Denver’s fast-growing RiNo “music district” finds its groove amid vinyl renaissance

Scott Hagen drops the needle on a shiny slab of black vinyl — Fleet Foxes’ 2021 record “A Very Lonely Solstice” — and takes the time to admire the turntable’s delicate hardware as the tone arm slowly circles the grooves toward the center.

A rich, smooth sound emanates from the speakers — so close and intimate it feels like the melancholy acoustic performance is right in front of you.

That’s the intended effect of the hardware demo that Hagen, the chief executive of 117-year-old record player brand Victrola, has set up in his company’s temporary, Denver-based headquarters. The sleek Victrola Stream Onyx, which retails for $599, works as a standard turntable but also streams pristine audio via Bluetooth to Sonos speakers.

“This is just for now,” Hagen, 48, said as he surveyed the scant decor and wide-open spaces of the company’s office at 3515 Brighton Blvd. It’s hidden in a newly built commercial structure along a fast-developing, dense stretch of the River North Art District. A few blocks north sits the 14,000-square-foot Vinyl Me, Please record-pressing plant and headquarters. Across from that, the corporate offices of AEG Presents Rocky Mountains, the region’s dominant music promoter, and its wholly-owned Mission Ballroom venue.

“We see collaboration,” Hagen said as he sunk into a soft chair in Victrola’s sunny, mountain-facing space. Despite its sprawling imprint, there were only two other people visible in the office. Like the upstairs space, a downstairs happy hour bar for employees displays the handsome, retro-flavored designs that are part of a massive resurgence in vinyl records that has transformed the recording industry.

Denver’s newest music district, as boosters are unofficially calling it, is playing a major role in the re-growth of vinyl. Two of the world’s biggest producers of records and turntables are now based there, as is a major music promoter with the power to make new acts while bringing in top national names. For the public, there’s a state-of-the-art venue in Mission Ballroom, with indoor and outdoor offerings, and soon, tours of a record plant and collaborations between all of the major players.

They’re building what they hope will be a self-sustaining ecosystem, with promotion, commercial production, retail, tourist offerings and live concerts all within a five minute walk.

“AEG’s presence here was a factor in moving here,” Hagen said, noting that former AEG leader and legendary concert promoter Chuck Morris played ambassador to the Mile High City for Victrola.

“It for sure factored into the location of the pressing plant,” Cameron Schaefer, CEO of Vinyl Me, Please, wrote in an email to The Denver Post. His Denver-based company curates an upscale record club that has become one of the biggest sellers of vinyl in the world.

“And while we don’t have any specific plans or programming to share yet,” he said, “we’re confident that our partnership will manifest itself in all kinds of creative ways that delight music fans.”

Those fans have pushed vinyl to its highest sales in decades, making up about 70% of all physical music sales last year — the other 30% was mostly CDs. These are not just one-off pressings from indie labels; multiplatinum pop stars Taylor Swift, Harry Styles, and Olivia Rodrigo led vinyl sales in 2022, according to data from the Recording Industry Association of America, resulting in $1.2 billion in vinyl revenue.

Streaming, once predicted as the killer of all physical-music formats, has been sidelined by many collectors and music fans looking for a deeper, more ritualistic experience. They helped vinyl sales edge out compact discs for the first time since 1987, the RIAA said. The wildly successful Record Store Day promotion, which returns to retailers such as Twist & Shout and Wax Trax Records on April 22, will offer even more exclusive vinyl titles for music lovers in 2023, according to Twist & Shout owner Patrick Brown.

“There are about 325 different titles this year, which is roughly what both the April and June events had last year combined,” he said. “As always, I’m expecting a huge crowd for the day.”

Denver, already a city packed with music venues and high per-capita ticket sales, has started to muscle into the vinyl resurgence. Vinyl Me, Please is planning to address supply and manufacturing hold-ups in the LP world. About 20% of its capacity, which is expected to produce 1.5 million to 2 million records per year, will be devoted to outside projects, with the rest for its own, record-of-the-month club releases. The plant will be ready for its main purpose of mastering and manufacturing vinyl records starting this summer.

“But Phase 2, which will include the public-facing side of the plant, tours, lounge etc. will begin build out immediately following pressing completion,” Schaefer said. “My hope is a more public opening this winter. Everyone always tells you these things take longer than you expect and while it’s often hard for me to accept, it turns out it’s true.”

The irony is that Rhinoceroplis, a beloved former DIY venue and art space that closed in 2016, used to sit between Victrola and its new music neighbors. It’s long gone, having been shut down for code violations, and never really revived in a meaningful away amid the area’s gentrification. Developers bought the entire block, which sits just north of Victrola’s headquarters, in 2021; current plans are to build a 300,000 square-foot health-tech facility on the site.

Victrola’s CEO Hagen, who is leading the company after its 2018 revival, envisions a more filled-in district a couple of years from now, when rampant residential and office construction in RiNo quiets down and the line-of-sight along this dusty, noisy stretch of Brighton Boulevard is clear. He can already see Vinyl Me, Please from Victrola’s headquarters. His company makes a portable “suitcase” turntable called the Revolution Go, a $99 product that comes in a variety of soft colors and is rechargeable.

Young people are its main consumers. Hagen claims to have taken it on a fishing trip with other Victrola employees, where it brought the warm, analog sound of vinyl into the outdoors. He also said he’s seen people using it in line to buy Record Store Day releases.

“It’s a physical experience, and people are looking for more of those these days,” said Hagen, who will open Victrola’s first Denver warehouse — a 100,000-square foot space north of its corporate headquarters — in January 2024.

“We also think a lot of people turned to vinyl when they couldn’t have concert experiences for a couple of years,” he added. “Our challenge is letting people know how easy it is to get into this world, and partnering down the line with Vinyl Me, Please and AEG and these other players is one solution to that.”

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