Eric Levin, owner of the Atlanta-based store Criminal Records, talks to ArtistsHouse about the life and business of a music retailer in today’s market. He shares his thoughts on filesharing, who still buys music in stores, how he markets music to his customers, how he makes decisions on what to stock, how independent artists can get the attention of retailers, what the future looks like for small music retailers, and much more.

Eric Levin, founder of legendary Atlanta record store Criminal Records and the AIMS coalition of independent music stores, shares the story of the founding of Criminal (involving an arrest by the US Secret Service) and introduces his goals for the store.

Eric Levin, founder of legendary Atlanta record store Criminal Records and the AIMS coalition of independent music stores, shares some advice on how to get your music into stores.

Eric Levin, founder of legendary Atlanta record store Criminal Records and the AIMS coalition of independent music stores, shares his thoughts and experiences in dealing with retail stock turnover (how quickly and often a given CD/album needs to be re-ordered) and in making business decisions based on that number – whether to send back product that doesn’t sell after a year, what to tell the distributor about pricing, and how to decide whether a given product is worth stocking at all. He also discusses his experiences dealing with major labels and their decisions (ostensibly made on his behalf) which make no sense at the indie store level.

Eric Levin, founder of legendary Atlanta record store Criminal Records and the AIMS coalition of independent music stores, gives a tour of his store, and talks frankly about his tastes, his customer’s tastes, and why he carries some of the records and products he stocks.

Eric Levin, founder of legendary Atlanta record store Criminal Records and the AIMS coalition of independent music stores, explains how his store stays current with customer trends and how he attempts to cross-market music, comics, audio components and toys to the people who walk through the door, and shares his thoughts on how a retail store can service a generation of music listeners raised on downloaded music.

Eric Levin, founder of legendary Atlanta record store Criminal Records and the AIMS coalition of independent music stores, shares his thoughts on music downloads (both pro and con), whether downloads are good for musicians and retailers, and on what records stores have done and must still do to stay current in a world of free, on-demand music.

Eric Levin, founder of legendary Atlanta record store Criminal Records and the AIMS coalition of independent music stores, shares his thoughts on the effect of the book and film “High Fidelity” on independent music retailers.

Eric Levin, founder of legendary Atlanta record store Criminal Records and the AIMS coalition of independent music stores, discusses “Record Store Day,” a day designated by AIMS, the CIMS coalition, and hundreds of other music stores as a marketing strategy to remind consumers that not every record store is in danger of failing and that the music industry is not doomed.

Eric Levin, founder of legendary Atlanta record store Criminal Records and the AIMS coalition of independent music stores, explains how he measures success in today’s market.

Eric Levin, founder of legendary Atlanta record store Criminal Records and the AIMS coalition of independent music stores, discusses the viability of selling video games at the indie retail level, and shares his thoughts on the musical needs and business priorities of indie artists and stores versus major labels and chain stores.

Eric Levin, founder of legendary Atlanta record store Criminal Records and the AIMS coalition of independent music stores, discusses the marketing potential of in-store appearances by musicians.

Eric Levin, founder of legendary Atlanta record store Criminal Records and the AIMS coalition of independent music stores, explains the goals and reasons behind the founding of AIMS (the Association of Independent Media Stores).