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Dead Media – Business Spotlight

Originally Published in the February 2018 issue of the Corcoran News

1828 E 35th St, Minneapolis, MN 55407
 (612) 222-1655
http://dead-media.org/
Owners: Simon Brooks, Walker Neudorff and Colin Wilkinson

There’s a hip spot in town and now it’s right in our neighborhood!  Locally owned Dead Media specializes in buying and selling used records, both vinyl and cassettes, and has a selection of used books as well.  The volunteer-run shop moved into the space adjacent to Northern Rose Bicycles that had formerly been running as an underground music venue.

Dead Media has made this “venue” legit.  The second Saturday of each month features “Vector 9,” an all ages show featuring up and coming bands and comedians that’s always over by 10pm.  The show is pay what you can with a suggested $5 donation.  What better than inexpensive entertainment you can walk to?

What about the goods?   Dead Media has a selection of vinyl and cassettes by artists to delight the old and young alike.  Classic rock, noise, punk and hip hop, they carry it all.  Cassettes are making a huge resurgence within certain genres as they provide a different fidelity and tone to the music and, among collectors, CDs are starting to take a back seat to other traditional media types. As musicians, the owners recognized this trend and knew it was hard to get music from local bands around the region, and started an online cassette distribution site that catered to the Midwest.  Then, in came John Kass with his Dead Media record and book shop in the Seward neighborhood and a partnership was born.   Having run Dead Media on their own the last few years, Simon, Walker and Colin currently fill the Twin Cities audiophiles’ needs in this particular niche.

You don’t need to be a collector, however, to enjoy the store. I perused the albums, seeing many I had owned or wanted as a kid, as if I were in a museum.  I plan to follow them on Facebook to find out dates and times for events like Vector 9. For anyone with an interest, please note the cashiers are volunteers.  Volunteers work one 3-4 hour shift a week and are compensated with discounts and other offers.

Local bands, Dead Media will buy some of your product to sell to your local fans, without consignment. They also provide blank tapes for small run releases and have equipment to help with dubbing.

I get the feeling this is a great location to hobnob with musicians and other people “in the know” on the local scene, so I’m planning on stopping in regularly. Hope to see you all there!

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