Exploring Life & Business with Mark Hoover of audiophileusa.com

Today we’d like to introduce you to Mark Hoover.

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
Influenced by music from a young age I started collecting vinyl records in the late 60’s. I began to realize that I liked all genres of music. I also started to learn about electrical equipment. Soon I built a personal radio station set up so I could make tapes and record music. Through the years I worked in different parts of the music industry even owning a music venue for 10 years in Atlanta. After working as an audio mixer in film and television I moved away and decided to purchase an online record store. audiophileusa is a 30 year old company specializing in rare and collectable records. I thought it important to stand apart from other record stores because what makes records worth listening to is condition. I felt it wasn’t worth selling just any vinyl record but records held to the Goldmine Grading Standard with a threshold of NM-. I knew understanding the nuance of what vinyl records should sound like and backed that up with true grading. audiophileusa also supports musicians and record label by helping them deliver their products to market. As a distributor we fulfill local jazz labels and musicians’ vinyl product to market.
We believe in music and sell all genres of music. We have one of the largest Classical Music inventories in the world. Along with Jazz, Hip Hop, Blues, Soul, Rock, Soundtracks, Electronic, and new and used up to contemporary music. It ‘s important to us to provide the best sounding record possible. With support from organizations like LAOCAS we continue to educate the nascent music lover by providing as much education as we can. From record care to playback we want to help the listener with the best experience possible.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Record retail has made a significant jump since our purchase in 2019. There has been a boost in the market share and more and more channels to buy vinyl records. By jumping into the distribution of wholesale records and positioning audiophileusa as a leader in appraising vinyl records we have seen a slight ascension in market share.

Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
We are one of the first online record stores carrying over 45 thousand records. We’ve specialized in sussing out rare and collectable records in near mint condition for better than 25 years. We are known for our 5 star customer service and curation of great records across all genres. As a small business we take pride in delivering quality products. By meticulously grading records and live telephone support we stand alone. With knowledgeable employees we feel we can help customers get to where they want to go.

Is there anyone you’d like to thank or give credit to?
It takes a team to reach any goal and I have been lucky to have solid support, from family to employees. We’ve set up a nice system to meet our daily objectives and our small team of experts have exceeded their expectations in keeping our goals in sight and keeping our customers happy. From grading to pricing to adding into our website we continue to add 100’s of records a day so customers can be amazed by our new arrivals. It’s not working if you love what you do and our team keeps this place a blast to hang out.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://audiophileusa.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram/audiophileusa
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/audiophileusa