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Golden Discs is looking to new international markets with the debut of an Irish music site

The Irish retailer has also tapped into the growing popularity of vinyl.

GOLDEN DISCS IS launching an international online store to sell Irish music to the US market and beyond after spotting a gap in the market. 

The company reinvented itself by tapping into the growing rebirth of vinyl and reported a profit of €192,000 last year. 

It is now looking to expanding internationally by launching an Irish music platform next month after the company received several inquiries through its website, according to Stephen Fitzgerald, the company’s chief executive. 

Fitzgerald  - who has run the family-owned retailer chain since taking over from his father Jack – said that at the moment it is hard to quantify how much the US market will be worth to the company but it is one of the largest for the company to enter.

“It won’t be just for the Irish diaspora – there is demand for Irish product from all corners of the world,” Fitzgerald said. 

He plans to sell both traditional and contemporary Irish music on the website.  

Golden discs 17

It is one of the many projects the company is working on – having also started pressing their own vinyl compilations under the banner “Golden Discs Presents …” earlier this year with Dublin Vinyl

So far the compilations are a mix of rock and roll and classic rock and roll but Fitzgerald said they will create more contemporary albums.

Vinyl is here to stay

In 2018, 16.8 million vinyl LPs were sold in the US – marking the 13th consecutive year of growth for the format. 

According to Fitzgerald vinyl is “very much back and very much a core part of what we do”. 

In Golden Discs, he sees two types of customers. The first is an older customer who is looking at the product for sound quality or nostalgia. Secondly, there is a younger customer who is a digital native and coming to buy the physical product for the first time.

“There’s no denying the convenience of streaming services and the technology now that you have in your pocket – it’s fantastic. So a lot of people, they want to own their own music and they want something tangible that they can feel, I guess similar to a book,” he said. 

The company which opened three stores in Kilkenny, Navan, Liffey Valley Shopping Centre and a pop-up shop in the Crescent shopping centre in Limerick last year. Golden Discs is planning on opening four stores again this year.

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Written by Laura Roddy and posted on Fora.ie

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    Mute The Guru
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    Aug 11th 2019, 7:36 AM

    Fair play. Great example of and Irish company refusing to die and innovating. Ironically with a technology that their now dead business model replaced!

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    Mute Gerard Walsh
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    Aug 11th 2019, 9:18 AM

    In the store in the square yesterday, and was great going through the vinyl and picking out what I wanted and walking out with something that was mine now. Beats pressing a button, and the sound is fab. And brings back great memories from when there was record shops on every street.

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    Mute Rodney Williams
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    Aug 11th 2019, 8:47 AM

    Excellent!

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    Mute HONEY BADGER180
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    Aug 11th 2019, 10:23 AM

    I used to work as a contractor on there stores over the years.they were a great store then and now.I used to do A/V in there shops. The staff are so friendly and Noel was brilliant the back bone of the place. Good luck for the future !!!!!

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    Mute Michael
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    Aug 11th 2019, 9:27 AM

    Was in London the other week and wanted to go to HMV to buy a Blu ray only to discover that in a city of over 10 million people that there are only two HMV left and with only a hand full of other independences. Westfield shopping center in Stratford is one of the biggest shopping centres in Europe and not one place to buy a CD, DVD or vinyl!
    Head to London Golden Discs!

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    Mute Fr. Fintan Stack
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    Aug 11th 2019, 2:06 PM

    This is the sort of thing that also helps put money back in the hands of the artists where it belongs.

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    Mute Sean Deacon
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    Aug 11th 2019, 4:38 PM

    @Fr. Fintan Stack: Artists who are multi millionaires I think they have enough money.

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    Aug 11th 2019, 4:49 PM

    @Sean Deacon: You are only talking about the top 1% at most. The rest are struggling because they can’t make a living out of their work as Spotify, Youtube, iTunes, etc. are facilitating the ripping off of their music.

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