I’m a big fan of combining food metaphors with music. In many ways, it’s one of the best descriptive methods of illustrating how great a musician’s offering is. It’s also a great way to illustrate variety because we have such a palette (no pun intended) for imagining what something could be like on an experiential level due to our other sense (taste and sound in this case).
A supermarket grocery store chain is taking a leap on this notion by doing something so unique, it could create a whole new trend in the way we look at the music market. Tesco will be selling vinyl albums and records in their 55 stores across the UK. This new edition of music to their retail venture was showcased with the new release of Iron Maiden’s The Book Of Souls on September 4th.
The move to include music sales in a supermarket setting is part of an ongoing strategy to revive declining revenues amid an increase in the sale of vinyl records across the country. Tesco has endured an annual loss of over 6 billion pounds (as of April 2015) while the music industry has seen the largest increase in vinyl record sales since 1995 in the UK (1.3 million in January alone).
We’ll have to see if this strategy proves successful and if other music offerings become a part of the retail grocer’s strategy to increase revenues. Could we be in store for managers to make pairing selections of certain foods with certain albums? If so, I’d like to be a part of that. Wouldn’t you?