Record store adapts to changing times

AUSTIN (KXAN) - Album sales peaked in this country in 2000, with nearly 800 million sold. But the trend has headed downward ever since, and last year's was the worst record sales since those numbers were tracked, with the number of albums purchased just 1/3 of that in 2000.

The biggest culprit affecting sales appears to be unauthorized music downloading. For every proper download it's believed there are 20 illegal downloads.

One Austin music store continues to thrive,because of its loyal fans. Waterloo Records is entering its 29th year in business, and even though it too has been hit by the sales slump, it continues to succeed. Its Austin-weird ambience, and broad, eclectic stock of music for all tastes continue to attract old and new customers.

"In a nutshell, we always just wanted to have the kind of record store that everyone who works here would like to hang out [at] ourselves," said owner John Kunz.

Last year Waterloo developed its own MP3 download website. It is also helped by its free in-store musical performances and an extremely knowledgeable sales staff.

"I'm so proud of them. We all live, eat, breathe and sleep music, 24/7. They're just great," Kunz beamed.

Waterloo also benefits from its vast collection of classic vinyl albums. There is a resurgence in vinyl albums, as a new generation comes to appreciate their fuller, richer sound.

"The cool thing in my book is it's really bridging the generations because there's kids going through mom and dad's record collection, going, 'Oh, they're really cooler than I thought, look at all this Hendrix and Doors,'" Kunz said.