For street art fans, Berlin is an outdoor gallery of major names and surprising discoveries from tags to stickers, paper post-its, spontaneous sculptures and other forms of underground communication. Most recently in Berlin’s central ”Mitte” neighborhood we spotted signposts carrying full-sized 33-records-a guerilla, full-stop ad campaign by the new “Leila M” store, a beloved insider tip among fans of Berlin labels and collectors of rare vinyl. With the opening of the new location, these two specialties are being divided into separate stores in the Rosa Luxemburg Strasse in Berlin-Mitte: “Leila M” (the latest new vinyls and CDs) and “7 Tons of Records” (classics and older releases).
For “Leila M”, putting their product out on the street is a literal translation of the old media theory mantra: “The medium is the message.” The ad campaign also has a recycling component. The “7 Tons of Records” store has earned its name by the sheer amount of records it has in stock. As owner Mathias Gordon explains, when they buy a big collection of old vinyl, only a portion is in good enough condition to sell. What to do with the rest? Give it a creative “spin”. In a previous communication effort, they cut down old records into visiting cards. Gordon sees vinyl as a special communication media, because there is something mysterious about the content. The information the record groove holds can only be unlocked by playing it. A record found on the street has information on the center label but also contains a second message that people seem to be eager to decode, since many of the signposted records have been taken down. One even reappeared in the display window of an “American Apparel” store!
Gordon is an old hand at music and event promotion. After arriving in Berlin just before the Wall fell, he opened his first music venue, “die Zone”, in East Berlin in 1991 (now under new management as “Ausland”, one of Berlin’s best locations for experimental music), and since then he has had a successful career as a club manager and music promoter. However, his style of marketing is geared to the tight-knit community of Berlin’s small music shops and their customers: “Big distributors work through big fairs and big media, but little shops work through the quality of the shop and the network of people that come through. The people and the music are the focus of what we do.”
Gordon’s intuitive, street-wise form of marketing is definitely working, and his low-key, customer-oriented attitude has kept business booming. As a promoter of multiple Berlin labels, his message is simple: Enjoy Berlin Music. Drop by “Leila M” or “7 Tons of Records”, and listen for yourself.
Locations:
Leila
M
Rosa Luxemburg Str. 30, Berlin-Mitte
Subway: Rosa Luxemburg Platz
Mon.–Fri.
12:00–8:00 pm
Sat. 1:00–10:00 pm
7 Tons of Records
Rosa
Luxemburg Str. 3, Berlin-Mitte
Subway: Alexanderplatz
Mon.–Sat. 12:00–8:00
pm
