Mind Cure keeps vinyl records spinning

Mind Cure Records

3138 Dobson St.

Second Floor

Pittsburgh, Pa.,… Mind Cure Records

3138 Dobson St.

Second Floor

Pittsburgh, Pa., 15219

While the music-industry narrative of the past decade has focused on the doom and gloom of declining CD sales in the face of surging illegal downloads, one format has actually gained considerable consumer traction over the past several years: vinyl LPs.

In late 2009, the sales tracking system Nielsen SoundScan found that vinyl sales had increased by 35 percent throughout the previous year. By contrast, sales of CDs dropped by 20 percent in the same timeframe.

“While the digital age has had this propensity toward making things less and less tangible, there’s also been a considerable converse reaction to that,” said Michael Seamans, owner of the recently opened Mind Cure Records in Polish Hill.

“In a lot of ways, it’s the one format that has never really gone away,” he said. “Some genres, like hip-hop or reggae, have always been vinyl-centric.”

Seamans’ store is one of three to have opened up in the corner building between Dobson and Hancock streets, providing a boost to Polish Hill’s ailing retail sector.

Originally, the building was intended to house apartments upstairs and a coffee shop downstairs, but when residential zoning became too expensive, owners Mark Knobil and Catherine McConnell decided to hand it all over to retail.

“I had actually looked into buying the building myself a few years back,” Seamans said. “It had come up when I was asking about retail space in the area, but it wasn’t available and was pretty run down at the time.”

After an eight-year stint at Paul’s CDs in Bloomfield, Seamans took his cues from the record stores of Washington, D.C., where he had lived for several years.

“The stores were a lot smaller there,” he said. “It seemed like what they carried was very focused and much more reflective of the owner’s tastes.”

A cursory browse through Mind Cure’s stocks demonstrates just how much Seamans adhered to that model.

Sifting through rows of $3 and $4 used vinyl reveals an astounding concentration of experimental, electronic and punk albums.

“Albums filed under ‘new’ are strictly personal preference” he added, laughing.

Seamans said the store is still a work in progress.

“It’s not quite where I’d like it to be yet,” Seamans said.  “The store can hold about 6,000 to 8,000 LPs, but there are only about 2,000 to 3,000 out there right now.”

Although the store hasn’t yet met his personal standards, Seamans said customer reception has been very positive.

“I’ve seen a lot of familiar faces from Paul’s [CDs] and local shows,” he said. “I’ve also seen a lot of new collectors, who are mainly younger people, which is great. I’m sure someone’s been disappointed, but most of the people seem to be really excited when they come through.”

When it comes to vinyl’s future prospects — inextricably tied to the future of his store —  Seamans is steadfastly optimistic.

“Records are sort of in a different dialect when it comes to music,” he said. “They’re about higher sound quality and having big artwork and inserts. While it’s true that most people just simply aren’t going to start buying vinyl again, the trend is definitely increasing.”