Amoeba Music is an American

independent music Independent music (also commonly known as indie music or simply indie) is music that is produced independently from commercial record labels or their subsidiaries, a process that may include an autonomous, do-it-yourself approach to recording a ...

store chain with locations in

Berkeley Berkeley most often refers to: *Berkeley, California, a city in the United States **University of California, Berkeley, a public university in Berkeley, California * George Berkeley (1685–1753), Anglo-Irish philosopher Berkeley may also refer ...

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

, and

Hollywood, Los Angeles, California Hollywood is a neighborhood in the central region of Los Angeles, California. Its name has come to be a shorthand reference for the U.S. film industry and the people associated with it. Many notable film studios, such as Columbia Pictures, ...

. It was founded in 1990 in Berkeley, California, and remains in operation, having survived the decline of CD sales in the 2000s.

History

Original Berkeley store (1990)

Amoeba Music was founded by former employees of nearby Rasputin Records and opened on

Telegraph Avenue Telegraph Avenue is a street that begins, at its southernmost point, in the midst of the historic downtown district of Oakland, California, and ends, at its northernmost point, at the southern edge of the University of California, Berkeley cam ...

in Berkeley in 1990. Cofounders include but are not limited to Marc Weinstein, Dave Prinz, Yvonne Prinz, and Kent Randolph. The iconic Amoeba logo was designed by comic book artist Shepherd Hendrix. Primarily operating on reselling

used good Used goods mean any item of personal property offered for sale not as new, including metals in any form except coins that are legal tender, but excluding books, magazines, and postage stamps. Risks Furniture, in particular bedding or upholstere ...

s, Amoeba has survived the decline of CD sales since the early 2000s with its trade-in program and the advent of the

vinyl revival Vinyl may refer to: Chemistry * Polyvinyl chloride (PVC), a particular vinyl polymer * Vinyl cation, a type of carbocation * Vinyl group, a broad class of organic molecules in chemistry * Vinyl polymer, a group of polymers derived from vinyl ...

Second store (San Francisco, 1997)

A second location, in San Francisco, opened on November 15, 1997, in the

Haight-Ashbury Haight-Ashbury () is a district of San Francisco, California, named for the intersection of Haight and Ashbury streets. It is also called The Haight and The Upper Haight. The neighborhood is known as one of the main centers of the counterculture ...

neighborhood near Golden Gate Park. It is located in the former Park Bowl

bowling alley A bowling alley (also known as a bowling center, bowling lounge, bowling arena, or historically bowling club) is a facility where the sport of bowling is played. It can be a dedicated facility or part of another, such as a clubhouse or dwelling ...

. It regularly stocks upwards of 100,000

CDs The compact disc (CD) is a digital optical disc data storage format that was co-developed by Philips and Sony to store and play digital audio recordings. In August 1982, the first compact disc was manufactured. It was then released in Octo ...

vinyl records A phonograph record (also known as a gramophone record, especially in British English), or simply a record, is an analog sound storage medium in the form of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove. The groove usually starts near ...

, and audio cassettes, both new and

used Used may refer to: Common meanings *Used good, goods of any type that have been used before or pre-owned *Used to, English auxiliary verb Places *Used, Huesca, a village in Huesca, Aragon, Spain *Used, Zaragoza, a town in Zaragoza, Aragon, Spain ...

Third store (Los Angeles, 2001)

A third location, in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

, opened on November 17, 2001, on

Sunset Boulevard Sunset Boulevard is a boulevard in the central and western part of Los Angeles, California, that stretches from the Pacific Coast Highway in Pacific Palisades east to Figueroa Street in Downtown Los Angeles. It is a major thoroughfare in ...

Cahuenga Boulevard Cahuenga Boulevard () is a major boulevard of northern Los Angeles, California, US. The “Cahuenga” name is a Spanish, phonetic derivative with no actual Spanish language meaning that is attributed to the Tongva village of Kawengna, meaning ...

in Hollywood. At the time of its opening, the store planned to stock as many as 250,000 titles, which would have placed it among the largest

stores in the world. According to ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the U ...

'' writer

Michael Hiltzik Michael A. Hiltzik (born November 9, 1952) is an American columnist, reporter and author who has written extensively for the ''Los Angeles Times''. In 1999, he won a beat reporting Pulitzer Prize for co-writing a series of articles about corrupti ...

, the location "instantly became a Hollywood landmark." Amoeba's world music department was headed by Robert Leaver,Good CD, Shame About the Cover
''

''. Retrieved November 27, 2018. co-founder of the Round World Music record shop and label in San Francisco. He also worked as a buyer of international records for Amoeba's Berkeley location. The stores also trade-in movies, though secondarily to their music business. Each location has a smaller collection of movies on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...

, VHS, Laserdisc, and

Blu-ray The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of st ...

. In addition, each store maintains a selection of music-related posters and artwork for purchase, as well as Amoeba-branded merchandise. The Sunset Boulevard store had an entire second floor dedicated to DVD and Blu-ray at its original location. In addition, Amoeba Music frequently held free shows during store hours with locally- and nationally-known artists from a wide variety of genres. In 2015, Amoeba sold the Sunset Boulevard property to a holding company but continued to lease the space. In 2018, it was announced that the owners would demolish the site and replace it with a contemporary glass-and-steel tower with residential units and commercial space, and Amoeba would be moving. On April 27, 2020, Amoeba announced that due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

, the Sunset Boulevard location was closed permanently ahead of schedule. Along with the statewide

stay-at-home order A stay-at-home order, safer-at-home order, movement control order (more common in Southeast Asia), or lockdown restrictions (in the United Kingdom) – also referred to by loose use of the terms (self-) quarantine, (self-) isolation, or lockdow ...

issued by California governor

Gavin Newsom Gavin Christopher Newsom (born October 10, 1967) is an American politician and businessman who has been the 40th governor of California since 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the 49th lieutenant governor of California f ...

in the

, many non-essential stores were told to close to prevent spread of

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...

