyal customers the good news means they and others will have the chance to enjoy the old yet classic way of listening to music.

"It started out as a dream for me and I feel so fortunate to have lived out that dream," Wang says.

April 21 marked Record Store Day, an annual international event that few people other than the most dyed-in-the-wool audiophiles will be familiar with. The industry uses the day to promote independent record shops that continue to support the industry as they battle tough times. The idea of a special day was that of an employee of the Bull Moose music store in the United States.

Two weeks after the 2018 Record Store Day, an event called Blue Union Vinyl Market, which attracted local record stores' owners, including Wang, was held at Blue Note Beijing, the first branch of New York's famous Blue Note Jazz Club in China.

The event's co-initiator Shi Jing says many young music lovers turned up to buy CDs and vinyls, which was a big surprise.

"Their interests are many and varied, from jazz, soul, hip-hop to rock. They embrace the traditional music culture. It's great to see that people are paying for music. It's possible for record stores to survive and thrive here."