On Oct. 24 and 25, Capitol Studios & Mastering, Capitol Records, Caroline and Harvest Records will host WAX, the first-ever music industry event to focus on vinyl, music goods and record collecting culture on the lot of the Capitol Records building.
Music Connection will be randomly selecting 10 winners to attend the WAX Record Fair on Friday, Oct. 23, at 12PM PST. To be entered, email [email protected] with your name, email and a mailing address with the subject line: "WAX"
Rare record collectors, independent record stores and record labels will gather for the record fair in Los Angeles. In addition to a wide selection of vinyl records, vendors will offer rare music merchandise, artwork and collectibles.
A variety of artists, both established and developing acts, will participate in signings, DJ sets and performances. Top industry professionals including artists, producers and engineers will participate in moderated panel discussions focused on every aspect of producing and collecting vinyl, which will cap off each day of the fair.
WAX is offering a very unique opportunity to experience the vinyl mastering process, presented by Capitol Studios and Mastering. Mastering and vinyl engineer Ian Sefchick, will lead 30-minute demonstrations of vinyl lacquers being cut straight from analog tape on one of the legendary Capitol Neumann lathes, which have cut albums for a long list of artists including Pink Floyd, R.E.M., Red Hot Chili Peppers, Alabama Shakes and N.W.A. For just $40 per person, WAX Record Fair attendees can join these intimate demonstrations, which will be performed for only six people at a time. Each of the 12 acetates cut will be auctioned off at the close of the weekend. Tickets are limited to 36 per day, and are expected to sell out in advance.
Capitol Studios & Mastering will award a vinyl-cutting demo and give a winner the rare opportunity to experience the mastering process at Capitol Studios & Mastering and walk away with their own hand-cut laquer. Capitol Studios is thrilled to host the event at the Tower to celebrate their thriving vinyl business where demand dictates that their mastering experts keep two lathes running full time.
The weekend will conclude with an auction, featuring rare items at the fair. A small selection of vendors will offer the most sought after, valuable records and memorabilia from their collection. Auction items will be announced prior to the record fair.
Vinyl sales of both new and used records have hit chart-breaking levels, the highest sales numbers in 20 years and nearing the 10 million mark annually. That is 200,000 physical units sold weekly, to men and women, ages 16 to 45.
“The Caroline team couldn’t be more excited about the vinyl renaissance and what it’s doing for the independent artist, label and record store community. As a co-founder of WAX, our primary motive is to continue fostering the relationship between all those integral in the record community and bring that passion and discovery to this iconic venue for the general public to share, celebrate and consume,” said Matt Sawin, VP at Caroline.
Over the last five years, with the resurgent popularity of the vinyl format, record fairs have grown from small swap-meet endeavors to massively attended events: from WFMU’s New York Record Fair, the Austin, TX Record Fair and the Olympia Record Fair, which draw tens of thousands of fans annually, to the international Utrecht Record Fair, with attendance in the hundreds of thousands over a single weekend.
Jeff Bowers of Federal Prism Records, who co-founded WAX with his Capitol Music Group partners, is one of the principals credited with building the international Record Store Day phenomenon. “Without Jeff Bower’s enthusiasm and passion for music in general, and vinyl in specific, we would not have been able to launch Record Store Day,” said RSD co-founder Michael Kurtz in a statement.
"My vision for WAX is to bring the energy around vinyl culture together in a live event setting so that record collectors, record stores, labels, distributors, artists and fans can get creative, have a dialogue, collaborate and of course, buy, sell and trade," says Jeff Bowers. "Capitol, Harvest and Caroline are full of creative people, with awesome ideas who appreciate how important the vinyl scene is to the sustainability of music.
WAX is an all ages, family-friendly event. Capitol Records is located at the intersection of Hollywood & Vine in Hollywood, CA, conveniently situated just south of the U.S. 101 freeway and just north of the Hollywood/Vine Metro station.
Music Connection will be randomly selecting 10 winners to attend the WAX Record Fair on Friday, Oct. 23, at 12PM PST. To be entered, email [email protected] with your name, email and a mailing address with the subject line: "WAX"
Vendor registration is open and tickets are on sale to the general public at waxrecordfair.com.
