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Tesco’s Iron Maiden a success, supermarket to sell more vinyl
By Andy Malt | Published on Monday 7 December 2015
You know, when Tesco announced that it was venturing into vinyl sales with the latest Iron Maiden album, we were a bit down on it. Which isn’t like us at all. We’re normally so upbeat and ‘on message’. Still, the weekend the album was released I found myself in one of the Tesco Extra stores that were supposed to be selling the record, so I went to look for it, interested to see how and where it was being promoted. Could I find it? No, I could not. So I decided we were right to be down on it.
But apparently the vinyl-selling venture has been a massive success. Enough people did manage to find copies (those stores are very big, maybe I just missed the vinyl revival aisle) for the supermarket chain to want to try out selling more twelve-inch albums. Some old, some new, and 20 of the things in all. Coldplay’s new one is in there, plus a bit of George Ezra, Elvis, The Beatles, Nirvana, and the ‘Guardians Of The Galaxy’ soundtrack. Which may or may not give some indication of the target market.
“Our trial selling vinyl this summer was a real success with all our stock selling out and this really proved to us just how popular the vinyl album format is again with music fans”, said Tesco music buyer Michael Mulligan. “Vinyl is definitely coming back with demand growing stronger year by year and we think there will be a big demand in the UK this Christmas as music fans look for trendy gifting options”.
He continued: “We have brought in vinyl albums for everyone – from new releases for established collectors to absolute classics for younger fans, and for mums and dads who might have worn out their original copies the first time round. By also selling record decks we are helping customers who are looking to start their own vinyl album collection”.
Here are your “trendy gifting options” in alphabetical order:
The Beatles – Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band
Bob Marley – Legend
Bruce Springsteen – Born In The USA
Coldplay – A Head Full Of Dreams
David Gilmour – Rattle That Lock
The Eagles – Hotel California
ELO – Alone In The Universe
Elvis Presley – 30 Number 1 Hits
Fleetwood Mac – Greatest Hits
Foo Fighters – Greatest Hits
George Ezra – Wanted On Voyage
Gun N Roses – Appetite For Destruction
Led Zeppelin – Led Zeppelin II
Nirvana – Nevermind
Prince – Purple Rain
Radiohead – The Bends
The Rolling Stones – Sticky Fingers
The Specials – The Specials
Stones Roses – Stone Roses
Various Artists – Guardians Of The Galaxy Soundtrack
But what of Iron Maiden? Well, they’ve already moved on, recognising that the smart money is in headphones now. They’ve just released their new range of ‘Ed-Phon3s’ in partnership with Japanese company Onkyo.
Says bassist Steve Harris, who was involved in the design of the headphones: “My main objective was for a balance that wasn’t just top and bottom heavy with hardly any mid-range, like a lot of headphones these days that are basically designed for dance music. I wanted a good balance across the widest bandwidth incorporating a lot more mid-range frequencies, something I strongly feel is vital to appreciate the complexities of our music, and rock and metal in general”.
Tesco gets none of this action, though. You’ll have to go to Richer Sounds if you want to buy some in an actual shop. Or you can get them from the Maiden Audio website.
