Some years ago, Adrian Wells’ girlfriend was overwhelmed with the number of records he had in his collection.
He said: “My girlfriend said, you’ve got to do something about this, your collection is too big.
“So, I changed my mindset. Instead of being a collector, I started thinking, if anyone’s going to offer me the right price I would sell it.”
For more than 25 years, Adrian stood at record events – until he decided that it was time to host his own.
From this AA Record Fairs was created, a record-selling-and-buying event that travels all over the East Midlands.
“Eventually I started selling at record fairs, and now the number of records is far bigger than I ever had as my own collection,” he said.
Six years on, AA Record Fairs has hosted over 500 events. Building a community of record lovers and appealing to new crowds in every city they attend.
There’s more to music than listening to it on a phone. If you buy a record and take it home, you have the art in your hands, says Adrian.
The resurgence of vinyl started around 2007- however recent years have seen growth on a much larger scale, with forecasts showing that it is not expecting to slow down any time soon.
According to the British Phonographic Society, this past year has seen sales of vinyl increase by 13.3%. This marks the 18th consecutive year of a growth in sales.
The rise in collecting has come from the idea that people want to have physical ownership of the music they listen to, rather than having it downloaded on a phone.
The days are gone where everybody is living as a minimalist, people have decided they want ownership and collections of things, says Adrian.
He continued: “People aren’t just buying vinyl as a music item, they want them as a cultural artifact, it’s like a piece of artwork from an artist they like.”
AA Record’s first event was hosted in Sheffield, since then, they have hosted 100 events per year, travelling to cities like Lincoln, Nottingham and Leicester.
Today, Adrian has found that the events have become far more than buying and selling.
“The nature of these events has changed, because now people aren’t just interested in coming and buying records, they use the events for socialising and meeting friends.”
Adrian’s events have created a community of standers who follow him.
Shaun Barratt specialises in selling metal records and attends AA Record Fairs with his own collection.
He said: “Music brings people together, and Adrian’s events are great.
“He has a different business model; he always has the best interests of other dealers and his customers at heart.”
The vinyl collecting community is great to be a part of, from events like these, I have met people and now we have become friends from this, continued Shaun.
Adrian has found that the resurgence of vinyl has allowed events to be hosted in places where a bigger crowd is drawn in.
“Record fairs were always in old halls and a little bit out of the way, but a successful event is one that is organised in a public space, where places already have a flow of people passing by.
If you’re going to a space where there are record collectors and a general flow of people, merging those two things together make for a successful event, he said.
The success of hosting events in places with a flow of people who are there, outside of attending the fair, has meant that Adrian has seen a range of customers come and go.
Adrian said, I find now that younger people have now started gravitating away from buying online and have realised that they want to buy something physical.
Adrian’s wide span in music taste comes from his background of playing the keyboard for his old band. Despite not having a favourite record, he said his favourite artist is Jim O’Rourke, an indie rock artist.
AA Record Fairs’ events are free to attend; events are published on their Facebook page to gain the attention of fellow record lovers.
Adrian said: “The biggest part of the events being a success is doing the promotion. I spend three hours every morning, five days a week on social media.”
The growing of the vinyl community has continued through events, like AA Record Fairs, with forecasts for 2027 predicting that the resurgence will continue to grow.
“I think the future of vinyl is going to be more community based, and I think it’s going to link up with digital spaces where people can connect more.”
Adrian doesn’t think that the vinyl resurgence has hit its peak, instead he is hopeful that there is much more room for the community to grow.
