Amoeba Music facts for kids
The former Amoeba Music building on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood
|
|
| Private | |
| Industry | Retail |
| Founded | 1990 Berkeley, California, U.S. |
| Headquarters |
U.S.
|
|
Number of locations
|
3 |
|
Area served
|
California, United States (San Francisco Bay Area and Los Angeles) |
| Products | Records, compact discs, home video, posters, books, collectibles, accessories |
Amoeba Music is a famous American music store. It's known for selling all kinds of music, from popular songs to unique underground tunes. You can find Amoeba Music stores in Berkeley, San Francisco, and Hollywood, California. Many music lovers visit these stores like a special tourist spot. Amoeba Music first opened in Berkeley in 1990. It has continued to be successful, even when fewer people started buying CDs in the 2000s.
Contents
The Story of Amoeba Music
Starting in Berkeley (1990)
Amoeba Music started in 1990 in Berkeley, California. It was created by people who used to work at another music store called Rasputin Records. The first store opened on Telegraph Avenue. The main people who started it were Marc Weinstein, Dave Prinz, and Mike Boyder. A comic book artist named Shepherd Hendrix designed the cool Amoeba logo.
Amoeba mostly sells used music. Even when CD sales went down in the early 2000s, Amoeba kept going strong. They did this by letting people trade in their old music. Also, more people started buying vinyl records again, which helped Amoeba a lot.
Opening in San Francisco (1997)
A second Amoeba Music store opened in San Francisco on November 15, 1997. It is located in the Haight-Ashbury neighborhood, close to Golden Gate Park. This store is very big, taking up the space of an old bowling alley.
It usually has over 100,000 items. You can find new and used CDs, vinyl records, and audio cassettes there.
Opening in Los Angeles (2001)
A third Amoeba Music store opened in Los Angeles on November 17, 2001. This store was on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood. When it first opened, the store planned to have about 250,000 music items. This would have made it one of the biggest independent music stores in the world. A writer for the Los Angeles Times said it quickly became a famous place in Hollywood.
Robert Leaver, who helped start Round World Music, led Amoeba's world music section. He also bought international records for the Berkeley store.
Amoeba stores also buy and sell movies, but music is their main focus. Each store has a smaller collection of movies on DVD, VHS, Laserdisc, and Blu-ray. They also sell music-related posters and art. You can even buy Amoeba-branded items. The original Sunset Boulevard store had a whole second floor just for DVDs and Blu-rays.
Amoeba Music often hosted free concerts at their stores. Local and national artists from many different music styles would perform.
In 2015, Amoeba sold the Sunset Boulevard building. They continued to rent the space. In 2018, it was announced that the building would be torn down. A new building with homes and shops would be built there. This meant Amoeba would have to move. On April 27, 2020, Amoeba announced that the Sunset Boulevard store was closing for good. This happened sooner than planned because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Many stores had to close to help stop the spread of the virus. Amoeba then started a fundraising campaign online to help pay their bills. Most of their money came from people buying things in their stores.
New Los Angeles Store (2021)
Amoeba found a new home for its Los Angeles store. It is now on Hollywood Boulevard at Argyle Avenue. The store's huge collections of music CDs, LPs, DVDs, and books were stored away while the new place was being built. The new store opened on April 1, 2021.
The new Amoeba Music store is close to the famous Pantages Theatre. It is in the Hollywood and Vine area. The tradition of free live shows continues at the new store. Many artists perform for customers. For example, the band Red Hot Chili Peppers gave a free concert there. This happened after they received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame near the store on March 31, 2022.
Amoeba's YouTube Channel
Amoeba's YouTube channel started on January 27, 2006. It features interviews with artists and recordings of live shows from the stores. It also has a popular series called What’s In My Bag?. In this series, famous artists and music lovers share what cool items they found while shopping at Amoeba. This series even won a Webby Award.
Gallery
-
Berkeley store
-
San Francisco store
-
San Francisco store, inside
See also
In Spanish: Amoeba Music para niños
