Goldmine Records: “the one-stop shop” for all your music listening needs

Despite music today being easily accessible online, there is something special about going into your local bricks and mortar record store, and Goldmine Records owner Ben Hill can attest to this.

The beauty of what Goldmine Records, and many other local record stores, represent was recently celebrated on April 22 with Record Store Day, which Mr Hill described as having been “really great for helping rebuild interest”.

“There’s nothing like the joy of discovering a new gem to add to your collection from visiting your favourite record store, digging through the racks, listening to what’s playing and chatting to like-minded music fans,” he told Inner City News.

“Appreciating the large format album artwork and liner notes on records, while you’re soaking up the sound of some new tunes, is another huge part of the music experience.”

Goldmine Records in Carlton North was originally opened in 1992, and Mr Hill then bought the business in 2008 before taking it on full-time in 2013.

As a huge fan of music and collecting vinyl, Mr Hill can confidently say that his work is his passion, and despite the music industry changing he has enjoyed seeing a trend of the industry remaining retro.

“Fifteen years ago, downloading music was on the rapid rise and the vinyl industry was in a major slump, it even looked like the format might disappear completely, taking many record shops along with it. But some magic happened, and vinyl made a huge comeback,” he said.

I was lucky enough to get on board with Goldmine as vinyl production really started ramping up again. I built an online presence for the business and increased the range of music that we stocked both in-store and online and it just seemed to keep building momentum.

Although there was a sudden growth in vinyl, certain contents in the store, such as DVDs and CDs, have been on the decline due to the growth of streaming services.

But, using his many years of experience in the industry as a customer and a store owner, Mr Hill has put extra effort into making Goldmine Records a “one-stop shop for all music listening needs”.

“We like to make everyone feel at home by covering most bases when it comes to music genres,” he said.

“People’s taste in music spans multiple genres – way more than it used to – and we quite often have customers buying things like hip hop, jazz and metal all in one hit.”

Goldmine Records stock new and second-hand items, including everything from one-dollar bargains to high-quality audiophile pressings, protective record covers, and cleaning products for looking after vinyl.

They also offer services for cleaning vinyl using high quality ultrasonic Degritter machines, flattening warped records using Japanese-made Orb flattening machines and turntable stylus replacements.

This ability to understand what people want and help them to find not only what they need but also similar music they may have not been familiar with, is what sets Goldmine Records apart.

It is a local bricks and mortar store that can’t be easily replaced through online streaming services, and worth celebrating all year round. •

For more information: goldminerecords.com.au