Beatdisc Records thrives on vinyl in a digital age

Record shops have become an endangered species in the past decade, but one Parramatta store has managed to thrive in an era of digital downloads.

Peter Curnovic is celebrating 20 years next week owning the last remaining record shop in the western suburbs. His store is Beatdisk Record at Parramatta.

UNDERGROUND record shops don’t get much cooler than Parramatta’s own Beatdisc, tucked away in a side arcade forgotten by developers.

The independent record shop – the only one left standing in Sydney’s western suburbs – celebrates its 20th continuous year of operation this week.

While franchisee music stores have folded and second-hand record shops long since closed their doors, Beatdisc has become a landmark destination for music-lovers across Sydney.

Owner Peter Curnovic is now riding a resurgence of interest in vinyl records, an amazing turnaround from just a few years ago.

“It is incredible, yes, it’s great to see the renewed interest in vinyl, and especially from young customers who didn’t grow up with it,” Mr Curnovic, 32, said.

He says customers love finding unusual or rare records in the store, which sells a wide mix of both vinyl and CDs from 1960s/70s pop to punk, heavy metal, jazz, blues and country.

The record store has managed to survive 20 years in business thanks to a vinyl revival. Picture: David Swift

It also sells brand new pressings from the commercial labels of new albums, as well as stocking small turntables – a beginner one for $199 and a professional turntable for $470.

The hipster-fuelled vinyl revival has seen sales across Australia jump by 127 per cent in the past year.

“There’s now even a vinyl chart,” Mr Curnovic said.

Mr Curnovic grew up locally and used to visit the Queensland Arcade store, just off Church St Mall.

Eventually he landed a job on staff and ended up buying the store, which also hosts occasional live shows featuring indie bands.

■ The store is at Shop 11, Queensland Arcade, 181 Church Street, Parramatta and can also be found at: facebook.com/beatdisc