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Universal Music UK is exploring with the launch of a chain of virtual vinyl stores with fashion retailer Pretty Green and Mobile Money Network‘s instant mobile checkout app, Simply Tap.
The virtual stores will be open for business 24 hours a day and in the windows of 10 Pretty Green shops across the country from May 24 until June 10. Shoppers can choose from a dozen titles including The Rolling Stones’ Exile On Main Street to Elbow’s Seldom Seen Kid and Ian Brown’s The Greatest.
Shoppers who are buying vinyl by mail order will be interested to learn that the mail-order process is a deferred pleasure. Images of the album sleeves will appear in Pretty Green’s window displays. Customers who have downloaded the Simply Tap app and registered their credit card details and delivery address can then make purchases with an iPhone or Android handset.
Take a photo or read a QR code through the app to buy and then wait for the postman to bring your record to your door soon after.
Universal Music UK’s Commercial Division MD Brian Rose said: “We are seeing continued passion as well as new enthusiasm for vinyl through our online store Uvinyl and the great support the format gets from those indie music shops which are still flourishing, but by harnessing the latest technology we hope this partnership with Pretty Green will lead to much wider opportunities for selling music on the High Street.”
Fashion and music have long danced together in marketing and culture, so this connection between the two and adding new technology makes for an interesting fit.
Pretty Green already has a musical pedigree as it was established by Liam Gallager of Oasis and carries clothing highlighted by The Modfather Paul Weller.
Whether vinyl and fashion fans are also fans of mobile money apps remains to be seen, but there is always the chance that early adopters are also nostalgic for music formats that can be held in two hands.