A turquoise frontage and a large red crescent logo mark out Music Mania halfway along Piccadilly Arcade, a covered run of shops in the middle of Hanley. Half of it is a record shop and the other half a working box office, and the window beside the door carries a hand-written list of what is coming up at venues across Stoke-on-Trent.
Background / History
Music Mania was established at the start of the 2000s, beginning largely as a second-hand CD shop that also handled tickets for local gigs. Both sides of the business grew as the years passed, and when vinyl returned the racks were expanded to meet it. It is now one of the longest-serving independent music shops and ticket agents in Stoke-on-Trent, still trading from the arcade off Piccadilly in the city’s Cultural Quarter. The box office side covers a long list of local rooms, among them The Sugarmill, the Victoria Hall, the King’s Hall, the Mitchell Arts Centre, Stoke Rep and The Underground, and the shop also promotes shows of its own.
What You’ll Find
New and used LPs, CDs, cassettes and music DVDs sit alongside one another, with second-hand stock the larger part of the shop by some distance: thousands of used CDs, plus racks of pre-owned vinyl that change constantly because collections are bought over the counter for cash. Rock and pop and a deep metal and punk section carry the most weight, backed by soul, funk, hip hop, blues, reggae and rocksteady 45s, dance and electronic, country, folk, jazz and classical. New releases and indie exclusive pressings arrive each week, a staff pick is highlighted regularly, and record tokens are both sold and accepted.
Experience / Atmosphere
This is a shop for digging rather than window shopping. The bins are full and priced to be worked through, gig posters cover the glass, and the ticket counter draws in people who had not come for a record at all, which keeps the place busier and more mixed than a specialist shop of the same size. Staff divide the sections between them and know their patches well, so conversation tends to run from what you are buying to who is playing that weekend. Record Store Day is taken seriously each April, with the stock list published in advance and activity in store on the day.
Why Visit
- One of Stoke-on-Trent’s longest-established independent record shops, in the middle of Hanley’s Cultural Quarter
- Thousands of second-hand CDs and used LPs, refreshed constantly by collections bought over the counter
- Real depth in rock, metal and punk, with soul, funk, reggae, blues, jazz and electronic sections alongside
- New releases, indie exclusives and a full Record Store Day list every April
- A working box office for The Sugarmill, the Victoria Hall, the King’s Hall and other venues across the city and the wider Midlands
- Cash paid for LP and CD collections, and record tokens sold and accepted
Summary
Few record shops earn their keep in quite so many ways. Music Mania pairs a large and constantly turning second-hand stock with a steady flow of new vinyl, and its ticket counter keeps it tied into what is actually happening in the city’s venues. Open six days a week and easy to reach in the centre of Hanley, it rewards an unhurried browse and a look at the gig list on the way out.