. Amoeba subsequently started a fundraising campaign on

GoFundMe GoFundMe is an American for-profit crowdfunding platform that allows people to raise money for events ranging from life events such as celebrations and graduations to challenging circumstances like accidents and illnesses. From 2010 to the be ...

to pay the bills as most of their income is derived from in-store purchases.

Relocated Los Angeles store (2021)

Amoeba Music store on Hollywood Blvd in Los Angeles 20220607 193531 HDR copy 2

Amoeba found a new location for its Los Angeles store on

Hollywood Boulevard Hollywood Boulevard is a major east–west street in Los Angeles, California. It begins in the east at Sunset Boulevard in the Los Feliz district and proceeds to the west as a major thoroughfare through Little Armenia and Thai Town, Hollywoo ...

at Argyle Avenue. The store's vast collections of music CDs, LPs, DVDs, and books were temporarily in storage during construction at the new site during 2020 and 2021. The new location opened on April 1, 2021. The new Amoeba Music store is located near the popular Pantages Theatre in the

Hollywood and Vine Hollywood and Vine, the intersection of Hollywood Boulevard and Vine Street in Hollywood, a district of Los Angeles, became known in the 1920s for its concentration of radio and movie-related businesses. The Hollywood Walk of Fame is centered ...

area. Continuing the tradition of free live shows for customers at the store, the new Amoeba Music frequently holds free shows during store hours with locally- and nationally-known artists from a wide variety of genres. The band

Red Hot Chili Peppers Red Hot Chili Peppers are an American rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1983, comprising vocalist Anthony Kiedis, bassist Flea, drummer Chad Smith, and guitarist John Frusciante. Their music incorporates elements of alternative rock, funk ...

gave a free live performance at the store for Amoeba Music customers after receiving a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame near the entrance to Amoeba Music store on March 31, 2022. George Clinton,

Woody Harrelson Woodrow Tracy Harrelson (born July 23, 1961) is an American actor and playwright. He is the recipient of various accolades, including a Primetime Emmy Award and two Screen Actors Guild Awards, in addition to nominations for three Academy Award ...

, and

Bob Forrest Robert O'Neil "Bob" Forrest (born February 15, 1961) is an American musician who is best known for his work with the Los Angeles bands Thelonious Monster and The Bicycle Thief. Forrest, a recovering drug addict, has worked for years as a recover ...

unveiled the star at the ceremony.

YouTube channel

Amoeba's YouTube channel was created on January 27, 2006, and is home to interviews, recordings of live performances at Amoeba locations, and the

Webby Award The Webby Awards are awards for excellence on the Internet presented annually by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences, a judging body composed of over two thousand industry experts and technology innovators. Categories includ ...

–winning series ''What’s In My Bag?'' with various "featuring artists and tastemakers sharing what they found shopping at Amoeba."

Popular culture

The Hollywood store was included as a playable venue in the 2008 music game ''

Guitar Hero World Tour ''Guitar Hero World Tour'' (initially referred to as ''Guitar Hero IV'' or ''Guitar Hero IV: World Tour'') is a music rhythm video game developed by Neversoft and published by Activision. It is the fourth main installment in the ''Guitar Hero'' ...

''.

Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained worldwide fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John Lennon. One ...

recorded his EP ''

Amoeba's Secret ''Amoeba's Secret'' is an EP by Paul McCartney recorded during a secret performance at Amoeba Music in Hollywood, California, on 27 June 2007. The EP reached 119 on the ''Billboard'' 200 albums chart, despite relatively little promotion. The low ...

'' (which was also released as '' Amoeba Gig'' in its entirety in 2019) at an unannounced live performance at the Hollywood location on June 27, 2007.

Gallery

Image:Berkeley Amoeba Music.jpg, Berkeley store Image:Amoeba Music San Francisco Facade.jpg, San Francisco store Image:InsideAmoeba.JPG, San Francisco store, inside

References

External links

Official homepage
of Amoeba Music * * {{Cite web, url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/indie-chains-are-slump-proof-20030812 , title=Indie Chains Are Slump Proof: California's Amoeba and other retailers succeed amid industry nightmare , date=August 12, 2003 , first=Matt , last=Diehl , first2=Jenny , last2=Eliscu , author-link2=Jenny Eliscu , work=rollingstone.com , access-date=28 November 2005 , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080107175547/http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/5936076/indie_chains_are_slump_proof , archive-date=2008-01-07 *
S.F. Music Landmark Headed to Sunset - Brief Article
. (November 13, 2000.) Christopher Keough.

Los Angeles Business Journal The ''Los Angeles Business Journal'', established in 1979, is a weekly newspaper and online news source in Los Angeles, California, which provides coverage of local business news. According to the ''Journals website, it has a weekly print circul ...

. Retrieved 2005-11-28. *
Golden State: Record Chain Bets on the Past, Future
. (November 17, 2005.) Michael Hiltzik. ''

'' (and accompanying
Golden State Blog
'.). *

. (February 17, 2005). ''

BusinessWeek ''Bloomberg Businessweek'', previously known as ''BusinessWeek'', is an American weekly business magazine published fifty times a year. Since 2009, the magazine is owned by New York City-based Bloomberg L.P. The magazine debuted in New York City ...

''. Companies based in Berkeley, California Music retailers of the United States Retail companies established in 1990 1990 establishments in California Landmarks in Los Angeles Music of the San Francisco Bay Area Buildings and structures in Hollywood, Los Angeles Retail companies based in California