Amoeba Music

Amoeba Music on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood

Coordinates: 37°46′08″N 122°27′10″W / 37.76892°N 122.45265°W / 37.76892; -122.45265

Inside of Amoeba Music in San Francisco in 2011

Amoeba Music is a US independent music chain with stores in Berkeley, San Francisco, and Hollywood, Los Angeles, California. Founded by former employees of nearby Rasputin Records, it opened on Telegraph Avenue in Berkeley in 1990. The stores are unusually large given their independent status. The San Francisco store, which opened in 1997 in the Haight-Ashbury district close to Golden Gate Park, is especially notable for its size, occupying a 24,000 square foot (2,200 m²) former bowling alley.[1] It regularly stocks upwards of 100,000 CDs, vinyl records, and audio cassettes, both new and used. It is still operating as of 2018, having survived the decline in CD sales since the early 2000s thanks to its thriving trade in used vinyl records.[1]

The Southern California location was added on November 17, 2001 when the store opened a new branch on Sunset Boulevard (at Cahuenga Boulevard) in Hollywood. At the time of its opening, the store planned to stock as many as 250,000 titles, which would have placed it among the largest independent music stores in the world. According to Los Angeles Times writer Michael Hiltzik, the location "instantly became a Hollywood landmark."

The stores also trade in movies, though secondarily to their music business. Each location has a smaller collection of movies on DVD, VHS, Laserdisc and Blu-ray Disc. In addition, each store maintains a selection of music-related posters and artwork for purchase, as well as Amoeba-branded merchandise. The Hollywood location has the entire 2nd floor dedicated to DVD and Blu-ray Disc. In addition, Amoeba Music frequently holds free shows during store hours with locally and nationally known artists from a wide variety of genres.

This store is a playable venue in the 2008 music game Guitar Hero World Tour.[1] Paul McCartney recorded his EP Amoeba's Secret at an unannounced live performance at the Hollywood location on 27 June 2007.

YouTube channel

Amoeba’s YouTube channel was created on January 27, 2006 and is home to interviews, recordings of live performances at Amoeba locations, and the Webby Award-winning series “What’s In My Bag?” with various “featuring artists and tastemakers sharing what they found shopping at Amoeba.”[2]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Kukura, Joe (2017-11-17). "Amoeba Music Records 20 Years On Haight Street". SF Weekly. Retrieved 2017-11-20.
  2. ↑ "Amoeba Music - What's In My Bag". www.amoeba.com. Retrieved 2016-04-07.
  • Official homepage of Amoeba Music
  • Hermes, Will (February 19, 1998). "The World's Greatest Record Store?". Rolling Stone (780). pp. 19&ndash, 20.
  • Diehl, Matt; Eliscu, Jenny (August 12, 2003). "Indie Chains Are Slump Proof: California's Amoeba and other retailers succeed amid industry nightmare". rollingstone.com. Archived from the original on 2008-01-07. Retrieved 28 November 2005.
  • "S.F. Music Landmark Headed to Sunset - Brief Article". (November 13, 2000.) Christopher Keough. Los Angeles Business Journal. Retrieved 2005-11-28.
  • "Golden State: Record Chain Bets on the Past, Future". (November 17, 2005.) Michael Hiltzik. Los Angeles Times (and accompanying Golden State Blog.).
  • "Amoeba Music's Simple Formula". (February 17, 2005). BusinessWeek.
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